LIAR, LIAR: High School Bully Romance (Season One | Episode One) Read online

  LIAR

  LIAR

  SEASON ONE | EPISODE ONE

  LIAR

  LIAR

  SEASON ONE | EPISODE ONE

  TINLEY BLAKE

  Copyright © 2020 by Tinley Blake

  All rights reserved. Neither this book, nor any mention thereof, may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2020

  www.tinleyblake.com

  For Amber who pushes.

  For Jaidyn who inspires.

  LIAR

  LIAR

  SEASON ONE | EPISODE ONE

  The Lie

  Sitting outside staring at the sky

  Wondering where we would be

  If I hadn’t told you that lie;

  That lie which will forever haunt me.

  I sit alone again wishing you were here

  I miss your smile, your laughter

  I will forever live in fear

  Knowing we never got to the heart of the matter

  My heart hurts for you my sweet

  Such a selfish thing to say

  My life is now so incomplete

  This world of colors has become grey.

  Hopefully one day I’ll have the chance to make you see

  That this lie is a bad joke on me

  I never meant to hurt my one and only

  What would I give to hold my baby?

  When I said I didn’t love you, it was a lie

  Didn’t know these words were in my head

  Wish you would give us another try

  I’ll be forever sorry for what I’ve said.

  Introduction

  By a lie, a man…annihilates his dignity as a man.

  -Immanuel Kant

  The halls are silent. Not even the whisper of a memory floats through now, but it won’t last. In less than a week these walls will be filled with the return of students, faculty, and staff. It will be impossible to hear your own thoughts much less keep up with all the gossip.

  That’s why I am here.

  To shed a light on the happenings of Worthington Prep.

  To uncover that which no one wants revealed.

  To erase the shadows of lies and deceit.

  But mostly, I’m here to have a little fun.

  Rumor has it that this year a new student will grace these halls. An outsider. It’s the first time in decades that the powers that be have accepted a transfer and from a public school? It’s unheard of.

  But I’ve seen the proof. Tall, blonde, crystal blue eyes and legs for days. She stepped through the halls like she owned the place and you won’t believe who opened the door.

  Our very own Kiah Marten.

  Kiah… who is this bombshell hanging on your arm? Don’t worry, we’ll find out and when we do, I’ll be right here letting the world know.

  You want answers and answers you will receive.

  Until then…

  Classes start in a week, and it’s time for our first bet.

  You know the stakes. Two hundred dollar buy in.

  Is the new girl predator or prey?

  Will she become a wolf? Or is she a lost, lonely sheep?

  And since this is such a juicy one, I’ll open a side bet too.

  How long will she last?

  Winner takes all. Bets close at the end of school Monday.

  I’d say good luck, but we both know when you have money, luck isn’t needed.

  - Ciao

  Chapter One

  A law is not a law without coercion behind it.

  - James A. Garfield

  Calliope

  I smooth my hands down the back of my dress. It’s last season’s style, mid-thigh with small budding blue flowers that contrast the pale-yellow background and highlight my eyes. I didn’t have time to shop for this year’s wardrobe, not that I would have had the money anyway.

  That’s what happens when your father gets arrested.

  All assets are seized and life as you know it vanishes.

  Poof.

  Gone like a drop of water hitting hot asphalt.

  Evaporating into thin air.

  At least that’s what it felt like.

  One day I had it all. A nice house, loving family. A brand-new Mustang GTO and enough cash in my personal bank account to live comfortably for the rest of my life. I was popular… you know the standard beauty queen girl with a homecoming king, quarterback boyfriend and a flock of friends that never left my side.

  Until I woke up broke. Then all my so-called friends vanished along with my house and car. They let me keep my clothes and most of my shoes but took my jewelry and designer handbags for God only knows what reason.

  I didn’t understand it all at first. “It’s okay. Just a misunderstanding,” he said as they tightened handcuffs onto his wrists. “I’ll get it sorted out.”

  I believed him. Looking back, I can’t believe I was that sheltered. That naive.

  Lifting my hand, I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and dab the drugstore lip gloss at my lips before grabbing my phone and walking out of the room and straight into Kiah.

  “Sorry,” I mumble stepping back and letting him pass.

  I fight the urge to fidget as his gaze travels up and down my body before settling in a sneer of disgust. “Sorry? That’s obvious.” It’s clear he isn’t referring to my apology.

  “Get out of my way, and while you’re at it, get out of my house and go leech off of someone else too!”

  I’m stunned silent for a half second and then my temper flames to life. “Go fuck yourself, Kiah.” I try to push past him but his hand latches onto my arm, his fingers digging into my skin.

  “Stay out of my fucking way, or I’ll put you somewhere no one will find you.” His sable green eyes are hard, unrelenting. My pulse skips and then speeds, the normal gentle beat echoing like a bass drum in my ear. My instincts wage war with one another. Half wanting to run and cower from him. The other half wanting to push him, to see how far he will go as long as it means his scalding flesh doesn’t leave mine.

  I’ve never been much of a runner. “Idle threats at 7 o’clock in the morning?”

  He leans forward, his lips mere centimeters from my ear. “Idle threats are made when you don’t intend to follow through. Chills erupt along my neck and race down my spine when he whispers, “No, sweet Calliope, when I speak it’s a fucking promise”

  “Kiah, Calli? Are you two ready?” Mrs. Marten calls from the bottom of the staircase. She can’t see us, but that doesn’t help calm my pounding heart.

  Kiah releases me stepping away like I have the plague and he doesn’t want to catch it. “On our way,” he calls back to her.

  I follow behind him making sure to leave at least four steps between us. He smiles when his mother comes into view and my breath catches. I can’t see more than half his face, but that is enough. The air around him brightens. He’s the sun in this universe and the rest of us are just caught in his orbit.

  There was a time not that long ago that Kiah and I were friends. At least I thought we were. His mother and mine had been best friends since birth if the stories are to be believed. We’ve spent holidays together, birthdays, vacations. Of course, he was always closer to Tane, my older brother. Maybe if Tane hadn’t decided to stay with dad things would be different.

  Or maybe… if I hadn’t lost my head when we first moved in, he wouldn’t hate me now.

  I was sad, depressed and didn
’t really want to get out of bed in the morning much less pretend to be happy, but none of those things would work for Kiah. He made a point of waking me every morning, a plate of food in his hands and then all day he wouldn’t leave my side. Slowly he pulled me from my shell and gave me a reason to smile.

  Until that night.

  The one I refuse to think about. The night everything changed.

  My mother steps into the entryway a mug of coffee in her hands, “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, mother.”

  “If you need me…”

  “I know. You’re a call away. I’ll be fine, really.” The words sound false to my ears, but my mother nods before pressing a kiss to the side of my head.

  “Show her around, Kiah. Introduce her to your friends and make sure she gets settled in.”

  He doesn’t reply on his way out the door. I toss a shaky smile over my shoulder and follow after him. Ideally, I’d rather not ride to campus with him, especially after his not so subtle threat upstairs, but since my own car was taken, I don’t really have a choice. Unless I want to tell my mother that I don’t feel safe. The thought is ludicrous.

  I’ve met people like Kiah before. Hell, I was someone like Kiah. The best thing I can do is pretend he doesn’t bother me. Show no fear.

  He starts the engine. I barely have time to shut the door before the car is speeding down the drive and through the gate. I stare out the passenger side window, my hands pressed together in my lap to keep from fidgeting. There’s so much I want to say to him, so much that needs said, but the last time I tried he shut me down faster than I could mutter the words sorry.

  “Listen, Kiah,” I try again.

  “No, you listen. I don’t need your half ass apology or whatever bullshit you plan spewing from those painted lips. I don’t give a fuck. Not about what you have to say and not about you, so keep your mouth shut and stay away from me. I don’t want to see you; I don’t want to hear you. Can you do that?”

  I nod fighting the urge to scream. Can I do that? How dare he speak to me like I’m some illiterate child.

  The ride to Worthington is short, about ten minutes total if I remember correctly from my tour last week. I watch as we leave the neighborhood and then try to count trees lined along the road in perfect rows of green until Kiah pulls the car over in front of one of them. Turning my head, I glance at him and then back at the side of the road. We are at least five minutes from school still.

  “Get out.”

  “What? What are you doing?” I ask stunned.

  “I said get out.”

  “But were not there yet.”

  He turns to me then. His earlier carefree smile has been replaced with something cold and hungry. His lips stretch across his teeth in a maniacal way that you’d see from the villain in a scary movie, but not here. Not from Kiah.

  “You didn’t actually think I’d pull up with you in my car, did you? It’s the first day of class. Today sets the tone for the rest of the year and I’ll be damned if I arrive with a sorry piece of trash trailing behind me.”

  “Trash? Excuse you.”

  “Get. Out. Now.”

  I open the car door and step out onto the curb then turn to give him a piece of my mind. He doesn’t give me the chance. The car speeds off before I even have the chance to shut the door breaking my nail in the process. I press my finger to my mouth the way my mother would when I had an ouchy as a child and watch Kiah’s car fade down the street. The pain doesn’t fade, but I feel better.

  I reach for my phone in my back pocket only to realize I left it in the car. Great. Thankfully it isn’t too warm out today so the walk to school, if I can find my way, won’t leave me drenched in sweat.

  Dickhead.

  Asshole.

  Bastard.

  I keep the mantra up the entire way. My anger the only thing fueling my steps. How fucking dare he toss me out like a piece of trash in the wind.

  Trash.

  That’s exactly what he called me too.

  Bastard.

  Stupid prick.

  Fuck waffle.

  Groups of people are gathered in front of the admin building. I search the crowd for Kiah, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Squaring my shoulders, I raise my head high and blaze a path through snickering clusters of students. They don’t even try to hide their words with whispers, choosing to instead make sure I hear every word. I’ve almost made it to the steps leading into the building when I’m blocked, literally, from taking another step.

  I glance up, shielding my eyes from the sun with a hand over my brow. There are four of them. Jocks if my assumption is right. And each one more handsome than the last. I plaster on my knock them dead smile and open my mouth to say something cute and sexy, but before I get the chance the guy standing closest speaks.

  “Well, well, well, look what the cat drug in.” His friends laugh and then the rest of the people close enough to hear him join in. The guy on his left leans in and sniffs the air around me. “I don’t know, Brax I think this might be the cat.” He sniffs again, “I smell pussy.”

  I take a step closer intent on pushing past them, but they form a wall. “Move asshole,” I grind out.

  “Oh, she’s got fire,” Brax says grinning, “I can’t wait to snuff it out.”

  I hear the implied threat strung between his words and the short fuse on my temper ignites. “Let me pass,” I say and they laugh toying with me. I take the moment of distraction to shove my knee straight up between Brax’s thighs. He falls to the ground instantly and his friends shuffle around unsure what happened or what they should do. I don’t wait to find out. Stepping over Brax’s prone form I flee up the steps and through the doors. “I’ll fucking kill you for that bitch,” Brax calls out behind me but then the doors shut and erase all traces of sound.

  Chapter Two

  When you learn that a truth is a lie, anger follows.

  -- Grace Slick

  Kiah

  I stand around the corner and watch Calliope race up the stairs. In another time in my life I might have been proud of the way she stood up to Brax and the guys. Hell, a week ago I wouldn’t have sent them to fuck with her in the first place. But that was before.

  “There you are.” Sycilly slides her arm through mine linking us. I catch myself before groaning out loud. The last thing I want to deal with right now is my sometimes on again off again girl. Judging by the twinkle in her eye she expects us to be on again. Never mind the fact that I haven’t spoken to her all summer. Sycilly took off the day our sophomore year ended on her family’s private jet to Italy after extending the open-ended invitation to me.

  When I declined, she didn’t waste any time before extending the same offer to Daniel and then Brax until she found someone willing to join her. Not that I cared. Even when we were together it was more a social thing here at school. As the captain of the cheer squad it was expected for her to date me. It didn’t matter that we had less in common than a fox and a toad.

  I pull her arm from mine and drop it before walking around the building. Brax is up, although leaning a little heavily on Daniel and Trace.

  “Dude your fucking girl is a psychotic bitch,” Brax says. Sycilly sucks in a sharp breath and narrows her eyes.

  “Not my girl and I told you to fuck with her, not get kneed in the balls.”

  “I got kneed in the balls because I fucked with her.”

  I shrug and walk up the steps past them. “Not my problem.”

  Inside the admin building is quiet and calm, but soon the students will swarm the halls. I'm not sure why I followed her in here. I just know I need to make sure she doesn’t run her mouth and screw everything up. She's done enough of that already.

  Calliope is leaning against the counter speaking to Miss Ford. Her shoulders are tense, but that is the only outward sign of stress. Her face is lit with a smile, two matching dimples sunken on each of her cheeks. I used to tease her relentlessly about those dimples when we were younger and then as I got old
er, I'd take every opportunity to make her smile for the chance to see them again.

  But that was before.

  Now they are a reminder of every single thing she has no right to smile about.

  Neither of us do.

  She sighs and turns toward the door. Her eyes widen when she sees me. The smile she forced drops from her face replaced with angry hard lines.

  "You," she says snatching open the door.

  "How was your walk?" I ask grinning.

  "My walk," she sputters, "You're a dick."

  I tilt my head to the side considering her. "Maybe."

  "There's no maybe to it. I need my phone. I left it in your car."

  "Oh," I say pulling her phone from my back pocket. I already knew she left it and spent the first five minutes on campus going through it. Just to be sure. "This phone?"

  "Give it to me," she reaches for it, her fingers grazing my arm when I snatch back.

  "Why would I do that?"

  "Because it's mine. You have no right to keep it from me."

  "Last time I checked I didn’t need permission to do anything to you. Remember that next time," I say dropping her phone as I brush past her. I hear it hit the concrete floor seconds before her muffled curse and grin.

  Chapter Three

  A lie cannot live

  -Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Calliope

  I hate him. I hate him with every fiber of my being. How the hell I ever thought he was a decent guy, I don’t know. He's not. Kiah Marten is the worst kind of shit. It’s one thing to be mean to someone who deserves it. Hell, I've been there, but to pretend to like someone, to pretend to be falling for someone and then just flip a switch? That's not cool.

  I wish I could flip a switch as easily as he did. It would save me a lot of pain.