Colorblind

We Are All Liars

Alma POV

As I sit silently on the bed next to George my head spins. This night has been a series of unexpected events, with James's breakdown followed by a confession and George suddenly showing up. I look over at George, might as well stop delaying the inevitable.

I turn to him and ask "You wanted to talk?"

He looks at me and my eyes lock onto his blue ones. My heart skips but my gut pangs knowing that I have slowly become keen to a different pair of blue eyes: James.

The corners of his lips tug upward slightly but then resume to a flat line again.

He looks away from me, scratches the back of his head, and then says "Yes, right. Uhh- I actually didn' think about what I was gonna say to you."

I can feel his eyes on me but I don't look at him instead I concentrate my eyes on the floor. My mind is racing and if I look at him my lips may spill the truth without a filter.

"Why did you never show up in the meadow?" George asks.

My head shoots up and I look at him.

"Huh?" I ask.

His eyes soften with a sense of sadness.

"That night you told me to meet you in the meadow. I sat there for an hour waiting for you but you never showed. Why not?" He asked again.

Confused and flabbergasted I ask "You-you were there?"

"Of course I was. And do you wanna know the worst part of it all, I thought that you were gonna show up. At first, I came up with every excuse in the book. Maybe you got lost or the car you were in broke down. I even got so desperate for an excuse I told myself that maybe I got the time wrong or James didn't relay the message correctly. I wanted you to show up. I so badly wanted a second chance." George says and turns his attention to his fingers that are lightly gripping the edge of my bed.

"But I thought-" I start thinking out loud but stop short before the truth is exposed.

He looks up at me suddenly and asks "What? You thought what?"

I look away. I don't know what to say. I can't just tell him about James and the series of events that have unfolded between us since that night. Sure he is completely in the wrong for pursuing me, but I understand everything now. More so I understand him. Tonight opened my eyes to all that he is and as much as I hate to admit it; I have a soft spot for him.

"I thought you weren't going to show up." I say after a long silent pause.

My statement is met with silence, and I don't look at him. I can't.

Suddenly he says "Honestly, at first I wasn't going to. I was so angry with you and upset about us, that I couldn't stomach the thought of talking, let alone seeing you. But then I started thinking more about what James told me. He was the one who convinced me to go talk to you. He thought that I should hear you out because apparently you had something important to tell me."

I look at the bare wall in front of me. My mind is whirling, now I am not sure if James' intentions that night were corrupted or if it was just a coincidence. I sit still while uncertainty and anxiety swarms inside me. Do I really know James well enough to be able to tell his intentions?

"He did?" I say to put an end to the thick silence.

"Of course. Apparently you feel comfortable enough to meet up with him" James says.

For a second I look at him and study his face to see if it would give a sign of him knowing about James and me. I don't see it and I quickly look away just as fast.