Page 118 of Loving the Liar

“How can someone who looks like you still be so shy about compliments?”

He buries his warm face in my neck. “Stop,” he groans.

With his soft curls tickling my cheek, I shift to drop a kiss on his forehead. “All the girls in high school were at your feet. All the girls in this college talk about you. Oh my god, Chris Murray is back in town… They’re all fawning over you, and you get shy on me because I tell you you’re beautiful?”

He finally rises again, wrapping a strong hand around my jaw and pouting my mouth. “Go to sleep, woman.”

And when he lets me go, I don’t even think of what woke me up. All I think about is that the next task is to fall asleep next to the man who makes my heart do very reckless things.

He’s not here when I wake up. But there’s something next to me in bed. The necklace we started yesterday and a printed copy of the essay I have to hand in to Professor Reeves. The essay I hadn’t finished but that is now completed.

I stretch and grab the note he left.

Sweets,

I took a task off your list so you could rest a little more today. Don’t forget to hand this in before 5p.m.

One pearl at a time.

C.

I fall back against the mattress and curl onto my side to smell the pillow where he rested.

My heart accelerates, my limbs numbing as a wave of giddiness slams into me.

Sweet orange and cedar tree.

The smell of love and trouble.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ella

So High School - Taylor Swift

Ifeel light as I walk into the dance studio with three tote bags on my shoulders and ten plastic tiaras in my hands.

It’s Saturday morning, and those days are for the kids. I’ve been teaching that class for three years. Since my locker got emptied by the dance students, I received no formal email saying I wasn’t allowed the space anymore, and I love teaching these kids, so I’m not going to stop now. I teach for free, and while no one has any issue affording it in the area, some kids come all the way from the North Shore so they can attend a free ballet lesson. And over there, that means a lot.

I’m thirty minutes early, as always. I take the time to set up the piles of tutus, shoes, leotards, pink scarves, and tiaras. Some of them can’t afford any of this, so I always bring enough for everyone. That way, they don’t feel embarrassed to ask. They can all take whatever they want and keep it. I bring more each time.

I sit down with my back to the mirror and the door to my left and check the time. It’s 10 a.m. and the kids are usually early to take their time putting everything on and chatting among themselves. I anxiously do a butterfly stretch, my hand itching to go to my thigh and scratch through my tights.

I take a deep breath, suddenly wishing I’d taken the necklace Chris and I started on Thursday night. Slowly releasing my breath, I decide to go check my phone to see if any of the parents replied to my earlier message. I always remind everyone of the class early in the morning to tell them I’m excited to see them.

Today it turns out I have many responses.

Ivy won’t be coming to class anymore.

Ella, we will not be sending Stella to be taught by someone who could potentially be dangerous.

Dear Ella, while we don’t want to believe the rumors that have been going around, we also would never want to put Fabian at risk. We think you’re a good kid…but she won’t attend your class anymore.

Tears spring in my eyes as I read on. Everyone canceled. Even the four girls who come all the way from the North Shore. Their parents live on the side of town known for its high-rate crimes, but they’re worried about me?

A sob bursts past my lips. Chris is the one who hurt Enzo and Matias, and Hermes—or Megan I’m sure—is the one who put it on me. Together, they managed to take the one last thing that kept a smile on my face. Fury burning through my veins, I angrily text the man who decided to make my life a living hell out of pure selfishness.

Ella: You ruin everything

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