Deception

"It's nothing." Lori shrugs, heading to her locker. Her backpack's zipped up; no dry erase markers out.

She didn't write that? If she didn't write it, then who did? And who's Zachary Merrick? This is killing me. I reach for my friend's shoulder. "Lori, who's Merrick? Where'd you meet him?"

"God, Kaleb, get off my back!" She hits my arm away and stomps off, her golden hair bouncing with her steps. I furrow my brow, standing in the middle of the hallway. Some girls are whispering, eyes locking on me. What just happened? Did she just have a mental breakdown? I shake my head, watching Riley approach me.

"Do you know anything about a Zachary Merrick?" I ask, the two of us now strolling to class. "Lori flipped out on me."

"She met him at a party. Things between them aren't...'solid.'" Riley's green eyes question me. "How'd you know about this?" He runs his hands through his deep brown hair. "She seems pretty quiet about their 'relationship.'"

"The gossip stall." He "ahs" as we enter the Physics classroom. "Who would write that up there? Who was at the party?"

Riley gives me the "are you stupid?" look. "There were close to two hundred people there. How could I, of all people, pinpoint which gossip whore would write that piece of information in the bathroom?" Pause. "Anyone out to get Lori?"

I roll my eyes. "It was written in electric blue dry erase marker, if that helps."

"Trust me; it doesn't."

xxxxx

Before lunch, I use the bathroom. I step into the second stall, and the gossip about Lori has been wiped clean. In green someone's written, "Oprah's a stupid rich fatass." Black reads "Josh Kaplan is an animal abuser." In red, "Richard Goldsby may be gay, but he has feelings! Stop the hate!" In blue, "No one gives a shit about Andrea Livingston." In pink, "I heart Riley Collins."

I hold in my laughter as I shuffle out of the bathroom. Riley gives me a weird look when I enter the cafeteria. "Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

"Someone has a crush on you."

"It's probably a joke." He inhales his sandwich. Ugh, men. "Kaleb, you have to stop taking this seriously; the gossip stall is the gossip stall. People just put shit up there to be remembered."

I shrug. "You never know."

"Oh, and Lori said she'd be picking you up after school today. Sometime around seven-ish." I glare at him. He throws his hands in the air, and lettuce flies out of his sandwich, onto the floor. "I have no idea why, Christ Almighty, Kaleb!"

We're silent for the rest of lunch, and school drags on. My school work is below par today, thanks to Lori's sudden proposal to hang out at night. Why would she tell Riley to tell me that?

I roll my eyes as I climb into my beaten up Ford truck. The engine grumbled to life, and I navigate home. Liz greets me with her usual "hey, honey, how are you?", and I ignore her. She frowns like she always does, making that "tsk-tsk" sound. "What's up, darling?"

I don't l like pet names.

"Kaleb, I know it's hard for you to accept me, but it doesn't have to be like this. I'm really trying, and I want you to really try too." Liz will never be my mother. She smiles at me, like the pail of sunshine she is. "On a brighter note, your father arranged a special dinner for the three of us tomorrow night. Won't that be something?"

I shrug. This woman's trying too hard; it's disgusting. "I'll be in my room if you need me." I flit up the stairs, peeling off the jeans and tank top I'd worn to school. I change into something more comfortable before finishing up my homework. But by the time I'm halfway through my history homework, the doorbell rings. In seconds, Liz is shouting for me to come down the stairs.

Lori's standing there in a blue dress and stilettos. "Change into something semi-decent; we're going to the movies," she commands, looking me up and down in my whale print pajama pants with a white shirt. "You can't go out looking like that."

I narrow my eyes. "Why exactly are you here?" I start up the staircase, and Lori's behind me. Surprisingly, she isn't as mad at me anymore.

"I was just mad there were rumors spreading about me." She fixes her mascara in my mirror. Lori reapplies her lip gloss, pouting to make sure the shine's perfect. "I mean, Zack and I met at a party. It doesn't ensure an actual relationship, or even a date."

"So why are we going to the movies?"

"He and I wanted to hang out there with our friends, not an actual date. It's a comfortable way to get to know one another." In other words, they're both cowards. "So he's coming to pick us up."

"You gave him the addresss to my house?" I slip on a grey skirt and a turquoise polo while grabbing my blue flip-flops. Lori scrutinizes my appearance.

"Are you sure you want to go in that?"

"It's the middle of September." She gives up, and I reach for my purse. Someone honks their obnoxious horn, and we roll our eyes. "Looks like he's here."

Lori takes in a deep breath. "Let's hope I won't make a fool of myself."