Page 75 of Tell No Lies

“Hey.” Talia was the first to speak and stepped past me through the doorway. The others followed, and I closed the door behind them.

My mind was still trying to process what this all meant when they began talking over each other. I tried to follow what they were saying, but it was too much.

With one hand up, I asked them to stop. “Can just one person please tell me what’s going on?”

They shared a look, and Mckayla nodded. “We came to beg for your forgiveness.”

If the ground had opened at that moment and swallowed us whole, I would have been less shocked than I was by her words. Apparently, it showed on my face.

Talia stepped forward with her hands out in a peaceful gesture. “We’re so, so sorry. Aubrey, I would totally understand if you never want to speak to us again, but please hear us out.”

Still stunned, I managed a small nod.

Talia reached for my hand and guided me toward my own couch. Alexis sat first and grabbed the remote to turn off the show that a few minutes prior had been the only source of entertainment in my life.

“We’re here to say we’re sorry for how we handled things.” Talia said, “We’re sorry that Mike is such a jerk that he dumped you over this. We’re sorry that we’re even bigger jerks for ditching you when you needed us most. We’re so sorry that we didn’t talk to you and let you explain.”

Mckayla interrupted Talia’s speech. “We are sorry, and we want to explain our side so you understand.”

She paused and was apparently waiting for some sort of sign from me, so I gave another meager nod.

Mckayla took over. “Out of the blue, an unknown number sent all of us a few pictures of you and Gage together. The only thing the message said was that you’d been lying to us and hiding things from us. I know that’s lame. I know I’m the worst friend and cousin ever for letting that get me upset, but it just looked so bad.”

Alexis cut in. “Yeah, from our perspective, it looked like you were clearly cheating on Mike. We knew how close you were to Gage and how secretive you were about him, so it all kind of clicked into place.”

Talia continued her thought as if they had rehearsed this. “Mike came to us so upset. He wasn’t even mad. He was just hurt. He was actually crying.”

Mckayla and Alexis were nodding in confirmation.

“When you put his reaction together with what we saw, it looked pretty bad. I know we should have talked to you about it. I know ignoring you was so incredibly immature, but it was shocking. None of us knew how to react, so we just froze you out.”

“I really thought that you were just afraid to tell us about Gage, so you kept it a secret. I thought maybe you actually did like him and didn’t know how to tell Mike. It’s so stupid. I feel terrible.” Mckayla was growing more emotional with each word. “I’m so sorry, Aubrey.”

I was deciding what I should say when Alexis spoke up. “We’re all sorry. Do you think you can forgive us?”

I fell back onto the couch and thought. They’d turned their backs on me the moment I needed them most. Did they deserve to be forgiven so easily?

I looked at each of them and immediately knew. “I accept your apology if you accept mine. I knew you guys didn’t like Gage, but I continued to hang out with him and didn’t tell anyone. In a way, it’s my fault the pictures looked so incriminating. If you’d known how good of friends I am with him, they would look as innocent as they truly were.”

Their faces looked shocked, and Mckayla wiped her eyes. “You can be friends with whoever you want to be! Especially after everything. He proved himself this week. I think we were wrong about him.”

I looked around, waiting to see if they agreed with Mckayla’s words.

They nodded at each other then smiled at me.

“I really appreciate that. He’s a really good guy, but we are just friends. I’m disappointed Mike couldn’t see that, and trust me.”

They nodded solemnly.

“So, what’s with the change of heart? Not that I’m not insanely happy to have you all back. I just don’t get it.”

Suddenly, they looked guilty. Mckayla bit her lip before talking. “Liv came over last night. She told me what’s been going on with you. How sad you’ve been and the things Mike said to you. Then she told me about the note. I knew we’d all been played. The stalker is doing what he can to isolate you and make your life horrible, and we were his pawns.”

I nodded, feeling defeated.

Talia rubbed my back lightly. “We talked to Mike and told him about the note, but he doesn’t see how it changes things. He doesn’t get that you were being framed and made to look like you cheated on him.”

“I think he was looking for a way out, and this was the perfect opportunity,” I confessed.