Page 84 of The Otherworld

Oh no.

I should have seen this coming. I should have heard it in his voice before. I should have seen it in the way he looked at her this morning when he met her face-to-face. The way I’ve seen him look at other girls in the past.

I know that look.

I know that voice.

I know the feeling of I miss her.

I’m feeling it now—so intensely that the words “So do I” slip out of my mouth before I know what I’m saying.

Jack props himself up on his elbow. “Yeah?”

My brain scrambles to put together a decent fib. “Yeah, I mean… she was interesting. We had some good conversations.”

“About philosophy.”

I shut my eyes. “Yes. Philosophy.”

“Nothing else?”

He’s fishing.

If I trip up now, I’m busted.

“Nothing else,” I say, adding an irritated sigh for good measure. “Now, come on, stop.”

“Okay, okay. Just checking.” Jack grins. “She is hot, you know. Like, way hotter than I thought she’d be.”

I cut him a disapproving look.

“What? Don’t say you didn’t notice.”

“Of course I noticed.”

“But… nothing happened. Between you guys. Right?”

“Jack, I already told you nothing happened. Now would you stop?”

He laughs and throws a pillow at me. “Okay, fine. I’ll stop. I believe you.”

“Good.” I throw the pillow back at him and stand up. “I’m going to go help Mom with dinner. I suggest you get off your ass and do likewise.”

Jack mutters some childish complaints, but I leave the room before I hear most of them. In the hallway, I stop and think about what I just told him.

It was a lie.

Not the half-hearted denial he can see right through, but a serious, deliberate lie.

I’m not sure why I did it. Maybe because it’s strange for us both to like the same girl—for me to like a girl Jack’s age.

Or maybe because a lie is less complicated than the truth.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

I promised Orca’s father it was over and done. I gave him my word that I wouldn’t try to contact his daughter. That I would leave them both alone.

And I will.

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