11 Reasons Why

#8: Lies

11 Reasons Why

© Bree Stonefield, 2013

8. Lies

He would lie to her, and she'd do the same.

It wouldn't be anything more than little white lies though, to cover up little things that either of them did or did not do. Truthfully, even though finding out the truth later would make both of them feel betrayed, the lying and "manipulations" didn't really affect their relationship in general that much.

In fact, it made it easier for her to read him. She could eventually know when he was lying and when he was not with only a simple twitch at the corner of his eyes or how his voice held a tinge of hesitation on the phone or a nervous fidgeting at his fingers or a tugging at the hem of his shirt—heck, even she could tell when he was lying from the words he sent her through text messages.

And nothing felt better than catching him red-handed when he lied. Score.

  Mid-March, 2011

 Grace     : What are you doing tonight?

Grant     : Nothing. I'm just going to sleep early. I have soccer early morning.

Grace     : Oh.

Grant     : I'm sorry. I'll call you some other time, ok? Probably during practice tomorrow.

Grace     : Oh, don't worry. Just focus on your practice. Your game is near, right? :)

Grant     : Okay.

I bit my lip, staring at my phone a bit disappointedly. I was hoping Grant and I could be talking tonight—I got so much to share with him. For instance, I'd gotten a perfect score in Calculus today—something that I took so much pride in. And then there was this fact that Mom and Dad allowed me if I wanted to invite Grant along to our family's spring break trip—that was, if his parents allowed him.

But we'd been talking about spring break since last month. I'd always told him how much I wanted to spend my time together with him, since the last time we really hung out was during winter break. I'd missed him a lot, and I just wanted to be with him.

I was coming to California this spring break. Only Dad and my brother Lance were coming along with me there, and they both were pretty laid back when it came to my boyfriend. I was sure that bringing Grant with me would be just fine. Grant thought so too, and he was positive that his parents would let him if he was really free during the break. I'd met his parents a few times and they knew me pretty well.

But since Grant had been busy, I hadn't been able to tell him the good news.

I quickly pressed reply and typed in my message.

Grace     : Sleep tight, rest well for tomorrow. I love you. x

I lay on my bed, staring at my ceiling with my phone gripped in one hand. Now that I'd gotten nothing to do—I'd done ALL my homework since I thought I'd be busy talking with Grant later tonight—I started to doze off. I was suddenly very tired and exhausted even though I was doing nothing.

I tried to stay awake in case Grant replied, but it never came. Slowly, I just let myself fall asleep. And that was when my phone vibrated.

I jolted awake, suddenly very alert. The phone was still in my hand, so it didn't take long for me to check the new message from Grant.

Grant     : Yeah. Night.

I stared at my phone for a really long time before sighing and trying to fall asleep with endless questions in my head.