Disregard the Lies

Sadie sat in her living room, tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn’t figure out how her life had completely changed directions in just forty-eight hours. Two days ago, she was joking around with her best friend and couldn’t wait for her boyfriend to come home.

Now, she no longer had a best friend, and she was hoping to postpone her boyfriend coming home because she didn’t know how she was going to break the news to him. She knew she had to tell him, as he would find out eventually, and it would be better to hear it from her. She just hoped that he would be willing to listen to the whole story, unlike Kyra.

Kyra hadn’t talked to her since she had found out about Sadie’s deceptive ways. The Ice Girls had had a meeting the day before, and they had told them that Sadie was there to stay, much to the chagrin of every other girl on the squad. Sadie had seen Kyra roll her eyes when they made the announcement, and she knew she wasn’t happy about their decision.

She had tried to talk to Kyra afterwards, but Kyra had immediately walked away from her, going straight to her car and leaving. Now, Sadie was sitting here, a knot in the pit of her stomach, as she waited for Jonathan to come back from their road trip.

Her cell phone rang, and she jumped at the sudden noise, quickly glancing at the screen to see it was Jonathan calling. Her stomach started doing flips as she picked the phone up. “Hello?” she asked into the phone, wiping the tears from her face.

“Hey, Sadie,” she heard Jonathan say. “I just got back, and I was thinking that you might want to come over to my place.”

“Um, sure,” Sadie said, figuring she could tell him the truth when she got there.

“Sadie, is everything alright?” Jonathan asked, concerned, when he heard her speak.

“Yeah,” Sadie lied. “I’ll be over in like a half an hour. Is that okay?” she asked.

“Sure, I’ll see you then,” he told her, hanging up the phone.

As she walked up the steps to Jonathan’s door, Sadie couldn’t get rid of the sick feeling in her stomach. She knocked on the door, and moments later, Jonathan opened it, a smile on his face, as he pulled her in close, kissing her. “I’ve missed you,” he told her when they separated.

“I’ve missed you, too,” Sadie admitted, looking up at him. She knew she needed to tell him the truth, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it at this moment as she saw the smile on his face.

“So, I was thinking we could go out for lunch,” Jonathan told her. “What do you say?”

“Sure,” Sadie said, happy to have a little extra time before she broke the news to him. She promised herself that as soon as they got back to his place, she would tell him everything. But, until then, she was going to have one last, nice time with Jonathan first. “So, where were you thinking of going?” she asked him.

“Well, what about Traffic Jam and Snug?” he suggested, and a smile spread across Sadie’s face as she remembered that that was where their first date had taken place.

“I’d like that,” she told him, and he grabbed his coat before walking outside, putting his arm around Sadie. She leaned her head against his shoulder, savoring the moment, since she knew in just a couple of hours, things wouldn’t be the same.

They were just finishing their meal when Sadie glanced at the entrance to see Kyra walking inside. Kyra noticed Sadie, and she immediately rolled her eyes, asking the waitress to be seated away from her. However, when Kyra saw Jonathan sitting across from Sadie, she suddenly changed her mind.

Kyra swiftly walked over to them, wondering why Jonathan would still be willing to eat with Sadie after everything she had done. Then, it dawned on her that Jonathan must not have found out yet. “Sadie, Jonathan,” Kyra said with a small smile.

“Hey, Kyra,” Jonathan greeted. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good,” Kyra stated.

“How’s Sophia?”

“She’s good, too,” Kyra answered. She then turned around to Sadie. “Sadie, you haven’t told him yet, have you?” she questioned.

“Kyra, please stop,” Sadie begged as she stood up, grabbing Kyra’s arm and dragging her away so she could talk to her in private without Jonathan hearing their conversation. “I’m planning on telling him as soon as we’re finished with our meal.”

“Why are you dragging this out? He deserves to know,” Kyra said, raising her voice. Sadie tried to quiet her down, but Kyra wouldn’t listen to her. “You know you’re going to break his heart when he finds out. Don’t prolong it. Just tell him.”

“I will,” Sadie promised. “I just want to have one last, nice meal with him,” she added through gritted teeth.

“I’m not going to let him just sit here and not know what’s going on,” Kyra said, spinning on her heel and walking back towards Sadie and Jonathan’s table. “Jonathan,” she began, and Jonathan looked up at her curiously. “There’s something you need to know.”

“Kyra, let me tell him,” Sadie begged, and Kyra turned around to her. She continued looking at Sadie, waiting on her to tell Jonathan herself. “Jon, there’s something I need to tell you,” she started.

“What is it?” Jonathan asked nervously.

“I haven’t been one hundred percent truthful to you,” she admitted, and Kyra scoffed at her.

“That’s the understatement of the year,” Kyra quipped, and Jonathan glanced over at her, trying to figure out if either of them were going to continue.

“I’m actually working undercover for the The Detroit News,” Sadie told him, pausing to wait for his reaction. When he just sat there with the same expression on his face, she continued. “I’m a writer for them. They wanted me to do a piece where I work undercover as an Ice Girl to get the inside scoop on everything that happens, from our work to our relationship with the other girls and players,” she explained.

When Jonathan didn’t say anything, Kyra spoke up. “Don’t you get it, Jon?” she questioned. “Sadie’s been lying this entire time. She only wanted a story.”

“Is that true?” Jonathan finally asked, looking at Sadie.

“Yes, I became an Ice Girl because of the paper, but that’s not why I became friends with Kyra or I started dating you. The only thing I ever lied about was the real reason I became an Ice Girl. Everything else I’ve ever told you was the truth,” Sadie promised. When Jonathan just sat there, Sadie said, “Jon, please say something.”

“Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you just going to let me find out when it was printed?” he questioned.

“Of course I was going to tell you!” Sadie cried.

“Really? Because it seems to me that if Kyra hadn’t threatened to tell me first, you would have kept it quiet. Did you only go out with me to get a story?” he asked. “Was our entire relationship so you could get a better story?”

“Of course not, Jon!”

“I’m sure you got a bunch of stuff to write about. You had the inside scoop on everything to do with the team. I guess I’ll just find out how much you decided to expose when I read the article. When’s it coming out, by the way?” he asked with a hint of attitude in his voice.

“Next week,” Sadie said, barely above a whisper.

“Good, then, I guess your job is done, and I never have to see you again,” Jonathan stated.

Tears gathered in Sadie’s eyes as she continued to stare at Jonathan. “You don’t mean that, do you?” she asked. “Jonathan, I never meant to hurt you. And, I didn’t say anything about our relationship. I swear!”

“I don’t care. You’ve been lying to me this entire time,” he said, grabbing his wallet and placing some money on the table to cover the bill.

“Jonathan, please, let me explain,” Sadie called after him.

“What is there to explain?” Jonathan asked. “You lied to me this entire time. The only reason why you were with me was for some stupid article,” he spat.

“Didn’t you listen to anything I just said?” she asked. “Our relationship isn’t even in the article!” she yelled, following him out of the restaurant, while Kyra watched the scene unfold in front of her.

“Okay, so you were with me so you could get some inside information on the team. Either way, I don’t care, Sadie. We’re through,” he told her, walking quickly in the opposite direction.

Sadie wanted to collapse on the sidewalk as the tears fell down her cheeks. “You deserve everything that’s happened,” she heard Kyra state, and she looked up to see Kyra walking in the same direction as Jonathan.

Not knowing what else to do, Sadie began walking back towards her apartment, not bothering with the fact that her car was still at Jonathan’s since he had driven to the restaurant. She figured she would figure that out when the time came. But, for the time being, she just wanted to go home and drown her sorrows in a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.