Incognito

Liar, Liar

is there somewhere // halsey

And I try to refrain but you're stuck in my brain.

All I do is cry and complain, because 2nd's not the same.

I'm sorry but I fell in love tonight.

I didn't mean to fall in love tonight.

~

"What do you mean Hannah is in town?" Ryder screeches, both mortified and alert. I cringe at his anger, though I take note at how differently he is acting than how I had imagined. Sure, I assumed he would be surprised but not this angry. He rubs his temples with his forefingers. "Seriously, Lorena, for how long?"

"I don't know, she just came to my window last week. I'm sorry." I quickly apologize in attempt to stabilize him. Seeing how tight his body remains, I take a guess that it doesn't help. "Look, she told me to tell you that you're in trouble. I don't know what that means. I mean how do we not know if it's just that a pipe in your car is leaking or something petty like that?"

"A pipe leaking would be lethal! Oh for heaven's sake, is that all she said?" Now he's pacing around my room. I know I should have told him earlier but in my defense, I have been busy. Sure, busy with DI. Great, even my conscious is fighting with me.

"Not to you. She did mention some things to me later but they aren't concerning — well not really concerning." Before I could say anything else, Ryder snaps and demands for me to tell him everything. "You wouldn't understand, okay? It wasn't for you, it was for me. Besides she shouldn't be your biggest problem right now. Did you know people actually hate superheroes? I didn't think it was possible. There was one girl at the State Fair who didn't like supers but I thought she was just in a phase. The people I'm talking about are adults. Real, intelligent adults."

"Well of course there are. I'm sure out of the seven billion people in the world, there is one person or two that think superheroes aren't credible. But why would that be a problem? It's not like they're becoming super villains right? Don't tell me you've gone to the dark side too."

"Of course not!" I huff out, half of myself is chuckling at his paranoia and how ridiculous it would be for me to go to the 'dark side' but I also feel a cold sweat. One of Ditto's friends mentioned him being a super villain and even if he played it off coolly when I asked about it, I haven't been completely sold on it. I know I should, because DI has only been good to me, but there's just something deep inside of me that tells me I shouldn't be so sure, maybe it's just Ryder's suspicions rubbing off on me. "I was just saying that maybe you shouldn't be too relaxed around here. There's only been an increasing amount of people that I've come across that aren't exactly into the whole superhero thing."

He waves my mumbling off and sinks into my desk chair, spinning around in circles and staring up at the ceiling. His legs dangling in the air for better precision and speed. I ignore him and begin to do something worth my time."Aren't you supposed to be, you know, at your house? Or maybe setting up your tree for the holidays?" I ask him, my back facing him as I fold my clothes on my bed. "The last time I checked, your house has long been bug bombed and ready for decorating."

"Why are you packing?" He asks, attempting to stop his high speed and purposely not answering my questions. His intrigue is laced with anxiety and only satisfies me. Now he will experience what losing someone feels like, even if it's just for a week. I may have forgiven him somewhat during my revelation I call my clean slate, but a little part of me will always like a taste of sweet revenge."I'm going to LA to spend Christmas with my godparents." Though I speak very vaguely and nonchalant, inside of me I'm sulking. Every time I leave to go somewhere — even if it's just to the grocery store — I have to tell Ryder. Not even my parents do such a thing. I wonder what makes him want to know my location all the time. I won't be called a possession any time soon.