Liars in A Row (Book 1, 2 & 3)

Da scar_vk

38.9K 1.9K 1.8K

The first semester in Oxford has already started. Balancing between studying to become a lawyer and life in g... Altro

l i a r s _ i n _ a _ r o w
m a i n _ c a s t _ & _ a e s t h e t i c s
d e d i c a t i o n
b o o k _ o n e
p r o l o g u e
o n e : to her rescue
t w o : fluttering creatures
t h r e e : easily killed
f o u r : bad ideas
f i v e : crazy summer spent
s i x : to the chapel
s e v e n : we've met
e i g h t : portrait of a beautiful girl
n i n e : natural against hers
t e n : not that kind of girl
e l e v e n : the boy she loved
t h i r t e e n : london in the morning
f o u r t e e n : shall I tell him to fuck off?
f i f t e e n : sacrifice in the eden
s i x t e e n : so far away
s e v e n t e e n : just as friends
e i g h t e e n : make it more obvious
n i n e t e e n : you are a liar
t w e n t y : dysfunctional edens
t w e n t y _ o n e : pristine unveiled
t w e n t y _ t w o : mad about you
t w e n t y _ t h r e e : and the liars
t w e n t y _ f o u r : facing trouble together
t w e n t y _ f i v e : damsel in distress
t w e n t y _ s i x : with a smile
t w e n t y _ s e v e n : never took you for a liar
t w e n t y _ e i g h t : fools and flattery
t w e n t y_n i n e : your precious cocaine
t h i r t y : sharing regrets
t h i r t y _ o n e : nostalgic moments
t h i r t y _ t w o : a sunday drama
t h i r t y _ t h r e e : unrequited desire
t h i r t y _ f o u r : simple complication
t h i r t y _ f i v e : high in the end
t h i r t y _ s i x : sort of want to
t h i r t y _ s e v e n : roses in the air
t h i r t y _ e i g h t : lure you in
t h i r t y _ n i n e : on so many levels
f o r t y : pool, bitches!
f o u r t y _ o n e : overthinking
f o u r t y _ t w o : a ring & a Ietter
f o u r t y _ t h r e e : exams and anxiety
f o u r t y _ f o u r : mid-october crisis
f o u r t y _ f i v e : all of her friends!
f o u r t y_ s i x : not her place
f o u r t y _ s e v e n : cocaine hearts
f o u r t y _ e i g h t : you wish
f o u r t y _ n i n e : unrequited feelings
f i f t y : liars breaking row
f i f t y _ o n e : turns and twists

t w e l v e : late night macarons

628 36 59
Da scar_vk

dedicated to dynnaBless

Julia woke with a splitting headache. As her lithe body moved under the sateen duvet, a grunt escaped her throat. Momentarily disoriented at her surroundings— gray walls, 3D sky ceiling, men's' perfume, she stared through mascara stained eyes. She was at Noah's. Very slowly, she scooted up on her elbows, her smooth curls now a mess across her shoulder when she noticed Noah Clarke.

He was sleeping on a mattress on the rug-clad floor, eyes half-closed, arms dangling over his head, naked up to his waist. For a while, she admired the view. Then realizing it was a college day, she descended her bare feet on the oak floor and made her way to the oversized bathroom.

The vanity mirror showed a girl with makeup smeared hazardously on her pale skin. Clumpy mascara stains sat on the apple of her flushed cheeks and the Laura Mercier Face Illuminator she had applied last night still gave her a glow that made her look pathetic at the presence of the stains. Reaching for a washcloth, she rubbed on her face ruthlessly until the stains were replaced by red blotches.

Great.

Well, at least the stains were gone. Feeling slightly guilty, Julia reached for Noah's toothbrush. She was already late for college when she collected her silver jimmy choo's, tiptoed by a sleeping Noah, bent and pecked his stubbly golden cheek.

He moaned with his eyes half-open, peeking out from under his forearm. There was a small scratch on the base of his elbow. He grunted, "Don't leave."

"We have classes."

"I want to go with you."

"I'll see you at college."

He groaned again when she walked away, towards the stairs, but fell asleep right away. Soft snoring sounds reached Julia when she left the room. It only made her smile.

Helen Clarke was busy on her phone, pacing around the dining room, letting out a string of curses at whoever was on the other side of the phone. The woman had a narrow pale face that was contorted into a scowl now and wide set gray eyes that were narrowed at her fingers. Julia noticed a huge glinting emerald sitting on Helen's ring finger. That had to be more than three carat. However, she ducked her head and passed the corridor hastily before Helen could see her. Taking her cloak from Dmitri, the house butler, she marched out of the apartment, squinting at the daylight.

Girls' voices, singing hymns, floated down King Street where Julia was just turning the corner, cursing silently as her long plaid tie clapped on her stomach violently. The assembly had finished when she reached the institute. Headmistress Lewis was sauntering out of the chapel, ginger hair knotted into a neat bun, sharp in a gray Chanel tweed suit. Julia turned towards the old building quickly.

"Julia Eden?"

Julia had just reached her locker when she heard the deep male voice. Kevin Murray, the only student present in the hallway, stood six feet five inches before his own locker, across from her, very comfortable in his college uniform. Murray looked surprisingly cheerful, his thin dark face glowing.

"Hi, Kevin. How are you?"

"I'm fine. You look great, Jules," he responded with a toothy smile, shutting his locker.

Oh, she certainly didn't look great.

"Sweet of you to say, Murray," she snorted. "I'm too late for a conversation by the way. But you need to know something."

"Michelson is back. Yeah, I know." He gave her a knowing look, his full lips stretching in an assuring smile. "I won't be causing any trouble, I promise. I know Lewis warned you."

"Good as long as you don't. I have English now."

"Me too." Murray joined Julia as she dodged down the deserted corridor and into the courtyard towards the English department. "And what do I hear about you and some big-shot lawyer? When have you been a fan of playing Lolita, eh?"

"He is a law student, Kevin. Not more than probably..." Julia crunched her nose, calculating a default age of a Harvard JD student. "...five years older than me. And he's not even a friend."

"What's Clarke saying?" Kevin stated the obvious, with wiggling eyebrows and gleaming brown eyes on her.

"Well, should he be saying something?" Julia smirked at him, her skin gaining a healthy blush.

"Well, if some pedo from out there tried to steal my girl, I'd be saying something,"

"I'm not Noah's girl." Julia rolled her eyes as she slid inside the classroom and muttered more to herself, "Not yet."

Noah wasn't in class. While Julia went back to Hampstead, took a quick shower and slid inside her uniform, she also assumed that Noah would reach before her since his house was closer to  'Pristine Academy' than hers. They only had two classes together; English and Biology. Despite Julia's dislike for Biology, she had chosen it for Noah. He either sat behind her or in front of her in both English and Bio, almost making it a ritual since eleventh year. Today, Dee sat behind her while Liv was on the left row just across from her seat. Mr. Ledwell, a thin tall man on the verge of retirement, was standing behind the podium, wearing a white shirt he had paired with khakis. This might as well be his first and last class of the year.

He was passing out paper copies of The Three Kings by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Julia reached for a pen from her Hello Kitty pencil case and wrote her name on it absentmindedly, her eyes flicking towards the door. If she talked to Noah just once, she would know how the kiss between her and Neal had affected him. But he didn't show up at the first period or any period that day.

Julia had been at the sixth form centre, the eighth building, when the bell for lunch started ringing. Not only she was one building away from the dining hall, but also a large amount of year seven students had came out of the nearest building to block her path. It took her ten minutes to reach the hall, one of the only places in this college she absolutely adored. Maybe it was the renaissance splendour that appealed to her most.

Lights entered the hall through a series of almost eighty year old stained glass windows. The wood panelled walls were adorned with a number of portraits, each celebrating famous English poets and authors, ancient members of the college and also the current queen, Elizabeth II. The portrait that scared most of the students was of the founder, John Mitchell Lewis III. The man wore a sneer and a moustache that complemented his comical look.

There were three long tables that sat on the wooden floor for the students. Julia and her friends always sat in the middle of the far left table. Today, they were there as usual.

"Jules!" Liv was waving from her usual seat, smiling broadly, showing off her pearly perfect teeth. Everyone- the Dean twins, Kevin, Dee, Poppy were all there; all except Noah.

"Hi, have you seen Noah?" Julia tossed her skirt and sat from across Liv, facing the portrait of the third headmistress of the college. That women also had a moustache.

"No, he slept in," Ibrahim responded, sliding down astride the bench, just beside Dee. Dee made a wry face and moved a few inches away from him. "If you're worried about Chelle, then don't. She left the party just after your lawyer left."

"He's not my lawyer," Julia protested with a chuckle, her devastatingly pale face void of makeup, took a sip of her coke and gagged. "Ugh, this is a diet coke."

Dee handed her a bottle of coke and murmured, "Just out of curiosity, are you wearing your brother's shirt?"

She was indeed  wearing her younger brother Chuck's shirt. It must have been a classic laundry mistake. But how she didn't notice the frayed cuffs was a mystery.

"Yes." Julia sipped on the coke and passed it to Liv who made a face at the shirt.

"I heard that the fourth house head girl found alcohol in a year seven student's flask," Poppy spoke, doing the honours. There were many things to talk about.

Who had a black eye? Who was pregnant? Who was sleeping with whom? Who was spreading rumors about whom? Who had all teeth or no teeth? Bad, they knew. But God had given them a mouth for reasons.

Later that day, Julia Eden and her friends saw the ancient brown Volkswagen Beetle sitting on the circular drive of Liv's house. Later they would know that the car belonged to Marcia Ridley, Liv's mother's friend.

Olivia Hamish Portman's house was less than ten minutes away from Julia's. It was a classic white mansion, with two gigantic Grecian-style pillars at the porch, opened to give visitors a view of the impressive entrance hall, including the red-carpeted double staircase that had a Venetian chandelier overhead. Liv's mum, a woman of questionable character, was almost always away. Rumor had it that she had a secret affair with her ballet coach from college while Liv's father was away on business trips, more to enjoy young women and booze. But from what they always witnessed, probably Liv's parents were the happiest from the lot.

Today, Liv's mum, red haired and tiny like Liv, was home, talking to a middle-aged woman at the patio.

Changed into their nightwears, the girls sat at Liv's balcony, swinging their legs above the 'P'-shaped swimming pool, looking out at the patio and sharing a spliff. Liv's mum and her guest were visible from where they sat.

"That's Marcia Ridley, Mum's friend from Birmingham. I heard her son is replacing Mr. Ledwell this year in Pristine. I hope he's hot."

"There's a protocol. You can't seduce a teacher," Dee frowned.

"Who said anything about seducing? It's so much better when hot boys are around," Liv pouted before snatching the spliff from Dee and taking a drag of it.

The peaceful silent had broken at the rattling sound of Dee's ringtone. She picked it up, her olive face dark at the lack of light, her brown eyes bloodshot from the smoke wafting around her.

"Lotte, I told you I was at Liv's house. Tomorrow's Saturday."

Liv flicked her ginger eyebrows, mouthing a 'what'.

"Wait, he's here. I... I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you. He told me a week ago. I had a lot in my mind." A pause. "Oh, okay, I'll be there."

Dee hung up and leaped down the railing and onto the balcony floor, long black hair swatting on her silk-clad back at the process.

"Are you going home?" Julia followed her inside, so did Liv.

"Daddy's back from Dubai. I forgot. I have to go right now," she sighed, shrugging on a overcoat she collected from Liv's closet. It didn't even reach her knees. But she left, wearing it anyway. It wasn't until midnight when Liv had passed out, leaving Julia alone with her restlessness. With her head over the chocolate sateen pillow, she watched the numbers on the wrought-iron wall clock. 1:30. 1:44. 2 o'clock.

Julia closed her eyelids, facing away from her asleep friend, wishing she could be one of those people who rolled over and dozed off but she wasn't. A heavy blackness like a curtain shielded her eyes, darker than the eyelids. Her sides hurt when she shifted. Then finally her eyes felt heavier, her consciousness ebbed.

"Jules, help me," the distant voice of her twin brother, had jolted her awake.

Sweat covered her straight angular nose and upper lip, causing her to wipe them with the back of her hand. The room was dark, her companion comatose. She glanced at the clock, the numbers '3:19' glowed in a bright green. Her back hurt when she sat and observed the room. The oversized tree-graphic at the glass wall before the bed glowed in the dark, illuminating Liv's sleeping face. She looked peaceful. Julia saw her own reflection on the vanity table that sat on her left, facing the plush white bed.

Instinctively, she reached for her cell phone. The white walls glowed a little at the light. Text notifications remained on her screen along with missed calls.

Iron Man: you're not home, are u?

Julia smiled as she read the text before typing a quick response.

Nope, any problem?

The response came a while later as expected.

Iron Man: I'm outside. Should I go back?

Julia's heart almost leaped. Without further ado, she pressed the call button. Noah picked up on the first ring.

"Where are you?" He spoke first, his voice gruff.

"Liv's house."

"I'm coming."

"Why?"

"I want to talk."

"It's 3 AM."

"So?"

"I hate you for waking me up."

"I am already here. Just come outside. We'll take a walk," His voice was a mixture of mirth and torment.

"No," Julia reasoned, tugging at the spaghetti strap of her pale pink La Perla camisole.

"I brought macarons," he revealed his last weapon.

Passing a moment of silence, Julia, defeated, sighed, "Stay there."

Outside, it was dark. Julia tightened Liv's white Agent Provocateur dressing gown around her, and walked down the driveway, cursing at the air hitting her legs. The robe only reached her knees.

The security guard nodded at her when she pointed at Noah who stood there in an olive sweatshirt and football shorts. Noah said something and the guard responded animatedly.

Red oak leaves murmured under Julia's flip flops when the guard let her out. Noah smiled, holding out the box of macarons and running a hand through his unruly golden hair. Julia opened it and from inside handed him a Pistachio, his favourite.

"Walk with me." He tugged her by the arm and started walking down the Bishop Avenue, backwards towards Julia's own house, almost close to the Heath. The sky was sombre, almost inky. The path before them glowed dimly under the lamp posts. The row of ten mansions around them was asleep but the lights weren't out almost as if everyone inside was still wide awake. This was the beauty of the Bishops Avenue, the leafy boulevard of high iron security gates and endless luxury.

"My mum's getting married," Noah wearied from beside her, his eyes on her furry slippers.

"Again?" She did notice the diamond on Helen Clarke's finger this morning.

"Can I have another one?" He pointed at the almond flavor.

"Wait." Julia took a bite of it before giving it to him.

He shoved it in his mouth and then said, "It's the Manchester scout who's been watching my games, Marcel Brown. I should have known he'd end up marrying Helen. Anyway, I am more interested in Neal Williams."

"Say no more," Julia quickly changed the topic and punched Noah in the arm playfully. He winced and chuckled. "You are signing for Manchester. And you told me you didn't stand a chance."

"I'm still shortlisted as a quote potential replacement unquote for Callaghan. Why no more?" He raised both eyebrows.

Fucking hell. He just wouldn't let it go.

"Neal's not my cup of tea." Julia halted in her tracks. "And when they see you at the extramurals this year, they are going to choose you."

He angled his body towards her, trying not to notice the low lacy neckline of her camisole. When she said nothing else, he just nodded.

"Brown thinks so too. He said I'm in for the Youth Cup this year. He's just trying to make Helen happy."

Julia held out a raspberry macaron, the one flavour she didn't like to share. "You might as well be in for it, midfielder. And I don't say things to make people happy."

Noah blinked twice at the macaron, then said, "It's Raspberry, Jules."

"So, what?" Her bee-stung lips stretched into a smile. Noah smiled back and threw the macaron in his mouth.  

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