How to find the truth

 

“You are lucky that I am your friend! I wouldn’t have helped you if you were not my friend.” I told Liam as I handed him the basket I have prepared for him and Kara for their picnic date. After their mini fight, Liam convinced Kara for a do-over for their date. I helped him in preparing the food of his date because he wouldn’t be able to.

“You are the reason why she got angry in the first place!” Liam grumbled.

“Are you complaining?” I questioned as I placed my arms on my hip and glared at him. “I just prepared that basket for you guys! I can take it back right now!” I warned him. He sighed.

“Thanks for the basket. But please don’t do anything like this again!” Liam said as he started walking to his car.

“Hey! I wasn’t alone! Xander helped too!” I called out behind him. He turned to face me.

“But you started it!” He replied. I shrugged.

“Fair enough.” I said. He shook his head as he sat in his car and waved before leaving. I walked back in and up the stairs to my room to find Xander still laying on my bed while he scrolled through his phone.

“Was it Liam?” He asked without even looking at me. I pouted. Xander wasn’t even looking at me and I was getting bored now. Even before Liam came to get his basket, Xander wasn’t paying any attention to me. He has been on his phone since we arrived home from school and it was starting to irritate me now.

“Yeah. When is Damien arriving?” I asked him. I picked up my phone to see that the twins had texted me that they will be arriving in ten minutes.

“Why? Already bored with my presence?” Xander asked with a smirk but he was still not looking at me. I narrowed my eyes at him. He was acting strange. The way he was staring at his phone made me realise that he was just avoiding my eye. He was not really doing anything on the phone. He was just avoiding my eyes. That means that he is hiding something.

Ohhhhh! I have to find out what he is hiding!

“Xander, there is something I have to tell you before the others arrive.” I said in a small voice as I sat down on the bed beside him, looking down at my hands. He sat up when he heard my voice. He looked at me but I kept my eyes on my hands.

“What is it, Ellie?” He asked softly. I looked at the floor as I stayed quiet. “You are scaring me, Elle. What is it?” He asked, his voice a little louder this time.

“There is something that I have been hiding from you.” I mumbled, still looking at the ground. Xander placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him but I didn’t look into his eyes. “I am afraid that I am not a very good friend. I have been hiding such a big thing from you and this is…. It is killing me, Xan.” I spoke in a small voice.

“What is it, E? Spit it out already!” Xander exclaimed, impatiently. I bit my lip to hide my grin.

“I know that best friends are supposed to tell each other everything and I will understand if you don’t want to be my friend any more. After all, I have hidden this from you. I haven’t been a good friend. You tell me everything and I hid such a thing for you….” I trailed off in a sad tone as I pretended to wipe a tear from the corner of my eye.

“Ellie-” Xander started to say something but I raised a hand to stop him. I looked up into his eyes with a sad expression.

“You have always been so honest with me. You tell me everything! No matter what!” I stated as I looked into his eyes.

“E, I-” he started again but I cut him off.

“You are such an awesome friend. I don’t deserve to be your friend. You never keep a secret!” I told him.

“Stop!” Xander yelled out. “I get it! I am hiding something while you tell me everything. And I am not a good friend. I am dating Bella from Calculus.” he confessed. I sighed. Here we go again…

“What happened?” I questioned, my tone returning back to normal. Xander massaged his temples before he sighed.

“Bella and her friend were really nice to me. Bella even told me that if she had been in Lena’s place, she wouldn’t have cheated on me. So, I told her to take Lena’s place.” He explained. I raised my eyebrow in amusement.

“That isn’t the true story, is it?” I spoke up before he could say something else to continue with his lie. He looked at me.

“How did you know?” He asked with a cute frown on his devilishly handsome face.

“Your ex-girlfriend’s name was Leah, not Lena. And since you can’t even remember her name, her betrayal isn’t something that is bothering you. So, you wouldn’t make a new girlfriend on any fake pity from someone. And besides, you have dated Bella thrice in the past. I am starting to think that you secretly like her. That is why you keep going back to her.” I snorted. Xander rolled his eyes.

“I don’t like her. She is just always available whenever I want someone to end any rumours. And Leah cheating on me is still a big news. I am tired of it all!” Xander explained with a sigh. Bella was a girl who was quite literally obsessed with Xander.

“Xander, I know you. And I understand you. But what will you do when a girl you really like comes around? She wouldn’t want to be with you because of your dating history. The longest that you have stuck to one girl is three weeks. And that too because she was your geography teacher’s daughter and you were afraid that that teacher would fail you if you broke up with her daughter.” I said as I gently rubbed up and down his arm to make him relax.

“I know that, E. But I get bored after a few days. I start getting the vibes that tell me that it's pointless.” He explained.

“Xan, that is why people go out on dates before asking someone out. They do it to make sure that if they get into a relationship, it will work out.” I remarked.

“But I don’t think that the perfect girl will ever come around.” He sighed in defeat.

“It’s not about the perfect girl, Xan. It’s about the girl whose imperfections will make you love her more. No one’s perfect. And to be honest, you are like a billion miles away from it.” I elaborated and when I saw a smile on his face, I continued, “But there will be a girl who will love your imperfections. And you will love hers.”

“When did you become so wise?” Xander questioned me with a smile on his face.

“I watched a stupid romantic movie with the twins on Sunday when you were with Leah. They wanted to make it through a whole romantic movie without puking when they get a girlfriend so they were trying to develop their immunity for that shit.” I explained as I rolled my eyes.

“Did they make it through the movie?” Xander questioned.

“Jace did. Me and Mace were so sick that we couldn’t even eat our dinner.” I informed him. He chuckled at that.

“That is what I love about you. You don’t like romantic movies. You are different.” Xander told me.

“Hey! Rom-coms are fine. It’s the drama that makes me sick!” I defended myself. Xander pinched my cheeks.

“You are still different. I don’t know if it’s because you only had guys as your best friend since you were little or if it’s because that’s just what you like but I like that about you.” Xander informed me. I shrugged.