Believe Me, I'm Lying

:Believe Me, I'm Lying: 26-1

“You ready, bud?”

Elliot nodded to me, pulling his wool hat further down his head. For a moment I surveyed his attire, determining whether or not he would be warm enough outside. He had an over-sized winter coat on, and just about ten pairs of pants. I was afraid someone on the street might accidentally mistake him for a walking marshmallow.

“Harley, wear this.”

Something warm wrapped around my neck, and I turned my head slightly to see Will hovering over me, holding the ends of a fluffy, grey scarf. I took it from him, wrapping it the rest of the way throat. “Thanks.”

He gave me a gentle smile. “Will you be okay today?”

“I’ll be—” My voice caught and I cleared it before continuing. “I’ll be fine…”

“Are you sure? You could always stay home and we could go through photo albums or something—”

I quickly shook my head. “No.”

Will frowned at me. “Harley, trying to forget won’t make things better. It’s better to celebrate their memory.”

My stomach twisted uncomfortably as a lump in my throat grew. “I don’t want to forget. I just don’t want to remember right now. I want to have fun today. I’m sure my mom and dad would rather see me having fun than see me crying.”

“That’s true,” Will chuckled, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Go have fun, kiddo.”

I shrugged away from his hand, giving him a quick grin. “That’s the idea.”

A knock on the front door signaled the arrival of Oliver, who had offered to pick Elliot and myself up. Elliot was pulling open the door before I even started towards it. I quickly looked at Will, making sure he was wearing pants. He was. Will raised an eyebrow at me, but I turned back to the door. Instead of Oliver standing in the doorway like I expected, Melissa, Zak, and Arden were there, wide smiles on their faces. Taken aback, I stared at the group for a minute, not sure of what to say.

“Harley! You made a girl friend?” Will cried excitedly, pushing past me. He went up to Melissa, scooping up her hand, and shaking it exclusively. “Hello lovely lady, what’s your name?”

Melissa sent me an amused look before smiling at Will. “I’m Melissa, Oliver’s sister.”

“Nice to meet you, Melissa. I’m Will,” he responded, finally dropper her hand. “It’s so nice to see Harley with a girl her a—”

I quickly flung myself at Will, clamping a hand over this mouth. He cried out in surprise, but my hand muffled the sound. “Ah ha ha, silly Will. Of course I have friends around here…”

Melissa laughed while Arden and Zak exchanged confused looks. Will furrowed his eyebrows, pulling my hand away from his face. “What?”

“Will this is Zak,” I said, gesturing towards Zak. “And you know Arden.”

“The want-to-be boyfriend,” Will stated with a nod. “Yes, I remember.”

Arden cracked a grin at him. “That’s me.”

“Oliver and Tucker are waiting in the van, so we should probably go,” Melissa advised. “We don’t want to put Oliver in a bad mood…”

“Who invited him anyway?” Arden muttered moodily.

I rolled my eyes at him. “I did. And you two are going to get along, right?”

Arden pursed his lips at me. “If I have to.”