Read Online The Third Lie's the Charm by Lisa Roecker - Free Book Online Page A

Grace died.
    I opened my mouth to say something, anything to finally make my father stop looking at me like that.
    But I turned back to my cereal instead, shoveling a spoonful in my mouth. And his attention turned back to the paper.
    â€œI’m fine,” I said between bites. I’d said the same two words over and over again for the past year and a half. Two magic words that left no room for discussion, no room for feelings, no room for parenting. God, I loved those two little words.
    My dad dropped the paper and brought his plate to the sink, let the water run as he bent over the basin, his eyes fixed on the yard beyond.
    â€œGotta go.” I cleared my dish, sure that if I caught that look on his face again, I’d spend the rest of the morning telling him everything that was going on.
    â€œWhat?” His head shook and his eyes cleared as though he’d been dreaming standing up. “Oh, right. Okay.” He reached out to pat my shoulder. “I love you. You know that, right?”
    I just nodded and rushed to the garage door. In spite of my parents’ long hours and complete cluelessness when it came to my life, I knew my dad was telling the truth. They did love me, and if I were a different person or maybe even if I’d led a different life, we’d probably have some amazing ABC Family-worthy relationship.
    But I am who I am. My life is what it is. And my parents are well-intentioned but mostly useless. I had come to terms with this a long time ago, and the fact that I was questioning it at 7:42 on a Tuesday morning was more indicative of my need for a cup of coffee than family therapy.
    I made it to school and slapped the bronze plaque at Station 1 as I walked through the main doors of Pemberly Brown. Aut disce aut discede. “Either learn or leave.” My eyes scanned the hallway for Bradley as my boots clicked on the dark hardwood floor to my locker. I couldn’t ditch class again, but there was no reason why the two of us couldn’t stop by Sinclair’s office during Open period.
    I’d debated about calling Bradley last night to discuss the latest development, but I just wasn’t up for the conversation. Part of me knew he’d want to pick me up and go to Sinclair’s house, and I was too tired. I needed more time to process the ex-headmaster’s involvement. More time to try to figure out what it all meant.
    â€œNice of you to show up.” Maddie’s smile was forced, and her uniform shirt was once again pulled tight across her chest. She looked so much like the Maddie before Grace died, before she’d starved herself to fit in with the Sisterhood, before she punished her body for her role in Grace’s death, that I had to stop and look around the hallway to ground myself in the here and now. She pressed her books over her boobs and worked hard not to mention my hair. I appreciated the effort, but it annoyed me at the same time.
    â€œYou look tired,” she finally said. The comment didn’t earn her any points, even though I deserved everything she said after the way I’d been treating her.
    â€œSo I’ve heard.” I started walking again. Maddie followed a couple of steps behind me and I tried to slow down, but then she sped up. We were off pace, as usual. As hard as we tried, we couldn’t seem to figure out how to be friends in the after-Grace. Grace had been the third leg of our stool, and now that it was just the two of us, we kept falling down.
    â€œI thought I could understand what you were going through, thought maybe I could help this time, but you keep pushing me away and I don’t know what to do about it. I’m just, I mean we’re all kind of worried about you. It’s just hard to see you like this…” She twisted one of her springy curls around her index finger. “I mean, I know I wasn’t there for you last time. After Grace, I mean. And everything that’s going on, it