Our Little Lie (Complete)

TWENTY THREE

"I wish you could see the look on your face right now," she laughs.

"How are you a-" I lose my words,"Why are you -"

"I'll answer everything I want to in a second," she looks around,"But first we need to leave."

"No one knows you're alive?"

"As of a couple seconds ago, yes."

My mind won't choose a single emotion. It hops between shock, sorrow, relief, anger, confusion, betrayal in an unending cycle. We drive to my house, the family isn't home. How convenient. We run up to my room. Why I easily invite her into my home, I don't know. But this is Audrey, my Audrey. I have to let her explain.

"Where do I start?" She sighs.

"The beginning," I state flatly.

"It never really began, it only built up. From nothing really either. I guess you could say it started when Lena started dating Stephen. I knew all along you had your eyes set on him. But Damien had his eyes on you. It was like watching an avalanche form bigger and bigger everyday. You started dating Damien and I thought all the problems were solved. That's when I realized where I stood. I was so caught up in you and Lena's drama, that I never stopped to think of myself and my problems. I liked Stephen. Like, really liked him. But it seemed everyone expected me to be with Landen since he was Damien and Stephen's friend. So, I did what every girl would do, I played along with it. I let the two prettier friends get the better guys and the better life and the better reputation. Did you ever stop to wonder how I was doing?"

I stay silent, because there's no right answer to a question like that.

"I didn't think so. Then, one day, Stephen came to me after his football game. We went to the back of the building and he confessed how he only dated Lena to get closer to me. It felt so real, it felt like we were meant to be. A couple days before my party, I got a call from my biological father asking to convince my mom to let me live with him. I refused, but he kept begging. Then he started saying how my mom was crazy and I was better off with him. I couldn't take it. But I never told my mom, and I never told you or Lena. I didn't think you had the right to know my problems let alone care. Anyway, when I found out Stephen liked me, I broke up with Landen. And he said he would break up with Lena. So I threw that party for him to do it. He said he would do it at the end. But Lena never came, I still don't know why. And neither did Damien. But guess who was there? You. Wearing that skimpy dress with heels and your hair all curled up. I was a fool really. I never saw it coming. Not until he kept handing you drink after drink. I was suspicious, but I trusted him. So I ran upstairs, I was just going to call Lena and tell her what was going on in hopes of making her break up with him first. But instead, my phone lights up with texts from my dad. More crap about fixing our broken family and uniting me with Natalie. But I never told my mom, that is until a call came from her that night. She pretty much told me she found out about dad texting me and that if he was important enough to me for me to feel the need to text him behind her back then I should just go with him. Out of anger I agreed, but after the words left my mouth, I was a wreck. So I ran up to the closet in the guest bedroom, I know it's random, but it's where I've gone since I was a kid to let out my tears. I'm guessing you know what happened next."

"I do but I want to hear how you saw it."

"You were obviously drunk, he wasn't. He gave you the same jacked up speech he gave me as he took advantage of your vulnerable condition. I was surprised you never heard my sobs through the door. I felt everything fall apart in that moment. So I made my plan that night. You know, stage my suicide, make you and Lena feel how I felt after that night, anonymously text you and Stephen, get you both to hurt those who hurt me first, pretty easy. I didn't think Stephen would tell though. That did surprise me. I hate how he gets away with everything."

"So why won't you help me?"

"Do you really think I'm any less mad at you than I am at Stephen?"

•••

That night I run over to Tyler's house to tell him everything. And I made him something.

"Hey," he smiles when he opens the door,"Come in."

I tell him everything little thing. From the initial suspicious behavior to her confession.

"Wow," is all he says at first. I can tell he's trying to piece it all together. "That's insane. We'll have to get her to be a witness."

"Yeah, but we can worry about that later. I made you something," I change the topic and pull out the black, leather, braided bracelet. At the end wear it ties there's a little silver charm. It's a flat circle that has "Tyler & Elyssa" engraved into it.

"You didn't have to do this," he smiles as he looks down at the bracelet and rubs the braid. "I'll wear it everyday. Thank you," he grins and kisses me sweetly.