The Summer We Lied

Chapter Eight

I wake up too early the next morning. My arms feel heavy and I feel like laying in bed all day, but that's going to be impossible.

I get up and have a quick shower, before picking through the pile of clothes on my bed.

I settle on a rainbow-striped tee-shirt, with my denim dungarees and sneakers.

Dance with me, by Hailee Steinfeld, plays in the background as I do my hair.

I sing along to the lyrics but it's not enough for me to forget about last night.

Matt dropped me off and our goodbyes were pretty dull. I don't know why he was being so unfriendly. Maybe it's because I pretended to be asleep for most of the drive back.

And I was glad that after he left, I didn't have to face Daniel right away with guilt evident all over my face. He was out with his friends.

I make a top knot at the top of my head and then leave my room. My sneakers squeak noisily against the wooden floors and right before I can go past Daniel's room, I see the shadow emerging from the doorway.

He's standing against the doorframe, watching me, but I ignore him. Matt is not the first face I want to see right now.

It's too early for me. I feel like he's going to reach out or say something that will force me to talk to him, so I quickly rush past him and go downstairs.

My mom is in the kitchen cooking and it sounds like my dad is in the living room, because the 90 Day Fiancé show is on loud.

I lean against the countertop and watch as my mom plates up a stack of pancakes.

"Morning," I say.

"Morning, how are you feeling?" She asks.

"Tired," I tell her honestly.

She hands me a cup of coffee. "That's good. It's better than doing nothing for your summer."

I shrug. "It's okay. I was just enjoying being at the cabin. It reminds me of all our other times spent there."

My mom sighs. "Hmm. We haven't been there in a long time. We should go during the winter holidays."

I sip the piping hot coffee and feel a shiver run through me. I love everything that my mom makes, but coffee is not one of them. It's always too strong. It's probably strong enough to keep someone up for days.

There's laughter coming from the top of the stairs and loud, heavy footsteps rushing down.

Daniel enters the kitchen with Matt trailing behind him. I keep my gaze down, but it doesn't make a difference, because Matt comes and stands right beside me. His arm touches mine.

I look up and find him watching me, a small smile plays across his full lips. This whole situation is wrong and dangerous. I instantly look at Daniel, but he's hovering around mom, trying to stealing pancakes- completely oblivious of Matt.

"Can't wait to go back to the farmhouse, Mrs Flynn. It's really amazing out there," Matt says, looking towards my mom.

Daniel picks his head up when he hears this and looks at me first. "You're both going again?"

"Thank you, Matthew," my mom replies and turns to smack Daniel with her spatula on his shoulder. "My kids don't appreciate it."

My mom obviously can't sense the rising tension in the room.

"Yeah, we're going again. The place won't clean itself up in just one day, " Matt says.

"If you want, I could come with you guys to help," Daniel suggests.

Matt laughs. "Yeah. Get your ankle better first and then you can help us."

Daniel locks his eyes with Matt for a few seconds. But Matt doesn't waver. He instead stands up straighter and looks back down at me.

"Are you ready to go?" he asks and I just nod.

"Here you go," my mom says handing me a navy blue food bag. "And call if you guys need anything."

"Thanks and we will," I say, hugging my mom and placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Bye."

Matt and I leave after saying goodbye to my dad. The day is hot as usual. Summer is in high spirits.

As Matt and I get into his Jeep, he places the food back and my backpack at the back of the car.

"Hey," Matt says.

I raise my eyebrow at him. "Hey?"

He pulls on a dark pair of Hollywood style shades and starts up the engine. "Yeah. Unless you didn't notice, you were being pretty cold to me since last night. You didn't even say hi this morning."

"Mood swings," I mutter under my breath.

"Well, hopefully, they don't make a reappearance today. I had fun yesterday."

"Me too," I say flatly.

"Good."

He pulls out his phone, places it on the dock and begins to play music.

'Something about you' by Level 42 pleasantly fills our ears as we get onto the road.

The sun settles high and smiles down at us with its burning rays of light. The breeze is warm and I sit back and enjoy the ride.

Matt places his arm around my shoulder and I look at him. He's smiling. So I smile at him too.

Two can play at this game.