All the Little Lies (English Prep 1)

As for my mother, she was still living her best life in the trailer park. The only thing she was concerned with was her next high. My father left her nothing but the scraps of our old life, and when my father was murdered and the FBI wanted to help us, she refused, which was why they had to get creative and pretty much wait until the cartel came after me for the settlement.

“So, what do you think? You can paint the walls if you want, any color.” Ann stood in the middle of my new bedroom, wearing jeans and an old T-shirt. Her blonde hair was in a bun on her head, and I couldn’t remember ever seeing her this relaxed.

“It seems silly to paint my room when I’m going off to college in the fall.”

Ann smiled softly. “But what about when you come back for breaks? Christmas?”

A sinking feeling hit me. “Ann, I appreciate it, but just letting me stay here until September is plenty. I can stay at school for my breaks, or go to Christian’s, or even Piper’s.

And then when summer rolls around, I can get an apartment until fall semester starts back up.”

Apparently, the feds couldn’t prove that my trust fund money was stolen. My father had covered all bases and invested a lot of his early savings into it, so it was mine to do whatever I wanted with it, but for now, I was saving it for college—that was, unless I got a scholarship. Until then, I was saving it until I got my admissions letter(s) and staying with Ann.

Since I was eighteen and, technically, out of the system, it was okay for me to live wherever. That was when Ann all but begged me to stay with her. It beat staying with Pete and Jill, who were surprisingly happy to know I was okay, and although Christian wanted me to stay with him, I got the feeling that wasn’t a good idea.

We were still trying to figure out how to be boyfriend and girlfriend without a major threat looming over our heads. Living with him seemed insane, even if I really wanted to.

“Well, if you decide you want to paint or…you know, stay here on breaks and during the summer, you can.”

I stared at Ann as she raked her gaze around the room she had set up for me. She had gone above and beyond. The walls were a pale coral color, the bed looked fluffy with a big white duvet, and there was even a headboard attached. Tucked away on the far wall was a dresser and a desk with a pretty lamp on the edge.

My throat closed for a second before I regained myself. “Thank you, Ann.”

Her attention snapped to me, and her cheeks rose in a smile. “You’re welcome. I want you to feel safe here. And I want you to know that you are not alone.” She paused. “Mainly because your boyfriend won’t leave your side for nothing.”

A laugh escaped my mouth. “It took a lot of convincing to get him to leave me for the night.”

Christian’s dad let me stay at their house for the last week as things got sorted out with my statement, and not to mention, the feds wanted to make sure things were safe since they’d taken down one of the cartel’s biggest drug runners. But it was time Christian took a second to himself instead of following me around like he was my shadow. Not that I was complaining; I just felt bad that he was constantly worrying.

Even at school, he walked me to and from each class. Everyone talked quietly about what they thought had happened to me. It was kept out of the papers and the news, but my face was beat up again, so rumors started to spread.

“Well, I hope you both know that you’re safe here. You two deserve a little normalcy in your lives.”

I nodded as I took another step inside my new bedroom. My first thought was, this is too good to be true. But I was working on changing that mindset. This was good, and that didn’t mean it couldn’t be true.

“I’ll let you settle in; I’m going to go finish dinner. Do you like pasta?”

I nodded as my heart warmed. She was cooking me dinner? I hadn’t had someone actually cook me dinner for a long time. A really long time.

My stomach growled as I began unpacking my books and a few articles of clothing. I slowly walked over to the closet to pull out a few hangers to hang my school uniform on when I heard a tapping. My head craned to the right, and I saw a figure standing at my window.

My breath caught, but when Christian leaned his face down and grinned, I let out all my breath.

“What are you doing?!” I asked as I pushed the window up.

He told me to back up some, and soon, his long leg was stepping through. “I missed you.”

I laughed. “Christian, there is a perfectly fine front door that you could have used. It’s seven in the evening. I think Ann would be okay with you stopping over.”

He shrugged as he stood before me wearing jeans and a crisp white T-shirt. “I wanted to see how easy it was to climb through your window.” He raised his eyebrows as a grin played along his mouth. “I have to say, it’s a lot easier now that your bedroom is on the first floor.”

I smacked his chest as a smile snaked its way onto my face. At the last second, he grabbed my hand and pulled me in close. “I love you.”

I angled my chin up and locked onto his dark gaze. “I love you, too. Always.”

He nodded. “Always.”