Preppy Little Liars

Chapter 6

We stopped at the hospital gift shop to get Margaret some “Get Well Soon” balloons before knocking on her door. A small woman with tired eyes opened it and smiled when she saw them.

“Hi,” she said in a sleepy voice. “Are you two friends of Margaret’s?”

“Yes.” The lie came naturally to me. The woman beamed and ushered me and Stephen into the room.

“Oh, Margaret’s going to be so happy to see you,” the woman said.

I peered at the empty hospital bed, then glanced around looking for her.

“She’s in the bathroom,” the woman whispered. She then straightened up and quickly ran her hands through her hair, trying to tame the unkempt mess. I spotted a chair next to the hospital bed with blankets and a pillow on it and did a double take at the sight of the tiny brunette.

“You’re Margaret’s mom?” I hoped the disbelief I felt didn’t register in my voice, but it probably did.

The woman laughed and I felt my cheeks burn. “It’s all right,” she said, sensing my obvious discomfort. “I get that a lot. She’s so tall—takes after her dad—people never put it together when we’re out alone.”

Stephen tied the balloons to Margaret’s bed. “Mr. Bean wouldn’t happen to be jolly and green, would he?”

My eyes widened and I threw him a disapproving scowl, but Margaret’s mom was doubled over laughing. She wiped a tear from her eye and went over to pat Stephen on the back.

“I like this one,” Mrs. Bean said. She turned to me with a twinkle in her eyes. “Your boyfriend’s funny. Hold on to him.”

Now I was the one who was going to double over, but not with laughter. Stephen as my boyfriend? Uh—no. And I certainly didn’t want to hold anything of his anytime soon.

Stephen took the comment in stride, taking a seat on Margaret’s mom’s makeshift bed. “Actually, Mrs. Bean, we’re just really good friends, but I can see how you’d make that mistake. I am very attractive.”

Mrs. Bean laughed again and playfully slapped his shoulder. Stephen joined her and looked to me as if expecting me to join in. I was too busy trying not to vomit in my mouth to follow suit.

Thankfully, the door to the adjoining bathroom swung open and a nurse pushed Margaret’s wheelchair into the room. I dug my fingernails into the palm of my hand to keep from laughing because what I saw wasn’t funny in any way unless one had a twisted sense of humor, which I had been accused of having in the past.

Margaret’s entire body was encased in white plaster, minus her head and neck. That had a brace around it. Her arms and legs stuck out in front of her like she was reaching for something. And all of that plaster added extra heft to her already large figure. She looked like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Or an oversize, misshapen tampon.

“Look, honey—your friends—” Mrs. Bean’s cheerful expression slipped and she looked at Stephen and me with a furrowed brow. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your names before.”

“I’m Meg and that’s Stephen.”

Her face brightened and she turned back to Margaret with infectious enthusiasm. “Meg and Stephen are here. They brought you balloons. Wasn’t that so thoughtful?”

Margaret studied me and Stephen carefully and for a second, my heart dropped into my stomach. She was going to bust us out as fakes to her mother.

“Yeah, that’s real…cool,” she said instead of “Who the hell are these people?”