All the Little Lies (English Prep 1)

“No can do, New Girl.”

I stepped forward, ready to put an end to the brawl, but one of Christian’s friends—Eric, I think was his name—met me halfway.

“He’s going to kill him!”

Eric glanced back and shrugged. “He knows when to stop.”

No, he doesn’t. Christian was out of control. He was on a different planet called I want to go to jail a few days before my birthday.

I peered up over Eric’s shoulder, and unease was settling in my bones. I wasn’t really in the mood to watch another murder or for my ex-best friend to become a convicted felon. No matter if he hated me or not.

“Stop him!” I growled through my teeth.

Eric didn’t even bat an eye, but the other friend was beginning to look anxious. He worked his jaw back and forth and glanced at Eric with pleading eyes.

Go stop him, I urged silently as he peered at me. I didn’t wait for him to consider my urgency. Instead, I darted around Eric, too fast for him to even realize what happened, and I yelled, “Christian!”

The room fell quiet. Christian, with his arm reared back and a murderous look on his chiseled face, stopped and looked me dead in the eye. His eyes were cold and demeaning, but they were there, locked onto me.

“That’s enough! He isn’t even conscious.”

I heard whispering from behind me.

“Did she just get him to stop by only saying his name?”

“Yeah, bro. It usually takes two of us to pull him out of something like that.”

“Interesting…” The last one was Ollie.

Still holding a blood-stained Cole, Christian spat, “You care about this fucking piece of shit who puts his hands on girls without their permission? Huh? Are you that fucked up, Hayley?”

I ground my teeth, spitting right back, “Probably, but to be honest, I really just didn’t want to watch another person get murdered in front of my eyes.”

It was so quiet in the room I could hear my own beating heart. It was pounding underneath my skin, anger blurring along with irrational behavior. I wanted to take Christian by his ear and drag him into another room and demand to know what his problem was with me.

“We need to talk,” Christian ordered, storming out of the room.

Yes, we freaking do!

Chapter Ten

Christian

I remembered the last time we were in a room alone together. It was under much different circumstances. My life was good then. I mean, compared to what it was now. Dad still worked a shit ton, and Mom was out with her friends more often than not, but at least she was alive and I didn’t have this suffocating feeling of guilt at every corner I turned, especially with a dark-haired girl standing there, reminding me of the one thing I did wrong.

I would never in a million fucking years say this aloud, but part of the reason I thought my life wasn’t so bad back then was because of her. The second we met in fifth grade, we were almost inseparable. Something about her was magnetic. I was drawn to her. She always wore a frown unless I was around, and that made me feel good. Worthy. Like I meant something.

“This is so dumb,” Hayley said from beside me. I wanted to agree with her, but I didn’t think it was dumb. I liked being this close to her; it did something to my insides. Jumbled them all up, but in a good way. I felt nervous but calm, too. That was what Hayley did to me.

“Why is it dumb? Let them think we’re in here making out all hot and heavy.”

She shifted around on her butt, unknowingly scooting closer to me. “I don’t know. Everyone knows you already know how to make out. And everyone knows that I don’t know how.”

I tried to adjust my eyes in the darkness so I could see her face. “Who said I knew how to make out?”

She laughed lightly. “Um, let’s see. April, Carrie, the two older girls that are in high school now…”

I stopped her. “Okay, okay, okay. I get it. But so what? I have a reputation to uphold.”