"She dreams more often than she sleeps." - Jonny Ox

[22] quick lies

The house smelled of brownies and cakes. My mom, dressed in a summer dress and sandals, came rushing to us as we entered the house. Her eyes were wide but full of relief. My dad trailed behind, faint red cheeks tinted with emotion, and thin lips pressed into a line.

"Nolan!" she cried out, squishing me into a hug. "I'm so, so glad you're okay." She was warm and felt smaller in my arms since I've been getting taller over the last year or so.

"I didn't mean to worry you," I mumbled into her strawberry scented hair. "We lost the track of time, and-"

"Ah, yes! Your guest!" My mom whipped around to look at Clarity fully, interrupting my apology. Clarity smiled politely, looking nervous and out of place. "You're so lovely. What's your name?"

"Clarity." She mumbled through tight lips, hands curling around some strands of hair. Clarity looked a bit paler than usual and I hoped she was feeling well. "Miss...Livingston, may I know where your bathroom is?"

"Down the hall there and it's the first door," she quickly explained and Clarity followed the directions.

My dad looked me in the eyes, turning to me as she left.. "Son, I am saddened to say I'm slightly disappointed in how you acted today. We thought something could've happened to you. I don't like how you didn't inform us of your plans today or text or call us later to inform us that you were safe and okay." He ran a hand over his face, looking exhausted and I felt bad for worrying them so much. "Instead, I had to found out you ran off with some friend from David."

My mom frowned, putting a hand on my dad's forearm. "Honey, he's okay now. We don't have to worry anymore." He seemed to calm the slightest bit at her touch, almost making me smile at how affectionate they were, even in small ways.

"Agreed, we don't have to worry anymore. But that doesn't excuse the fact how he acted-" he fell silent as Clarity entered the room. She noticed we'd gone silent as she walked in and frowned slightly. She'd pulled her hair up, most of the loose hairs tucked tight into her pony tail.

"So I'm making a ton of baked goods for the bake sale tomorrow for the book club I'm in," explained my mom, motioning us towards the kitchen. Dad nodded his head to let us go and unfolded the newspaper for him to read. "But guess what? Making all these yummy desserts made me wanna eat some. So... Why not eat a few once they're done?" Her eyes sparkled with humor and mischief, reminding me of a younger child.

Clarity chuckled. "What did you make?"

"I'm making two pans of brownies and one pan of vanilla cake," she answered. "Most of the others are bringing cookies or muffins. I decided to do differently."

"Well, I love them all so I'm not complaining." I replied, peeking the oven open to look at the sweets. They all looked delicious and my stomach growled.

"I'll tell you two when they're done so we can eat a few," she said, beginning to wash her hands. "Nolan, show her around the house. You don't need to be a stranger, Clarity. You two are only friends, I assume?"

"Yes," said Clarity. "Just that."

I stuffed my hands in my pockets, and lead her out of the kitchen. My house only had an upstairs that only had three rooms; an extra bathroom, my room, and my brother's room. My parent's room was downstairs since it was the biggest one down there. She followed me quietly, commenting only a couple of words before following me out again. We stepped into Morris's room, and I began to feel awkward. How would I explain who my brother was and what he did for a living if she asked? Would she know who he was once I told her?

"Is this your room?" asked Clarity, running her finger over his desk Morris worked at when he did homework. Being in this room brought back a lot of memories when we were growing up. I missed being with him a lot, going outside on the weekends to play and watching movies late at night.

"No," I said. "It's my brother's." We left the room to go into mine which was right across from his. She walked in, checking it out. I kicked a dirty shirt out of our path as we ventured farther. "Sorry for the slight mess," I said as I began to stack up the huge mess of papers I'd written on.

"Don't worry about it," she said, and picked up a piece of paper with my handwriting scribbled over it.

"No! Don't read that," I said, snatching the paper out of her hand. She recoiled, shocked at my sudden outburst. My heart was hammering in my chest.

"What's on there?" Clarity's eyes briefly ran over my face then the other papers with the writings on it.

I moved in front of my desk so I was blocking the view for her to read the papers. "It's nothing, really, just-just some things I've thought and written down." I felt embarrassed and didn't even know why.

"So you like to write?" Her eyes stayed connected with mine.

"I..." With face slightly red, I nodded slowly. I'd never told anyone I enjoyed writing because, well, I felt like it wasn't a big deal. It was something that passed the time. I'd write little snippets from a story I'd never write and hide it away in a binder I kept full of them. Recently, I'd begun writing again and I guess I just made a huge mess in doing so.

"Let me read something," she suggested, making my hammering heart pick up a faster speed. She stepped in front of me, eyes level with mine, and placed her hand on my upper arm. "I'm not gonna judge you, don't be so nervous, okay?"

I sighed outwardly. I grabbed a torn piece of paper from my desk, the black ink contrasting noticeably on the white paper. I watched as her eyes swept over the words. I feared she wouldn't like it, toss it back, and question why I'd ever write something like that. But when her eyes connected with me, she only smiled. I felt a relief take its way into my body, running through my veins.

"This is really good. I like how you write this in second person, like you're speaking to the person who is reading." She said, setting it back down on the desk. "Have you always liked writing?"

"Yeah, I guess." I bit my bottom lip, eyes meeting the ground. "I only write when I'm inspired."

"What inspires you to write?"

"Just a lot of things. Usually they're small, a sunset or something someone says or how they look." I felt her eyes on me, the heat of her gaze making me begin to feel hot. "It all just depends - inspiration is everywhere."

"Do certain people inspire you, or no?" She sounded genuinely curious, and I appreciated the fact that she cared.

Yeah, sometimes you. I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue and didn't say anything. She took the hint I wasn't gonna answer and plopped down on my bed. I sat down at my desk chair, watching as Clarity makes herself comfortable on my bed. A knock came at the still open door as my mom came in, two brownies set on a plate for us. She had two small glasses of milk that she handed to us on a tray.

"Thank you," Clarity and I said at the same time. We glanced at one another briefly, faint smiles on our lips.

"You're welcome," she said, setting the glasses of milk carefully down on my nightstand. "If you need anything else, I'll be downstairs." She sent us a warm smile before leaving.

We ate our brownies in silence. They were really good, and I'd make sure to ask for a few more before she left for the bake sale. After we had finished our brownies and milk, I volunteered to take the empty glasses down to the kitchen.

As I set them in the sink, I heard a knock. Please don't be Morris and Addie. Please. Please. As soon as I heard the familiar clicking of Addie's heels, I knew it was them. I cursed inside my head, wishing they could've come another day.

"Morris! Addie!" I heard my mom exclaim, sounded surprised but overall delighted they were here. "If I knew you were coming, I would've been making dinner."

I heard the door close. "No, it's fine," said Addie. "I can help you with dinner, if you'd like." I made my way past them, hoping they wouldn't see me so I can go to my room as quick as possible. Luckily, I managed to stay away from them. Why? Why of all days did they come today?

Clarity was seated on the far end of my bed and she met eyes with me as I walked in. "Clarity, uh, my brother and his girlfriend are here. I doubt you want to meet all my family. Maybe we can, uh.."

"Nolan!" I heard Morris call from the end of the stairs. My heart sunk. "You and your friend come downstairs. I wanna meet her!"

Clarity smirked. "What's your problem? Embarrassed for them to see me?" She then strolled past me, confident. She had no idea.

I furrowed my eyebrows, tripping over some of my things before following her out the door. "What? No! I-I didn't mean it like that - look, you should just possibly-" But Morris and Addie had already seen her. I watched closely at Morris, to see how he'd react. But he seemed to show no sign of recognizing her which I found deeply relieving. Clarity didn't recognize him either, as a matter of fact. Though I didn't expect her to since those two didn't interact, it was still calming.

"Hi!" welcomed Addie. "I don't think we've met before. I've met Mia and Nolan's other friend... Um, what's his name?"

"Flynn," I told her.

"Yeah, Flynn." She said, snapping her fingers. "Anyways, nice to meet you. I'm Addie." Addie smiled her gorgeous smile, eyes sparkling and happiness radiating off like a wave. She was always so friendly and polite it was hard not to like her.

"I'm Clarity," she said, sending them a dazzling grin that made my face heat up a bit. Addie's smile widened.

Morris took a step forward, "I'm Morris," he stuck his hand out, a polite gesture, and they shook hands. After excusing herself, Addie disappeared into the kitchen to help my mom with dinner. Dad was probably still reading the newspaper or was in the kitchen with the others.

Morris chatted a little bit with us. "How'd you two meet?"

"Um, from the diner." The lie stumbled out quite quickly which was impressive due to my usual stammering when it comes to pressuring situations.

Clarity didn't miss a beat. "Yep. His other friend...Flynn, talked to me a bit also. Eventually, we all met and became friends."

Morris seemed to believe us. "Well, that's nice. I'm gonna leave you to whatever you were doing and find dad."

"Okay," we both said.

"Wait, are you going to stay for dinner?" He turned to ask, an eyebrow raised. I glanced over at Clarity who kept her eyes on Morris.

"No, I have to go home soon anyways. Maybe another day." She said. Morris nodded and walked away. I let out a sigh of relief. "I had better be going, Nolan." She said, her back to me. "Say bye to your mom for me."

I stared at her. "Okay," I said and we walked towards the door. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Maybe," she said, the slightest edge of coldness in her voice. She turned away from me and began walking.

At dinner as everyone chatted comfortably and friendly, Morris leaned towards me and said so only I could hear, "I think it's best next time not to lie where you meet someone, Nolan. Considering where you met her and from what I can assume, you were the one who she disappeared with." He looked at my shocked expression. "What? You didn't think I'd recognize who she was? Come on, Nolan, you're smarter than that." Then he sat back upright and engaged in conversation like what he'd just said hadn't happened.