The Mute and the Liar Read Online Free Page A

the most was that hanging off the end of his hand was a bag of lettuce. Or should I say my bag of lettuce.
    He was going to steal my bag of lettuce!
    Good thing I got to the crime scene just in time.
    He jumped up when he saw me, but clutched his leg, and winced a little. A look of irritation sculpted itself onto his freckled face. I didn’t expect his reaction. I thought he might shout, scramble away, cower before the life- threatening cactus...
    He just looked a little annoyed.
    “ Why have you got to be so damn punctual? ”
    *****
    Wait, what?
    The words finally sunk in, and I suddenly felt angry. I wanted him to run away, beg for mercy, scream and pray for forgiveness at exactly the same time. I did not want him to complain about me coming home on time. He had no right to be complaining. If anyone was to be complaining, it should have been me - he was the one who had broken into my house!
    “ Well, this is just absolutely brilliant, ” he murmured to himself. “ You’re already here, and all I’ve stolen so far is some bloody salad. ”
    He let go of his leg and straightened up, before stepping closer to me. I suddenly noticed he was a few inches taller than me, and his white t-shirt clung tightly to his muscular body.
    He’s strong.
    That was the stupid thought that gripped me. It was the only thing I was thinking about. I was not thinking about how a stranger had broken into my house. Not about how a smirking, salad-stealing hooligan had broken into my house.
    Wow. Hooligan. What an awesome word.
    Dammit, now I’m thinking about the word ‘hooligan’ and not thinking about how a real one has just broken into my house.
    Maybe I hadn’t thought this through…
    My mind raced through all the possible solutions to this problem. My phone was in my school bag upstairs. Obviously, I didn’t call anyone, but it was just so I could contact father if I was in trouble. I was pretty sure I was in trouble right now.
    I could run upstairs and text father. That was one idea that popped into my mind. But then I remembered that father is at work and his workplace is quite a distance away. He can’t get home in less than an hour. Frantically, I searched around the room, and caught sight of a coat hanger lying on a chair nearby. I could poke the criminal’s eyes out…
    But before I had a chance to even think about this option, he took another step closer to me.
    Instinctively, I shielded myself with the cactus. He looked at it and grinned.
    “ You were going to attack me with that? ” he said incredulously, and when he saw my serious expression, he shattered into laughter.
    I stood there whilst he laughed at me for what felt like months.
    I could feel anger burning right through me.
    Ha. Ha. Ha.
    He calmed down, waited for a few seconds, then suddenly shot into laughter once more.
    That did it.
    I slapped the cactus over his head. That got him to stop laughing.
    “ Ouch! What was that for? he grimaced, clutching his head and wincing.
    “ Anyway, l et’s get the awkward introduction stage out of the way. You’re Alicia. And I’m a thief. Pleased to meet you. ”
    He held out his hand to shake mine, but I stared at it like it w a s a fat, hairy tarantula.
    “ So... how are you ? ” he says pleasantly, as though we are old friends meeting up for a cup of tea. I try to give him a blank look, but I can feel the look of fear crawling uncontrollably all over my face. A long, painful silence followed. You could almost hear tumbleweed rolling across the corridor.
    “ So you're a pparently giving me the silent treatment. ”
    My hand curled around my neck, the way it always does when someone tries to talk to me. I barely even noticed I was doing it.
    “ Don’t strangle yourself; it isn’t polite, ” he commanded, pushing his face close to mine. “ Right then. Time to go. ”
    And that’s when everything happened in the space it takes to blink. All I knew was that suddenly his arms were around me, the cactus fell and