One Little Lie… by Christine Platt #3
Layla was gorgeous even when she was angry with him.
Her arms crossed tightly over her black puffer jacket, reminding him of how it felt when she held him close.
Her baggy jeans reminding him that he’d been blessed to see parts of her that no other man had seen.
Her pink Timberland boots reminding him that she had a mother who loved her enough to buy pink Timbs…
and a father who loved her so much that he might actually come to campus and beat Leo’s ass for breaking his daughter’s heart.
Leo wouldn’t even fight back. He deserved whoever and whatever was coming for him.
“Is it… me ?” Layla could barely get out the last word. Like the “me” was stuck in her throat. But once it escaped, all her thoughts quickly followed.
“If you want to break up, Leo, just tell me. Just…just say it!” she demanded.
“I know there are a lot of girls on campus checking for you. You think I don’t know about Shayla trying to give you her number?
Or Misha asking you to come study in her room so she can teach you things she knows I can’t teach you?
If you don’t want to be locked down your freshman year so you can go be with those…
those dirtyfoot bitches, just say it. Just say whatever it is, Leo! ”
He’d never heard Layla curse before. Not once. Not even when they were singing the lyrics to rap songs, and she knew all the words. She just paused during those parts. Made a cute face or put her hand over her mouth in a way that made her even more endearing.
“Dirtyfoot bitches”? Damn. She was really pissed with him.
Layla was probably going to break up with him any second now, and the very thought of her ending their relationship made him want to vomit.
Partly because he couldn’t imagine staying on campus in this new world another three and a half years without her by his side.
And partly because, if she ended things now, he wouldn’t have to tell her the truth and break her heart twice.
This was their first fight and Leo already felt defeated.
“It’s me,” Layla said as if she’d solved the problem.
“It’s me. Everyone told me not to mess with you.
Because when good girls date bad boys, this is what happens.
But Leo, I thought…you were good. Underneath all that toughness, all those scars…
” She traced her finger across his chest, over the biggest scar he had.
“Look, I know you’ve done things. Things you don’t want to talk about.
But you’ve never acted like this. I just don’t understand… ”
She was crying now. The stress of finals. The fear of losing him, a love she’d only just recently found. All the weighted pressures of being the beautiful, the brilliant Layla McNeil had finally worn her down.
“No, baby. It’s not you. I love you, Layla. You know that.”
“Do you, Leo?” Layla asked tearfully. “Do you really love me? Because I just don’t know if I believe you anymore. You’ve been acting so… different. ”
Leo had been acting different. All his lies, all his secrets, all his fears about what would happen when Layla found out the truth had made him distant. He reached to pull Layla into his arms, to reassure her of his devotion. And for the first time ever, she pulled away from him.
“No, Leo,” she said firmly. “No. You don’t get to charm your way out of answering my questions. You’ve been acting funny. Funky. So, what is it?”
“Layla…” His voice cracked and he cringed, hating that he sounded as weak as he felt.
“Wait, is this about me coming home with you?” Layla demanded. “It’s only for one day, Leo. Barely a day! The dorms close Sunday at noon and my folks will be here on Monday. Do you have a girl back home or something? ’Cause I can call my daddy right now and have him get me a hotel in Guthrie.”
Leo chuckled as he shook his head from side to side.
Oh, I’ve got a girl back home, alright.
“Is this funny to you?” Layla was looking at him in a way he’d never seen before.
Disbelief and disappointment with a twinge of disgust. “One of my homegirls told me that she heard a rumor. That one day, you were on the pay phone, and someone overheard you talking about your lady back home. That you specifically asked, ‘How’s my lady?’ And I never even came to you with that.
Never even asked you! But now I’m wondering if it’s true! ”
Please dear God, please don’t let her ask if I’ve got a lady back home. Please don’t make me lie or have to tell her the truth. I can’t do either one. I just can’t.
“Who are you, Leo?” Layla continued. “We used to be so close. Tell each other everything, even the hard stuff. What aren’t you telling me? I feel like I don’t even know you…”
Which actually made sense. Because Leo felt like he didn’t know himself.
“Layla, you do know me. Well, parts of me. Parts that no one else knows. Parts of me I didn’t even know existed until I met you. Until I…until I fell in love with you.”
“And what about the other parts?” she asked, her voice more tender now. Like she still loved him enough not to end things just yet. “You can tell me about the other parts. You can tell me anything, Leo. You know that, right?”
He nodded. He knew he could tell Layla anything. But could he tell her everything ?
“I’m…I’m not who you think I am, Lay Lay.”
“What?” Layla looked frightened as she took a step back from him.
“No, no. Not like that. Like, I’m Leo. But…I’m just…just different. And when I came here, I realized just how different I was, how different I am. And…I just don’t know if you’ll like what makes me different. If you’ll love me the same once you know who I really am.”
He was rambling now. Talking in circles that certainly weren’t helping the situation. Because Layla only looked more hurt and confused.
“So, what do you want me to do, Leo?” she asked. “What am I supposed to do if you won’t tell me what makes you so different?”
Now she was the one who seemed defeated. Her shoulders slumped, her head down, her voice so sad it didn’t even sound like hers. Leo had hurt her. Done the one thing he’d promised to never do. And he knew he’d never forgive himself for it.
“Please, come home with me on Sunday, like we planned,” Leo said. “I doubt you’ll like what you see. But I owe you that much. I owe you the truth. And then you can decide if you still want to be with me.”
“Can I think about it?” Layla asked softly. “It’s just…this is just all a lot to take in, Leo. It’s just…”
Leo tried to pull her into his arms again and this time, she let him. She buried her face in her spot between his shoulder and neck and cried. And Leo, who didn’t care who was peeking through the curtains of their dorm room windows, cried with her.
All he could do was hope she’d come home with him. At least then he’d forever have memories of her standing beneath the magnolia trees on the first and last day she spent in his small world.
They’d argued again on Friday and yet again on Saturday.
By Sunday morning, Leo had given up hope that she was going to come home with him.
But Layla was standing next to his F-250 at noon, just as they’d originally planned.
He wondered how much it had taken for her to convince herself to follow through.
Regardless, he was grateful she was with him.
Terrified to show her the truths he’d kept hidden the entire semester. But grateful, nonetheless.
Layla had fallen asleep less than twenty minutes into the drive, the gentle sway of riding in a pickup truck’s cabin for the time rocking her into a much-needed slumber. So Leo drove in silence, not wanting to turn on the radio out of fear it might wake her.
It started to snow as soon as Leo turned onto the one-lane dirt road that led to his small world. Just light flurries that wouldn’t even stick. Still, he awakened Layla because she was a Southern girl, and he knew she’d never seen snow.
“Oh my god! Look!” Layla was like a child, and he couldn’t help smiling at her genuine joy over something he’d seen many times over. “Stop the car. I want to take a picture for my parents. And for me! My first snowfall!”
She laughed and swirled as he took photos with the disposable camera she’d purchased just for the trip.
For some reason, this moment made Leo hopeful. Not that Layla wouldn’t break up with him. But that she’d always remember him for sharing two very important firsts. Because no matter what happened, he knew he’d never forget her.
“Leo, where are we?”
They were back in the truck’s cabin, less than a mile away from Leo’s small world, and Layla was nearly hanging out the window as he drove carefully through the rough terrain.
“We’re almost home,” Leo said. “Almost to my favorite place in the world.”
“Well, it’s absolutely beautiful.” Layla smiled at him. “Like, it doesn’t even seem real.”
They rode a few more minutes in silence before they came to an unmarked fork in the road.
Leo took a deep breath before he stopped the truck, put it in park, and stared out at the wooded clearing.
He reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out the cassette tape he’d been hiding all semester, one of his biggest little lies.
His heart pounding as he wondered when the perfect time would be to press play.
Would there ever be a perfect time?
“We’re…here?” Layla looked around the clearing suspiciously. “You live… here ?”
“We’re almost there.” Leo pointed to the dirt pathway that veered right at the fork. “But I want to say something before we get there.”
“Alright,” Layla said softly.
“First, I know I’ve said it before, but I just want to say it again. I’m sorry, Layla. I’m sorry for lying to you, for not telling you the truth from the beginning—”
“Leo, just…stop,” Layla said. “Just show me whatever you need to show me, okay? I can’t…I can’t keep doing this you’re so sorry and you’re so different dance with you. Like, just show me already.”