But it’s pretty hard to have an honest conversation with someone when it’s based on a lie.
And that’s what this is. A lie. All of it. It’s a lie because he thinks I’m someone I’m not. It’s a lie, because it wouldn’t even cross his mind to consider that the world he knows is really a lie…that there really are creatures that go bump in the night, and yes, monsters really do exist.
And…that one of them is sitting right here beside him.
After a long silence, Kieron finally speaks. “Liora, I have a confession to make.”
Chapter 10. Liora
“That sounds ominous,” I say, my heart speeding up.
He raises an eyebrow and bites his lower lip. “Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it. You might not really like me after you hear what I have to say.”
“What is it?”
He takes a deep breath and stares straight ahead. I look at him curiously, waiting for him to say something…anything. But his face is hard and he remains silent. Whatever he needs to say I wish he’d just spit it out already. The suspense is killing me.
“I wasn’t entirely honest with you earlier. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I think I should just come clean so I can stop feeling like I’ve deceived you.”
“You lied to me about something?” I rack my brain trying to think what he could possibly have needed to lie to me about, but come up blank.
“Well, I didn’t really out and out lie…but I was less than truthful… It’s just, well, I didn’t really need help with my schoolwork like I said. I was in all advanced classes at my old school, and I’d already done all the reading.”
Wow. I don’t know what I’d expected him to ‘confess’ but it definitely wasn’t this.
“So, you were just pretending not to know anything about Inferno?”
He nods, shrugging. “Pretty much. I actually won an essay contest on it last year.”
I scrunch my forehead, confused. “Why would you do that? Don’t you have better things to do with your time than study stuff you already know?”
He twists his mouth and looks down at his hands. “Yeah, but I needed a reason to spend time with you. To talk with you. It was the only thing I could think of. Stupid, I know,” he mumbles.
I still don’t get it. “What did you want to talk with me about?” I whisper.
He looks me straight in the eye. “I dunno…nothing. Everything. I think you’re probably one of the most interesting girls I’ve ever met. And believe me, that’s saying a lot. I wanted to get to know you better.”
I don’t know what to say, so I just stare at the grass.
“Oh.”
“I hope you’re not mad,” he says, “that you wasted an afternoon in a cemetery reading with me.”
How could I be mad when other than today, it was the best time I’ve had in my life?
“I’m not mad,” I mumble. What am I? Happy? Scared?
Yes.
“Good.” He lets out a sigh of relief. “Because I really want us to be friends.”
Friends? Why does that word sound like such a stinging rejection?
He places his fingertips under my chin and gently tilts my face toward his. “Good friends,” he whispers. “Very good friends.”
With benefits?
I think he’s going to kiss me, but he doesn’t, and I don’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved. This is a dangerous path I’m on. One that can only lead to heartache. Kieron doesn’t know anything about me. And if he ever finds out, he’ll hate me. Despise me. Fear me.
But until then…
His eyes never leave mine as I lean closer to him so the sides of our bodies are touching. More than anything, I want to lose myself in this tranquility for eternity—to freeze this moment forever. Just Kieron and me in our secret, perfect Paradise.
The second our fingers touch, the moment his hand tenderly wraps around mine, the instant I feel the hot flow of energy course through my veins and ignite my soul, I know I’m never letting go. Kieron has entered my life in a way that cannot be ignored or undone. I’m supposed to know him.
Somehow…some way, I will make this work. I have to.
Whatever it takes.
******
The sky turns a menacing shade of grey, and I suddenly realize it’s later than I thought. My blissful time is over. “I have to go,” I whisper, reluctantly.
Kieron nods and together we gather up the rest of our stuff and head back to the truck. Judging from the long shadows cast on the field, and the fact that we’re at least an hour away from my home, I know I’m cutting it close. Too close. Being with Kieron makes the time pass way too quickly.