All the Little Lies: A High School Bully Romance

by S. J. Sylvis

  The officer who escorted the man to his annoying girlfriend shot through the large metal door at the end of the hall without looking behind him, which was good for me. I craned my neck around the corner where I knew the receptionist was and listened to her and Ann still in mid-conversation. I was certain there were cameras all around me, but I was hoping no one would be paying attention as I crept down the hall. My shoes pounded right along with my heart. It was as if my actual heart beat for Hayley. Every thump it made, my brain chanted her name at the same time. I blamed it on the fear from earlier, but I knew that was unlikely. I breathed Hayley in and out of my body like she was my only source of oxygen.

  Slowly and meticulously, I searched the sliver of window along each door that lined the walls to see if I could find her. The first room had two men who wore suits and held Styrofoam cups in their hands, likely full of burnt coffee. The next two were empty. And then, the last one on the right had my limbs feeling like they were full of electricity.

  There she was.

  My hand touched the doorknob, and I opened and closed the door quietly and quickly before anyone bothered to find me.

  “Christian!” Hayley jumped back from the metal table, the chair scraping along the floor. She was still wearing her school uniform, but her knees were bandaged, and the white of her shirt was stained with dirt.

  Before she made it over to me and crashed her body into mine, I caught a glimpse of her face, and I almost doubled over and vomited. She was hurt.

  “I’m here,” I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her torso, bringing her into my chest. We both inhaled at the same time, breathing each other in.

  “You’re here,” she whispered back. We stayed like that for a long time, her body glued to mine, my arms locked around her. It almost felt like torture letting her go. I brought my hands up to her cheeks, softly touching the bruise on her eye. “I’m going to fucking kill whoever did this to you.”

  She chuckled into my hand, bringing those baby blues up to my face. “He’s arrested and going to prison for a long time.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t care. I’ll break into the prison.”

  A soft laugh escaped her. “You can’t break into prison.”

  I cocked an eyebrow, peering down at her. “Wanna bet? I just broke into here.”

  “What?” she squealed, her grip on my wrists growing stronger.

  I shrugged. “They were taking too long. I’ve been sick to my stomach for hours, worrying about you, and it’s been fucking torture, sitting in that waiting area, knowing you were a short distance away, needing me.”

  The apples of her cheeks rose, a pink dotting touching them. “Who said I needed you?”

  The thump of my heart beating was so loud she could probably hear it. The feeling of anxiety wormed itself into my chest. “You may not need me, but I need you. I’ve always needed you.”

  Hayley swallowed, her cheeks falling. She inched a little closer to my face, standing on her tiptoes. “I don’t like the feeling of needing someone. I want to be able to make myself happy and be able to save myself when needed...but”—her warm breath fanned over my face, and I dug my fingers into her hip—“you’ve always been the one to save me, Christian. You’ve always been my safe place, the one person I could think of when the sky grew dark. When all the little lies tasted bitter on my tongue, you were the one truth I couldn’t hide from. It’s you. It’s always been you.”

  My lips dipped down to hers, and once they touched, the feeling of solitude bound us together. We were one. A vine of lies, truths, hurt, and sunny memories wrapped around our bodies, and there was absolutely no way it was ever going to break. I loved her. I’d always loved her.

  The door swung open as our lips moved on one another, but neither one of us broke apart. I didn’t give a fuck who walked in. My tongue swept inside her mouth, and she happily obliged. Someone cleared their throat, and I finally broke my face away from hers, but I didn’t pull her body even a fraction of an inch away.

  A man with an impressive mustache glared at me. “Who let you in here?”

  My mouth twitched. “Myself. You need to get some better security. I walked right through the doors and found Hayley—the victim—still in her dirty school uniform from hours ago, without so much as a cup of water, sitting in this cold fucking room.” My nostrils flared as the man’s scowl disappeared. “This is absolutely unacceptable. I’m taking Hayley home, and if you have any further questions about her statement, you and your corrupted force can come to my house and get it from her.” I grabbed Hayley’s hand and began to walk out of the dimly lit questioning room.

  The man called after us, “You can’t just leave. We aren’t finished.”

  “Like hell you aren’t,” I called back, Hayley’s hand still tucked in mine. “You have Hayley in this bleak questioning room, alone, after she’s been through hell and back, treating her like she’s the criminal.” The man kept his mouth shut and dropped his eyes to the floor, realizing his mistake. “Now, if you need anything else from her”—I turned around, putting my back to him—“feel free to call me or her social worker. I’ll leave both of our numbers up front.”

  Hayley looked up at me with unshed tears in her eyes and a hidden smile on her face.

  “What?”

  “I think I like it when someone sticks up for me.”

  I cocked my lip. “Good. Get used to it.”

  She smiled and walked alongside me until we made it through the doors of the station. Ann was quick to pull Hayley into a hug. I watched as Hayley’s face changed from surprised to relieved. She wasn’t used to people caring about her, and that was just something else she was going to have to get used to.

  Epilogue

  Hayley

  I clutched my backpack with both hands as it rested on my shoulders. My stomach was a jumbled mess of nerves and excitement. This wasn’t an ordinary situation, to say the least, but I was excited.

  For once, I was letting myself accept help as it poured all around me. Since Christian and I left the police station, with Ann trailing us, everything had been a whirlwind.

  I had detectives and FBI agents taking my statement every other day it seemed and, unfortunately, making me relive the past. I had to give them a recount of everything that had happened in the last five years, especially touching on everything that had happened in the last few months. Tattoo Man came to visit me once, too. Apparently, he and my father worked closely together when he was an informant. It was nice to know that my father was trying to make right in the end instead of throwing his family to the wolves.

  As for my mother, she was still living her best life in the trailer park. The only thing she was concerned with was her next high. My father left her nothing but the scraps of our old life, and when my father was murdered and the FBI wanted to help us, she refused, which was why they had to get creative and pretty much wait until the cartel came after me for the settlement.

  “So, what do you think? You can paint the walls if you want, any color.” Ann stood in the middle of my new bedroom, wearing jeans and an old T-shirt. Her blonde hair was in a bun on her head, and I couldn’t remember ever seeing her this relaxed.

  “It seems silly to paint my room when I’m going off to college in the fall.”

  Ann smiled softly. “But what about when you come back for breaks? Christmas?”

  A sinking feeling hit me. “Ann, I appreciate it, but just letting me stay here until September is plenty. I can stay at school for my breaks, or go to Christian’s, or even Piper’s.

  And then when summer rolls around, I can get an apartment until fall semester starts back up.”

  Apparently, the feds couldn’t prove that my trust fund money was stolen. My father had covered all bases and invested a lot of his early savings into it, so it was mine to do whatever I wanted with it, but for now, I was saving it for college—that was, unless I got a scholarship. Until then, I was saving it until I got my admissions letter(s) and staying with Ann.<
br />
  Since I was eighteen and, technically, out of the system, it was okay for me to live wherever. That was when Ann all but begged me to stay with her. It beat staying with Pete and Jill, who were surprisingly happy to know I was okay, and although Christian wanted me to stay with him, I got the feeling that wasn’t a good idea.

  We were still trying to figure out how to be boyfriend and girlfriend without a major threat looming over our heads. Living with him seemed insane, even if I really wanted to.

  “Well, if you decide you want to paint or…you know, stay here on breaks and during the summer, you can.”

  I stared at Ann as she raked her gaze around the room she had set up for me. She had gone above and beyond. The walls were a pale coral color, the bed looked fluffy with a big white duvet, and there was even a headboard attached. Tucked away on the far wall was a dresser and a desk with a pretty lamp on the edge.

  My throat closed for a second before I regained myself. “Thank you, Ann.”

  Her attention snapped to me, and her cheeks rose in a smile. “You’re welcome. I want you to feel safe here. And I want you to know that you are not alone.” She paused. “Mainly because your boyfriend won’t leave your side for nothing.”

  A laugh escaped my mouth. “It took a lot of convincing to get him to leave me for the night.”

  Christian’s dad let me stay at their house for the last week as things got sorted out with my statement, and not to mention, the feds wanted to make sure things were safe since they’d taken down one of the cartel’s biggest drug runners. But it was time Christian took a second to himself instead of following me around like he was my shadow. Not that I was complaining; I just felt bad that he was constantly worrying.

  Even at school, he walked me to and from each class. Everyone talked quietly about what they thought had happened to me. It was kept out of the papers and the news, but my face was beat up again, so rumors started to spread.

  “Well, I hope you both know that you’re safe here. You two deserve a little normalcy in your lives.”

  I nodded as I took another step inside my new bedroom. My first thought was, this is too good to be true. But I was working on changing that mindset. This was good, and that didn’t mean it couldn’t be true.

  “I’ll let you settle in; I’m going to go finish dinner. Do you like pasta?”

  I nodded as my heart warmed. She was cooking me dinner? I hadn’t had someone actually cook me dinner for a long time. A really long time.

  My stomach growled as I began unpacking my books and a few articles of clothing. I slowly walked over to the closet to pull out a few hangers to hang my school uniform on when I heard a tapping. My head craned to the right, and I saw a figure standing at my window.

  My breath caught, but when Christian leaned his face down and grinned, I let out all my breath.

  “What are you doing?!” I asked as I pushed the window up.

  He told me to back up some, and soon, his long leg was stepping through. “I missed you.”

  I laughed. “Christian, there is a perfectly fine front door that you could have used. It’s seven in the evening. I think Ann would be okay with you stopping over.”

  He shrugged as he stood before me wearing jeans and a crisp white T-shirt. “I wanted to see how easy it was to climb through your window.” He raised his eyebrows as a grin played along his mouth. “I have to say, it’s a lot easier now that your bedroom is on the first floor.”

  I smacked his chest as a smile snaked its way onto my face. At the last second, he grabbed my hand and pulled me in close. “I love you.”

  I angled my chin up and locked onto his dark gaze. “I love you, too. Always.”

  He nodded. “Always.”

  His lips hovered over mine, and butterflies filled my stomach. I breathed in his woodsy scent and found comfort. Before he pressed his mouth on mine, Ann knocked on my door. “The pasta will be done in about ten minutes.”

  I held in my laugh as Christian and I froze. “Okay!”

  Then, through the door, she said, “And tell Christian he’s welcome to stay...as long as he uses the front door next time.”

  Christian chuckled as a bad-boy grin covered his features. “Will do,” he shouted before pulling me in even closer. He bent down a fraction and hovered his mouth over my ear. His warm breath had chills breaking out along my arms. “Not a chance in hell. I’m sneaking through your window every night, because there’s no way I’m sleeping without you.”

  “Good,” I answered before letting out a soft laugh. But soon, my laugh was drowned out by his kiss, along with everything else in the world.

  The End

  If you want more of Christian and Hayley (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?!), join my newsletter for a preorder alert of the next English Prep book which stars Piper and Ollie! Just click here!

  About the Author

  S.J. Sylvis is a lover of reading and writing and just recently graduated with her graduate degree focusing on English and Creative Writing (the only fun parts were the writing classes). Besides writing, S.J. Sylvis loves coffee (specifically caramel iced coffee, but really, any coffee will do), binge-watching Gilmore Girls, going to the beach and spending time with her family! She currently lives in North Carolina but is often moving as her husband is in the United States Marine Corps and they go where the military sends them!

  Also by S.J. Sylvis

  All books are standalone stories and are FREE in Kindle Unlimited.

  Three Summers

  Yours Truly, Cammie

  Chasing Ivy

  Falling for Fallon

  Truth

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  Acknowledgments

  First, I want to thank all of my readers/bloggers/bookstagrammers and author friends. WOW! You all are my biggest cheerleaders and I wouldn’t know what to do without you! Thank you for your support in all that I do. I love you! (I can’t list you guys because if I accidentally leave someone out, I’ll feel awful and think about it for years.)

  Second, I want to thank my editor, Jenn, for polishing my work to perfection. You are the world’s best editor and I am so thankful for you!

  Third, thank you to my betas and proofreaders! I am forever grateful for you!

  Lastly, I want to thank my family for their love and support! Joe, thank you for showing me what love is. I wouldn’t be able to write these happily ever afters if it weren’t for you!

  Xo,

  S.J.