Believe Me, I'm Lying [New & Improved]

Chapter Seventeen

"Does Oliver have short term memory loss?" I asked randomly the next day as Melissa and I were eating lunch in my room.

Melissa gave me a questioning look. "No?"

I pursed my lips, setting down my container of Chinese food. "Huh."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "No reason."

Melissa gave me another curious look, but dropped it. I stabbed my fork into my lunch again, bringing up a boneless rib.

Oliver had said he wanted to ask questions about my family last night, and he never did. As soon as we entered the bar, he went back to being his cool and un-talkative self. Well, after he snapped at Anthony for giving me an enthusiastic greeting hug. But Anthony seemed like the type of person who liked giving hugs, so I didn't see what the big deal was.

"You and my brother get along well, huh?"

My eyes shot to Melissa's face. "What?"

She gave me a knowing smile. "The way he talks about you makes me think you guys—"

"He talks about me?" I repeated in shock.

Melissa nodded. "When we have our rare sibling-bonding moments, yep. It's mostly him making fun of you— oh! But not in a bad way," Melissa corrected quickly when she saw my annoyed expression.

"How then?"

"Umm," Melissa hesitated, furrowing his eyebrows. "Like the way you might talk about something cute your pet did?"

I frowned. "So he thinks I'm some kind of... dog?" Well, he had called me a dog before.

"No!" Melissa responded quickly. "It wasn't in a derogatory way."

"You're confusing me..."

She sighed lightly. "Forget I said anything. I just meant to say I didn't know you guys were friends."

I ducked my head. "Well, we're more like acquaintances," I murmured bashfully.

"Uh-huh," Melissa responded with a smug smile. "Still, it's nice seeing Oliver at least being civil to someone."

I kept my head down, staring at my Chinese food. Oliver was civil to plenty of people. Melissa, Zak, and Joey, and he even talked to Luke, Tyler, and Mason. It wasn't like I was getting special treatment. It wasn't like I wanted special treatment.

"I just wish Oliver could be civil to my mom," Melissa sighed wistfully. "She's really nice."

"I've met her," I told Melissa, remembering the time with a grimace.

Melissa looked surprised. "Really? At the bar?"

I nodded. "Yep. She was... interesting."

"Oliver doesn't even try to get along with her," Melissa told me, a frown appearing on her face. "I know my mom is a little... to the point and brusque, but Oliver seems to go out of his way to be rude to her. And his own dad. Anthony is the nicest person ever, and yet Oliver acts as if he's the scum of the Earth."

My lips pursed, and I stirred my boneless ribs in their container. Did Melissa know about Oliver's little sister? Oliver's actions weren't that unjust. If someone adopted me, and said Elliot couldn't come, I'd hate those people. That's one of the reasons I decided I'd live by myself with Elliot and lie about having a guardian. I couldn't even imagine living without him. Just the thought made me sick.