It All Started with a Lie

Chapter 15

"Common sense!" She throws a stress ball off my shelf at me before making her exit.

I catch it with one hand, tossing on my shirt and picking up her book from my bed to put it on my nightstand in the stack with the rest of her collection. Before I can join her, she is popping her head in my room, smiling so brightly it's infectious. "Oh, by the way, I invited Claudia to movie night."

The grin slips from my lips and my chest tightens. I beg she hasn't seen it. "That's great." My voice is hoarse.

If she notices, she does not say. She sighs, twirling around. "I'm so glad I finally introduced you two. It's so much less stressful this way."

I do not agree. There is nothing stress free about this. "Me too," I lie.

Movie night suddenly seems less joyful knowing that I have to sit in the same room as Alexandria for an evening and pretend that we do not know each other well, and pray that my sister doesn't see right through us.

When I've gathered myself and finished changing, I meet my sister downstairs, who has set up the living room with snacks and queued the movie. She is in the kitchen with Alexandria, pouring jolly ranchers into a bowl. "What can I help with?" I ask, joining them by the counter.

Alexandria's head snaps at the sound of my voice, her cheeks flushing. She stands in a pair of dark heels that show off her legs and a lavender, silk, nightgown that hugs her body, as if it's been costum made for her. I can see every divot of her form and my mind struggles not to remember what she looked like without it, completely bare, letting my hands touch every inch of her. I swallow hard, looking to my sister for distraction. This is going to be a long night. "You can pour the m&m's." She tosses me a bag and slides over a bowl. "Sonny is going to be late, said to start the movie without him."

Wonderful. Just me, my sister, and her best friend who I've been secretly fucking behind her back. Can this night get any worse?

There is no one who knows me better than my sister. She knows me better than I know myself, been that way since we were kids. I can never hide anything from her, no matter how hard I've tried. Every exertion I make, even the smallest of movements, I fear she can see right through me.

I stay away from Alexandria, practically ignoring her as we finish gathering the snacks and move them to the living room. I'm the one to fix the tv when it doesn't start playing, and I worry that even the way I handle the remote, a slight quiver of my hand, will tip her off. She asks me about my day as I fix it and I think she can hear the uncertainty in my voice. Have I said too much? Not enough? Should I tell her more, cover for what I've said before? Should I stop speaking all together?

My collar begins to feel suffocating and normally I would simply remove it, but we had company. If I take it off will she think I am trying to show off? Or will she take my hesitation at removing it as timidness and know my sins? I have never been shy of my body in the years I've looked like this. She will know.

By the time I get the tv working and playing, the thoughts swarming my head have made me dizzy. I take a seat on the floor beside the loveseat, letting the two of them take it. The floor is truly the best spot for me, the only spot where Alexandria is not directly in my line of vision. I can almost pretend she's not here, almost. Her lavender perfume wafts through the air and with it comes images of that silk nightgown on the floor and her skin under my hands.

I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth, desperately trying to focus on the movie. I am so lost in my head that I don't even notice when my sister sticks her socked foot in my face, trying to draw my attention. "Klaus!" She yells, hitting the side of my cheek with the ball of her foot.