Bad Liar

Chapter 1

It's almost the end of the night and I get another request for a ride. I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up to be an Uber driver but I was just tired tonight.

I climb into my car and start driving to their location. After some light traffic and the soft patter of rain I reach his location.

"No way! It really is you," he says.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

He climbs into the passenger seat next to me and buckled his seat belt. His hair is slightly disheveled from the rain and his clothes are spotted with rain drops. He turns to look at me and gives me a smile.

Oh no. I know who this is. It's Daniel Seavey. Don't get me wrong, he's cool and all but he comes off as a little arrogant. I've dealt with celebrities before and they aren't all as pleasant as they are in interviews.

"You're Daniel Seavey, right? From that band?" I say.

"Yes, but you don't remember me from high school?" He asks.

"No, sorry," I lie.

Truth is of course I remember him. How can anyone not remember him? He was insanely talented and kind. Every girl had a crush on him at one time or another, including me. We were lab partners in chemistry. Of course I was going to start liking him.

"Oh," he says looking a little sad.

"But it's nice seeing you again," I smile.

"You too. How have you been?" He asks.

I start driving and we make small talk. He tells me his successes with Why Don't We. It's pretty impressive, and their music is good.

"I was hoping you were my Uber driver," he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"Oh um no reason," he laughs nervously, "so what do you think of the band?"

"You guys are good. I've heard some of your stuff," I say.

"Thanks," he says.

He continued to talk about himself and his success. I was happy for him but it was getting annoying. This was the reason I didn't like him anymore. It just felt like the fame got to his head. I liked the old Daniel, not whoever this blonde guy was sitting in my passenger seat.

The rain started picking up and it was getting hard to see. My windshield wipers were all the way up and so were my lights. The road was slick and I heard the cars around me screeching.

"You've changed," I sigh, "it's like I barely know you anymore."

"What do you mean?" He asks.

Before I can explain why our phones go off. There's a flash flood warning telling everyone to get off the roads and go inside.

"You should pull over," he suggests.

"No your house is just 20 more minutes," I say, "it's fine."

"Just pull over. That's too long and I don't want either of us to get hurt. I know you don't exactly like me right now, but this is dangerous," he insists.

I pull over into the next hotel parking lot that I can find. It takes me five minutes to find a parking spot. They're all filled. We sit in the car for a little while in silence on our phones. I check the weather and the storm isn't supposed to be over until tomorrow. Daniel notices too and I suggest we just check into the hotel for the night. He takes his jacket off and holds it above me as we make a run for the lobby.

"Thanks," I smile.

We were both still soaking wet but it was nice of him to do that for me. We walk over to the front desk.

"Two rooms please," I say.

"I'm sorry, miss. There is only one room left," the clerk apologizes.

"Are there two beds?" I ask.

"No, there is one queen bed," she says.

"There really aren't any other rooms?" I ask.

"I'm sorry. This is the only one left. Everyone booked the rest because of the storm," she says.

"It's fine. We'll take it," Says Daniel.

He slides his credit card over to her on the desk. I look up at him and raise an eyebrow. He ignores me and finishes paying for the room. They hand him the keys and we walk to the elevator. We walk into the hotel room and there really is only a bed. There's a desk chair, a desk, a TV, a small bathroom, and one bed.

"Lovely," I huff.

"Cheer up," Daniel smiles, "at least we aren't stuck in the storm."

I grab two towels from the bathroom and toss one to Daniel. We dry off and he lied down on the bed. I sit down and face him.

"You think I've changed?" He asks staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah. A little bit," I admit.

"You changed too," he says.

"Have I?" I ask.

"Yeah. You just seem different, not necessarily in a bad way," he says.

"Oh," I say, "sorry I was mean to you in the car. I'm just tired."

"It's okay. I was being annoying. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous," he says.

"Why were you nervous?" I ask as I lie down next to him.

"Because I haven't seen you since chemistry sophomore year. I didn't know what you'd be like now," he tells me.

"I didn't think you'd remember being my chemistry partner," I say.

"Wait," He says sitting up, "you said you didn't remember me. How did you know we were partners?"

He caught me in my lie. There was no hiding it now.

"Okay so maybe I did remember you," I say.

"I knew it! You were always a bad liar. Like that one time we messed up our lab and you tried to lie and tell her we finished early," he laughs.

"You didn't help the situation," I laugh, "you're terrible at excuses."

"Whatever," he says lying back down.

We continued to talk and laugh about our high school experiences. I haven't laughed this much in a long time. It was nice being with Daniel again. This night reminded me of exactly why I liked him. We must have fallen asleep because I woke up under the covers to the sun shining through a crack in the curtains. I move to get up and feel Daniel's arm wrapped around my bare waist.

My bare waist?

Oh no. No no no. Where are my clothes? What happened last night?