White Liar (12 page)

 
 
 
 
He scowled.
 
“You know exactly why it would be your problem Chloe.
 
It was dirty and I can’t believe that you would stoop so low.”
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
Chloe lifted her brow and questioned him.
 
“Lower than you offering out my goodies to the whole damn city?”
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
He turned his head.
 
“That was harmless.”
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
“To you maybe, but not to me.”
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
Justin shook his head and grunted.
 
This was hopeless.
 
He was getting nowhere with her and honestly, he was getting tired of her childish games.
 
“Forget it.
 
Just stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours, okay.
 
I'm through with this!”
 
He gave her a good once over and shook his head again before wordlessly turning away from her.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
Chloe watched him walk off.
 
She had to have the last word.
 
“Justin,” she called out to him when he had only managed to get a few steps away.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
He stopped and skeptically looked back over his shoulder at her.
 
“Yeah?”
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
She couldn’t help herself.
 
The grin she wore was palpable.
 
Chloe started to imitate a monkey dancing from one foot to the other while scratching insidiously at her crotch.
 
Erica’s laughter could be heard from one end of the gym to the other.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
“Stupid.” Justin muttered and quickly turned away again when his phone rang.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
Chloe stopped acting out when he was no longer paying her any attention.
 
She continued to watch him while he answered the phone, unable to take her eyes off of him.
 
There was something in the way that he held himself that had her gut churning.
 
His back was ramrod stiff and she noticed how he spoke in hushed tones.
 
Snapping the phone shut, he shoved it in his pocket and immediately turned back to her.
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
His eyes narrowed into diamond-like slits and Chloe could tell that something was wrong, very wrong.
 
Blondie put an arm on his shoulder and he shrugged it off not once taking his eyes off of Chloe.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
After a long minute, he strode towards Chloe and stopped in the same place that he was standing just minutes earlier.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
“I hope you’re happy now,” he choked and that churning in her stomach plummeted into a free fall.
 
“Because of your little stunt, my best friend is now in the hospital on a ventilator because of an allergic reaction he had to your powder.”
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Chloe's whole world just tipped upside down as his words slowly began
 
to sink in.
 
She was left shell-shocked.
 
She was stupefied and mostly she was scared.
 
Covering her mouth with her hand, all she could manage to say was, “What?” and helplessly watch as he angrily stormed past her, striding out the front door.
 

Chapter 10

 
 
 
All Justin could think about was how upset John’s sister sounded when she called him.
 
 
Why him?
 
Why in the hell did something like this have to happen to him of all people?
 
 
John was an overall nice guy.  He had good grades, he kept his nose clean and was always the first to lend a helping hand to someone in need.
 
This wasn't fair.

 
 
 
After Justin told
 
her
 
of all people what happened, he angrily brushed by Chloe’s shoulder and headed straight for his car.
 
The way that he saw it, this was all Chloe's fault to begin with and when the time was right, they would have their come-to-Jesus moment, but right now his destination was the hospital to check on his best friend.
 

 
 
 
The anger rose and swelled within Justin with every extra step that he took.
 
The more and more that he thought about what had happened, the more the rage simmered in his blood. His biggest problem with the situation at hand was that it should have
 
never happened in the first place.
 
If Chloe hadn't been so hell bent on getting one up on him, then this would have never happened, John wouldn't be in the hospital and
 
that
 
was the clincher.

 
 
 
Justin raced out of the house, the chill of the night air hit hitting him smack in the face but it did nothing to cool his temper.
 
All he could see in his mind was the image of
 
her
 
and that smug smile of satisfaction that she gave him on the field when he had finally put two and two together, realizing what she had done.

 
 
 
When he finally reached his car, Justin fumbled for his keys and didn’t even know how badly he was physically shaking until he had the keys in his hand and tried to stick them in the door to unlock it.
 
Frustrated with his own clumsiness, he ended up completely missing the key hole and with the excessive force that he used trying to jam the key in, it went sideways leaving one hell of a of scratch along the side of the door.
 

 
 
 
“Fuck!” he exclaimed, balling his hand into a tight fist and slamming it against the top of the car.
 
 
Why is this happening?

 
 
 
Pressing his forehead against the top of the car, Justin took in slow measured breaths.  It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
 
They had won the game.  He was offered a full ride to Alabama.
 
This was supposed to be a night of celebration, a night of fun with his friends and now his
 
best
 
friend was laid up in a hospital fighting for his life.

 
 
 
“Justin?”

 
 
 
The sound of her voice only pissed him off more.
 
He blamed Chloe.
 
She was the very reason that John was where he was right now.

 
 
 
“I suggest,” he started, keeping his forehead up against the car and struggling to reign in his out-of-control emotions. “That you turn around right now and just walk away.”

 
 
 
For the span of several heart stopping seconds there was nothing but silence.
 
Stone, cold steely silence.
 
All that Justin could hear was the sound of his own labored breaths.
 
He swallowed past the tight knot that had settled in his throat and finally lifted up his head.
 
He had to pull himself together.
 
He knew that there was no way he could show up at the hospital like this.
 
Rubbing his hands over his face, he straightened his spine and steadied himself.
 

 
 
 
With the keys in his hand, Justin took a step back and felt a soft hand pressing on his shoulder.
 
“Justin, please?
 
Let me go with you.”

 
 
 
If she hadn’t been a girl then at that moment, he would have
 
had no objections with drawing a fist back and letting her have
 
it.
 
In fact, opening up a big ole can of whoop ass is precisely what he was aching for right about now.
 
 
Unfortunately, she was a girl and his momma had raised him better than that, so he wouldn't touch her.

 
 
 
Jerking away from her, Justin could do nothing but grind his back teeth together.
 
“I’m only going to warn you one more time Chloe, stay the hell away from me.”
 
Not wanting to wait for her reaction, he jerked away from her touch and with steadier hands, this time he was able to successfully put the key in the door and
 
un-lock the car.
 
Sliding into the driver seat, he slapped on his seat belt and slammed the door closed behind him, refusing even a cursory
 
glance in her direction.

 
 
 
With methodical movements, he next stuck the key in the ignition and started the car.
 
Then came the headlights and then Justin was putting the car into gear, peeling his ass out of the driveway.
 
He could feel the burn of her stare as she watched him drive away but he refused to give in to the overwhelming urge to glance in the rear view mirror.
 
 
She didn't deserve his attention.

 
 
 
Chloe was the reason that this was happening to John.
 
She caused this.
 
If it wasn’t for her childish motives then he wouldn’t be where he was now.
 
And now she has the nerve to ask if she could go with him?
 
 
Yeah right
, Justin loudly snorted.
 
What delusional place in her mind ever gave her the slightest idea that he might allow her to go with him he wondered?
 
The only explanation that he could come up with was that the chick was insane, certifiable probably.

 
 
 
Pulling into the hospital parking lot Justin felt a bad sense of what was to come wash over him.
 
All of his thoughts of Chloe had slowly started to dissipate and he was now turning to the reality of what was happening to his best friend.
 
The feelings overwhelmed him, catching him totally off guard. He felt a strange wetness run down the side of his cheek and he slowly wiped it away with his sleeve.
 
He didn't want to cry, not now anyway.
 
Men didn't cry he thought to himself while he tried to force his focus on finding a parking place near the bright red sign that showed the entrance to the Emergency Room.