To Find the Lie, We Must Discard the Truth

“party tonight, you going?” Damien asks. It was finally the tenth and I was currently attempting to tie my tie.

“does it look like I'm going to a college party?” I ask sarcastically, giving up on the tie and tossing it aside. Sky was the one who could deal with them. Me? Not so much.


I was fiddling with my tie, making it more knotted than it was before. Sky laughs and walks over to me, taking it out of my hands. “one of these days you're going to have to learn how to do this. Seriously.”

I smile and pull her closer, “until then I have you.” She smiles back and kisses me before letting go of the tie.


“no, it looks like you're going to a funeral.” he comments.

“close enough.” I mumble. I toss on my black sports jacket and grab me keys.

“so, where are you going?” he asks again, taking one last look at me.

“hell.” I answer and close the door behind me.

I pull up to Mary's house and park the car. My parents were already there and I was just waiting for a lecture later on how I was late.

When I ring the doorbell, Mary herself answers, “Ryan, it's so great to see you again.” she says, smiling.

I smile back, “you too Mary.”

My mom comes into the picture, not looking so happy. Her smile was tight and she talked through her teeth, “where's your tie sweetie?”

“well, since I was never taught how to put one on I decided to leave it back at the dorm, mother.”

Mary ignores us and talks to one of the maids, “Maya, could you please go get Veronica?” the maid nods and makes her way upstairs. My dad and the other guy, David was it, had already made there way out of the hall and into some sitting room.

Maya came back down the stairs, “she'll be down in a couple minutes ma'am.” she says and then leaves the room.

Twenty minutes later we were all sitting in the living room and there was still no Veronica. “Ryan,” Mary says overly-sweet, “would you mind going up and checking on her?”

“uh...” how was I supposed to answer that?

“of course he wouldn't mind, would you Ryan?”

Thanks mom, “no, not at all.”

“great, her room is the third down on the left, you can't miss it.” I glare at my mom as I pass by her but she doesn't notice. I knock on the white door and there was no response. I knock again and once again no noise came from the other side. I check the door and realize it's unlocked so I open it to find no one in the room.

There was a nice sized bed in the middle of the room, round with a white and black comforter. The walls were painted a nice shade of gray with black and white designs making a yin-yang look in the pattern. It smelled of vanilla and cinnamon, reminding me of Sky.

The doors to the balcony was open, letting in the cold autumn air. I walk over to the balcony and smile as I wonder if she ran off.

“What are you still doing here?” I hear a voice ask behind me and turn to find myself facing a girl I'm sure would be Veronica. She was standing there in a white lacy dress and black heels What surprised me was that she hadn't even turned to face me, yet she knew I was there.

“ah, so you had a guy up here huh?” I smirk. Her head shot up when I spoke, and the look on her face was a look of fear and surprise. I took a couple steps forward so that I was back inside the room. “your aunt wanted me to come and make sure you weren't dead or anything.”

she opens the door to her room, ready to leave. “you didn't hear me before.” she says as I pass her by.

I smile, “of course not.” we were at the top of the stairs and I noticed everyone in the hallway. My mom was motioning for me to take my hand and I was shaking my head no. though let's just say she's a very persistent person. “take my hand.” I whisper to Veronica.

“what? no.” she says.

“please? If you don't my mom is going to kill me later. Is that really what you want?”

“actually, I wouldn't mind so much.” she says, “one less person who knows my secret.”

“take it.”

she grabs my hand roughly, “fine.” The instant our skin touched there was a spark. Something that only happened Sky, so why would this girl have the same affect on me? I mean, she doesn't even look like sky. Nothing about her screams brown hair and hazel eyes. I walk her down the stairs and into the dining room where everyone was getting seated. Of course, our seats were placed together.

Everyone talked during dinner while Veronica and I just ate in silence.

“so,” I attempt to start a conversation, “what college are you planning on going to?”

“I'll be attending Stanford in the fall.” she answers, sounding a bit rude. Before I could say anything else, Mary spoke up.

“we have something to tell you two.” she says. I scooted my chair a little bit away from Veronica, not wanting to be in the way when she flipped out at the news. “since we're two very powerful businesses, we though we'd join the two. So, Veronica and Ryan, you'll be getting married.” Veronica had just taken a sip of her water and she spit it back out, hitting my mom in the face. I bite my bottom lip, holding back a laugh.

“you're kidding, right?” Veronica finally speaks up.

“not at all dear. It'll be the best thing to join the two companies, and what better way than through marriage?”

Veronica ignored her aunt now and turned her attention to me, “you knew about this, didn't you?!”

I raise my eyebrows, “you do realize that even if I had known about it I wouldn't say yes in this situation because then it will all be my fault, and therefore, no matter what the real answer is, I'm going to say no, I did not know about this. Plus what does it matter if I knew or not, it wasn't going to change anything.”

“so why are you acting all fine about this?”

I shrug, “what can we do? Absolutely nothing, that's what. I figure it couldn't be that bad, though seeing your reaction I may reconsider that.” Scarlet laughs at my comment and then shuts-up when she realizes no one else thought that was funny.

Veronica threw down her napkin and stomped out of the room, my parents were glaring at me. “what? You're the ones who planned this, not me.”

“go talk to her Ryan.” My mom tells me.

“not yet. And that's only because I have a question. She's only 17, so when did you plan on this happening?” I ask.

“The wedding will be in August. Until then though, we've got you two a nice house that's close to both of your schools. You'll be living there together for the time being.” Mary answers.

“and when do we move into this house?”

“tomorrow.”

Oh joy, starting tomorrow I get to live with that girl.