Page 13 of Whisper Pretty Lies (Lust & Liars #1)

“Not to give you notice.” He turns and winks, before leaving me standing there. I hear the downstairs door open and the three of them are gone.

I slide down the doorframe and put my head in my hands. What am I going to do?

When my alarm goes off, it feels like I just fell asleep. I locked the doors after my little pity party. Then I went back to my scripts and thinking about auditions. I could have tried to figure out what that was with Damon and Cam, but I’m not even going to think about Hawk.

It would have been more spinning of my wheels anyway. Better to not think about any of them.

I’m at school the same time as the student body this morning, so there would be no run-ins with the Devils. At least not the specific Devils I’m trying to avoid. Of course, I won’t be able to avoid Damon forever. We’ll be living under the same roof starting Friday.

How is that going to work?

“Hey, bestie.” Mia bumps her elbow into mine.

“Hey.”

“Rough night?” Her brow furrows as she takes me in.

I didn’t bother with makeup this morning. Most mornings I only do a little light makeup, anyway. Anything that takes longer than five minutes is too long for me. I didn’t even attempt to hide the bags under my eyes.

“I didn’t sleep much.”

She glances around and drags me into the nearest girls’ bathroom.

“Friends don’t let friends walk around with bags under their eyes.” She sets her books on the counter, which are blessedly dry because it’s early in the day. She opens her purse and pulls out some makeup. “Fortunately, you and I have about the same coloring, so I should be able to fix you up.”

“Thank you.” Tears choke the back of my throat at her kindness, but I swallow them down. When I tried to go to sleep last night, I went over every word Hawk, Cam, and Damon said, trying to dissect them and figure out why they were even at my house. What do they want from me?

“Do you want to talk about it?” Mia applies some concealer under my eyes. “Is it Chase? Did he do something wrong?”

I shrug. “He didn’t respond to my texts, but he had a busy day.”

“Boyfriends are supposed to respond to texts.” She arches an eyebrow and steps back to study her work. She digs in her bag and pulls out an eyeliner pencil.

“It’s okay. I mean, we don’t talk every day.” Besides, he’s not the one bothering me right now. I stare into her blue eyes. She has experience with guys. A lot more than I do. “How do you make a guy leave you alone?”

“Are we talking about a specific guy or one in general?” She finishes with the eyeliner and pulls out a small container of blush. She applies it to my cheeks and eyelids before putting it away.

“In general?” I wish I could talk to her about this, but she’s new and I want her to like me. I don’t know how she’d react to the guys barging into my house last night. Would she be jealous? She wants them.

“Okay. In general.” She pulls out a light pink lipstick. “You could let him know you’re not into him.”

“What if that isn’t true?” My words are quiet.

That’s the problem. I think I might be into those three, but I also know none of them are right for me.

Chase is the type of guy I want. He doesn’t push at my barriers.

And I’m definitely not right for any of them.

They like girls who are willing to do anything to be with them.

But how do I say no thank you and mean it?

“Well, then you need to ask yourself why you’re pushing him away?” Mia puts her makeup back in her purse and then turns me to look in the mirror. “Because you could get any hottie you wanted, Evan.”

I do look better. More alive and less like a zombie. “Thank you, Mia.”

“If this is about Chase...” She picks up her books.

“No. It’s not about Chase. I just...” I could tell her. She might have a different perspective that could be helpful.

The door opens. Abby Baker, Crystal Taylor, and Becca Anderson walk into the bathroom. This is the popular clique of the drama school and Anteros. They’re the most popular, richest, beautiful, and talented actresses. Abby is tall and thin with dark hair and dark eyes.

Crystal has strawberry-blond hair and striking green eyes. She attracts attention wherever she goes. And Becca is who every girl wishes they could be—blond, blue-eyed with curves that normal high school girls don’t have. These girls are the cream of the crop and they know it.

They stop laughing when they notice us, settling into plastic smiles. Their eyes skim over me and focus on Mia. My heart squeezes. They’ll ask her to join them. She’d fit in perfectly with their group.

It was only a matter of time before I lost her.

“Hi, Mia.” Abby gives her a fake smile. “You were amazing in class yesterday. So talented.”

“Thanks.” Mia’s smile is almost as fake as Abby’s. “I can’t wait to hear your monologue today. It’s one of my favorites.”

Abby turns to look at me. “EvanAnn, how are the roles coming for Othello ? I thought it odd you got Othello and Brandt got The Crucible . I would have thought you’d want to do a strong, female-led cast and not the other way around.”

I arch an eyebrow. “The female parts in Othello are as important as the males. The casting has to be balanced so Desdemona can be thought an equal to Othello in all ways.”

“But Shakespeare.” Abby shakes her head and pouts. “It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. I think you’ll have trouble casting your play when the juicy female roles are in The Crucible .”

“Yeah, I don’t understand why anyone would pick Othello .” Becca leans into the mirror and reapplies her lipstick. “It’s not like Romeo and Juliet or A Midsummer Night’s Dream . It’s so boring.”

I disagree, but it’s pointless to argue with them.

Crystal glances at Abby, then looks at me. She may be a follower, but she’s not stupid when it comes to her career. “My uncle took me to see Othello at Shakespeare’s Globe last summer. It was amazingly done. I wouldn’t mind being cast as Iago’s wife.”

I could see Crystal in that role. I give her an encouraging smile. “I look forward to your audition.”

“Isn’t Chase begging you to cast him as Iago?” Abby’s looking to stir trouble. He is her ex after all.

“Chase would make a fine Iago.” I edge my way toward the door. “If he gets the part.”

Abby arches her eyebrow at me like I’d be stupid not to give him the part. Mia walks with me. Yes, he wants the part, but he has to earn it like everyone else. Just because he’s my boyfriend doesn’t mean he automatically gets a part.

“Oh, Mia, you should sit with us today at lunch.” Abby smiles but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “We sit out in the courtyard with the cool kids.”

I swallow hard because that’s a tempting offer for a new student. To get in with that crowd is to get invited to all the parties and be seen by the most attractive guys, like Damon, Hawk, and Cam.

“I’ll think about it.” Mia looks at me. “Evan can come, right?”

Abby’s eyes narrow on her, but then she laughs. “Of course.”

Yeah, Abby doesn’t want me there any more than I want to be there.