Read Online How to Tell a Lie by Delphine Dryden - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Delphine Dryden
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just joking. It’s somebody from work.”
“Oh, well, if that’s all,” her father replied, giving her an all too knowing look.
“Dad!”
“Stu, let’s get these youngsters to the game,” he said, turning to his brother and smiling.
“Right you are, Tom, they probably need to be kept out of trouble. You ready to go, Michael? Didn’t eat too much, did you?”
“No, sir.”
By Allison’s standards the boy seemed to have eaten enough for a family of four, but she knew the food intake requirements for teenaged boys were very different from her own.
She managed to punch out a quick, “Yes, call me later”, to Seth under the table. As they headed for their cars, Allison realized she felt giddy, like she was walking on air. She was more excited about that evening than she could ever remember feeling about the social activities following a hometown football game.
* * * * *
The game was a rout, with the local boys sweeping the visitors off their feet literally and figuratively over the course of the evening. Exuberant and still pumped with adrenaline, Mikey and his friends departed straight from the field just as Tess had predicted. And, also as predicted, Tess and Allison were invited by their local friends to go sing karaoke and drink at Benny’s, the nicer of the two local bars.
“I can’t believe you’re just abandoning me,” Tess hissed, when Allison told her she was planning to go straight home with her father rather than proceeding to Benny’s with the gang.
“Use your famous powers of deduction, Tess.” Allison waved her cell phone at her cousin and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh my God. You are going home so you can cyber?”
The question fell over an unfortunately timed lull in the babble of conversation, and Allison got a few funny looks before their old friends started chatting around them again.
“Thanks. Thanks so much for that,” Allison whispered furiously. “Everybody from high school already thinks I’m a total geek, why don’t you just hammer the last few nails in the coffin, Tess? No, I’m not going home so I can cyber. I’m going home so I can play on the computer. It’s the Friday-night raid.”
“Wow. That’s actually even worse, in a way. You don’t need anybody else to hammer those nails home, Ally.”
“I’m going now. Enjoy your evening. I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow.” Allison scanned the group of a dozen or so, letting her eyes rest on one tall, dark-haired figure in a royal blue shirt that nearly matched his eyes. “Have a good night, Jake. Take care of Tess for us.”
She dodged Tess’ attempt at a slug on the arm and jogged to her father’s car just in time to catch a ride home.
Chapter Four
It was an odd feeling to sit in the basement rec room, wrapped in a blanket against the chill, and log in to the game. The couch was the same one she had sat on while watching videos with her friends. Horrible green and brown tweedy plaid, which she had tried to disguise during high school with a cheap floral slipcover. It was the place she had come perilously close to losing her virginity once or twice, back when her virginity was something she still wanted to keep. She had kept it until her freshman year of college, at least. But this place, this paneled room with its ancient couch, was still essentially a place of her childhood. Another time warp, like the kitchen. She had spent countless hours down here playing, reading, helping her mother do the laundry. Later, after her mother had died, it was where she came to do the laundry by herself and cry without being interrupted.
It was a place where she knew her father wouldn’t hear her, unlike the living room or her bedroom. Allison knew, even as she descended the steps and settled onto the faded tweed of the couch, that by ensuring she wouldn’t be heard she was acknowledging the possibility that something other than game play might occur over the course of the evening. She tried to
“Oh, well, if that’s all,” her father replied, giving her an all too knowing look.
“Dad!”
“Stu, let’s get these youngsters to the game,” he said, turning to his brother and smiling.
“Right you are, Tom, they probably need to be kept out of trouble. You ready to go, Michael? Didn’t eat too much, did you?”
“No, sir.”
By Allison’s standards the boy seemed to have eaten enough for a family of four, but she knew the food intake requirements for teenaged boys were very different from her own.
She managed to punch out a quick, “Yes, call me later”, to Seth under the table. As they headed for their cars, Allison realized she felt giddy, like she was walking on air. She was more excited about that evening than she could ever remember feeling about the social activities following a hometown football game.
* * * * *
The game was a rout, with the local boys sweeping the visitors off their feet literally and figuratively over the course of the evening. Exuberant and still pumped with adrenaline, Mikey and his friends departed straight from the field just as Tess had predicted. And, also as predicted, Tess and Allison were invited by their local friends to go sing karaoke and drink at Benny’s, the nicer of the two local bars.
“I can’t believe you’re just abandoning me,” Tess hissed, when Allison told her she was planning to go straight home with her father rather than proceeding to Benny’s with the gang.
“Use your famous powers of deduction, Tess.” Allison waved her cell phone at her cousin and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh my God. You are going home so you can cyber?”
The question fell over an unfortunately timed lull in the babble of conversation, and Allison got a few funny looks before their old friends started chatting around them again.
“Thanks. Thanks so much for that,” Allison whispered furiously. “Everybody from high school already thinks I’m a total geek, why don’t you just hammer the last few nails in the coffin, Tess? No, I’m not going home so I can cyber. I’m going home so I can play on the computer. It’s the Friday-night raid.”
“Wow. That’s actually even worse, in a way. You don’t need anybody else to hammer those nails home, Ally.”
“I’m going now. Enjoy your evening. I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow.” Allison scanned the group of a dozen or so, letting her eyes rest on one tall, dark-haired figure in a royal blue shirt that nearly matched his eyes. “Have a good night, Jake. Take care of Tess for us.”
She dodged Tess’ attempt at a slug on the arm and jogged to her father’s car just in time to catch a ride home.
Chapter Four
It was an odd feeling to sit in the basement rec room, wrapped in a blanket against the chill, and log in to the game. The couch was the same one she had sat on while watching videos with her friends. Horrible green and brown tweedy plaid, which she had tried to disguise during high school with a cheap floral slipcover. It was the place she had come perilously close to losing her virginity once or twice, back when her virginity was something she still wanted to keep. She had kept it until her freshman year of college, at least. But this place, this paneled room with its ancient couch, was still essentially a place of her childhood. Another time warp, like the kitchen. She had spent countless hours down here playing, reading, helping her mother do the laundry. Later, after her mother had died, it was where she came to do the laundry by herself and cry without being interrupted.
It was a place where she knew her father wouldn’t hear her, unlike the living room or her bedroom. Allison knew, even as she descended the steps and settled onto the faded tweed of the couch, that by ensuring she wouldn’t be heard she was acknowledging the possibility that something other than game play might occur over the course of the evening. She tried to
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