Five grabbed my chin with his right hand, forcing me to look him straight in the eyes. In those beautiful, emerald eyes that I loved and hated with all my heart at the same time.
"Is this you, telling me you hate me?"
I swallowed my saliva and gaspe...
Five was silent. I urged him with my eyes. I changed my mind and wanted to know why he did it.
"I did it so you wouldn't have to look at it. So you wouldn't try to stop me."
'Something isn't right...'
"How could I stop you if you slipped out at night?"
"It happened during dinner."
"So you lied to me?" It was the only thing I could choke out.
He looked up and his eyes flashed. However, it didn't make much of an impression on me at this point. I looked at him, not even trying to hide my nervousness.
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"It's not the only thing."
"What else then?" I exclaimed. "What else you're not telling me? Is any word you say not a lie?"
Five shook his head, a few drops of water falling on his slightly wrinkled shirt. I couldn't help but think how good he looked with wet hair.
"I'm telling you again, calm down. Almost all of them are not. Eight listen, I..."
"The word 'almost' makes a big difference here," I snapped, hearing the mockery in my voice.
Five closed his mouth, probably noticing that I was on the verge of exploding. It was true, I couldn't think rationally. Snippets of our conversations flashed through my head, wondering if any of them were true. Maybe I dreamed everything, including what happened between us today.
"So I'm asking for the last time," I used up the last of my patience and refrained from throwing a bunch of curses at him. "What else was a fucking lie?"
The boy leaned back in his chair and placed one hand on his thigh. He swallowed saliva and then sighed.
"Handler. What she said was a lie."
Relief. Shock. Relief again.
I pursed my lips, keeping myself from bursting into laughter. Oh yes. Loud, panicky laughter.
"So—So you didn't run away because of me?"
He hesitated again. The momentary relief gave way to anxiety.
"No, I didn't run away because of YOU."
I felt all the muscles in my body relax and my palms stop sweating. So everything was fine. I didn't do anything to make him run away. I had no reason to worry. I lifted one corner of my lips.
"Okay, now that we've got that out of the way..."
"Wait," he interrupted me. "I'm not done yet."
I fell silent. All the symptoms of nervousness returned this time with a vengeance.
"I said I didn't run away because of YOU," he repeated, then rubbed his hands on his thighs. "I uh— I ran away because of what YOU are doing to me."
