Lilac's Lies

13

"What were you doing yesterday?" Jesse's hard voice rang out, no more than two seconds after I slid into his passenger seat. I hard barely been able to drag myself out of bed this morning. The only reason that I did was to avoid any further questions from my mom.

"I had a headache." I mumbled, pulling the seatbelt over my chest.

"A headache?" Jesse raised his eyebrow at me. "Why was your phone off?"

"Because I had a headache." I lied. I had my phone off because I didn't want to talk to him.

"You weren't with anyone, right?" He asked me, pulling the car away from my driveway.

"No." I told the truth this time, well... sort of. Besides my run in with Roman, I had spent the rest of the day alone. I crawled into my bed as soon as I got home, blasting the saddest songs I could think of. My mind had been occupied with Roman's final words to me. What did he mean his mural? I went back and forth in my mind, knowing I might never find out. He couldn't have meant the obvious. I refused to believe it. There was simply no way that Roman was the artist of my favourite piece of art.

"Not even Clara?" Jesse pressed on, and I was beginning to wonder what he was getting at.

"What's with the third degree?" I asked him, casting my eyes towards him. He looked as he always did, with his blonde hair perfectly gelled to the side. He wore a blue polo, and I cringed at the fact the collar was popped up. Maybe he didn't get the memo that we weren't in 2008 anymore.

"I'm just making sure I know what my girlfriend is up to." Jesse chimed out, as if the words weren't pollution to the air itself.

I felt my stomach drop, although I shouldn't be surprised anymore. I had almost forgotten his final statement to me the other night, what with the strange events that took place yesterday. Khalil giving me that article, and running into Roman. I had forgotten what he said, and I had forgotten the way he meant it as a threat.

"Okay." I said simply, realizing it wasn't worth putting up a fight. There was no point anymore. There was nothing I could do but play along. I was trapped.

I weighed my words in my mind before I said them, but in the end my curiosity got the better of me.

"Have you talked to Khalil lately?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice nonchalant.

I tried searching for a reason that he would have came to my door yesterday. I couldn't understand why he would give me that article. Did he think I didn't already know what happened? Even though I haven't read about it for over a month now, as per Brett's request, it's not like I could forget the worst night of my life.

"Why?" Jesse asked instantly, and I heard the alarm in his voice. It was strange, and I wondered why he sounded that way.

"Just wondering. We were all in this together, yet he's no where to be found these days." I tried to say as smoothly as possible.

"He's just going his own thing. You don't have to be worried about him telling, Lilly, if that's what you're thinking. He's got as much to lose as you do." Jesse answered me.

I nodded, noting the way Jesse had removed himself completely from the situation. Almost like he had already rewritten history in his mind, placing the blame on me.

Jesse was silent for the rest of the ride to school, and I was thankful. I had been expecting him to hurl insults at me once more, complaining about the fact I was wearing jeans and an unflattering sweater. I expected him to tell me I needed to put more effort into my appearance, once again. I didn't need him to, anyways. I already knew everything he was saying.