Page 62 of Surviving Lies

“Yeah, I’ll take a ride,” I said. “I think you’ll have to take me home, if that’s OK. I haven’t heard from Becca in a few days. I don’t want to just show up.”

We climbed into his Jeep and started the drive to my complex. He conveniently drove by Lanie and Becca’s place on the way out, giving me a chance to see that she was home, her light on in her room. I continued to stare through her window as we drove by, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, but had no luck.

Xander was rounding the corner to exit the complex when a familiar convertible Mustang pulled into a spot. I knew Gage lived nearby, but didn’t know he was this close to Becca. The doors of the car opened on both sides, and my heart sank. I prayed it wasn’t Becca I was going to see exiting the passenger side of the car. Instead, I saw a tall, slim blonde get out and wait for the driver to come around to the front of the car.

Xander slowed, knowing this was something we needed to see.

She had a small bag over her shoulder, which Gage took from her as they walked side by side to his door. They may not have been all over each other on the short walk up the path, but it was obvious they knew each other. I didn’t know how I knew; it was just in the way they looked at each other as they walked side by side. There was a level of familiarity between them, as if each knew what the other would do next.

Kind of how Becca and I would look.

And I was back to seeing red.

The rage was consuming me.

Because I was sure Becca had no idea that this was going on.

“So, you’ve already busted one person’s nose tonight. I’m going to keep driving, and you’re going to stay in the car. OK?” Xander’s voice held a hint of warning. He waited for Gage and the woman to close the door to his apartment before driving on.

My mind couldn’t process what it had just seen. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. But I also wanted to jump to the conclusion that he was an asshole who was fucking another girl while seeing Becca.

I wanted to shout it from the rooftop.

At the very least, I wanted to tell Becca.

“You know you can’t tell Becca, right, Ty?” Xander asked.

“Why the fuck not?” I yelled back. “He’s a fucking cocky bastard taking advantage of a girl almost six years younger than he is. All while he has another one on the side. Fuck no. I’m not letting him get away with that!” I was furious.

“You’re not telling Becca because ifyou’rethe one to tell her, she will hateyou. And you don’t need that,” Xander said. “Let me talk to Lanie. We’ll figure out what’s best. Will you wait for us to do that?”

I wasn’t normally an angry person. But the fury raging inside of me was hard to contain. If Xander hadn’t driven away, I knew I would have torn out of the Jeep straight for him. Forcing myself to take measured breaths helped me calm down enough to answer him.

“Fine, but she’s gotta know, Xander. Someone has to tell her, and soon.”

Chapter 18

Becca

It’s funny how a mind works. I was so angry at Gage when I left his house Monday night. Angry enough that I was content to not call him for a ride to class on Tuesday morning. Or Wednesday.

But when he hadn’t called to offer a ride ... it hurt.

Even if he had called, I wouldn’t have taken him up on the offer. I would have come up with some excuse. But I still wanted him to fucking ask.

My mind and my heart wanted him to ask, and it hurt that he didn’t.

And on top of that, the guilt I felt for only sending that one text to Ty ate me up inside. When I got home that night from Gage’s and saw the flowers, I wasn’t in the right headspace to accept them the way I should have.

And then the rest of the week had just been one big fuckup.

When I didn’t get the call Tuesday morning for a ride to class from Gage, I was late and missed the bus. That in turn made me late to class. My entire day went downhill from there. I didn’t even want to revisit that day in my mind; I’d rather forget it completely.

Seeing the flowers when I got home only reminded me I hadn’t talked to Ty since I’d last seen him on Sunday. But other than the flowers, he hadn’t reached out either. But he was giving mespace, right? Were the flowers my volley? Was it my turn? Ugh.

Escaping to my room, I locked myself inside and stayed there the rest of the night. I think I was in and out of sleep, probably because I got little the night before. I did anything and everything to keep my mind off of my current life status. I even did homework willingly. Like, ahead of time. It wasn’t even due for days.

And as the anger wore off, it was replaced by self-doubt and worthlessness.

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