Lilac's Lies

26

AN: this is a double update, please make sure you've read chapter 25 first

I heard Roman calling after me, but I didn't stop.

He had to understand, right? He knows the drill, after all. Boys who look like Roman, they know the drill. A kiss is a kiss, nothing more and nothing less. He'd get over it.

Once the elevator doors opened, I rushed into the lobby of Roman's building. I was regretting not taking his offer to shower while I was there, because my hair was still a tangled mess, and my makeup was still smeared across my face. I ran quickly across the marble floors, eager to be on the city streets, where there was much worse than the likes of me running around.

I breathed the city air as I pushed through the doors, ignoring the glare from the doorman. I took a minute to use my mental navigational system, before turning right and walking quickly down the crowded street. I was right, no one seemed to spare me a second glance. They were almost certainly judging me inside their heads, soaking in my unkept appearance from the safety of their peripheral vision, but they had the tact to ignore me. I kept my head steady, however. I was running over the possibilities of what Khalil could possibly want in my head.

Did this have something to do with the article? Was there more information that was released and Jesse was keeping it from me? That Brett was keeping from Clara? There's no way Clara knew something about this that I didn't. She would have told me, instantly.

Whatever it was, it was obvious that Khalil did not want Jesse knowing what it was. That realization made me think back to their seemingly harmless drift apart, and suddenly it didn't seem so harmless anymore. What could Khalil know that Jesse didn't? And why would he want me to know, and not Jesse?

I felt hope flair in my stomach this time. I felt hope because maybe whatever Khalil was about to tell me, could save me and Clara from their blackmail. That would be the best outcome, but it made no sense. Like I've said before, Khalil and I were never friends. Khalil and Clara slept together a couple of times, but they weren't friends either, as far as I knew.

As I arrived at the corner that Khalil told me to meet him at, I glanced around, looking for any sign of him, or his car. Khalil's car was special, just like all the other rich kids that went to my school. They all had foreign cars that cost more than a teacher's yearly salary. Khalil was no different, and his blacked-out Range Rover stood out among the seas of midsized sedans. I could see it now, travelling towards me. I waited, not wanting to wave my arm to him. I watched as he pulled his car into an empty parking lot, and then he ran over to me.

Khalil looked the same as he did when he came to my house the other day. His face was hollow, he looked like he hadn't slept. He didn't smell of alcohol this time, however, which was an improvement all on its own.

"Lilly, you came," he told me as he reached me. He stopped in front of me, before looking around. I wasn't sure was he was looking, but he shook his head in frustration, letting me know that whatever it was, he didn't find it. He placed his hands on my shoulders instead, pulling me against the wall with him.

"What's going on?" I asked him, shrugging away from him. He didn't remove his hands, though, he kept them locked on me.

"Did you read the article I left for you?" He asked me, his words rushed like they were on the phone.

"I looked at it," I told him, omitting the fact that I didn't completely read it.

"Lilly, did you read it all?" Khalil asked, as he gently shook my shoulders.

"Not all of it, no..." I said quietly. "I knew what it was about, Khalil, I remember what happened just as much as you do."

"There's something..." Khalil started, but he stopped speaking when he heard the same thing I did. Hip hop music so loud you could feel the vibrations of the bass in the concrete beneath our feet stole both of our attention, and we both turned towards the line of traffic, trying to find the source.