I'd Lie

They're just not realistic.

“Can I steal my best friend for a minute?” Anna asked with a sarcastic huff as she pulled Connie up by her elbow.

Her and John had been sitting in his living room laughing while they watched an old movie. They had been spending more and more time together. So much that everything seemed to come naturally now. Neither one felt like they had to force their actions around the other, with or without an audience.

Anna led Connie into the empty kitchen, waiting to speak until she was sure John would not overhear. “What are you doing?” she asked in a harsh whisper, her hands poised on her hips.

“Well, I was watching a movie with John,” Connie explained slowly.

“So you’re just going to spend all your time with him now,” she accused.

“No… I actually came over to hang out with you, but you were over at Garrett’s.”

“Convenient,” Anna muttered under her breath. “Whatever, go hang out with your boyfriend.”

“Anna, he’s not my boyfriend… Yet.”

“Yet?”

Connie shrugged. “He hasn’t asked me,” she lied, crossing her fingers behind her back. She knew the key to convincing Anna that her relationship with John was real was to take it slow. Anna would not believe they were actually together if they seemed to jump right into things. So to keep her suspicions at bay, Connie practiced her ability to lie to her best friend.

“Ugh. This is so weird.” Anna shook her head before leading the pair back into the living room. Connie rejoined John on the couch while Anna sat cross-legged in her father’s armchair.

“What was that about?” John asked with a smirk.

“Girl talk.” Connie smiled back conspiratorially.

“What were you guys watching?” Anna asked grudgingly, her arms folded across her chest as she glared at Connie and her brother as they sat, in her opinion, too close.

John began the movie again, setting the remote on the arm of the couch. “The Lion King.”

“You hate Disney movies,” Anna reminded John, receiving a shrug in return.

“You hate Disney movies?” Connie asked, perplexed.

Again, John shrugged. “They’re just not realistic,” he said by way of explanation.

Connie shook her head as she turned fully to face him. “That’s what makes them so great! It’s a story you know you could never actually have. You can live vicariously through the characters. That’s the beauty of it.”

“You haven’t thought over that answer at all, have you?” he questioned with a sideways smile, teasing the girl.

She stuck her tongue out. “Shut up,” she muttered, her cheeks turning red.

“Oh, God, I can’t handle this,” Anna exclaimed. “You two love birds have fun.” She started up the stairs toward her bedroom, before making the landing she hollered back down, “Not too much fun!”

Alone in the living room, John watched Connie’s face discreetly as she was enthralled with The Lion King. Her concentration intrigued him, made him want to know what exactly she was thinking about as she watched Simba and Nala reunite; which character she was relating to.

“What’re you staring at?” Connie mumbled, her eyes never straying from the screen.

“Nothing,” he lied.

“Seriously, the movie is over there.” She pointed to the television across the room. “I’m not nearly as interesting.”

John kept his response to himself as he followed her direction, his eyes focusing on the jungle on the screen. His thoughts though, remained on the girl whose knee was grazing his and whose arm laid atop his, their fingers barely touching. He fought not to intertwine them, using all the will he could muster, forcing his mind to think of something, anything, else.

***

John awoke to the sound of pans clanging in the nearby kitchen. Shaking sleep from his mind, John lifted his head. As he took in the familiar living room, he felt a heaviness on his body that he hadn’t noticed before.

Connie lay curled into his side. How the two managed to squeeze onto the small couch, John didn’t know, nor did he try to mull it over. Not wanting to wake the peaceful-looking girl, he lifted her arm that had been tightly wrapped around his waist as he attempted to slide from under the small girl’s weight.

The change startled Connie awake. She reflexively grabbed at John before her eyes opened and found a wide-eyed boy staring back at her. “Oh,” she gasped, lifting herself off the boy hurriedly. She wiped the sleep from her eyes, unaware that the motion caused her sleep-wrinkled shirt to rise, exposing her midriff.

John’s eyes widened further before he averted his gaze, a cough falling from his lips. “I’m gonna, uh, go see what Anna’s making,” he mumbled, still not looking in her direction. Connie nodded, though John didn’t see and ran her hands through her hair as she stumbled up the stairs in search of a shower.

In the kitchen, John leaned against the counter as he watched his sister stir a bowl of pancake batter by the stove, as she hummed a familiar tune. “Mmm, those smell so good,” John murmured, startling Anna.

“When did you get up?” she asked, clutching a hand to her chest.

John shrugged, a lazy half-smirk finding its way to his face. “Just now.”

“Oh, okay.” She turned back to the batter, both teens remaining silent as she poured the batter onto a large skillet. “John,” she started, setting the bowl on the nearby counter. “Do you really like Connie? Or is she just another one of your ‘play things’?” The seriousness in Anna’s voice drained the last bit of sleep from John’s mind, making him more alert. “’Cause if that’s the case,” she continued not waiting for his answer. “Then stop it now, please. She doesn’t deserve being played with.”

John stayed silent for a moment, running a hand through his matted and tangled hair roughly. “Anna,” he began, locking his eyes with hers. “I think I really—”

“Mmm. Anna, are you making pancakes?” Connie’s voice interrupted John’s response as she entered the kitchen. She was wearing the same jeans as the day before but with a borrowed shirt of Anna’s. Her hair was still wet from her quick shower minutes before. When she was met with complete silence, Connie looked between the siblings as they watched each other. “What’s going on? Did I interrupt something?”

Anna turned to her with a smile before flipping a golden pancake onto a plate. “How many do you want?” she asked, ignoring Connie’s question.