Believe Me, I'm Lying

Believe Me, I'm Lying: 17

I frowned, staring at the clock. It was now half way through first period.

And Arden wasn’t here.

Was he sick? Or was he ditching? No, I thought with a frown. Arden wouldn’t ditch me— I mean, his punishment from the whole food fight thing… Suddenly it felt like a weight had dropped in my gut. The one-month quota was almost up.

A frown appeared on my face. I knew I should be happy for Arden, but I really liked the help and company. I would even miss Oliver’s company when the time was up. Sure, the boys were a lot to handle, but they were also, in some weird way, fun. A sigh escaped my lips as I put my head down on my desk.

When I heard the door open I abruptly sat up, turning my head so fast towards the door my neck cricked. “Arden?”

Zak was staring back at me, raising an eyebrow. “No… Zak.”

“Oh.”

“Why do you sound disappointed?”

I looked away from him quickly, positive my face was the slightest shade of pink. “I’m not.”

“Sure.”

I turned back to Zak with a frown. He grinned back at me, coming over to my desk and hovering by the edge of it. “I brought you something.”

“Really?” I asked curiously. “What?”

Zak tossed an envelope on my desk. “Well, it’s more for Elliot… But because I’m an employee for Build-A-Bear I get really handy coupons that save a lot, but the problem is… I don’t make Build-A-Bears.”

I laughed, sliding the envelope closer to myself. “Is this some way to make me spend money at your store?”

“Maybe.” Zak smiled mischievously. “Anyway, was Tucker in your room again this morning?”

“Yeah,” I responded, giving him a quizzical look. “How did you know?”

Zak shrugged. “I just figured he went in every day. What happened this time? Did he punch you?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, Zak. Nothing happened.”

“Did you find out what he was doing?”

“Umm,” I hesitated, turning my attention to the white envelope that held the Build-A-Bear stickers. “Yeah.”

“What was he doing?” Zak questioned, leaning against the edge of my desk.

Now it was my turn to shrug. “Nothing really. Homework. I guess this is where he comes to do homework before class.”

Zak pursed his lips. “He seemed too suspicious to me to just be doing homework in here.”

“True,” I agreed, “but it really was what he was doing.”

“Weird.”

“Do you have class now?” I asked Zak, glancing at the clock. “Don’t you have to go back? I’m not trying to imply anything,” I added quickly. “I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

Zak made a face. “But Ms. Allen, I hate math.”

“Me too,” I agreed quickly. “But if you get too far behind it’ll be hard to catch up, so I suggest you get going.”

“Fine. Make sure you put those coupons to use.”

I smiled at him. “I will, soon. I promise.”

Zak grinned back. “Good.”

He left the room, and I returned to my mindless daydreaming. I really wanted to know where Arden was. What if he was sick? Well, there wasn’t anything I could do about that… He was probably just skipping. Not this period, but the whole day. But it’d be nice if he came in later…