AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You shouldn’t have been up on the chair then,” she said with a straight face and lacking the sympathy I had been hoping for. I decided to think more carefully before blurting out random facts—I didn’t want Taylor Frank to regard me with disdain as I feared might be the case.
“Your turn,” I said meekly, frantically trying to conjure up a redeeming characteristic.
Taylor pulled at the brim of her cap, like she was over the game—and me—already. Not wanting the conversation to end, I started to say something at the same time that she said, “I was—”
We both stopped abruptly, turning to face one another. “Go ahead. It was your turn,” I said quickly, hanging for every snippet I could get.
“You sounded like you had something to say,” she snapped back.
“Oh, uh, I was just going to say we have a dog,” I said, counting on our pet to win me some favors. “Raffy. She’s a lab. Labrador.”
“Nice,” she said, flashing a smile that seemed obligatory, but asked, “Have you got a picture?”
“Oh yeah. Yep.” I reached for my phone which was in the pocket of my shorts, and scrolled through my photos, keeping it shielded from her view when it appeared I hadn’t deleted all the ones of me and Bianca. “Uh, here’s one,” I said, holding up one of Raffy poking her head out of the back window of my truck.
Taylor’s eyes brightened with genuine joy. “Aww, she looks lovely,” she said, those simple words fluttering my heart.
“Yeah, she likes going for walks, but you know, she ends up taking me for the walk,” I chuckled. I tucked my phone back into my pocket. “So, what were you going to say?”
“Nothing as cute as dogs,” she said wistfully.
“You don’t have a dog? Or cat?” She shook her head. “Goldfish?” Another solemn shake. “Hey, there’s your two truths and a lie right there,” I said. “You started playing tennis at six years old, you have a cat, you don’t have a goldfish.”
A slight giggle escaped from her closed lips. The reason I noticed such a small thing was because Taylor Frank wasn’t prone to smiling, let alone laughing. A rush came over me.
“And yours,” she said, “You fell off an umpire’s chair, you don’t have a dog, you have a goldfish.”
“Ah, but that would be one truth and two lies.”
“You don’t have a goldfish?”
“No,” I arched an eyebrow. “Do I look like someone who would have goldfish?”
Taylor shrugged. “Maybe.”
“You know, that’s just another thing we have in common. Neither of us own a goldfish,” I said, bumping her shoulder playfully.
“Another thing?” Her gaze narrowed with suspicion.
Trying to dispel any super-stalker vibes, I laughed. “Y’know, we both play tennis,” I said, “oh, and we both like to run early in the morning. But hey, I haven’t seen you back on the track.”
“No,” she said, and she adjusted her cap and I think she was about to say more, but Mrs. Stephens turned the mic back on and went through the itinerary again, mentioning that there would be a scavenger hunt before paddling back.
And just as she said we’d start the Two Lies and A Truth game, Bianca was by my side, directing Taylor to shift across to the empty seat by the window. I didn’t get the chance to stop Taylor because she moved on command, and before I knew it Bianca sat down in the middle seat, depriving me of Taylor’s touch.
“You shouldn’t be moving seats. Buckle in quickly.” Mrs. Stephens scolded Bianca, who smugly pulled the belt across her lap.
“Hi Max. Didn’t think you’d be here today. Heard you’re not playing tennis this year,” she said, pressing her hand lightly on my knee. Too intimate for my liking. I brushed it away by positioning my legs at a different angle.
“Taylor, I’ll get you to start Two Truths and A Lie.” Mrs. Stephens stretched to hand the mic to Taylor, who took it reluctantly. “Just hold down the switch when you talk.”
Taylor pulled her cap down and Bianca pointed to the switch. Taylor repeated exactly what I had said to her before.
“I started playing tennis when I was six years old, I have a cat, I don’t have a goldfish.” She spoke so quickly like it was one long sentence.
Thomas, a vivacious junior, yelled out, “The goldfish is a lie!” Several others agreed.
“Yep, that’s it,” Taylor said, even though it wasn’t. She passed the microphone to Bianca like it was a grenade about to go off.
