Page 62 of The Lie
Watching the three of them at school has been damn confusing. She kisses Hunter in the hallways; she sits with him at lunch and they’re a couple. But she holds Roman’s hand in the halls, even when she’s kissing Hunter.
Everyone has been talking about it. I know she said she wouldn’t choose between us. But this…it’s not what I had in mind.
Everyone starts to leave, and Mom pats my shoulder. She came for Roman. She said funerals are not always about the dead, but the living and showing you care for them. Mom always cared for Roman.
I stand where I am, watching as Mom gives Roman a hug. He accepts it and nods at whatever she’s saying to him. Probably telling him to come over for dinner, that she hasn’t seen him in a while.
We have a game tonight, and I can’t lose. This season has gone from decent to shit. The scouts aren’t gonna come to my games. And Grady…there have been rumors about the scholarships he’s been offered possibly being taken away. That’s total bullshit. But Mom and Dad have been talking about it when they thought I couldn’t hear.
I need the scholarship. I need to get out of this town and make something of myself. Going to the local college here isn’t an option. I want to leave the state. Start fresh. I want to go all the way. I want to be drafted into the NFL. I want it all. But I can’t have that here.
And without my friends…the ones who supported me through all these years? I can’t do it. Hunter, Roman, and I are a team. We work together, unlike other players on our team. Emerson tries, but it’s not his end goal to leave here playing football. He gives one-hundred percent, but I need more. Hunter and Roman gave everything; they knew, together, we could secure the dream for me, the college for Hunter, and we would have taken Roman with us. I wouldn’t have left him behind, even though he doesn’t want to go to college.
All three of us against the world.
Now, it’s all three of them against the world, and I’m left here drowning without even a life jacket.
I don’t confront Roman like I want to. I nod at him and he nods back at me before I turn and leave to get ready for tonight’s game.
Alone.
The game was a total disaster. Grady, the one guy everyone can depend on, our captain, lost it, and Coach took him out. After that, the rest of the team shattered, and the game turned into one big clusterfuck.
Seeing that Mila is still up, I knock on her door. Only her car is in the driveway, which surprises me. Where’s her dad? More importantly, where are Hunter and Roman?
It’s time to fix this shit between us all. I need the guys, but not for the team—fuck football. I need my friends back. I have nothing without them. My whole life, I’ve had amazing friends, and I didn’t realize how lucky I was until I lost it all.
When Mila answers the door, she’s wearing that little silk sleep set. The one she wore when she told us all we give her butterflies. I doubt I give her butterflies anymore.
Her eyes are rimmed with red. She’s been crying. It gets my back up—why is she crying? She didn’t lose her father. She took that life.
And I lose it. “Why did you kill him? He was all Roman had; you knew that. Even if he was a fucking asshole.”
She looks at me, the tears now rolling down her face, and I can’t stop myself.
“What do you have to say for yourself? I didn’t think you had it in you to stab someone in the back. But then, I guess, you’re more like your mother than I thought.”
She scoffs, then shakes her head. So much for the sassy girl I once knew. Can’t even talk to me.
“Well?” I prompt, yet again.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I have nothing to say to you.”
Nothing? How can she have nothing to say to me?Fuck’s sake.
I wanted to Mila alone to ask her what really happened. Why she would do that. But as soon as I saw her, I unleashed all the anger I had—about the game, about us, about everything—onto her, and I can’t stop. It’s like the dam has broken, and everything is being released. I can’t stop it; the water is flowing too fast, and my mind screams with pain.
“Tell me,” I yell at her.
I thought things were broken before, but at least they were fixable. If I’m left on the outside, looking in, how can I fix anything? Especially when I don’t know what I need to fix. I’m sick of it.
“Fuck off, Jace. If you think you can walk over here and yell at me, like you know everything...” she screams. “You don’t know shit. You haven’t spoken to Roman or Hunter. So, why would I talk to you?”
“Roman won’t talk to me, but I deserve to know,” I scream back unsure of what I wanted to know. This isn’t what I had planned.
“Why do youdeserveto know anything? You spout the same shit everyone else is at school. Isn’t that enough for you? Don’t you love gossip? Are you calling me a murderer behind my back as I pass you in the halls like so many others? You seem to know everything, so what are you asking me?”
Fuck. I spin on the spot and slam my fist into the wall.Fuck. What the hell really happened?
