The Convenience of Lies by K.A. Castillo Read Free Book Online Page B

been outvoted, I wearily get out of the pool and begin to dry myself off. I pick up my drink, only to discover that most of the ice has already melted, diluting the coke. Regardless, I decide to take a sip and still enjoy the crisp coolness of the drink.
    Cody wanders up to where I am standing and drinking, and stops right in front of me, too close for comfort. I step back, grabbing my towel to dry myself off with. Ignoring my body language, Cody steps forward again, right into my personal space. What is he doing?
    “Uh, I'm trying to dry off here,” I tell him as I step back again.
    “I know. I just want to be next to you,” Cody insists. Does he not see he's in my way? I can't dry off with Cody's eyes a hand's length away from mine. He's so close, it looks like he's going cross-eyed while trying to keep his eyes focused on me. I can't help but think that he looks like a bird singling me out as its prey with his odd stare and small pointy nose.
    “Can you give me a little space so that I can dry off?” I ask again, stepping back a third time. Cody steps forward again, giving me a defensive grin. I look at him, realizing that asking nicely is not working. How am I going to get him to back off and give me some space? I can't very well go inside and watch the movie like this. Didn't he want me to watch the movie? Still looking between that grin and my not-so-tasty coke, I decide to throw the remainder of it into his face.
    Cody jumps back, stunned, and wipes his face. But then he laughs. “I can't believe you just threw your drink in my face!” He seems to be hardly able to contain his excitement. “Shane, guess what… Mackenzie just threw her drink in my face!” Cody is grinning from ear to ear.
    This was not quite the response I had expected. But sure, I'll go along with it. At least I've accomplished what I wanted; Cody has run over to the back door while seeking Shane's attention. “She did what?!” Shane says in his typical incredulous voice.
    He pokes his head out the back door, sees me holding my empty glass demurely, and inspects Cody's face. From the remaining droplets clinging to Cody's eyebrows and chin, Shane concludes that I really did splash him.
    Cody jumps in on Shane's inspection, “See, she threw her drink in my face!”
    I have finished drying off. Lightheartedly I say, “Well, you should have given me more space when I asked you to.” Shane just laughs, but uproariously, like this is the best thing he's seen all year.
    While the two boys laugh, and I chuckle to myself, enjoying their pleasure, I finish getting dressed again. I walk past the boys into the house. Ready to move on, I ask, “Do you guys want to start watching the movie?” I plop myself on the couch right in front of the TV.
    The boys give each other a sly look, and I get a feeling that watching TV will
not
be the next thing we do.
    “I don't know, you did just throw a drink in Cody's face,” Shane says. He's acting like an accountant calculating two people's finances.
    I sense that I need to start defending myself; I need to show that my account needs some deductions as well. “Cody ignored me when I asked him to give me space!” I interject. Seeing this doesn't mean anything to the boys, I add, “And I asked him nicely!”
    “What do you think we should do?” Shane asks Cody in that same calculating voice.
    “Let's throw her into the pool!” Cody suggests, with all his hyper-excited enthusiasm.
    “Yeah, that sounds good.” Shane agrees. They are already zoning in on me.
    I'm feeling flattered by all this attention, but I still shrill out dramatically, “No, don't throw me in the pool!” I curl into a ball, hiding my limbs which they will want to hold onto. “I asked Cody
nicely
!!!” I'm giggling; I'm not being a convincing damsel in distress. The boys are working together to unfurl me. Cody grabs my wrists, and Shane grabs my ankles. “But I'm still wearing all my clothes!” This doesn't faze the boys as we