started with a lie ➳ raura revised

Chapter Forty-Six

We walk over to the side and sit at a table to enjoy the air conditioning a bit longer. The morning rush start pouring in and suddenly, the cafe is crowded. Every person that passes by outside looks set and determined to get to their destination. It's so different in the city. I can't stress it enough. But it's also intriguing and pulls at the inner workings of my brain because there are so many stories and people here, I just want to soak everything in. I feel like New York City is a whole other country by itself.

"It was one thing going to an out of state college," Tanner says. "It was another going across the country. Especially a place with seasons."

"Why'd you do it then?"

"Eh, people," he says nonchalantly but I can tell by the way he harshly bites his straw and looks away that it's more than that. "People and problems, what else? And besides, I could use some new scenery. This will be my first time experiencing snow."

My eyes widen. I've never met anyone that hasn't seen snow before. "You're in for a real treat," I tell him. "Snow is just so...magical. For the first five minutes anyway. It's beautiful to look at from the comfort of your home under a billion blankets but once it starts covering up the sidewalks and turning black from dirt, it's not so pretty. And shoveling is hell."

Tanner laughs. "Can't wait!" He starts flexing, putting down his drink and pushing up his sleeve. "The Lord didn't give me these muscles for no reason, ya know?"

And to that, I laugh along with him and roll my eyes. "It seems you really like your muscles."

"Heck yeah," he says. "These muscles got me a scholarship here, actually. I play on the lacrosse team. You should come by sometime when we have a game."

"Of course," I tell him. "I need to start getting more involved. Maybe I should join a club or something."

"Do you, like, have any hobbies?"

"Hmm," I say, my eyebrows pinching together as I think. This should come easy to me but as I think back to what I do in my free time, all I think about is one blue-eyed boy that tore my heart apart yesterday. And if I rewind to before that, I just see the petty high school version of me absorbed in high school drama and always...boys. "I need a hobby."

"How do you not have a hobby?" Tanner asks, sipping his coffee. He looks at his watch. "Cool. I have like thirty-ish minutes until my next class. Now, this I could get used to."

"I don't know....I just don't really do things. If I did, I'd be at Colombia or something," I tell him. My next class is also in an hour so I can sit back easy. "The only thing I'm good at is studying but a couple of things happened and it made me fall off my game."

"Yeah? What?" He stares at me, waiting for an answer. "Uh...my mom...she—"

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!" he says, cutting me off. "I didn't mean to, like, make you talk about things you don't wanna talk about. What a dick move. Sorry, man."

"No, no," I say, laughing a little and shi ing in my seat. I put my drink down. "She's not dead or anything. She got into a really bad car accident and now she won't wake up. Coma." My smile falters and I try not to go into that black hole I tend to fall into when I think about the general idea of my mother in a coma.

Tanner looks side to side and then at me. He coughs and then slides his drink over to me. "I'm sorry about that. You want a sip?"

I arch my eyebrows. Weirdo. "Um, no thanks."

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Really? A sip of your coffee? That's what you can offer as comfort?" I ask but I'm only playing. I'd freak out too because I can't comfort people even if it was to save my life.