Page 70 of The Lies We Steal

I nearly choke, trying to chew this ungodly bite of food as a man in a pressed suit walks up to our table.

“Hey mayor Donahue.” Lyra says softly, smiling up at the man with a neatly trimmed beard and soft red colored hair who is looking at me now.

Of course I’d meet the mayor of one of the most prestigious towns in the country while I had a my mouth stuffed with food. I place my hand over my mouth, chewing as quickly as possible.

“Hi,” I mutter, swallowing painfully, “Sorry, I’m Briar.” I wipe my hands on a napkin, sticking my hand out to shake his.

He returns it with a smile, moving my hand up and down gently, “Nice to meet you, Briar. I pride myself on knowing all the faces around here, but I can’t say I know you! Are you new here?”

I nod, “Yes, sir. I’m attending Hollow Heights.”

“Please, just call me Frank. It’s exciting to know we have students from other places joining our corner of the world! Are you ladies enjoying your first semester so far? I heard there was an accidental misfiring of some fireworks the other night at the annual maze hunt.”

Lyra and I look at each other with slightly hooded eyes, thinking back to that night.But she bounces back quickly,

“It’s going well, just hitting the books and trying to meet the expectations set for us students.” She covers.

“Well I’ll leave you girls to your dinner, Lyra, let me know if you need anything, okay?” He offers, and she nods in agreeance watching him walk away and towards the door to leave.

“You just casually know the mayor?” As we settle back into our booth, continuing to eat.

“He knew my mom back in the day, I was always in the same classes as his daughters growing up.” She pauses, taking a fry and dipping it into her milkshake. I crinkle my nose, confused by the combination, however I’ve learned not to question the oddities of my friend. “I feel so sorry for him.”

“Why?”

Looking around to make sure no one is around us, or listening to our conversation before speaking,

“Not only did his wife leave him for another man, but he lost both his daughters in the span of six months. He’s lost everything and I’m not sure how he is able to keep smiling.”

I begin to remember her talking about the mayor’s daughter who died, reading it inside one of the news articles when I was looking up things on the boys. It said she was found at a local party house and the police ruled it as an accidental overdose, but apparently the rumor mill enjoyed adding salt to an already sore wound. If you asked anyone at the school, they’d tell you she killed herself or Silas killed her because she was sleeping with someone else.

If you asked me, it was just sad either way.

A girl my age, one who hadn’t even begun to live the best portion of her life, had people speculating and making up lies just to add drama to their own boring worlds. It was pathetic.

From the pictures in the articles she was pretty, well liked from her obituary, just a regular girl whose time came too soon.

“Rosemary had a sister?” I couldn’t imagine losing both of my children, but that close together?

“Twin sister,” She cringes, “Her name is Sage. Mayor Donahue had to admit her into a psychiatric facility in Washington after Rose died. She just lost it, I guess. Just couldn’t stop talking about her death and that someone had killed her. It was sad watching her in the hallways after. Like she’d lost half of herself and I guess in a way she did.” The sadness of the story makes my heart ache, “Even though I wasn’t friends with her, it was our senior year. It was supposed to be fun and the moments we remembered when we were old. And all she’ll remember it as is the year her sister died.”

I had no siblings, but I couldn’t imagine what losing a twin felt like. To be brought into the world together only to have them taken away at eighteen. She probably did lose half herself when she died. But a facility? That felt a little harsh.

“You don’t think a psych ward is a little severe? I mean maybe she was just grieving. Losing someone like that could warrant some strange behavior.”

I didn’t want to come off judgmental, I was just finding it hard to understand why a father who just lost one daughter would send another away. I mean wouldn’t he want to hold onto her for as long as he could? Never letting her out of his sight? Helicopter parent mode or something?

“I never really thought about it honestly. I mean, maybe it is? I’m not sure on all the details, but someone said the mayor found her cutting herself in the bathtub. I think he was just doing the best he could, you know? Just doing what he could to protect her.” She swirls another fry in her milkshake before taking a drink of it.

The words hang in the air as I push my leftover food to the side of my plate, fidgeting with something to make the silence not awkward. Just allowing my brain to absorb all this.

Everywhere I turn here there is something dark, something morbid and sad.

Why the hell does anyone live here?

“Down to binge Netflix in the Loner Society Clubhouse?” She asks changing the subject, a line of whipped cream giving her a mustache.

In the craziness of the maze, after Dean Sinclair escorted me out to safety and I saw that Lyra had already made it out, I remembered I had found the key. I’d presented it to the dean and he declared us winners.

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