To Find the Lie, We Must Discard the Truth

“okay, so that's all of it.” My mom says, looking around at the boxes in the house, “we'll check in with you two next weekend.” she hugs me goodbye and walks back out to the car, leaving.

Veronica and I walk into the house and look around. It wasn't that bad of a house really. Nice and small. There was one of everything: bathroom, office, kitchen, and bedroom. I decided to make lunch now and unpack later, giving Veronica the time to do it now.

Though I highly doubt that's what she was doing when I hear a blood-curling scream coming from upstairs and then she storms into the kitchen.

Let's just say she didn't look all too happy, “nice to see you too.” I comment, finishing up the sandwich.

“there's only one bed!” she screams at me. I take a bite of my sandwich and swallow.

“so?”

“you don't care?”

“didn't I make it clear last night? The way I see it is that we're stuck in this situation whether we like it or not, and trust me I do not like it. Might as well get used to sharing a bed because I can tell you right now we're going to be in many situations where we won't have a choice.” She glares at me, “is there something else you want? You look pretty mad.”

“I'm just trying to figure you out, that's all.”

“um, why?”

“everyone praises you at school. And I mean everyone. I don't see it.”

“this coming from the girl who hasn't said one nice thing to me since we met? Right, okay, that makes sense.”

“whatever.” she turns on her heel and starts to walk away but stops and looks over her shoulder, “oh, by the way, my friends are coming over.” and then she continues down the hall.

I chase after her, “Veronica!” I call, pounding on the locked door to our bedroom. She had the music cranked up so that she couldn't hear me. “Veronica! I'm giving you ten seconds to unlock this door!” I hear her laugh, “ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one-” I take a couple steps back and then run and push down the door.

“you're kidding, right?” Veronica asks, sitting on the bed reading some girl magazine. “I really thought you were kidding.”

“we need to talk about this.”

“talk about what exactly?”

“your friends coming over. What were you planning on telling them? Huh? Because if I remember correctly, you go to my old school. Everyone knows me there, and so they aren't going to buy some lie that you tell them.”

She flips through a couple pages in the magazine. “don't worry so much, I'll just tell them that Mary wanted me closer to school and you were already looking for a place so they decided to put us in the same house. By the way, you're room will be the office according to them, and the door will be locked at all times so that they won't know otherwise. Oh, and I don't mind if you want any friends over. Hey! We could have like a housewarming party.”

“I'd rather not. How many girls are coming over?”

“hmm, three? Yeah, three.” The doorbell rings, “could you get that please?”

“what worries me is that I think you're serious.”

she looks up from what she was reading about, “oh, I am. Please, go get the door.”

I walk out of the room, not bothering to take a second glance at the door that was now on the floor. The doorbell kept ringing and I told the person to be patient as I made my way toward it.

When I opened the door, the last person I was expecting was standing on the other side. “Ryan?” Katie asks, standing up straighter and looking more serious than she did a minute ago.

“oh god, I beg you to tell me you didn't befriend Veronica.”

she laughs, “sorry buddy, but it kind of this 'stay on the team or get kicked off' type of deal. I mean, the same thing happened with Amanda. So, until she gets sent off to juvi, I'm stuck being a follower.”

“Will you just send them up Ryan!?” Veronica yells from upstairs.

I smile down at Katie, “It was just a new neighbor, calm your horses!” I yell back. “come on,” I tell Katie, closing the door behind her, “I need to talk to you about something.”

She follows me into the office, or 'my bedroom' and I close the door behind us. “so, what are you doing here?” Katie asks, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

“I can trust you, right Katie?”

she looks at me confused, “I'd like to think so.”

“I mean, Sky trusted you, so you must be trustworthy.”

“Ryan, where are you going with this?”

“There's something that I feel like I should tell you.”

“not that I'm scared of you or anything, but this whole situation is getting kind of creepy. You haven't talked to me since the incident...actually, you haven't talked to anyone since the incident.”

“I know. It's just, I can't go to anyone with this. Not even Blake. That's how serious this information is.”

“okay, I get it. I'm not allowed to let any information leave this room.”

I nod and take a seat across from her. “I'm going to let you read something that no one else has read. Anything in this letter is not to be passed onto anyone.”

“yes sir.” she jokes and I crack a smile. I pull out my wallet and take the folded up piece of paper from it. Sky's letter. I unfold the paper and hand it to her. Katie takes a couple minutes to read over it and then sets it down on the table next to us. “that's um, wow.”

“yeah.”

“so you and Veronica...”

“the wedding is in August.” Katie nods, still letting everything register. “I just don't understand why she is so adamant on me going through with this. Actually, I don't even get why she told me in the first place. She easily could have just let me find out by myself, I didn't need to be warned.”

Katie glances back at the letter, “you saw it as a warning?” she asks.

“yeah. How did you read it?”

“I thought she was giving you hints. I mean, listen to this,” she starts to read the letter, “'But you won't recognize me, I won't be the same person you know. Remember things about me like my scars, and my birth mark. My nervous habits and the way I sit when I watch a movie. It's things like those that will be staying the same.' It's after she tells you this that she talks about the arranged marriage, and pushes you to go through with it.”

“so what are you getting at?”

“I think this is a clue. Maybe Veronica knows something about where Sky is. It couldn't be a warning because Sky never met Veronica, you and I both know that. So she wouldn't know what to warn you about.”

“great, so the girl who hates me is the girl who I'm supposed to go to for help. That's just perfect.”

Katie laughs, “give it a couple weeks. I mean, Ronni just found out she's getting married to you, obviously she's not going to like you. But as everyone knows, you're a very likable guy. The only reason she despises you is because she was forced on you... or you were forced on her. All I'm saying is give it some time. Let her get used to the idea.”

“you were always my favorite of Amanda's friends, you know that?”

“I try. Now though, I better get upstairs. She'll flip if she knows I'm down here talking to you.” she stops at the doorway and turns back to look at me, “if you ever need anything Ryan, don't be afraid to come to me. You know, when your fiancee isn't around to kill me.” I smile and nod before she leaves and closes the door.

Sky wanted things to work between me and her cousin. So, I was going to make sure things worked out. Even if that meant going to extremes.