The Mute and the Liar (35 page)

“
This
is
freaking
awesome!
I
haven’t
seen
you
in
years!
And
what’s
with
the hair?
Weren’t
we
‘crazy
hair
brothers?
”
Ryo
flicks
Jayce’s
flat
hair.

“
I
know,
I
know.
I
was
at
a
party
all
night
so
I
didn’t
have
enough
time
to
put
gel
in
this
morning.
”
Well,
that’s
clearly
not
true.
It
almost
stings
me
to
hear
him
so
casually
making
up
stories
for
no
reason
at
all.
How
am
I
supposed
to
believe
anything
he says?

“
I
hope
you’re
not
going
soft,
yeah?
Like
the
way
you
used
to
be?
You’ve
got
to
stick
to
what
I
taught
you.
”
There
is
a
glimmer
of
a
warning
in
Ryo’s
suddenly low and
raspy
voice.
In
fact, it
could
even
be
mistaken
for
a
threat.

Ryo
seems
to
have
only
just
noticed
me,
and
turns
to
look
at
me
questioningly.
For
a
moment,
he
looks
me
up
and
down,
inspecting
me,
no,
judging
me.
I
attempt
to
look
as
expressionless
as
possible,
barely
even
blinking,
almost
daring
him
to
find
a
fault
in me.

“
This
your
bird?
”
he sneers.

What
a
crude
word.
I
have
decided
I
don’t
like
Ryo.
I've
just
got
a
bad
feeling
about
him.
The
way
his
voice
sounds
-
slow
and
drawling
-
makes
everything
he
says
seem
like
a
threat.
And
there's
something
not
quite
right
in
his
eyes,
the
way
they
seem
to
crawl
over
everything
in
a
careful,
slimy
way,
and leave
a
sticky, uncomfortable feeling, exactly like thick garden slugs.

Jayce
panics
for
a
second,
jabbing
his
hand
out
awkwardly
and
hovering
it
over my shoulder. His eyebrows furrow and his hands lock together.

“
Yes,
”
he
eventually
says
with
confidence,
proving
he
has
transformed
back into
the
confident Jayce
who
always knows what
to
say.

“
She’s
fit,
”
Ryo
eventually
decides.
He
reaches
out,
and
although
I
turn
my
head
sharply
to
try
and
avoid
him,
it
is
no
use;
he
pinches
my
cheek,
his
sharp
fingernails
digging
into
my
skin. At
the
same
time,
I
feel something
rest
on
my
shoulder,
which
turns
out
to
be
Jayce’s
hand. He’s looking at me
reassuringly,
and
I
get
the
feeling
he
is
trying
to
tell
me
to
calm
down
.
“
Hold
on
to
her,
or
someone might steal her.
”

Well
that
was
a
very
p
oor
choice
of words
.
“
I
will.
”

“
So
how
are
your
new
friends?
Jory
and
Steve?
Oh,
and
that
girl
with
the
blue hair
and
body
bikinis
love
to
wear;
Kaylie was
it?
”

“
Yeah,
they’re
all
good.
We
went
to
Thorpe
Park
two
days
ago,
and
you
know
I
said
about
the
party,
well
it
was
Jory’s
party.
Got
so
drunk
I
gave
his
cat
lasagne
thinking
it
was
Garfield
.
I
wasn’t
the
only
smashed
one;
Kaylie
got
into
this
huge
fight
with
this
guy
and
they
had
to
get
the
police
involved.
Steve
also
got
done
last
week
for
trying
to
nick
some
wheels.
The
rest
are
the
same
as
always.
Still
got
expressive
eyebrows
and
stupid
nicknames
on
the
back
of
their
rugby
shirts,
”
Jayce
says
breathlessly,
his
face
not
revealing
any
emotion at
all. He
continues
with more
ridiculous
stories.

I
feel
a
little crestfallen.
I
knew
Jayce
lied. The
amount
of
absurd things
he
has
said,
the
amount
of
times
he
has
just
rattled
on
about
things
that
are
impossible.
It
didn’t
bother
me
as
much
up
until
now
because
it
was
impossible
to
say
whether
they
actually
were
true
or
not.
I
could
pretend
it
was
all
true.
Now
I
have
proof
that
everything
he
has
just
said
is
a
lie.
It’s
just
shocking
to
hear
him
say
them
aloud
and
know
for
a
fact
they
are
lies.

They
are
pointless
lies
anyway.
If
he
lies
about
such
insignificant
things,
how
am
I
supposed
to
ever
believe
anything
he
says?
Why
is
he
lying
anyway?
Is
it
just
to
impress
these
people?
But
no,
it
can’t
be,
because
he
was
lying
to
me
even
when
it
was
just
the
two
of
us.
There
must
be
something
engrained
in
his
mind
to
make
him
lie
so
compulsively,
with
seemingly
no
regrets
or
reasons.
Maybe
he
can’t
even
control
it.