99 Lies by Rachel Vincent

Author:Rachel Vincent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-05-26T16:00:00+00:00

6 DAYS, 4 HOURS EARLIER

I don’t care.

MADDIE

My phone rings, and I struggle up from an accidental nap to answer it.

“Hey,” Luke says when I answer. “I’ve been paroled. Want some company?”

“Yes.” I don’t even have to think about it. “Your house?”

“No way. Parole means I’m allowed to leave the grounds. Can I come over?”

I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. “I have to get out of here. Wanna hit the arcade again?” I’d found it pleasantly impossible to think about real life while we were chomping pixelated ghosts and shooting floating hockey pucks at each other.

“How ’bout someplace quiet?”

“The coffee shop a block from my apartment,” I suggest as I sit up and dig under my bed for my shoes.

“I’ll meet you there.”

I hang up my phone and slide it into my pocket, then sneak into my mother’s room to make sure her nap isn’t of the permanent variety. Her chest rises softly as I watch, and the only thing on her nightstand is a glass of water. On my way out, I grab my house key and slap a Post-it note on the inside of the front door telling her that I’ll be back for dinner.

The afternoon is clear and beautiful, but I can only glare into the spring sunshine, well aware that I’m channeling Eeyore. No one in my position would be in a good mood.

Then I see Luke get off the bus half a block away, and I can feel my mood lift. It doesn’t seem fair to him that he’s the only ray of light in my life. That feels like too much to pin on a guy who hasn’t even turned sixteen yet.

But he keeps coming around, so I have to believe that he welcomes the challenge.

I speed up and we get to the coffeehouse at the same time. “You get a table, I’ll get coffee?” he suggests. I nod, then I pick out a spot in the corner by the window, where I can stare out at the world. I’d much rather watch it than be in it these days.

A few minutes later, Luke sets two lattes on the table, then lets his backpack swing carefully to the floor. He sits in the chair opposite mine and pulls a tablet from the front pocket of his backpack, and when I see that he’s trying to log into the free Wi-Fi, I read the password to him. It’s written in chalk on the blackboard-painted rear wall, along with the daily muffin and cupcake selections.

Luke opens an app that turns his tablet into a virtual air hockey table and sets it on the table between us with a grin. “Ready?”

I’ve just decided we’re the cutest couple on the face of the planet when a bright light flashes in my face.

Stunned, I look up, blinking, and I find a photographer standing a few feet away, zooming in for a second shot with his huge, expensive camera.

I have no idea what to do, and Luke’s so focused on his air hockey defense that he hasn’t even noticed.

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