Mom:Your cousins are starting to turn up and everyone’s asking for you!
Dad:Mom wants to know how close you are, she’s really excited
Dad:We are ALL really excited, I should say—call us when you get this
Aisha:Mom says you haven’t been answering her calls. Are you with that boy again?
Aisha:For an apparent genius, you aren’t very good at making smart decisions.
Anwar had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the last message from his older sister. Once he’d escaped from the Manor that morning after his embarrassing run-in with the Buttons at breakfast, Anwar had taken a quick taxi to Aisha’s apartment in Queens to change out of his suit from the ball. There, he had told her briefly about the events of last night and she had called him an array ofcolorfulterms.
He ignored her messages and instead began devising another lie to his mom and dad.
Anwar had been lying to his parents since that morning. Really, he’d been lying to them since last night. The first lie had been when he’d told them he was staying at his sister’s place in New York City for the night so it would be easier to travel into Westchester for the brunch today.
His second lie had been telling them that the brunch was still happening and that he was delayed in leaving the Manor because he needed to file some paperwork for his Prodigy of the Year win and collect his trophy.
His biggest lie, though, was the lie he told them about Mr. Button.
Anwar’s parents did not know that Mr. Button was dead. And he planned on keeping it that way for as long as he could. So much so that he’d even asked his sister not to mention it.
It was easier to conceal the truth from his parents than he’d thought it would be. Since he’d turned eighteen two months ago, he wasn’t required tobring a guardian with him to the ball and had attended by himself. He hadn’t known that he was going to win the award last night, and was thankful for that, otherwise he might have been more inclined to bring his mom or dad. Them not being there meant that neither of his parents were invited to the Manor for the brunch this morning, or for the subsequent police questioning, and were able to live in blissful ignorance for the time being.Thankfullyhis parents were so busy preparing for this last-minute celebration dinner that they probably hadn’t even turned on the news yet. He’d know by now if they had. His dad would have probably come knocking down the gates of the Button Estate as soon as he heard.
Anwar was relieved that they didn’t yet know, as it would only worry them; murder had the tendency to incite worry and fear in parents.
Anwar felt bad as he begun typing out another lie.
He hardly ever lied to his parents. They were his best friends and his biggest supporters. They’d always supported his hopes and dreams, even when they couldn’t afford them. And they’d been over the moon when he’d called them last night and told them about the award and all it entailed. The cash prize alone would change his and his parents’ lives. Somehow in the span of only a few hours, they had organized to have his cousins and aunties who lived nearby come over this evening to celebrate. Their house would be slowly filling up with relatives at this point, waiting for his arrival later in the day. He had several missed calls from his relatives in India, wanting to congratulate him on all of his achievements. It would be an understatement to say that this was a very big deal for the Shah family.
Anwar didn’t want to tell them the truth yet. That this thing they were looking forward to was probably no longer happening. He didn’t want to break their hearts.
“Do you have to go?” Bilal asked, breaking Anwar’s thoughts and staring down at him with his big brown eyes. His eyes that looked so… so broken.
Anwar hadn’t noticed it before, just how wrecked Bilal truly looked. Andof course, it made sense. His father had just died—and not only that, his father had beenkilled. That was a lot for any person to take on their own. Bilal needed someone, and more than anything, Anwar wanted to be that someone for Bilal.
He quickly sent his reply to his parents.
Anwar:Still dealing with paperwork. They want to discuss future plans with the prodigy mentorship and everything! Start the celebrations without me! :-)
He felt queasy as he pocketed his phone again, the lie weighing him down. He blinked a few times, erasing the guilt before throwing his arms around Bilal’s shoulders and shaking his head in response.
“I don’t have to go anywhere,” Anwar replied, lying again with ease. Unlike with his parents, he was used to lying with Bilal. He lied for months while they were still together, pretending that he was happy in this relationship where they never got to see one another. And he’d lied every day since they’d broken up that he wasn’t still in love with him.
“Oh, I thought someone was texting you or something,” Bilal said, gently reaching out and brushing some of Anwar’s hair from his eyes.
“It was just a Duolingo notification. That thuggish bird is always threatening me, I swear,” he replied with another lie.
This made the corners of Bilal’s mouth twitch upward a little. “Of course you’d describe a bird asthuggish; you think pigeons are evil.”
“They are. Don’t be fooled by their size, Billy. Those birdsmustbe stopped,” Anwar said with all seriousness.
“From doing what exactly?” he asked.
“Being evil!” Anwar replied, and Bilal smiled at him like he used to smile at him, without any of the hurt or malice in it, his eyes just crinkling and sparkling with delight.
Bilal moved in closer to Anwar, who followed suit, so they were lying down again. Instead of kissing him right away though, Bilal hung his head over the side of Anwar’s face, closer to his ear.
“How did you manage to sneak your phone past the police?” Bilal asked, as his lips grazed Anwar’s neck, sending a shiver through him.
