Page 16 of Little Liar

I stare at her for a beat, then the corner of my mouth curves even though I want to kiss her tears away and tell her I no longer want to be her brother, that I’d take every suitor’s place if she’d accept me. Mom and Dad will allow it if she says yes. They can’t deny both of us what we want.

She turns back around, adjusts the packs, then sighs.

Before I fall asleep, I hear her say, “Parker isn’t nice at all.”

5

Malachi - Aged 19

After my night-time jog around the manor, through the woods and back, I shower with my music blasting from my speaker—even with the paranoia I’ve been feeling all night that my sister is at her friends, I manage to stay calm while I wash my hair, rub soap over me, then rinse it all off.

As I step out and into my room, the music stops, and I spot my phone on the bedside unit, flashing with Olivia’s name. She never calls me, for obvious reasons, so I frown and answer, pressing it to my ear.

“Hey. Hello. Hi. I think I’m drunk,” she says, slurring her words. She lets out a little squeak, and I’m already throwing my clothes on while she’s on speaker. “I tripped. Are you there? Can you tap something and let me know you can hear me?”

I go to my dresser, knock on the wood three times, then pull my motorbike boots on.

“O-Okay,” she says. “We were at Abbi’s, but I left.” She hiccups then laughs. “Why is it even raining? I need, like, a hug orsomething. Not flowers or chocolates or jewelry—I hate those. A hug… will work just fine.”

Once I’m dressed, I type a message to her while she’s still connected.

Me: Where are you?

“I’ll-I’ll show you.”

She’s silent for a beat then hiccups again, a notification popping up with her location.

“Did you know you’re the best big brother ever? I love you,” she says. “Like, I s-super love you. It’s probably… weird, but I do love you lots.”

I narrow my eyes, frowning. She tells me she loves me all the time, but now I want her to mean it in a different way.

“You’re never allowed near my friends. Anna’s brother had s-sex with Abbi, and now they’re all f-fighting,” she slurs, hiccoughing. “Do you even have sex? God, don’t tell me. It’ll be all I see w-when I look at you.”

I have no idea how to reply to that.

Me: I can hear you walking. Sit down and I’ll come for you.

She giggles and a reply comes through.

Olivia: You love me.

“Admit it,” she says, laughing like she’s told a funny joke. “I’m the best little sister ever!”

Fuck, she’s never been this drunk.

The line goes dead. I call back, but it rings out.

Fuck.

Ever since she turned eighteen a few months ago, every time she gets wasted, I nearly die from discomfort. She goes to partieswith Abigail, gets drunk, and I nearly always end up picking her ass up and bringing her home. Once, she came to a party I was at—she showed up outside my friend’s house and I had to put one of them in their place when they attempted to flirt with her.

Mason. He’s the one who can sign, but he likes to push my buttons sometimes when it comes to Olivia. I don’t think she even knows any of my friends’ names, yet I know everyone who comes within a five-mile radius of her.

Not really. I’m not that extreme.

I don’t bother speaking to my dad as I walk by him on the staircase. He won’t speak to me anyway—doesn’t acknowledge me as I head straight for the garage door. I pick up my helmet, push the button to open the garage doors, and slide onto my bike. It’s night-time, and it’s raining. The location Olivia sent me was outside a neighborhood not far from here.

By the time I reach there, she’s gone, and I try not to think of all the ways someone might have taken her. They’d see a pretty girl, falling around and drunk, and want to take advantage.