Page 5 of Loving the Liar

“I know your little kinks,” Peach says with an eyebrow wiggle. “I know the kind of sex you like to have. I bet he fucked you, and you ate up whatever praise he dished out. That man must have hit the spot for your daddy issues.”

“Peach.” Alex’s low hiss cuts through our friend’s elation as I’m about to burst out laughing. “This is serious.”

Peach pulls her hand back, tightens the high ponytail in which she gathered her deep red hair this morning, and tilts her head to the side.

“Was it hot? Was it good? Did he make you?—”

A narrowed stare from Alex makes Peach pinch her lips, but her delight in my naughty venture is still very much present.

It wasn’t the best sex of my life, but it was great. It felt better than asking my dad for a favor to keep me in the class he forced me to be in. Because not being in it isn’t an option anymore if I don’t want to suffer the consequences.

So, I weighed said options, and that one felt like a choice. It’s not like Professor Clark Reeves is hard on the eyes. It’s not like he doesn’t have tons of college girls lining up during office hours, batting their eyelashes. We all wonder the same thing; how a man so young and handsome—who has become such a successful defense attorney, owns one of the most renowned practices on the East Coast, and works as a professor in the most elite college in the country—is still single. Or at least as far as we know. There’s no wedding ring around his finger.

“I had sex with a successful, beautiful man, who has a hot body, an amazing brain, and could also change the grade of my last essay.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.”

“I give up,” Alex sighs, her focus going back to the laptop in front of her.

My two best friends have completely opposite personalities. My beautiful Alex, with her bright hazel eyes and her innocent face, is a good girl who’s been through a lot and needs balance and rules. She finds comfort in a strong presence telling her what to do. Peach, my fiery little thing, is stubborn. She’s an unbeatable force in a tiny body with a peachy ass that earned her said nickname. And if someone even thinks a little too hard about ordering her around…let’s say I’ve seen her punch men twice her size. And every time, there’s a glint of excitement in her green eyes. She gets a kick out of putting men in their place. And we don’t talk about the only one she can’t.

I’m not Alex. She was a virgin when she met her current boyfriend and love of her life. She’s settled with someone we didn’t expect, but she’s fallen head over heels and that won’t change because despite the ups and downs they’ve had, she’s happy and loyal. And he would never let her go anyway.

My situation is different. I have fun. I have regular fucks. I party. I made the most of my year as a freshman at Silver Falls University and partied my way through most of sophomore year. Believe me, the one percent know how to have a good time. We’ve been in our circle of billionaires since we were born with those silver spoons in our mouths. And we love to share our fucking spoons. But sometimes, I want the fun to turn into something serious, and it’s hard when people see you as a trophy rather than a person.

I’m not a good girl, but I’m not completely unhinged like Peach. She has a death wish and will get into serious trouble one day. No, my personality is made-up of elements I have gathered to please and appease the general population.

My style makes me look like I’m beautiful, but not trying too hard. I’m pretty, but not threatening. I have opinions that I share only in the slightest in public to make sure I don’t upset anyone. I’m a chameleon. When I meet someone, I spend precious time analyzing them to make sure I can adapt to what they want to see and hear. I’m popular because I made everyone believe I was their best friend. I remember names quickly, so they know I care. I learn one or two facts about them to follow up when I bump into them again.

Hi, Katie! So good to see you here. How are you? How’s your dog after the surgery? It’s a labrador, right?

And then…I stay right out of reach, so people know I’m not accessible to just anyone. I party, I take pictures, I go on vacations, I share my life with the world on social media, so they wish they were with me. They’re envious, but they don’t hate me because she’s so nice.

Take Regina George but make her care for others around her. That’s Ella Baker. You can’t criticize a popular, pretty girl who also teaches kids ballet every Saturday morning for free. Who lets you know she put in a good word to the lacrosse player you have a crush on. Who lets you sit at her table with all her popular friends. You’d love to hate, but how can you hate if there’s nothing to complain about?

Picture. Perfect.

It feels strange sometimes when I’m alone in my bed at night, exhausted from not being myself. When I let the mask down and I’m just…me. Nothing special because everything is concocted for others. A puppet put away in her box after the show is over.

“Oh, Alex…” I pout. “It was just the one time, I promise. And it’s kind of hot. Admit it.”

Alex would have never slept with Reeves. She’s too studious; she would have never failed an essay. Peach would have fucked him. She would have given him a good run for his money, shown him that if he took advantage of a student, she was going to get the good grade and dominate him in his office.

She wouldn’t have let him bend her over his desk while he told her that if she took him like a good girl, she could get any grade she wanted. Peach would have ridden him on his chair while he corrected the grade. Might have even slapped him if he didn’t adjust it right. And I bet he would have loved it.

I take a book out of my bag and put it next to my face.

The Fundamentals of Criminal Justice: An Introduction to the American Justice System. Written by none other than attorney Clark Reeves, Dr. in Criminal Justice.

The book has his picture on it. He’s leaning against a desk in a suit, strong arms crossed over his chest.

“Don’t we make a cute couple?”

Both my friends burst out laughing.

Criminal Law is not the only class my dad forced me to take to prepare for law school, but it’s the only extra-curricular with a professor so full of himself and so renowned that every two weeks, the class is filtered, and anyone who hasn’t proven themselves worthy of his teaching gets kicked out. Everyone wants to stay because it’s a guaranteed entry into Silver Falls University of Law. The best in the country.

We all had to hand him our summer essay today so he could let us know in two weeks who would be staying. I know what my work is worth, so this morning I stopped by his office. It’s important to take your fate into your own hands.

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