Page 96 of Surviving Lies

“Just trying to figure it out, man,” Jake said.

Xander laughed. “I’m a patient, and Lanie is my doctor. I guess without her here, it doesn’t make sense.”

“You look more likeFight Club. Maybe you should add some gauze or something,” one of the other guys suggested.

“Hey, that’s a great idea,” he said, heading back upstairs.

The rest of us continued getting the house ready. It looked amazing with a smoke machine set up by the front door, glow-in-the-dark decorations, and a black light lighting up the entire floor. It looked quite professional, if you asked me. We were expecting over two hundred people tonight; it was our biggest event of the year at the house.

But all I could think about was seeing her.

My nerves were shot at the thought of seeing her after weeks of silence. I was giving her the space she’d asked for, but I didn’t want to ruin any potential chance I had. Was she sitting at home wondering why I wasn’t pushing harder to talk to her? I was still texting her consistently, letting her know I was thinking of her. Just not asking anything of her.

Xander came back downstairs with gauze wrapped around his head, and the gauze was covered with red sharpie marks. It looked like a five-year-old had put it together, but no one would ever say that to him.

“Ty, come help me with the keg,” he said as he crossed the room to the kitchen. “You know Becca’s coming tonight, right?” We emptied bags of ice into the keg bucket.

“Yeah, I talked to Lanie. Why else do you think I’m in this pirate suit?” I said, pointing to my outfit. He looked at my costume and nodded.

“I think you look better than I do. Lanie might be pissed at me.” He laughed. “Anyway, do you think there will be some drama with her tonight?” He stood against the counter, looking at me seriously at this point, studying me.

“Well, I’m really not sure. All I know is I’m excited to see her, considering it’s been weeks since I have. If I have to stare at her from across the room, then that’s what I’ll do. But I won’t be the one starting any drama if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“You rarely are, Ty,” Xander chuckled. “Lanie just texted me that they were running a bit late because Becca was taking so long to get ready. Sound familiar?”

Very familiar. Last year, she would be late to every party she went to because it took her so long to get ready. I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad sign that she was putting in some extra effort to get pretty for tonight. It could go both ways, and by Xander’s look, he knew it too.

“Yeah, well, I’ll make sure to keep things under control. Don’t worry.”

He shook his head, and we both got back to getting the place ready for the horde of people arriving soon.

“Oh my God, this place looks amazing!” Lanie screamed in my ear as she hugged me. She’d come over to me once they arrived, leaving Becca with the rest of her roommates on the other side of the room.

“Thanks, we worked hard on it,” I told her. “You look great in your scrubs, Dr. Montgomery. One day we’ll be calling you that for real, too.” She smiled wide at that. “How is she? I haven’t talked to her at all. She’s been ignoring me completely.”

Lanie shrugged her shoulders a bit as she looked around the room, I think to make sure Becca wasn’t watching us. “I don’t know, Ty. She says she’s fine, and she seems to be acting OK, but I know her pretty well, and I don’t think she’s OK. I think it’s all a cover-up, but I don’t know for sure.” She looked straight at me before saying her next words. “One thing I will tell you is, be careful tonight. Be careful how you approach her if you plan on talking to her. She’s definitely back to being snarky, even more than normal.”

I nodded. “Thanks for the warning.”

Xander came up behind her and pulled her into his arms. “Doc, I think I need you to take me to bed and check me out. Something seems to be wrong with me.”

Lanie swung around to inspect her patient, eyes wide when she did. “Xander, you look adorable. Does my patient need some tending to?”

“I’m stealing the doctor from you, Ty. Any issues with that?” Xander asked.

But it was a rhetorical question, since they were walking away from me already.

And the two of them were off into their own little world. It kind of made me jealous. But I was also happy to see that they weren’t sitting around worried about the shit with Max. They were living their lives.

“It’s enough to make someone vomit, isn’t it?” a voice said from behind me.

I turned to see a tiny-framed girl dressed as a grungy fairy, nowhere close to looking anything like Tinker Bell. Her short black hair was purple tipped for her costume – at least, I thought it was for her costume. Her black boots looked well worn. Something about her confidence told me not much about her was not a costume.

Then I saw her eyes.

They reminded me so much of Becca’s.

The green was startling. And they seemed to see right into me, like she knew what I was thinking and feeling. Like she knew me. I recognized her as one of Becca’s roommates, but we had never formally met.

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