To Know

Chapter 30

"Why did you do that?" Seraphina asked John. She slid down the fence and took a seat on the floor of the roof with John following her lead.

"Do what?" he questioned back.

"Just constantly interjecting when Arlo was speaking when he specifically asked you not to do that," she replied, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Why are you standing up for him?" he replied. She rolled her eyes. "It's because he's a liar. He was lying. I wasn't going to let him get away with it."

"He didn't sound like he was lying." She brought her hands up to gesture as she spoke. "I don't mean body language or voice – he's a serial liar, that wouldn't be reliable, John." His mouth hung open; voice silenced before he could speak. "What I mean is that what he said could be another interpretation of what you had told me. They weren't exactly the same, but they had the same events give or take."

"So, wouldn't he try to keep it close to what he knows I told you and even to what I might have told you to convince you of his lie? To make it more believable?" She blinked at him.

"But, as he doesn't know exactly what you told me, he may run into the issue of clashing details. It would then be easier to tell the truth, so I would believe his side of what happened. And not something that is a matter of opinion either. He knows I trust you more, so he wouldn't benefit from lying where I could call him out."

"B-but does he consider that?" John pressed his lips together in thoughts. "Or better yet, how do you know that he doesn't lie and have a way around it? What if he is telling a lie through what you are considering a matter of opinion."

"John, maybe you should trust me to decide for myself whether he was lying to me or not," she replied, blue eyes meeting gold.

"I just want to help you." He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Yeah, but you make it sound like you want any reason to discount him," she replied.

"I don't trust him after all he has done."

"I get that, but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel regret, or guilt nor that he doesn't change," she said. She placed her chin in her hand.

"Okay, you've got a point," he replied. Then he smiled to himself, looking down to the floor. "I guess I sometimes think I can't change and the same for everyone else. They don't show much chance of changing either."

"What about me? I changed. Doesn't that show people can change." She looked at him, winking.

"Not everyone loses their ability."

Her eyes widened. "W-what about before that?"

Blood rushed to John's face. "Well, err... You more significantly changed when you lost your ability. And before that too."

He refused to meet her eyes.

"I get it." He looked back to her, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't really get your problems as a cripple before – I didn't take it seriously. I thought it would be a nice escape from everything that comes with being a high tier (although you were one to talk now that I think about it) but there are better solutions. Such as running away."

John blinked at her before he started to stare at her.

"I'm not actually thinking about running away. At least, not in the near future. I don't have any plans for it and I'd only be safe if I did have plans. I may as well graduate from high school first and just e=cut contact with my parents sometime in my adulthood.

"I was actually thinking about my sister. Leilah. She ran away when she was 18 and entering university. I think she had a scholarship to a university, but my parents wanted her to go to different one, so she took an opportunity to leave and they couldn't track her because she was 18 then. I'm not sure they would have anyway. They just deemed her a failure and moved all their attention on to me. They'd probably try to find me though because they don't have another daughter after me."