White Lies (Book 1)

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Did—did he give you that bruise?" my mother cried, pointing at my face, where I'm sure a hideous purple blob was starting to form.

"What? No!" I ripped my hand out of Nathan's. I couldn't believe the seriousness of her accusation, or that it had come from her.

"Mrs. Griffin – no, never," Nate defended himself, his tone very severe. If you would let me just explain, he seemed to plead with his eyes.

"Then what happened?" she asked, shooting Nathan a disbelieving glare. "And why, after that day you kidnapped her from my front porch, have you taken a sudden interest in my daughter?"

"Mom! Stop!" I hissed. This was not going the way I expected it to. This was supposed to have been quiet and brief. This shouldn't have turned out into what it was – a yelling match. A battle of wills.

"Are you planning on using her for another one of those schemes?" she demanded, taking a menacing step towards Nathan. She was almost a foot shorter than him, yet it looked like she could own his ass in a matter of seconds if it ever came down to it. "You were here just the other day with that lady. Has this got something to do with that? And I've heard of you. I—I've heard what people in town say about you, how you treat girls like they're toys."

"With all due respect, Mrs. Griffin," Nate said, his voice low. It sounded like he was trying to control his temper. "You know absolutely nothing about me."

"Mother, stop this! You're being ridiculous—"

"No I am not! You're being naive. This boy can't be anything but trouble to you."

"I love him, okay?" I cried, blurting out the first lie I could think of. Both of them froze. I could feel Nate's gaze boring into my skull. It was too late – I had to commit to it now.

"I'm sorry I've been hiding it from you all this time. I love Nathan. And he loves me. This has nothing to do with him trying to manipulate me in any way. I just thought... your reaction wouldn't be like this."

It was a while before anybody spoke. The shock seemed to have rendered my mother speechless. She opened her mouth a few times, but nothing came out.

With the flood of panic and anger still running through me, I continued. "I want to be with him. I made that decision long ago, and I'm sticking with it. Nathan wants to be with me as well, mother. Why would you deny me of that?" I asked, playing the shame game. It was working. "Nathan makes me happy. Why would you try and take that away?"

Her hard expression slowly began to thaw, melting into something like internal conflict. Her many roles in my life – broken mother, fierce protector, antagonist, enemy, stranger, friend. She flickered in and out of them, all at once.

All this time, she had been protecting me, guarding me from the worst that was out there. What now? What comes afterwards?

She contemplated her next words. "Well... are you sure?"

I nodded, holding her gaze. "Absolutely positive."'

See? Lying was easy.

She paused, and I could hear the wheels turning in her mind. After I had confessed my so-called love to Nathan, she seemed at loss for what to say next. Her eyes flickered to me, then back to Nate, trying to decide something. It took her a whole minute to finally answer.

"Okay. Fine. Go right ahead. But you don't understand... what we've had to do to survive – if you lay one finger on her—"

"I think I got the memo, Mrs. G," Nate answered lightly. I resisted the urge to smack my purple forehead. Calling my mother 'Mrs. G' was not going to impress her. Judging by her expression, my hunch had been correct.