1,000 Lies Told At 40,000 Feet High

“So, come on Piper, you have to tell us!” Sarah practically yelled at me. I leaned away from her and resisted to the urge to get up and run away. It was lunch time at school on Monday and we were sitting outside on the pavement eating our lunches. We were attempting to sit in the shade under a tree to keep cool but it wasn’t really helping all that much. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate hot weather?

“Sarah, maybe you should calm down a little,” Bree said, coming to my rescue.
“And don’t even get me started on you. If you hadn’t dragged her off to go and dance to some stupid song, then we might have been planning what she’d wear on her first date with Oscar,” Sarah said as she pointed a finger accusingly at Bree and narrowed her eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sarah, it’s just that sometimes she can be a little full on. With her dark hair and brilliant green eyes, Sarah gets more than her fair share of attention from the opposite sex, this had made her a little boy crazy. She was tall and had beautiful olive skin that came from her Greek mother.

“Well, I did see him again later on,” I began.
“Yes!” cried Sarah, throwing her hands up in the air.
“And we talked for a bit, but then he had to leave,” I concluded.
“Dammit!”
“So, he gave me his number,” I finally admitted. Sarah began to jump up and down and started doing a strange little dance that mostly involved pointing to the sky and shuffling from side to side.

“Oh my God! Yes! I can’t believe it. I am so happy for you. So have you texted him yet? Did he ask you out? Oh my God, are you his girlfriend now?” Sarah said as she continued to dance. I took a sip of my water. It was my second bottle that day and it was only 12:30. Damn the Australian sun!

“Alright, alright. Calm down Sarah, leave poor Piper alone,” Amanda said rolling her eyes.
“How was the hangover yesterday?” I asked Bree as Sarah finally managed to calm herself down enough to take a seat.
“Don’t change the subject!” yelled Sarah yet again. A group of passing year twelves gave her a strange look. “Did you send him a text?” Now I was the centre of attention again, everyone in our small circle was focusing on me. I took a bite of my sandwich to stall.

“I texted him yesterday.”
“And? Did he reply?” Sarah said leaning forward closer to me, as if I was about to tell her some big secret. Which in a way, I guess it was.
“Yes, and then we ended up texting for the rest of the day,” I replied biting my lip. This wasn’t that much of a big deal right? I mean, Oscar and I were just two people who happened to meet at a party. It wasn’t like we were actually seeing each other.

“Oh my God!” Sarah squealed, “Hooray, you’re finally going to have a boyfriend!”
“Sarah!” Amanda scolded. Sarah only rolled her eyes and started to inspect her nails.
“Whatever guys, it’s nothing really,” I said, and with that, the conversation was over.

***

“So now, I’m going up to Sydney to surprise him” I finished explaining to the elderly couple that I was sitting next to on yet another plane to Sydney. Time had seemed to have flown by, I was finding it hard to believe that it had been a month since I had last gone to Sydney and met Chace. Then again, maybe it was just Oscar keeping me distracted.

“Oh Laura, that is such a lovely story. I hope that everything turns out okay for you both,” the old lady, whose name was Iris, said to me, placing her hand comfortingly on my shoulder. I smiled gently at her and looked at my watch. There was only another half hour left of the flight, only another half hour before I had to spend my weekend in an empty house, only another half hour to make myself memorable.

“Avery?”
My head shot up at the sound of the name. Not because it was a name that I pretended to be often –although today I was Laura, a love-struck young woman surprising her boyfriend of two years- but because I recognised the voice.

“Chace?”