Page 109 of Little Lies

The screen animation cracked momentarily as she was hit, losing her first life.

“I think I’m in love with Nathan.”

Stephanie froze. Then she jumped and slapped her hands together, a grin on her face that Tully could see through the corner of her eye as the screen cracked a second time, taking her second life with it.

“I knew, Iknew it!” Stephanie squealed, delighted that she’d been right all this time. She knew it before Tully even knew it. “I could tell just by looking at you two. You’re a terrible liar and a horrible actress but with him you were sogood. There was no way it could be fake.”

“You’re missing the point.” Tully kept her voice low as a group of middle schoolers passed behind them.

“What point?”

“Ishouldn’tlove Nathan.”

“Why not?”

“I . . . he . . . we’d never work out.”

The screen cracked one last time. GAME OVER.

“Who told you that?”

Just about everyone did. Joliet, her friends, the looks in the hallway, but most convincing had been the voice in her head. The one she couldn’t ignore and the one that she believed the most. Tully finally turned away from the screen and looked at her friend. “You know it’s true.”

Stephanie shook her head. “He likes you.”

Tully didn’t want to outright say no because it hurt a little too much. He did try to kiss her, but it hurt to say he might actually like her as much as it hurt to say he didn’t. “It doesn’t matter if he does or not, it wouldn’t last. Even if he cares about me now, he’s bound to change his mind later.”

Stephanie’s eyebrows dropped, solemnly. “Tully, where did you get an idea like that?”

Stephanie had to already know the answer. She’d witnessed it happening during the entirety of their friendship. “My boyfriend cheated on me with my little sister, my parents don’t know I exist. Even Eugene can’t be bothered to come home anymore for the holidays. He’s not even coming for Christmas. How could Ipossiblythink that no one cared?” Tully shook her head, letting her shoulders drop. “I’d be stupid to think Nathan would.”

“That’s not true,” she said. “I care.”

Tully huffed a short laugh, her hands unable to resist fiddling with the last three coins in her pocket. “I think that makes you a rare exception.”

“No, it just makes me the only one with good judgment. Well, meandNathan. That boy is falling over himself for you, and everyone—except for you—can see it.”

Tully sighed. It was difficult for her to express how much she appreciated her friend. Almost as difficult as figuring out how to deal with all this. “I don’t know what to think.”

“Then don’t think. Stop thinking so much. Just do. You’re smart. You can figure it out for yourself.” Stephanie affectionately nudged the side of Tully’s shoe with her own. “But no matter what, you know I’m here. At least one person will always be on your side.”

“You think you’ll still say then when I wipe the floor with you onFrogger?”

“Considering I’m still here, I’d say so. But maybe I’ll change my mind. Let’s go.”

fifty-four

nathan

“It’s too bad Tully couldn’t make it for dinner on Wednesday,” Sandy said, swirling her fork in the mashed potatoes, not eating. She, along with Nathan, didn’t think their Wednesday night arrangements would end so soon. The tiptoeing in her voice glared like a neon sign, and his father’s eyes subtly flicked up when he must have thought Nathan couldn’t see. “When is she coming over again?”

His chewing slowed, and the little appetite he had vanished into thin air. Might as well get it over with. He’d been delaying for days now. “She’s not. We broke up.”

The clinking of forks on porcelain suspended as his mom and dad froze at the news. He swore he was the only one breathing.

“What?” Sandy asked. “What happened?”

Nathan’s fork clattered as he dropped it too forcefully onto his half-full plate, making him wince at the sharp sound. He didn’t want to talk about the details. Not that he could. He couldn’t exactly tell them that they broke up because he finally got his grades up and,oh, by the way it was all fake. It was just a ploy to get you to trust me so you’ll pay for my college. Haha, I fooled you. Great salmon by the way, Mom. These mashed potatoes are so creamy.

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