Lies My Girlfriend Told Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

list. Five or six more contacts.
    Another text comes in. Why does she keep calling? Surely she knows Swanee is no longer available to take calls. Her death has been in the newspaper and on TV. How could anyone be so out of touch?
    I suppose there could be a simple explanation. LT was out of town. She doesn’t read the newspaper. She doesn’t live in Colorado—except she mentioned Keystone.
    I read the latest text.
Please. Please tell me what I did. Please, Swan. Le amo con todo mi corazón
    I get up and grab my laptop off my desk, turn it on. I Google the Spanish phrase.
    My breath catches in my throat: I love you with all my heart.
    Even though it’s the middle of night, I’m wide awake. For some unknown, ungodly reason, I reply to her text:
Hey
Immediately, I get a response.
OMG. OMG. OMG. Where have you been?
I reply:
Here. I’ve been right here
She goes on:
Why didn’t you answer? Why didn’t you call?
I reply:
I lost my cell
For a week? Why didn’t you use cell tracker?
    I smack my forehead. Stupid answer.
My iPad’s on the fritz
OK. Sorry. Hope you get it working
    That sounds like she doesn’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me, either.
    She texts:
When can we meet? I have a game every night this week, but what about Saturday?
    What kind of game? I wonder. What kind of game is she playing? Te amo. I’m so sure.
I text her:
We’ll talk tomorrow
    “Shit,” I think aloud. That was a dumb thing to say. Now what?
    She texts:
You sure you’re OK? You sound mad
I’m not mad
    I don’t text: I’m dead.
    Tomorrow we will talk and I’ll get to the bottom of who this LT person is. I’ll tell her about Swanee and be done with it.
    She texts:
Duerma con los angelitos, querida
    I Google the translation: Sleep with the angels, sweetheart.

Chapter 5
    Swan’s phone dings at 7:10 AM :
Buenos dias, amore. How was your run? We’re off to Mass, but I’ll get away later so we can talk. Maybe meet? I miss you so much
    I don’t text back. And I don’t call. Last night I turned off Location Services so no one can track Swanee’s cell using her GPS. I notice Swan’s battery is nearly drained, and I know the best thing to do would be to just let the cell die. Burn it and bury it with Swanee.
    I page through her texts to find the last one I sent her.
    Friday. The day before.
    What time do you want me there in the morning?
    For snowboarding at Keystone. Which we never did. Keystone. How would LT know about Keystone? I feel so confused and sad and empty, all at once. I plug in to my nano to let my music drown out the grief. Unfortunately, most of the songs on my playlist are the ones Swanee loaded, and that only intensifies the pain. Removing the earbuds, I cover myhead with my pillow. I must fall asleep because the sound of my name jolts me back to consciousness.
    The door opens wider.
    “Alix? It’s almost noon,” Mom says.
    So what? Time is irrelevant.
    “Jewell’s on the phone. She wants to know what time you’re coming over to get your things.”
    It takes me a moment to clear my head. I scramble out of bed and realize I’m wearing the same clothes I wore to Swanee’s service.
    Mom’s disappeared.
    Downstairs, Dad’s at the table reading the paper, while Ethan is making a gaggy mess of his breakfast. Mom motions me to the cordless, which she set on the breakfast bar.
    I grab it and head into the living room. “Hi.” I clear my throat.
    “Alix, we decided last night to go to Hawaii. We’ve been saving up for a vacation, and now is as good a time as any. We need to get out of here and, you know, regroup. We’re leaving in a few hours, so if you want your things, could you come over and get them?”
    “Yeah, of course.” I want to ask if I can go with them. To… regroup. “I just need to get dressed.” Rather, changed. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
    A duffel nearly clobbers me as it’s tossed down the hall, but Asher yanks me out of the way. “Watch it, Genjko.” Then he says to me,