The Moment of Truth.

Lisa's P.O.V

I went to the library immediately school was over and Anastasia wasn't there yet so I read a comic book in the meantime. I took deep breaths at intervals to make sure I was as calm as ever.

The moment I saw Anastasia walk in, I closed the book. The whole place was silent and I felt a nervous excitement run through me.

"Hi babe." She hailed when she got to the table I was at.

I replied. I tried as much as I could to sound 'me' but I just couldn't get the right tone. We did our signature handshake and then she sat down.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm good!" She replied, beaming with smiles. I couldn't tell why she was so undisturbed unlike me who was nervous wreck. Maybe it was because I was scared she was going to ask a heart stopping question. And if I asked the same question, she was definitely going to come clean. "You?"

"I'm good too." I replied and tried to smile but it was obvious that the smile looked fake to her.

"Nice! So…" My heart beat rapidly as I wondered what she was going to say next. "How did your Math test go?"

I heaved a light sigh. "It was amazing! I aced it!" I said smiling an actual smile now. "Yours?"

I knew she wasn't going to go straight to the point right from the beginning. She couldn't have called me here just to ask how my Math test went. She knows better than that.

"It wasn't so good." She told me… sounding down.

"Why? What happened?" I asked spontaneously.

"It's nothing… It's just- I got 88% in the test. Isn't that bad?"

"Of course not!" I reassured. She always got nothing less than ninety in Math tests. Always.

"Are you sure?"

"Come on… that's just two marks away from ninety. Don't let that make you sad."

"Aww… thanks!" And we hi-fived.

I noticed the librarian shooting me an icy glare. I merely laughed in my mind. I was quickly getting into the mood. And I just realized that I really missed Anastasia's company to be honest. 'cause as I had stated earlier, we haven't been the same since Justin stepped into our lives.

"So… lemme guess. This is all about my cousin, right?" I asked with a dry voice.

"No. Of course not." For a second I thought she was boing serious. "Didn't you hear that the Literature teacher grouped both of us for a project?" She asked and chuckled. She was being sarcastic. Damn her! I wasn't even in Literature class… and she wasn't either.

"Quit goofing around. I'm being serious." I snapped, half-yelling. I think I might have overreacted because she stopped smiling immediately. I wasn't supposed to get mad. To her it was just a joke and she probably expected me to laugh with her. What is wrong with me?

"Yes" She said calmly. I knew the answer she just gave was for the question I asked earlier, so I didn't bother clarifying. 'Now we're getting somewhere!' I thought to myself.

"What about him?" I asked plainly. I felt the 'moment of truth' getting closer. There was even a deafening silence to make it worse.

She peered deep into my eyes with hers and I felt uncomfortable. It seemed as it I was in front of a group of investigators and I was guilty for the crime I was being accused of. She went straight to the point. "Do you like him?"

My heart stopped beating for a second and then went on pounding hard. I felt pretty tense but I quickly answered so I won't waste much time and it won't look like I was pondering over it

"Of course not!" I added to back up my answer. Then I gestured in a way that assured that I meant what I said, although I didn't.

"Really?" She asked, widening her eyes. She didn't seem to believe me.

"Defs!" I said and smirked. I was obviously lying but it's either she was oblivious to that or she was aware but she decided to ignore. "Why would I even think of crushing on him? He's my cousin for Christ's sake" I added.

I was… I am a pathological liar. Everything I uttered connecting to Justin was mere lies. And I actually felt bad; 'cause I was lying and have been lying ever since. How in the world did I find it so easy to lie to my BFF this way? I felt like a freaking devil.

I felt she deserved to know what the truth is but how was I meant to tell her that I had a huge crush on him when I knew she did too. And one of us is going to have to give up the goose chase sooner or later.

"OMG! Are you for real?" She said with a glint in her eyes and a smile plastered across her face. I knew she was going to be happy I wasn't crushing on him. I mean… I lied I wasn't crushing on him. It felt so awkward but what can I do?

"Yeah… I'm for real" I replied emotionlessly.

"Oh my Gosh!" She interjected. "He's so sweet and charming and I think I fell for him the day I met him. Unbelievable right?" She asked with an ecstatic voice. She was really happy. Like really! You see… lying isn't always bad. I can imagine her expression and the look on her face if I told her the truth.

"And I think he likes me too. Since that day he took me out on a…" I started trailing off.

Is there a possibility that he actually liked her and not me? I threw that thought outta my head. There was no damn way. Maybe he just takes her as a friend and she thinks it's something else. And he couldn't possibly love two people at the same time and it was obvious I was the one he loves not her. I know she would've told me but she never told me about him kissing her though he kissed me twice. And I felt that spark when he did. I bet he felt it too.

But the questions that still bothered me were; why did he take Anastasia out? Why are they always acting like some kind of couple? My head started spinning. I didn't know what to believe. I was just so confused.

The last thing she said which was one of the only thing I heard her say and the thing that caught my attention was: "So, can I date Justin?"

That sounded real crazy and I didn't know why she asked. It wasn't my decision to make, was it? But to be honest, it was a difficult decision to make. Nevertheless, I replied in a jiffy. "Yes of course! Why should I stop you?" I actually did want to date him. Why am I making all these rash decisions? I wish I had the chance yesterday night to ask him but something more important just had to come up.

"Nothing. I just thought to ask for your consent since you're his cousin, nothing more." She smirked again. I could see the dimple etched on her right cheek.

"Well, you have my permission then." I said matter-of –factly.

We stopped talking for some time. Everything seemed so calm and serene. I liked it.

"You're very sure you don't have a problem with us being together… that you don't have any feelings for him. Not even an itsy-titsy bit?" She asked earnestly bringing her thumb and index fingers together.

It was right before me- I had the chance to turn things around simply by telling the truth before it got too late. I knew if I did, she'd have understood with me and maybe given him up for me. She was selfless enough to do that, unlike me. I felt so ashamed of myself. Damn!

But that was the last thing I was going to ever do. Why? Because firstly, that would be really selfish. I wasn't going to let her sacrifice something she wanted all because of me. Let me think about others for a change.

Plus, I wasn't sure about what the world was going to say about me dating my cousin. It'll probably be the first of its kind. Though I truly don't care about it but believe me when I say that the society will do everything but accept us. Not even my dad will accept us. It may sound crazy but it's the truth.

Also, I didn't want her getting all sad all because of me when I am the bad friend. Trust me, I know how it feels when your best friend is dating the guy you like. It's not at all a pleasant feeling.

But that didn't mean I was going to give up. I was still going to keep it normal and let Anastasia date him if she wishes. Let's see what fate has in store for us.

So I decided to lie for us. Both of us!

"Yes. Not even an itsy-titsy bit!" I declared confidently.

Anastasia's P.O.V

She said she didn't like him? Shocker! How possible is that?? If what she was saying is true, why in earth did she get mad that day I was by her locker talking about him to her? And the other time when Susan, Lillian, Josie and Emily were talking about the hottest boy in school, why did she just leave and go sit alone? Huh?

Why did she have to hide her feelings from me? I had seen it in her body language and her eyes that she was merely lying.

I wasn't going to eat her if she simply told me the truth but she chose to lie. Did she think she was going to deceive me so easily?

So I asked "Then why did you storm off when I was talking to you about how much I liked him just last week?"

She was dumbfounded. I squinted my eyes and awaited her response. She looked pretty disturbed. She thought for some seconds and then said; "I wasn't happy before then."

"You can't tell me that. You were smiling Lisa!" I shot. I wondered what lie she was going to spew next.

"Thing is…" She paused. "You reminded me of something."

"What?" I blurted.

"You made me remember the look on his face when his parents' coffins were being lowered." What she said struck me like a blow. I never expected that. It was as if there was an arrow stuck in my heart. I really didn't know what to say anymore. I felt so sorry for him. Heck!

Now everything made perfect sense to me. I now understood why she stormed out. Maybe she was holding back her tears or something.

"But you said he was okay before, right?" I heard my voice cracking.

"I couldn't talk about it. Plus we were going to be late if I did." She defended.

The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle fitted perfectly now so I gave up. All I could think of was the poor boy and his late parents. I would have really loved to meet them. It's a pity I can't.