Page 15 of Just a Little White Lie

It makes it impossible to get out of bed.

* * *

Eventually I’m pulled out of bed by hunger. My stomach growls in protest as the hours tick by, and at five o’clock, I give up and head out to the kitchen for a snack.

I find Luke and Mallory at the dining table, playing a game of Scrabble while munching through a bowl of chips and dip.

Grabbing a handful, I park it at the end of the table and start nibbling. Yum. So good. So necessary.

Mallory plays her word—GRAPH—not bad.

“That’s eleven, but double word score brings it up to twenty-two.” She grins, writes it down, then glances at me. “So, well done. Glad to hear you had a productive evening.”

I blink and nod.

Her smile grows a little wider. “Jack said you put your name down at some local high schools. There are some excellent ones in the area. Haven Academy in particular. That has a wonderful reputation.”

“Yeah, that’s the rich school, right?” I rub my eyes and yawn. “Looks kind of big and fancy.” I make a face, thinking about the uppity, strict school I went to as a teenager. Ugh. I hated it.

“No walking on the grass.”

“Tuck in your shirt.”

“You’re two seconds late. That’ll be a lunchtime detention.”

“The school is certainly well stocked.” Mallory nods.

“Did you go there or something?”

“No.” She laughs. “My parents didn’t have a spare twenty-five grand a year… and I wasn’t eligible to be one of the charity cases.”

I frown. “Charity cases?”

“Yeah. The guy who started the school, he was rich gentry from Scotland or something. Didn’t know a thing about education other than the fact that he hated his schooling experience. So, he bought this massive piece of land and built a school on it that would celebrate academia, arts, and sports equally. The school grew pretty quickly, and then he initiated a charity for those kids who couldn’t afford to come.”

I raise my eyebrows.

“They take in just a few boarders a year, I think. The school has a special fund that pays for everything for them. But you’ve got to be either on the breadline or come from a pretty crappy home situation to be eligible. I’m guessing the wait list is pretty long.”

I scratch my forehead, finding the idea intriguing. I wonder how those “charity cases” feel about it. Walking the halls with a bunch of rich kids. Surely it makes them feel like outcasts. Then again, if it’s giving them a leg up in life…

“So hopefully you’ll get a call from them.” Luke grins. “I’m proud of you for actually getting onto it, sis.”

“Thanks,” I murmur, forcing a brief smile before standing up to grab a drink. I gulp back a glass of water, then stare at the cup, a memory coming to me.

Water. Jack made me drink water last night.

“You need to rehydrate.”

He sat with me on the couch. Was that before or after I emailed those schools? Why can’t I remember doing that?

“Where’s Jack?” I spin to face my brother.

He laughs. “Don’t worry. The guy is out for the evening. Hanging out with some friends in Hamilton.”

I rub a hand over my mouth. Bummer. I wanted to ask him.

He was sitting beside me.

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