The Girl Diaries: Pretty Liar
Copyright © 2021 by M. A. Thomas
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations used in critical articles or reviews. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For information contact:
info@authormathomas.com.au
Cover design by London Heir Art
ISBN: 978-0-244-43644-5
First Edition: April 2019
To my trio of best friends, I can't tell you with mere words how grateful I am for each of you.
ChapterOne
I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary.
-Margaret Atwood
Thursday, September 4th
Have arrived at the music bowl at stupid early o'clock with Ayla and the rest of our band mates. We have an all-day rehearsal for our performance tomorrow night as part of the Spring Arts Festival.
Our ensemble will be opening the show tomorrow with instrumental versions of this year's top chart hits, which is just the start of a very crap line up. All of which will be performed by high school students.
2:40 p.m.
If the quality of today's sound check is anything to go by, no one in this town has any hope of becoming fabulous concert performers.
3:05 p.m.
Finally getting back on the bus to go home, I am so exhausted that I am considering asking the bus driver to drop me off at my street as we pass it just so I don't have to go do netball.
I don't ask though, because my music director has taken the seat behind the driver and there is no chance of me asking for a drop off while he is there waiting to lecture me again.
I have been inundated with lectures today.
Firstly, I got told off for putting on make-up that Ayla lent me, like it's my fault we had to get up before dawn to come here and practice and I didn't have time to apply it at home. Then, I got told off for not wearing black shoes with my ensemble uniform.
"I will wear them tomorrow, I didn't want to risk scuffing them today and having to polish them again," I told him but he just turned red and told me to stop making up excuses for forgetting.
Lastly, I got caught on stage with Colton over lunch pretending to be flamboyantly homosexual while reciting a passage from In Search of Lost Time while impressionable eighth graders were present. It was highly entertaining, everyone laughed, but apparently it doesn't show 'the maturity and responsibility expected of students when we are out representing the school in our community.'
If you can't recite Proust in an affected accent while standing in the middle of an amphitheatre, when can you I ask?
At Leigh's house.
Her dad offered us both Twisties and Red Vines to snack on while we got ready for netball training. I was so surprised at his generosity I almost forgot to say thank you.
I leaned over to Tabitha when I was sure he was out of earshot. "Somebody got laid recently to be in such a good mood."
Tabitha mimed throwing up. "Eww Riss, teacher sex and parent sex. Two of the worst scenarios a teenager could imagine combined."
Leigh's scathing glare from the other end of the couch was more horrified than angry and I started to laugh.
"Shhhh, seriously. What is wrong with you?" she hissed at me, her tone was so aggressive that her dog spooked and ran out of the room.
Tabitha had to go into the bathroom and calm down because she was laughing so much.
7:03 p.m.
Normal team again today – Jake is definitely back for good also, not sure how I feel about that.
7:14 p.m.
After our game Ayla, Delia and I met up with Grayson and Chuck at the shopping centre.
Chuck had very obviously spent the afternoon at The Arcade getting high by the look of his glazed over retina's. He was with Theodore when I found him which has not put him in a good mood to spend time with me.
7:15 p.m.
Not.
9:05 p.m.
I got a lift home with Chuck's Mum from shopping. We saw Theodore three times throughout the night. I am so sick of running into him, sure I messed up big time with that whole making out with him because I was mad at Chuck thing, but I don't want to be reminded of it any more.
We met up with Tabitha and Leigh after dinner at The Burger Shack. I had a puff of Chucks cigarette while he was chatting with Kacie, Shona and Roni or as I like to call them, his gaggle of hoes.
Accidentally coughed and blew smoke into Tabitha's eye and she was rubbing it so much that she messed up the mascara and had to wipe it off in the bathroom. I just fell about in fits of laughter every time I looked at her one dressed up eye for the rest of the night. Kacie gave my insane amount of laughter many odd looks until I explained my friend looked like a drag queen minus the queen.
Friday, September 5th
I am only just now getting out of the shower. How great is getting the morning off school just to perform in the festival tonight? Really great.
12:07 p.m.
Ahh I am remembering that day time television is really crap. I hope my mother dearest remembers that I am in the festival tonight; I would like for her to be there in a maternal supporting capacity type way.
I also want her to give me a lift home because I don't fancy walking home in the dark.
I just hope if she does show up that she does not bring her boyfriend along to partake in our outstanding musical debut, because then my friends would know my mum is having sex and that is just wrong.
8:30 p.m.
Still here and the show is still going, and my mum did bring Rohan to check out the festival and they have both been drinking wine for most of it.
Ah how lovely, now he will have to stay over the tonight and then I will be bored out of my brain by the oldies regaling me with all the memories that our rousing music has stirred in them.
9:23 p.m.
Tabitha and I have found some plastic silver tiara's backstage in a prop box that we are going to try to sneak onto the stage whilst wearing. We are lurking behind Melita and Ayla so our teacher does not notice them before the curtain call.
Operation Tiara was not a success.
Overall, we did well. We came in third place for two performances and made mention for the other two. I had a bit of a hand cramp during our last song so I had to do some pretend wrist movement, you couldn't even notice I wasn't playing my instrument which goes to show how integral I really am.
I had the most fun when we weren't on stage. Especially when Tabitha and I snuck into the audience and cheered, and cat called for the other schools performing. Eventually we got dragged back into the green room by Ayla because she didn't want to get busted by association, but it must be said that we had fun.
You would have thought we came first overall with the amount of screaming Liam and Summer did when they announced our school each time. A lot of people hyped up, even strangers we didn't know at all were applauding enthusiastically for us as we walked up to collect each trophy. I saw Kacie in the crowd with two other girls, wearing her signature cut off denim shorts and crew neck shirt. I wonder who she stole this latest one from? I waved at her from the stage, to let her know I appreciated her staying all day to watch me. She only had a choir song after lunch so she could have left hours before now.
10:21 p.m.
I was out of money and out of patience by the time I was finally able to leave. I didn't really bother saying good night to Kacie, but I am sure she will pop up next time I go to Chuck's house, she practically lives there it seems.
If I didn't already know she was completely repulsed by him I would think they were secretly dating, she legit sees him more than me.
Saturday, September 6th
Forty minutes of netball drills followed by our game. We won thanks to some solid straight sprinting and defensive weaving by Jake. It doesn't matter what the ball sport is, he makes it an artform. I never tire of winning, it feels really good.
I wanted to let him know I was impressed afterwards but chickened out at the last moment and ducked into the change room instead.
"You right?" Ayla asked me when she walked in five minutes later. "Everyone thought you had gone straight home, you just disappeared as soon as the game was over."
"I'm fine, just have to get dressed to meet my mum, we're going shopping straight after."
Ayla looked dubious but didn't press me any further. I waited until she headed for the showers and then quickly snuck out the side exit door before any of the other girls walked in.
Where were you? I sent to Chuck as I walked home. He was supposed to come and watch us play netball this morning and never showed up.
Had to babysit, mum got called into work
Still coming over tonight?
Yeah
I smiled. Tonight is the first time he has stayed the night. Mum even bought an extra mattress downstairs with me this morning so he can sleep in my room, what she doesn't know, or is thankfully just ignoring, is that I plan to sleep on it with him...
12:36 p.m.
Mum did actually take me shopping after my game, mostly to apologise for embarrassing me with kisses when I came off stage to sit with her and Rohan last night I am thinking. We brought heaps of spring gear on sale that will be pointless in summer. Here's hoping I don't grow during the next twelve months, so I get a chance to wear this stuff.
Mum bought herself a new bag and she is going to let me have her old denim one, which is sweet of her as I have often had to borrow aka sneak off with it a few times this year already.
3:51 p.m.
Chuck had the unfortunate timing of arriving just as I was about to mow the yard. I offered for him to come back later but he just extracted my fingers from the pull start cord and told me he'd do it.
"Thanks," I murmured as the mower rumbled to life.
"Does he know how to use the lawnmower?" my mother fretted when I walked back upstairs.
"Um, I am sure he will be fine mum." It's really not that hard.
She pursed her lips. "He won't empty the catcher enough and there will be clumps," she said after peeking at him through the front balcony window.
"I'll take him a glass of coke and remind him."
4:54 p.m.
Mum offered him one of the beers my brother had left in the fridge when he came upstairs after.
He nodded at her in that dumb aloof way that he does and cracked the bottle, drinking it faster than should be humanly possible before grabbing out another.
My mum didn't even chide him for taking a second.
If I had just taken an alcoholic beverage without asking, oh the hell that would have rained down upon me. And people say sexism doesn't exist in this day and age. Pfft.
Then again, maybe that's how mum was showing him appreciation for mowing to her standard. He certainly did a better job than I would have. He even got the weed eater out and trimmed around the fence and gutters.
"I'm going down the beach to see my sister tomorrow," mum told us as we started getting ingredients out to make dinner. "Do you want a lift to the sports centre in the morning first Rissy Roo?"
I groaned internally at her pet name for me, knowing Chuck would find a way to taunt me over it later.
"No mum it's fine, my games not until after lunch," I said as I started chopping up broccoli and carrots.
My mother opened the fridge and looked inside. "Do you want grilled chicken breast or steak medallions Charles?"
Without missing a beat I heard him reply. "Definitely a fan of the breast meat Mrs. Clarke."
9:43 p.m.
Either Mum is upstairs asleep, or she is sitting quietly in the dark staircase trying to keep an ear on us.
I tapped Chuck on the shoulder and pointed towards the ceiling. "I haven't heard any noise for a while," I whispered.
He shrugged and continued watching the outbreak movie we'd put on. It's one I have already seen, and I got really scared then, tonight was no different. It's a freaky deaky movie and I hate endings that don't leave you with a conclusion just that screepy, ominous, foreboding type feeling.
10:23 p.m.
Chuck was not even a tiny bit frightened during the massive zombie hoard rampage.
"Look at you squirm," he said with a laugh, pulling me back into his arms as soon as I had finished covering my face. "Need me to distract you?"
"Yes, but first I am going to go upstairs and brush my teeth." And check that mum is definitely asleep.
I slid underneath the covers, and shivered. I felt his two warm arms reach over and pull me against him. "You're not wearing anything?" he let out a laughing breath, "I have boxers on."
"Okay, do you always sleep naked?" "Pretty much, do you always sleep in jeans?"
"Sometimes..."
"Liar."
"I also own pyjama's," I said defensively.
His had moved along my side, stroking all the way down to my knee, "I thought girls wore night gowns to bed," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the low whirring of the fan.
"I don't even own one."
His hand slid back up and hovered near my shoulder, I gulped, and he settled it down along my arm.
"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?"
"No but, I just want you to hold me, I don't want to..."
"You don't want to do anything that we could get busted for cause your mums at home?"
"Yeah, this is so weird."
Chuck slid his other arm underneath my neck and tugged on the hair beside my face, gently tucking it away, he shifted his body closer so that my back touched every part of him, and his other arm clutched my waist tightly. I was almost warm enough to want to do away with the blanket like this. "Let's go to sleep then, I'm happy to just be here with you for the night."
"Thanks, but you should probably sleep on the sofa bed in case mum comes and checks on us or something."
He sighed softly, resigned. "Okay, I'll hop out in a minute," he promised before kissing me softly behind the ear and again at the base of my neck.
Sunday, September 7th
He didn't hop out in a minute. He is still in my bed almost three hours later. "We really should go to sleep now," I say as I roll over to face him.
He kisses my collar bone. "One more minute."
"You've had one hundred and eighty more minutes." I'm not tired either but I know if I don't get some quality sleep in I will be rooted for training tomorrow.
With a sigh he pulls away. I feel instantly cold and a little sad. "Do you mind if I watch something on your laptop while you sleep."
I had a sudden moment of panic thinking about the dead girls video diaries before I realised he just means on YouTube. "Sure," I said, hoping he couldn't hear the intensity with which my heart had begun racing.
8:07 a.m.
I woke in my bed. Alone. Rubbing my eyes did nothing to improve how incredibly tired they still felt. Maybe today was a good day to start drinking coffee? If only it didn't taste like dirty battery acid.
"Good morning," came a deep voice from the other side of the room. He didn't sound even the tiniest bit sleep deprived.
"Is it?"
"For me." Well that was cryptic.
"Thanks for sleeping on the air mattress last night," I said to Chuck as I started to unravel myself from the twisting of doona and sheets.
"I don't know that I actually got any sleep, but I've finally finished watching the last season of Top Gear."
"You stayed up all night..." there was no need to finish that sentence. He clearly did.
"You're surprised?" he laughed and came over to my bed to snuggle in beside me. I glanced up at the ceiling.
"Your mum left about an hour ago. She offered to make me pancakes but I told her we should let you sleep." The grin on Chucks face was so wide it was actually verging on creepy.
"How are you so chipper when you've had zero sleep?"
"I'm not usually, but if I hadn't been up later than you last night, I'd never have known what you really think of me."
I opened my mouth to question what on earth he meant but before a single sound could form, I realised exactly what he was saying. He'd heard me sleep talking.
"Don't you want to know what you said?" He asked, his tone was teasing but gentle. He tucked one of my stray bangs behind my ear and cupped my blazing red cheek in his hand, still grinning like a carnival clown.
"No, I really don't want to know," I assured him. A vague recollection of a very intimate dream was forming in my mind and I could only imagine just how mortifyingly graphic the slips of my tongue may have been in the night.
"You don't have to be embarrassed," he said pulling me against his chest and wrapping his arms around me.
"I'm sorry, I thought I'd grown out of doing that," I muttered, more to myself than as an apology to Chuck.
"Don't apologise, it was great." I could almost feel his manic smile as he nuzzled against my hair.
"Not for me, I can't control it. Clearly." I sighed and felt the heat of my shame burning so brightly on my face that it took all of my willpower not to yank the covers back over myself.
"Riss," he murmured into ear. "Don't stress, you didn't say anything that you haven't already told me awake."
Okay, I'll bite. "What did I say?" I asked his shirt.
"That you love me, that you wanted me to hold you tighter, that my mouth is pure magic."
This time I laughed. "I so didn't say that!"
"You definitely said my name," my breath caught in my throat and my neck flushed with embarrassment. "The rest is kinda implied," he teased. "You are so pink, it's adorable. Whatever you dreamt about must be really naughty."
"I dream about lots of stuff, I don't really remember," I told him, willing the blood vessels in my skin to constrict back and stop giving me away.
"Evasive much," he said and stroked my flaming cheek with his fingers before leaning in to kiss my mouth.
I kissed him back, once. I needed to brush my teeth "Okay, I'll admit that something like that may have featured in my REM cycle overnight."
He kissed me again and pulled me on top of him. "The way you said my name, I'm pretty sure something more like this happened," he breathed and thrust his pelvis against mine.
"You're impossible. Why don't you try and actually get some sleep and I'll make us breakfast."
"Grilled chicken?" he asked hopefully.
9:12 a.m.
Chuck was grinning at me from the other side of the kitchen while I watched our food simmer.
"I love that your eyes smile too" I don't know why I said that. He kept looking at me with this devious glint in his eyes and then he smiled broadly again and the warmth of his face just melted me.
Lately, he was all I could think about and the joy of spending time with him made anything we did together feel that much brighter.
He walked across the room and stood over me, looking down at my face intently. "Do they still look happy?" he asked as he twisted his features into a stern scowl and placed his hands either side of my hips.
I pushed back a lock of hair that had flopped across his brow and let my hand rest on his cheek.
"Yes" I told him and then he leaned over and lowered his mouth to mine.
9:25 a.m.
Accidentally burned some of our breakfast because I was so distracted by his deep probing tongue and wandering hands.
9:36 a.m.
It is really distracting to eat while being turned on. Chuck has been pretending to give his spoon head while he waits for me to finish eating. I kicked him but he is still doing it, naughty boy.
4:41 p.m.
When I got home from netball, I dumped my bag at the top of the stairs and sat down on the stool in the kitchen. I folded my arms and rested my cheek across my elbow. I grinned at the refrigerator like an idiot and allowed myself to replay every second of the morning before I left for REP training.
When we were finished washing up Chuck had wrapped his arms around me on the couch and asked me if I wanted to take advantage of being home alone.
He asked me if I wanted to do more than kissing. "Yes!" I exclaimed and I had been so ridiculously excited that I was sure my enthusiasm would make him change his mind. It didn't.
I had just turned on the television, I think it was the live broadcast of The House Of Representatives but as soon as he pulled me into his lap I didn't notice or care what was on.
He kissed my neck, caressing my arms and shoulders, the warmth of his fingers made me tingle everywhere he touched.
His hands slipped inside my shirt and I arched my back, pushing my breast into his palms. "Settle down, I'm working up to that," he whispered into my ear.
His desire to take things slow was infuriating, but I think I did a good job of pretending otherwise.
He was hard beneath me by the time his hands finally squeezed my breasts with nothing in between us, I shifted against him, I couldn't help it. I wanted him, I wanted to go further than this with him.
He laughed and kissed the top of my head. "Soon."
I kept myself still while he kept exploring. His hands moving slowly down my stomach to rest just above my hips. "You want me to keep going?"
I nodded.
"I didn't hear that."
I groaned. "Yes, I definitely want you to keep going Chuck. Please."
He rubbed along the seams of my jeans until I was whimpering and pleading with him to do more.
He kissed my lips and raised his hips into me and then stopped completely.
"You're sure," he asked. His hot breath down the back of my neck was the biggest turn on.
Yes, of course I am! God Chuck just touch me already, I screamed to myself. He didn't, his hand just hovered over the button of my pants while he waited for me to give him an answer.
"Please keep going," I begged, wriggling against him. It was embarrassing how much I wanted this, but I didn't even blush. I was certain that any minute now I was going to have my first ever orgasm and all I could think about was getting there, preferably with Chucks fingers inside of me.
In the next instant he had unbuttoned and unzipped me and my whole body stiffened in anticipation. "Relax, make sure you tell what feels good."
I closed my eyes. "Everything you do feels good," I told him and I wasn't wrong.
Actually having an orgasm had been even better than Leigh had described, maybe because she had only experienced the ones she had given herself. Either way, I had finally attained one of my own and Chuck knew it.
"I'd ask you if that was good but the fact I need to go and wash my hand makes me think I already know the answer," he said before extricating himself. I kind of wanted to go and wash up myself but I didn't want to walk all the way downstairs.
He returned before I'd finished getting my pants back on. "You could just take them all the way off if you like, see if I can get you off with my tongue next."
I threw a pillow at him. "Grosse, no."
"You might really like it." He jumped back onto the couch with me and tugged on my belt loops.
I shook my head, my cheeks had turned pink at his suggestion and were ramping up the colour to full on beetroot now.
He let go of my pants, still grinning like a cheshire cat. "So, any ideas for what we should do for the rest of the morning?"
"Board games?" I asked and he chuckled, pulling me against him. My chest crushed against his. His scent and his warmth obliterating any feelings of discomfort that had crept in at his suggestion of giving me head.
He sighed as he sucked on my bottom lip, pulling me closer to him as I darted my tongue out to deepen the kiss. Holding me back from kissing him before had been beyond evil even if it had resulted in something amazing. I could have kissed him all day but I pulled away after a few minutes, asking him if he wanted me to return the favour.
His answering smile as he watched me lick my lips was all the encouragement I needed.