Believe Me, I'm Lying [New & Improved]

Chapter One

Ten Months Later

The pounding of rain filled my ears as I stared wide-eyed at my boss. He returned my look with a solemn one. "Please," I begged, clenching my fists. "You don't understand. I need this job! Without it I can't support my brother and myself—"

"Harley," my boss snapped, silencing me instantly. "I can't have you coming to work late every day!"

"It's not every day!" I responded, my voice rising. "My brother just misbehaves sometimes and I have to deal with him first—"

My boss's expression hardened as he cut me off. "I'm sorry."

"But—"

"You're fired, Harley," he stated with an air of finality.

"If I don't have a job I can't pay the rent or buy groceries!" I protested, tears gathering in my eyes.

"My best advice is that you let a foster family adopt you and your brother," he responded, looking uninterested. "And you should go back to school instead of working full time."

"I get home-schooled," I snapped. "And there's no way I'm going to take the chance of my brother and me being separated. He's all that I have."

"Well, then, I'm sorry."

I glared at him. "At least I know what kind of man you are now. The kind that would fire a worker even though her life depends on the job!"

My boss... well, ex-boss now, sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Here I look for workers who work hard and actually show up on time. I'm sorry you couldn't follow those rules."

"But—"

"End of discussion. Please leave my office immediately."

I scowled at him with as much hatred as I could muster. He returned my look with a bored one, motioning for me to leave. I eventually stood up; purposefully knocking over the chair I'd been sitting on in the process. Jaw clenched, I stomped towards the door.

"This is why you don't hire children," my ex-boss muttered to himself.

I slammed the door as hard as I could, heading into the staff room to grab my coat from my locker. I didn't look back as I left the room, heading straight through the exit, ignoring looks from my coworkers who never liked me anyway. They wouldn't be having me as a customer again.

I opened my umbrella before stepping out into the downpour. Scowling, I made my way down the street, trying to avoid the puddles. I hated rain. Everything bad happened when it rained. Today was no different.

The walk to my apartment only took ten minutes, but during those ten minutes, I became incredibly cold. It was October! It shouldn't have been this chilly out! But then again, New England, especially Vermont, had an incredibly indecisive climate. I shouldn't have been too surprised. I hurried up the steps to my apartment complex, but instead of going straight to my apartment, I went to my neighbor's. I knocked on his door and after a moment the young man opened it. His green eyes widened in surprise. "Harley? What are you doing back so soon?" he asked.

"I got fired," I muttered, pushing past him and into the apartment and trying to hold back tears that threatened to roll down my face. It would be worthless to waste them over this.

"You got fired?" he responded in disbelief. "Why?"

Giving him a flat look, I crossed my arms. "Because a certain someone's little brother made her late to work one too many times."