Page 70 of Surviving Lies

“What?” I asked.

“She wasn’t very discreet tonight. If she was trying to be, she wasn’t,” Xander said.

Confused as to who “she” was, I shook my head at his comment.

“Becca.”

“Hmph, you noticed, too, huh?” I asked. “Yeah, I don’t know what to make of it. I seem to be getting some mixed messages from her. She says she wants space, but then she’s basically fucking me with her eyes all night.” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair.

Xander stopped walking, and I turned to look his way. “I will never claim to understand women, not a single one of them. But I now have to get in the car with yours. I’m bringing her and Lanie home. I’ll see ya.”

I didn’t need to understand Becca. She could continue to be a mystery.

I just needed to make sure she was my mystery.

Chapter 20

Becca

“Let’s go grab a bite to eat before we head to campus,” I said to Macie as we walked out the front door. We were in a rush; we needed to get to the library to meet with our study group in thirty minutes but we were both in need of food.

“Oh shit,” Macie said. “I left my bag inside.”

I nodded as I reached in my pocket for my keys to let her back inside.

But they weren’t there.

And I panicked.

I hadn’t been thinking straight lately. After seeing Ty at the bowling alley, I’d been even more confused than ever. My emotions were all over the place. I decided last minute to go, knowing he would be there. But I figured we could be out together and hang out like friends. But as soon as I saw him, fuck, it was like a bolt of lightning hit me. This intense urge to be near him, for us to go back to the way we were last year, consumed me. I didn’t know if it was because we were at the bowling alley, which we had done last year, or if it was because we were there with all our friends. But it was overwhelming, and it took me off guard.

“Fuck!” The sweat was immediately dripping down my temples as my stress level went sky high. I dropped my backpack to the ground and tore it open, praying I’d thrown my keys in there without realizing.

“Macie, please tell me you grabbed your apartment keys.” My hopeful voice alerted her to the problem at hand. As I ripped every piece of paper from my bag, a futile attempt at finding keys that weren’t in there, I lifted my head to find Macie staring down at me. Her wide eyes and tight-lipped mouth told me everything I needed to know.

“Becca, they’re in my bag.” Her statement wasn’t accusatory. She was just as panicked as I was.

We knew Ava was in class, so she wasn’t an option.

“I’ll call Lanie,” Macie said, pulling her phone from her pocket and dialing.

I sat on the front step, feeling the defeat creep into all of my bones. I kicked my feet out straight in front of me as I leaned back on my hands, and my eyes caught sight of what was above us. Macie plopped down next to me, startling me out of my thoughts.

“I left a message, she didn’t answer,” Macie said, coming up next to me. She was looking up at our balcony with me. “What were you looking at?”

“Might be our only option if we can’t get in touch with anyone,” I told her. My eyes gravitated to our balcony one floor above.

Macie’s eyes followed, and her eyes widened right before she scoffed with a loud bellow. “What! You’re crazy, Becca. That’s too high. And how do you even know the balcony door will be open?” Macie stood to get a better look, shielding against the sun with her hand over her eyes.

“Ava keeps it unlocked all the time, I know that for a fact,” I told Macie. “Let’s wait it out a bit, see if we hear from anyone.”

We sat in the shade of the stoop, both completely discouraged by the position we had gotten ourselves in. It wasn’t worth trying to catch a bus at this point to make it to the study group; there wasn’t even time for that.

“I texted Mara, one of the other girls in the group. Told her what’s going on and that we won’t make it today,” Macie said.

“Thanks, Macie,” I said. “I’m sorry about this. I’m sorry I forgot my keys.” I was so confused with everything in my life at the moment, this was about to put me over the edge.

“It’s OK, Becca. I forgot my keys, too.” Her shoulders lifted as she smiled, trying to make us both feel better about being airheads.

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