Page 51 of We Were Liars

MY THIRD WEEK on-island is ticking by and a migraine takes me out for two days. Or maybe three. I can’t even tell. The pills in my bottle are getting low, though I filled my prescription before we left home.

I wonder if Mummy is taking them. Maybe she has always been taking them.

Or maybe the twins have been coming in my room again, lifting things they don’t need. Maybe they’re users.

Or maybe I am taking more than I know. Popping extra in a haze of pain. Forgetting my last dose.

I am scared to tell Mummy I need more.

When I feel stable I come to Cuddledown again.

The sun hovers low in the sky. The porch is covered with broken bottles.

Inside, the ribbons have fallen from the ceiling and lie twisted on the floor.

The dishes in the sink are dry and encrusted.

The quilts that cover the dining table are dirty.

The coffee table is stained with circular marks from mugs of tea.

I find the Liars clustered in Mirren’s bedroom, all looking at the Bible.

“Scrabble word argument,” says Mirren as soon as I enter. She closes the book. “Gat was right, as usual. You’re always effing right, Gat. Girls don’t like that in a guy, you know.”

The Scrabble tiles are scattered across the great room floor. I saw them when I walked in.

They haven’t been playing.

“What did you guys do the past few days?” I ask.

“Oh, God,” says Johnny, stretching out on Mirren’s bed. “I forget already.”

“It was Fourth of July,” says Mirren. “We went to supper at New Clairmont and then everyone went out in the big motorboat to see the Vineyard fireworks.”

“Today we went to the Nantucket doughnut shop,” says Gat.

They never go anywhere. Ever. Never see anyone. Now while I’ve been sick, they went everywhere, saw everyone?

“Downyflake,” I say. “That’s the name of the doughnut shop.”

“Yeah. They were the most amazing doughnuts,” says Johnny.

“You hate cake doughnuts.”

“Of course,” says Mirren. “But we didn’t get the cake, we got glazed twists.”

“And Boston cream,” says Gat.

“And jelly,” says Johnny.

But I know Downyflake only makes cake doughnuts. No glazed. No Boston cream. No jelly.

Why are they lying?