Lying Eyes

“So, you got a girl back home?” the girl sitting next to me asked me curiously.

“No,” I said, not inviting anymore questions from her. I really did have a girlfriend, I just wasn’t going to tell a random stranger about her.

“You know I am a con artist for a living, right? I can tell when someone’s lying; it’s all in the eyes. Your mouth said ‘No’ but your eyes said ‘Yes’. Who is she?” she asked again.

“She’s none of your concern,” I said. “What about you? Do you have a guy back home?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. And I’m not ashamed to tell people about him. In fact, I talk about him more than anything else. Why won’t you tell me about your girl? Is she ugly? Stupid? Oh I got it! She’s really a man and you don’t want people to know you’re gay!” she said, laughing.

“I’m not ashamed of her and she is beautiful and extremely smart…and very much female, smartass,” I glared at her.

“If she’s so amazing like you say, why are you here and she’s back home? You don’t just leave people unless something happened. What happened between you two?” she asked.

“You are very nosey and I don’t care to share my personal life with people I just met,” I said, hoping that would shut her up. It didn’t.

“I can continue to ask until I am dead so unless you think you can hold out another 80-something years, I suggest you speak now,” she giggled, even though I’m pretty sure she was serious.

Why was I the one who got stuck next to the most annoying person on the entire planet for the next day and a half on this bus? It’s just my luck.

“C’mon dude, please tell me. Who do I have to tell? I’m a dirt bag kid who ran away from home. I have no one to speak of your wondrous life problems to,” she pressed again.

“How about this: you tell me why you left, and then I’ll tell you why I left. Does that sound good to you?” I asked her. I had to admit, I was very curious of why she left just as she was curious of me.

“Fine, if it means you’ll tell me after. I ran away because I killed a man and I couldn’t live with myself afterwards. I also had to leave to avoid being arrested,” she added.

I stared at her in shock and she cracked a huge grin.

“Ahh c’mon dude, you didn’t actually believe me did you?” she laughed. “You are so gullible!”

“Tell me the real reason or you don’t get to hear mine,” I said finally.

“I was tired of my life and I figured running away was a better option than suicide,” she started. “My parents were the very controlling type and I wasn’t their image of ‘perfect’ so I had to go.”

“You’re parents kicked you out?” I asked incredulously.

“Oh no, although I’m sure they would have if I hadn’t left on my own.  I asked Steven to come with me, he’s my boyfriend, but he couldn’t leave. He actually has a future ahead of him, unlike his deadbeat girlfriend. We agreed to stay together even though we wouldn’t see each other very much but I think he just said that to make me happy. He’ll probably cheat on me with other girls, which I don’t blame him for doing. It’s gotta be really hard having to stay committed to one person when they’re not even around,” she sighed. “I miss him already though, we haven’t really been apart for this long since we started dating, which was over 3 years ago.”

“You really think he’d cheat on you after over 3 years of dating?” I asked her.

“I would,” she said quietly, and looked out the window for a few moments. She turned back around. “It’s your turn now!” she announced to me.

I sighed. “Okay I guess. Like you, I figured running away was a better option than suicide. I was so sick of my life and the way it was going that I knew I had to leave. I didn’t bring Vi because I couldn’t. I didn’t even tell her I left, which I regret more than anything. She’ll wake up tomorrow and find I’m gone and she’ll think I left because of her. I didn’t even leave a note.”

“That’s rough, man. Why didn’t you tell her?” she asked.

“Because she would have tried to stop me or she would have come with me, which I couldn’t have her do. She deserves everything and I couldn’t have her lose it all because of me,” I said.

“Where are you headed to, anyways?” she asked.

“Seattle. And don’t ask me what’s in Seattle because I have no idea. I just figured that would be the farthest away from Chicago that I could get without actually leaving the country. Where are you going?” I asked.

“Vegas, baby!” she laughed.

“Aren’t you too young to go to Vegas?” I questioned.

She laughed again. “How young do you think I am?”

“19?” I guessed.

“Wrong. I’m 22, and legally old enough to gamble away my life in Vegas,” she stated.

“Besides, even if I wasn’t old enough, I could easily get into any casino without even trying. I’ve done it before,” she winked and gave me a sly smile.

“You’re insane,” I said and laughed with her.

“Nah man, you’re the insane one,” she said. “At least I told the person I love that I was leaving. You left without even a little goodbye note. She’s going to die inside, dude. I don’t understand why you did that.” She shook her head slightly.

“I had to. If I told her, she would have tried to come. I love her too much to do that to her,” I said.

“If you even loved her the slightest bit, you would have given her some kind of warning or even just left a goodbye letter on the table or something. You can’t just uproot yourself and expect people to just live with it. If she loves you at all, she’ll do anything to get you back. My guess is that she’ll call the police and file a missing person’s report. That’s what I would do at least,” she said.

“You’re making me regret this,” I said half sad, half angry.

“That’s the point,” she said plainly.

“If you want me to go back so bad, why don’t you go back too? You can’t guilt trip me and then not go back yourself,” I said, now angry.

“I can’t go back, I have nowhere to go, and besides, I’ve already made arrangements for myself in Vegas. You can easily go back. Get right off this bus at the next stop and go home. Be with your girl. You’ll figure yourself out in Chicago with your girl, not in Seattle alone,” she insisted.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

She paused for a few seconds to think. Finally, she said, “Because I can see it in your eyes. You miss her so much already and you’ve only been gone for two hours. Don’t do this to yourself and don’t do this to her. Go home.”

I looked at her, half wishing I had never met her, half wishing I could kiss her. She was right and I knew it.

‘Next stop: Davenport’ the driver chimed.

“Get off here and take the next bus to Chicago home. When you get home, kiss your girl, and never think about taking off again, okay?” she pleaded.

“Okay.”

The bus stopped and the doors opened. I was about to get off when I turned around to hug her.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Just doing what I do,” she said, and smiled.

I got off the bus and bought a ticket to Chicago. A few hours later, I opened up my bedroom door to find my beautiful girlfriend sleeping peacefully. I kissed her forehead and she opened her eyes.

“Hey baby,” she said with a sleepy smile.

“I love you so much,” I said to her.

“I know baby, I love you too,” she answered.

I got into bed with her and wrapped my arms around her.

“I’m never going to leave you,” I whispered.

“Perfect,” she whispered back as she fell asleep again.

I thought about the little ring I had in my bag that I bought when I arrived back in Chicago.

“I love you,” I whispered again and drifted off to sleep. The girl on the bus had been right; I knew I could make it in Chicago as long as I had Vi with me. 

Reviews

[Wolfwind]

Very nice! Smooth, well told, the dialog works well and you were able to bring across a fairly strong description of the personalities of these two that meet on the bus.
I think the only thing I wished I could have seen added to this, would be a bit more back story to the guy who's left Chicago... just saying it was this or suicide takes away from the power of the piece.
I gotta say though, the girl he meets on the bus was awesome. A mix of sarcastic with witty humor and just pushy enough to really get to into the guys head. Overall a great personality.

Thanks for sharing your Ink!
Aaron - Wolfwind

[Pure Innocence]

This was such a sweet piece! I loved how you created a character background in such a short time. I also loved the ending to this! It's nice to read some pieces that actually have a nice ending and doesn't end in tears and sadness. This flowed at a very nice rate. I didn't feel like you took it to fast or to slow. Personally I love this as a short story and I'm glad I read this! Great Job! Keep up the good work.