The Heart Never Lies

We were silent on the walk to his car. It was an electric blue Mini-Cooper. Harry was in the front and Danny and Dougie were in the back. I climbed in between them and rested my head on the backseat, blowing out a gust of air.

"We're sorry, Addie," Dougie muttered.

"It's okay," I choked out. I tried to keep my speaking as small as possible because I was about to start crying, I could feel it. My throat was hurting and my eyes were stinging.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to make you fail," Harry said sincerely, twisting in his seat to look at me.

I couldn't help it; I immediately dissolved into tears. Danny put his arm around my shoulder and I put my head on his, starting to sob uncontrollably. He kept telling me that it was okay, smoothing my hair reassuringly. The whole way home Tom kept sneaking glances at me in the rear view mirror, his face guilt ridden.

When we got home I ran right past Mum and went to the backyard to sit on our tire swing. I having such a hard time seeing because of my tears that I couldn't hold it still long enough to slip my short legs through the hole. A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed the rope to hold it steady.

"Thanks, Danny," I sniffed as he also helped me get in. I wrapped my hands around the rope and rested my chin on the black rubber.

"No problem." He sat down at the base of the tree in silence as I kicked my feet like a child, not quite reaching the ground. I suddenly remembered the mascara I had put on this morning.

Crap. I probably looked like some terrifying monster that barbecues kids or something. I wiped a finger underneath my eye, and sure enough, when I pulled it back it was covered in black. I sighed and rubbed it off on my blue jeans. This day was definitely one of the suckiest ones I'd ever had. I can't believe I won't be graduating with my class....

I know that she seemed to only threaten to do that, but she doesn't make threats or empty promises. And I was really looking forward to graduating, too. Not that I had any friends or anything. Don't get me wrong; people don't hate me or pick on me, it's just that I don't know how to act since everyone knew Tom and know that I'm his sister. I think they expect me to be just as talented, but so far I haven't lived up to anyone's expectations, including my own.

You see, I tried to start a band because Dad and Tom have been teaching me stuff, but all the people that showed only wanted to be in it so they could meet Tom. After that I decided I had had enough of trying to get along with my shallow fellow school mates.

I noticed that Danny had left when I looked over at the tree. I sighed again. I wasn't that surprised, really. Nobody wants to be around a Moping Myrtle.

I placed my head back in its original position and closed my eyes, listening to the wind move the leaves on the huge tree, creating a soothing rustling sound.

"Hey, Addie?" I opened my eyes to see Danny standing in front of me, holding a handful of tissues. "I thought you might need some of these, but I didn't know how many, so I just grabbed some..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. I smiled weakly in appreciation. "Oh, and I wet one so I could get that black runny stuff off your face." I grimaced.

"Thanks, Danny." He nodded as he got on his knees and began to gently wipe off my face.
I looked at his face and giggled. His eyebrows were bent down in concentration and his tongue was sticking out the corner of his mouth. Adorable.

"What are laughing at?" he said, laughing a bit himself.

"Oh, nothing." Then a thought popped into my head. "Just the fact that many girls would kill to be in my place, with Danny Jones on his knees in front of me." He grinned and started wiping my face with a dry tissue.

"I heard your mum on the phone with somebody from the school,and I think she's got some good news for you." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he said this. It piqued my curiosity so I slid out of the swing. We walked together into the house through the screen door on the back porch. Mum was still on the phone and motioned for me to sit down in the kitchen chair next her.

"Yes, I understand. But it wasn't-- yes, I know, it wasn't her fault! No, she didn't. They didn't. Mm-hmm. Yes, I see." I cocked my head to the side, about to say something, but Mum put her finger to her lips as she continued her conversation. "Would you, sir? There was only one left. Oh, thank you, sir!" Mum cupped her hand over the mouthpiece. "Addie, it's the principle." My heart skipped a beat.

"What does he want?"

"He'll let you finish your exam, and won't fail you. He also says you can graduate with your class." I almost started crying again. Out of happiness, of course.

"I don't have to go back to school do I?"

"No, he said since it's only one question, you can answer over the phone." She removed her hand to speak in it once more. "Here she is."

I took it with a trembling hand. "Hello?"

"Hello, Adelaide, are you ready?"

"Yes, sir." He asked me the question, and I had to let him know that I was planning on answering; I just needed a bit of time. Then I gave my answer, and heard the scratching of his pen as he wrote it down.

"Alright, thank you, Adelaide. As usual, you will get your exam results on the day of your graduation. I'll see you Friday." We said goodbye, then hung up. I immediately launched myself on my mother, giving her the biggest hug I had ever given in my entire life.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squealed! Mum chuckled and pried my arms from her neck. "You should go thank your brother; he's the one that told me."

"He's still here?" She nodded and pointed to his room.

I drew in a deep breath before I slowly knocked on the door. "Come in," came the muffled reply, along with the twanging of a guitar. I opened the door and sat on his bed, crossing my legs Indian style.

"Oh, hey," he said as he noticed it was me. He set aside the guitar. "Listen, Addie, I'm really--"

"Thank you so much, Tom!" I squealed, hugging him in the same fashion as Mum. I could tell he was very confused so I explained. "Mum said that you told her what happened so she called the school and I got to finish my exam and I get to graduate with my class!" His dark eyebrows were raised with surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah!" I said, just as excited as he was. "All because you were a big boy and told Mum what YOU did." He grinned at me, no teeth, and continued trying to tune the guitar. I grew frustrated as I watched him struggle with it. "Hey, let me try."

"I can get it." He was completely engrossed in it, and didn't see my pretend hurt face until I sighed loudly. "Fine, you try." He handed it to me as if he doubted I could do it. I doubted it too, because I had never tuned a guitar by ear before.

So I pressed my ear next to the wooden and body and strummed each sting individually.

Oh, that B string. My favorite comedian is right: B does stand for "Bitch" string. After I plucked it a few times, I noticed something. That B string doesn't sound like a B string....

I pulled away from the guitar to study the strings and noticed why the B string didn't sound right. It was because it wasn't a B string. I giggled when I realized this and handed the guitar back.

"What, can't do it?" he said smugly.

"Nope, because you strung it wrong." He stared at me with his mouth hanging open, until he realized I spoke the truth. He suddenly jumped up, pulling his phone out of his pocket and calling somebody.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching him as paced back and forth.

"I'm calling the guys to let them now how my little sister figured out what I couldn't for my whole life." He smiled at me, but then turned his attention back to the small gadget in his hand. "Hey, Harry, guess what-- really? Cool. Want me to ask her?" I raised my eyebrows in interest. "Harry says they're going to go see Batman tonight. Wanna come?" My expression must have been comical -- eyebrows raised higher than before, mouth hanging open in a grin, shoulders tensed with excitement, and hands clasped tightly. I squealed and nodded my head quickly. Tom laughed and continued his conversation with Harry. "Yeah, she's coming. What time?" As he and Harry chit-chatted, I bounced into my room and started to pick out something to wear for tonight.

Hmm.... Should I go for laid back, or slightly dolled up?

Both.

I pulled out a white knee-length spaghetti-strapped cotton summer dress, a pair of neon green tights, and sky blue low cut Converse. Then I yanked open a drawer and pulled out two hot pink chunky bracelets, a red multi-faceted plastic bead necklace, and a chunky black plastic ring. Then I pulled a thin yellow scarf off of a hanger in my closet and arranged the outfit to go the way I planned it to look on me.

It was very.... bright.

"Whoa, where are you going tonight?" I looked behind me and saw Daddy standing in my doorway.

"Tom said that the guys are going to see Batman at the cinema and that I could go with them."

"Oh." He seemed surprised. "You're not going on a date?"

"No, Daddy," I said with a sigh.I don't go on dates. He stood there for a moment, as if he didn't believe me. He finally left. As soon as he did, Tom appeared.

"Hey, we're gonna leave in a few minutes. Go ahead and do whatever you've got to do. We'll meet up at my place, and we'll set off from there." I nodded and closed to door, getting ready. After I got dressed, which really took a while, I pulled my hair up in a ponytail and swept my bangs to the side of my face. I put on some mascara, and red lipstick with some gloss to make it shine. Then I grabbed my orange knit purse and left with Tom.