Loving Your Lies by Piper Shelly

it was
only a small burden.
    My gaze swept over my small room a final
time. It felt as if I was leaving a part of me behind. After all,
this had been my home for so long. Listlessly, I closed the
door.
    “The lift seems to be out of order today. We
have to take the stairs,” Julian informed me when I caught up with
his long strides.
    “That lift has been out of order ever since
I moved in.”
    He looked at me, his gaze filled with sudden
irritation.
    “What did you expected to find here?” I
sneered. “The Grand Plaza?”
    Julian shook his head and walked a little
faster. Even if I didn’t see his face, I could just picture him
rolling his eyes.
    Three flights of stairs gave me plenty of
opportunity to study his backside. The muscles flexed with every
step he took. Never being one to stare at a boy’s butt, it
surprised me how hard I found it to tear my eyes away from the
stunning view.
    Between the first and second landing, he
shot me suspicious glance over his shoulder. Throughout the years,
I’d become an expert at muffling the sound of my footfalls while
wandering through the building at night to grab a book from the
library.
    “Thought I was going astray?
    “Just checking,” he murmured, facing the
steps again.
    Downstairs, my backpack landed with a dull
thud on the floor. Julian planted his nice bottom on the second
step, his elbows propped on his knees. A spider made its busy way
past his shoes and disappeared into a crack in the brittle
wall.
    Julian angled his head to gaze at me. “Don’t
tell me you’re going to miss this place.”
    I shrugged and folded my arms over my chest.
“You should come here in winter when the mice move in for a warmer
place to stay and a nice meal in the cafeteria.”
    His brows arched and seemed to plead with me
to tell I was only joking. I didn’t bother, but shifted my weight
to my other foot, mimicked his raised brow, and dared him to call
me a liar. He didn’t take the bait.
    “Well, in your new home you will have to do
without your speedy companions. The only furry patron there will be
the giant hound.”
    A dog? Giant? “No one said I’d have to share
a house with a monster other than my mother.” The image of Rusty
the Rottweiler ran screaming through my head. When I still lived
with the dragon, that stupid dog had flashed his canines at me
whenever I walked by our neighbor’s garden. A hint of wariness
crept to my voice. “And just how big would that dog be?”
    Julian waited a second before he answered.
“I know people who mistook it for a horse.” His quiet tone released
a shudder down my spine. “But don’t worry. They keep the dog well
fed, so it should restrain from eating a snotty brat like you.”
    The door behind me squeaked open, and I
nearly jumped out of my skin, half expecting to find myself staring
into the open maw of a giant ogre. The beaming face of my mother
was just as shocking.
    “Oh, you’re already here.” She reached out
with one hand, but apparently thought better of it and pulled back
before her fingers made contact with my cheek. “I’ve got all the
papers for your departure. The taxi is waiting outside. I suppose
we can start our journey.”
    Miss Mulligan shook my hand in farewell then
saw us off to the front door. Julian stuffed my belongings into the
boot of the black car next to two other suitcases. He climbed into
the backseat after me while the dragon sat in front.
    “Now put on a nice smile and enjoy the
trip,” Julian whispered as he leaned over to my side. “You’ll like
the flight. I guess you’ve never been in an aircraft before?”
    “Aircraft?” Oh shit! I hadn’t even thought
about that part of the voyage. My knees started to tremble. “Isn’t
there a chance to go by car or train. Or a ship even?”
    His forehead creased into a frown. “What’s
the problem? Are you afraid of flying?”
    “I wouldn’t say that exactly.” Because I’d
never been up so high. Actually, just climbing the first few