For Everything a Reason
Chapter 9: Tell Me a Lie
Holden and I were walking back to the house after parting ways with Tate. I was caught up in my own daydreams when I noticed where we were. We were passing by the cabin where I first met Tate. It was weird to think I had only met him a couple days earlier. I abruptly stopped walking. I had only met him a couple days earlier. I had been acting on pure impulse and adrenaline up until now. It never occured to me that Tate was only a step above being a stranger. I agreed to meet someone I barely knew in the woods at two in the morning. Reality began creeping into my brain as everything started to sink in. Realization of what was happening slapped me right in the face. It was as if my brain had just turned back on.
I hear Holden laughing. It's a distant sound even though he's right next to me. "What are you laughing at?" I ask, questioning his sanity. "Your face," he giggles. "What's wrong with my face?" I glare at him. "You look horrified, like someone had just stolen your cookie," he continues to laugh. A small smile forms on my lips. "Food is no joking matter, especially not cookies," I laugh a little. "I'm not joking, that's the exact face I picture you making if someone were to steal a cookie from you." "Do you picture that often?" I ask, arching an eyebrow. "Only when I'm sad and need a good laugh," Holden admits. I roll my eyes at him.
"But seriously, what were you thinking about?" He asks, suddenly serious. "Oh ya know, just wondering why the hell I thought it would be a good idea to sneak out of the house and meet up with someone I barely know. Because that's not sketchy at all," I pause for a moment in consideration, "Why didn't you stop me?". A cool breeze sweeps through, blowing strands of hair into my mouth. I swat away the hair in agitation. "Because even though you weren't thinking clearly I still trust your judgement," he states. "Maybe you shouldn't," I laugh. " I don't know Tate well enough to form an accurate opinion, but he seems fine to me," Holden assures. " I haven't gotten any threatening vibes from him thus far," I say, looking up at Holden. It appears the wind has blown his short dark brown tresses into his sea green eyes. "You're fearless aren't you?" Holden looks down at me. "I guess you could say that," I nod. "You have to be pretty fearless, or stupid, to meet up with someone who is essentially a stranger, in the woods, under the cover of night fall. He could've been a pyschopath! Or a serial killer! Or both!" Holden says, dramatically throwing his hands in the air. "Like I said, I didn't get any threatening vibes. And you're the one who said I had good judgement," I remind him. He sighs, "This is true." Nothing is said for the remander of the walk.
We approach the door to our 'home' when I begin to worry that our parents might have noticed our absence. Holden slides his hand around the door knob and cautiously twists it open. We peer into the entrance carefully and see nothing but darkness. We both sigh in relief. If our parents were awake the lights would most definitely be on. We lightly step into the house as I soundlessly close the door behind us. We skillfully maneuver through the house without bumping into anything. I just get to the stairs when I realize Holden is no longer beside me, but instead heading towards the kitchen. "Holden!" I hiss, "What are you doing?" "I'm hungry!" He hisses back in a hushed tone. I sigh in annoyance and follow him into the kitchen.
He flicks a switch with a slender finger and the room is instantly illuminated. I reflexively shut my eyes knowing if I don't i'll go momentarily blind. After a few seconds I slowly open my eyes and adjust to the brightness. Holden has already gotten to work on a BLT sandwhich. I walk over the the island and plop down onto the bar stool, putting my head in my hands. "What are you guys doing?" A voice calls from behind us. "GAH!" Holden shouts in surprise as he drops the knife he was using to spread mayonnaise all over his sandwhich. "Jesus Christ!" I gasp, throwing a hand to my chest. I could feel it rise and fall rapidly from being startled. Paisley is standing by the glass table patiently waiting for us to answer her. Her short hair is sticking up in random directions. "Nice bed head," Holden notes as he bends down to pick up the knife. "Haha," she rolls her large brown eyes. "Did you guys go somewhere?" she asks as she notices our appearence.
"I thought you weren't talking to me," I raise an eyebrow at her whilst popping a blueberry in my mouth. Someone left a bowl of blueberries on the island and I wasn't one to pass up good fruit. Paisley widened her eyes and her mouth formed into a slight O like she had forgotten that she was less than thrilled with me. Holden's eyes darted between us while he was shoving the sandwhich in his mouth. "You went somewhere," Paisley says, ignoring my previous comment. "No we didn't," I say casually. "Yes you did, don't lie to me," Paisley says. I can tell she's getting angry. "We didn't go anywhere," I say slowly, narrowing my eyes. "I don't believe you," Paisley says, clenching her jaw. "Sucks for you," I say, throwing another blueberry into my mouth. "You shouldn't be out this late," she points out. "Thanks for the concern mom, good thing we weren't out," Holden says after swallowing his last bite. Paisley bites her lip and shakes her head before she trudges back to bed in defeat. "Ugh," I groan before lowering my head. "We should probably go to bed, "Holden suggests, pointing at the clock above the oven. It reads 4:15 a.m. . I nod in agreement and drag myself towards the stairs.
I lazily shrug off my clothes and step into a pair of cotton boy shorts and a white tank top. Now that I've come down from my adrenaline rush I can feel how tired I am. It's the kind of tired that goes straight to your core and buries itself deep into your bones. Even my hair feels exhausted, and that doesn't even make sense. I crawl eagerly into bed, wrapping the blankets tightly around me. I rub my cheek against the soft satin, letting out a content sigh. I kind of actually feel bad for lieing to Paisley, but that's a problem for tomorrow because I can already feel myself falling into the calm nothingness that is sleep.
A/N: I know I'm a bad person for going on such a lengthy hiatus. I am so so sorry! But I'm back now and that's all that matters :) Hope you lovely people enjoyed this chapter, more interesting chapters soon to come!