Lie to Me (A Touched Trilogy) (15 page)

“You promised you wouldn’t push.”

“This is completely different, Tonya. He hurt you.” I
thought of the seemingly endless praise she had been giving him, and nearly
puked with the next painful contraction of my stomach.

“My mom came home, okay? So drop it.” She snatched her
pencil off the table and started writing in her notebook.

I didn’t want to drop it. Mainly because, even if the voice
weren’t ringing through my head, it still wouldn’t feel right. Shondra wasn’t
the greatest mom in the world, but in the ten years I’d been friends with
Tonya, her mom had never laid a finger on her. Her gran wouldn’t have allowed
it. She was strict, but no one hit her babies.

My hand trembled as I forced myself through the next few
steps of the procedure. I wanted to shake some sense into Tonya. I wanted her
to let me help.

“Stop it,” Tonya said, not even looking up from our notes.

“Stop what?”

“You’re trying to figure out how to get around your promise
to back off.” She held up a hand when I started to defend myself. “If you don’t
want to be left to do the rest of this experiment alone, then I suggest you
keep your questions to yourself.”

My mouth opened and closed like a fish, until I gave up. “Do
you want me to find Lily?”

“No.” She gave a small smile, accepting my peace offering.
“I’d rather not have anyone else see. You know, in case Mom got in trouble or
something.”

A bitter taste coated my mouth. In all the years I’d craved
a gift, been angry at my mom, and then my sisters for having what I didn’t, I’d
never dreamed there’d be a day that I’d wish I could believe a lie.

I felt sick. The image of Tonya’s arm kept flashing through
my mind. Part of me wanted to keep pushing her, to say I knew she was lying,
but another part knew she’d been serious about me backing off. If I questioned
her more, she’d shut me out and then I’d never find out what happened. So
instead, I kept quiet.

I didn’t see her for the rest of the day after chemistry
class. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see her, at least until I knew what I would
say.

After my last class, I found Nathan waiting at my locker,
hands shoved into his pockets and leaning against the one next to mine. I went
around him, giving him a slight smile. He rolled around so he was propped up by
his shoulder and watched me dig around for my things.

“What was up with you today?” he asked. “And don’t say
nothing, ‘cause you were bitchy to everyone, including Lily.”

Nathan wasn’t the first person I would have thought of
talking to about Tonya, but there really wasn’t anyone else I trusted enough.
Lily maybe, but she might say something to Dylan and then it’d be all over the
school. And Chloe just had a big mouth. Last time I told her a secret I ended
up with tampons hanging off my locker. Sixth grade had been pure hell after
that.

Thinking about it, maybe Nathan
was
the person I was
supposed to tell. What’s the point in having a boyfriend if you can’t talk to
him? Well, besides the fun stuff.

“Tonya had bruises on her arm this morning.” I put my books
in, for once taking the time to organize my stuff.

“So? Maybe they were left over from the accident. She banged
herself up pretty good then. My dad said that the truck was totaled and they
were lucky to walk away from it.”

“That was over a week ago. And these weren’t accident
bruises.” I slammed my locker shut and finally looked at him. Even now, those
deep blue-purple marks stayed with me. “They were made by someone grabbing her
arm.”

“Who do you think did it?” He took my hand and we walked
down the hall to the exit.

“She said her mom did.”

“And you don’t believe her?”

I thought of everything I knew about Shondra James.
“Shondra’s been in and out of jail all Tonya’s life. Every time she gets out,
she makes all these promises to Tonya. She’s gonna change, she’s not gonna hook
up with any guys. Stuff like that. After a few weeks, she’s back on drugs again
and threatens to take Tonya away. I don’t think she’s been out of jail longer
than eight months straight in Tonya’s entire life.”

“So it’s possible Tonya’s telling the truth?”

“No. And not just ‘cause some voice told me. Her mom never
laid a hand on her before, and when one of her boyfriends hit Tonya, she booted
him. That’s probably the only time Shondra’s ever put Tonya first.” I shook my
head.

“So if it wasn’t her mom, then who?”

“Trevor.”

“Her boyfriend? You asked her?” His right eyebrow raised in
question.

“Yeah, and she wouldn’t answer. Just avoided saying
anything.”

“So, naturally you think he did it.”

I knew he wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, but the words got
my back up. I yanked my hand from his.

 “I didn’t imagine those bruises. I didn’t imagine her
practically begging me to back off, and I didn’t imagine her lying about her
mom doing it.”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just... before you start
accusing him and demanding answers maybe you should check him out, or
something.” He grabbed my hand again, pulling me a bit closer to him. “Maybe he
did it, but there’s a perfectly good reason, like she was about to be hit by a
car and he grabbed her or something and she didn’t think you’d believe her.”

I shrugged a shoulder. Crap. I hated logic. “So how am I
supposed to check him out?”

“We could ask my dad to do a background check. He’s got
access to that kind of stuff.”

“I don’t think that would help.” I shook my head. “Besides,
Tonya would freak if she knew I’d done that.”

“Well, what if you hired a private detective to watch him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, because I’ve got a money tree
growing in my closet. That’s why all my clothes are on the floor.”

“Okay, okay. I’m just trying to help.”

“I know,” I said and bumped his hip with mine. We stopped
next to my car and I fished the keys from my backpack. I opened the door and leaned
in to start the engine. I sat in the driver’s seat and let my legs hang out the
door. Nathan stood in front of me, resting his arms on the car frame, and
ducking his head down to mine.

“I don’t think this is something you can help with,” I said.
Then a random idea popped into my head. “Actually, maybe you can help.”

“Am I going to like this? It’s not going to be like that
Science Fair project you tricked me into helping you with last year, is it?”
Nathan asked.

“No. Besides, that was only a disaster because you decided
to bring Vivian along.” I stopped him with a raised hand when he started to
defend himself. “Anyways, back to Tonya. You can help me by going on a double
date.”

“Double date?”

“You don’t sound too excited.”

“Those are kind of middle school, don’t ya think?”

“That’s beside the point. If we go on a double date with
them, then I can catch him in a lie.”

“So, say you’re right and he is hurting Tonya. How are you
going to get him to lie about it? It’s not as if you can just ask him. Even I
know Tonya would spaz.”

“Well, maybe he’ll lie about something else. I don’t know.
Stop asking me questions. This is a good idea. I know it. Now are you going to
help me or not?”

“Do you think I would have spent the last five minutes
listening to you if I wasn’t willing to help?”

“Whatever,” I said, swinging my legs inside the car. He bent
down and brushed a quick kiss to my lips.

“I’ll call you after work and let you know my schedule. I
think I’m gonna have to work part of the weekend. Hey, don’t take off yet.”

I waited as he ran to his car, grabbed something from
inside, and then came back, hiding whatever he had behind his back.

“For you,” he said and revealed the surprise. It was the
stuffed Stewie. “I forgot to give him to you the other night.”

He gave me one more kiss then took off before I could even
say thanks. After jogging to his car, he waved over his shoulder and climbed
in. He really was sweeter than I’d thought. I wondered for a moment if he’d
done things like that for Vivian, but pushed it from my head as quickly as it
came. Dwelling on the time he dated her wasn’t going to change anything.

I called Tonya once I was home. It was hard to pretend that
I believed her and even harder to say that I really did want to get to know
Trevor. How do you face someone you think is beating up their girlfriend? I
must not have been very convincing, because Tonya didn’t seem to believe me.

“Are you serious?” she asked after I brought up the double
date idea.

“Yeah. Didn’t we always talk about how one day we’d be going
on dates together, even have a double wedding?”

“Uh, I think we were about ten when we agreed to that,”
Tonya said.

“Fine, we’ll skip the double wedding and just do the date.
Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“What about today? I know what you were thinking. That
Trevor...” The accusation went unvoiced, but it was there between us, a living
entity that was still growing in my mind. I didn’t want it to take away this
chance.

“I won’t bring it up. Promise. I talked to Nathan-”

“You told Nathan? What the hell, Phoebs!”

“I know, but he made me realize I should get to know Trevor
before I...”

“Judge him? Phoebe, I swear everything is fine. I have
everything under control. Trevor... really, he’s so good to me. Better than I
deserve.”

“Well, you deserve the best.” Tonya had enough crap
happening in her life thanks to her mom. She didn’t need Trevor adding any
more.

“You’ll love him once you get to know him.”

“Sure.”
Yeah, right
. If he was anything like he was
on New Year’s then I highly doubted it.

I buried any negative thoughts about him so I could get my
plan into action. By the end of the call, Tonya and I had everything arranged.
Despite my ulterior motives, it was fun setting it up, pretending we were ten
again. That Ken and his twin brother Kenny weren’t going to be our dates just
made us giggle even harder.

When I went to bed, I prayed. I didn’t talk to God very
often, but this time I prayed that I was wrong about Trevor.

Chapter 8

 “He’s doing everything wrong,” I said, shoving my hands
deep into my jacket pockets.

“Wrong, according to you,” Nathan said as we waited for
Tonya and Trevor to park his truck. “Maybe this is the real Trevor, and Tonya
was telling you the truth about the bruises.”

“Oh, shut up,” I said, unwilling to admit that he might be
right. I’d planned everything about this double date perfectly or at least to
the best of my abilities. Maybe I should have asked Chloe what was going to
happen so at least I wouldn’t have been so unprepared.

“What did you expect? That he’d be foaming at the mouth?” Nathan
smiled and raised a brow.

“No, but this is nothing like he was at Nadine’s party. He
could barely string two civilized words together.” I hated when things didn’t
work according to my plans.

“And I guess he did beat the crap out of Dylan,” Nathan pointed
out.

“Yeah, well I’m not going to hold that against him. Most of
the time Dylan deserves it.” I disregarded the fact Dylan was one of Nathan’s
friends.

“I’ll admit Dylan’s been an ass lately, but he’s gotta still
have some good qualities if Lily’s dating him. Obviously Trevor does, too,
otherwise Tonya would have dropped him faster than she did that guy Derek last
year.”

I shuddered at the mention of that drug dealing creep. He’d
convinced Tonya he wasn’t dealing until she caught him selling to her mom.

Turning back to the truck, I watched as Tonya and Trevor got
out of the vehicle and started toward us. Tonya was as enamored as she’d been
the day of the party. I’d even caught her practicing a signature with his last
name during one of our classes.

Tonight, though, dinner had been a disaster to my plan.
Trevor had done everything my Dad said a guy should. He held the door,
complimented Tonya, and completely fawned over her. Each time he spoke, I
wanted to puke with the sugary sweetness of it, yet Tonya was lapping it up.

Nathan tried to distract me while we ate, but even the feel
of his hand sliding up under my skirt wasn’t enough. I simply swatted him away,
although I was giving serious consideration to letting him get away with it in
the theater.

We were heading into the movie theater, and I was about to
lose any chance of catching Trevor in a lie. I watched them walk closer,
wondering how to adjust the failed plan, when Nathan turned and stepped in
front of me, blocking my line of vision. I glanced up at him.

“Phoebe, can you just relax? I know what you’re trying to
do, but it’s kind of boring for me, especially now that he’s proven you were
wrong about him. So unless you want to have a date with me, I’m gonna leave.”

“What?!” For a moment I thought he was joking, but the
serious face he wore, so unlike the Nathan I knew, told me just how fed up he
was.

“I played these friggin’ games with Vivian, and I don’t
really-”

“I’m nothing like Vivian.” Could there be a better insult?

He sighed. “I didn’t mean it that way. I’d just rather know
that you’re here with me because you actually want to be with me, and that
you’re not using me. Can’t you just accept that you might be wrong about this
guy?”

Just great. A guilt trip to go along with everything I was
already worried about. But he looked serious, and not the least bit
manipulative. After waiting so long to be with him, was I willing to risk him
walking away because I had a sudden obsession with unmasking my best friend’s
boyfriend, who might not be fake at all?

“You’re right,” I said. He looked doubtful, so I stood up on
my tiptoes and, wrapping my arms around his neck, kissed him lightly. “We can
ditch them and go make out in the back of the theater.”