Page 153 of Tell No Lies

I looked to him to see if he was joking, but he looked genuinely confused. “Yes, Mike. It’s a competitive sport.”

“Huh. I thought it was just something you did for fun.”

“I’ve been doing this since I could walk, and it’s been my dream as long as I can remember to compete on a college level. That’s why I take it so seriously and don’t let myself skip on practices.” I raised my brow and looked at him with a “duh” face.

“Oh.”

For the rest of the night, Mike was quiet and seemed stuck in his head, which was fine with me. I had so much to think about, not to mention the running to-do list I was quickly adding items to. Having coaches coming in to watch me was huge! It was the same as a football recruiter coming to see Mike, but I still didn’t think he got it.

I understood his dream of wanting to get into a good school and one day playing pro, so why couldn’t he do the same for me?

Twenty-One

I thought seeing pictures of myself in the privacy of my own home was as bad as it could get. The feeling of security had been ripped away, leaving me completely exposed and vulnerable. How could things get any worse than that? I thought it was impossible.

When I opened the door to my car to get my dance bag for class after school, an unassuming envelope was waiting for me on my seat. I knew I needed to hurry and meet Mckayla out front, but my body was frozen. Thoughts of letters, threats, and pictures were running though my head. I grabbed it, shoved it in my bag, and ran to the front of the building. Mckayla’s car was parked in her normal spot, and she was looking down at her phone.

I tried to erase the panic from my face before she looked at me, but when she did, I realized I didn’t have to worry about myself. Her face was streaked with tears. Whipping the door open, I fell into my seat and reached for her.

“What’s going on, Mac?”

She flinched and pulled away from me. “Don’t touch me!”

Sinking back into my seat took the remaining energy I had. We hadn’t even gotten to school yet, and I was drained. I looked over at her and silently begged her to meet my eyes. “What happened?”

“Don’t talk to me. I’m going to drive you because you’re my cousin, but once we get to school, get out and leave me alone.”

Shocked didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. I thought maybe she got into a fight with her mom or Sean. I never expected it to have something to do with me.

I didn’t try to talk to her again; instead I spent the drive trying to understand what happened since I saw her last. Nothing I could think of would explain this. Something on her phone upset her to the point of making her refuse to talk to me. We never fought before, so I was out of my element, especially since I didn’t know what we were fighting over.

Without looking back, I quickly walked through the math hall and into my classroom. Hopefully, I could text Talia or Alexis soon. They would know what was going on.

I made it to my seat in math without seeing Mike. That never, ever happened. Even when we were just friends, he had a way of appearing just in time to walk with me, or he waited for me at the door.

Whatever was going on with Mckayla was more serious than I was expecting.

It wasn’t just her.

Something made them both mad, and their anger was directed at me. I never thought I would be on this side of the wrath. I’d seen each of them get defensive when it came to their friends, and I knew loyalty was their mutual priority.

Somehow, I violated that trust.

No one around me seemed to notice my world was crumbling around me. Nick leaned over, catching my attention. “Where’s your lover-boy?”

I couldn’t meet his eyes. I shrugged while pretending my notebook was the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him lean back into his desk. It was going to be a torturously long day if this was how every class was going to go.

When Mike didn’t show up by the end of the period, my nerves increased. He never missed a day of school, and he was perfectly fine yesterday. Neither of the girls replied to my texts, and I was starting to panic.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened on the way to dance, except my body guards were missing.

I waited and waited for someone to say something to me. Even if it was mean! Not knowing why was always the worst.

When I saw Cassie walking across the courtyard, my heart was in my throat. She was the determining factor. Whether or not she was speaking to me would put into perspective just how deep I was.

“Cassie! Hey.” I watched carefully for her reaction, but nothing seemed amiss.

“Hey, Aubrey. Where’s Mike?”