Page 96 of Loving the Liar

Turning to look at them, I try to keep an impassive face, but before I can see what he means, another one jumps in.

“Please, don’t get us killed.” He trembles dramatically as if he’s seen a ghost.

I cock an eyebrow at him, shaking my head and wondering if he’s an idiot. I’m pretty sure he is. “What the hell are you talking about?”

They all burst out laughing, exiting the building in a mess of SFU uniforms, so proud of themselves for a joke I don’t even understand.

I don’t even reach the east quad through the labyrinth of dark hallways, when I get some other comments. Something about not getting too close to me. They’re so blatantly talking about me that I feel like one the ghosts haunting the place.

What the hell is happening?

Everyone’s eyes are on me. So much so it feels like even the statue of the SFU founder standing in the middle of the east quad is whispering about me. If the things I can hear are anything to go by, I don’t want to hear what anyone is murmuring as I walk past.

As soon as I can breathe again, I pull out my phone, walking under the rain through the quad to join Peach and Alex at our meeting point. I have a notification from the SFU App.

Hermes.

Fuck.

I step into a hallway again, polished stone leading to the communal room where I’m supposed to meet my friends. I enter the room, and I’m about to unlock my phone when a hand snatches it from me. Looking up, my heart races. Peach’s angry eyes match Alex’s worried ones. A familiar duo of reactions when something bad has happened.

“What is it?” I panic in a whisper.

“We know it’s not true, Els,” Alex reassures me.

“Only look at it if you’re ready,” Peach adds.

Glancing around, I feel all eyes on me. Not the way I used to. There’s no admiration, no envy, only a mix of mockery and revulsion.

“Give it back, please,” I tell Peach.

She does. And when I open the SFU App, I know that for the first time Hermes has lied about me. But it doesn’t matter whether it’s the truth or not. Everyone believes what this account says.

“I don’t understand,” I rasp. “Why? Why would Hermes say this?”

My eyes are stuck on a montage picture of me, Enzo, and Matias.

Ella Baker…black widow?

It’s official, two men Ella Baker dated have had something happen in mysterious circumstances. Remember how Enzo got attacked after practice? Well, now Matias Roberts was beaten up to within an inch of his life. Coma, they say.

And guess what they have in common? One name. Ella Baker. Is this what happens if you date her…or when you leave her?

I wonder who she hires to do the dirty job.

Pray for Matias…

#howtomakeamurderer #blackwidow #EllaBakerisbitter

The world suddenly moves in slow motion. Everyone walking past me looks sluggish, and their insults reach my ears with a delay. I blink, waves of hotness rendering me speechless.

“I didn’t?—”

We’re surrounded by the exact same faces I see every day. The same souls who wanted to be me less than a month ago.

Ella Baker…black widow.

“It’s not true,” I mumble, my gaze going back to the girls. My lips are numb when I try to talk again, my pulse ringing in my ears. “It’s not…I didn’t…”

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