Believe Me, I'm Lying

:Believe Me, I'm Lying: 20

“So he told you his mom died?”

“Yeah,” I responded in a quiet voice.

Melissa played with the cap of her milk bottle. “I can understand why Oliver is angry about why my mom didn’t take Lily when his mom died… but that was two years ago. He should get over it. Lily lives with my cousin, who’s a good person. It’s not like Oliver can’t go see Lily.”

“How come your mom didn’t take her?” I asked. It was a lot easier to ask Melissa questions than Oliver.

Melissa looked embarrassed. “I wish I could make excuses for my mom, but I can’t. It sounds horrible, but she didn’t want Lily because Lily wasn’t related to her in any way, therefore Lily wasn’t her responsibility.”

“But Lily is Oliver’s sister!”

“I know.”

“And Lily is so young! Why would your mom want to separate them?”

“I don’t know,” Melissa responded, a little irritated. “That’s why I can understand why Oliver is angry. I tried to convince my mom to adopt Lily, but she wouldn’t. However, she did ask my cousin to adopt her, and she did. My cousin has a great family,” she told me. “Lily really likes them too. Oliver just is sour.”

I didn’t respond at first, popping another piece of rib into my mouth, and chewing slowly. I couldn’t blame Oliver for not liking his step-mom. Melissa couldn’t understand because she didn’t have any siblings. But it sounded like Lily had a good life. Wasn’t Oliver happy about that?

I shook my head. “Well, it doesn’t seem like Oliver is going to change his mind about your step-mom.”

Melissa smiled wryly. “I know. I kind of just wanted to get what I was feeling off my chest… Thanks for listening. I don’t have many friends I can talk to about this.”

I stared at Melissa in surprise. “You’re thanking me? You don’t need to! We’re friends, this is what friends are for!”

Melissa laughed. “Okay, then I take back my thanks. Do you have anything you need to talk about?”

“No,” I said quickly, making Melissa raise an eyebrow. I laughed nervously. “Nothing important right now, anyway.”

Melissa looked like she was about to say more, but the door suddenly opened, making Melissa and me jump. I twisted around in my seat to see Tucker standing at the door, staring at Melissa in surprise. Melissa noticed Tucker and blushed, quickly turning the other way.

“Tucker!” I cried, jumping up from my desk. “I thought you weren’t coming. I ordered Chinese, you want some?”

“What’s she doing here?” Tucker asked in a stiff voice.

I glanced back at Melissa, who was still looking the other way. Tucker looked angry and embarrassed, and I realized why. He didn’t want anyone to know that I made him lunch every day. “Tucker—”

“Ms. Allen! I told you not to tell anyone!”

“I didn’t tell her anything, Tucker!”

Tucker pursed his lips, entering the room, and closing the door behind him. “Well, obviously she’s going to think something’s going on now.”

Melissa finally looked up, glancing at Tucker. She blushed a deeper red and look away again. “S-sorry,” she stuttered.

“Whatever,” Tucker snapped.

“Tucker!”

Tucker let out a small sigh, shooting me a dirty look. “ Sorry, Melissa. It’s not your fault.”