<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/Mtx59.jpg)</div><br/><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Name:</strong> Allison Leclerc<br/><strong>Title:</strong> The Brains<br/><strong>Location:</strong> Somewhere along Highway 16<br/><strong>Tags:</strong> Taras</span></span><br/><hr/><br/><em>Maybe...maybe he won't say anything.</em> Any remote hope that Allison might have had for that miracle coming true was extinguished as soon as they made it back into the car with their goodies. She pulled away her hand which had been about to push her key into the ignition and exhaled slowly, practically deflating into her lightweight bucket seat until she looked like a little girl again. That was the way that she felt at the moment as she stared down into her lap, her head hanging forward; like that scared, insecure child who'd been made to feel ashamed about herself so often. Only this time, it was so, so much worse because Allison knew that it was entirely her own doing.<br/><br/>She'd been afraid of telling her new friends the truth at first, so perhaps that was somehow justifiable and excusable, but she could have come clean after knowing them for a few months. Ally had known them long enough to recognize that they weren't the type of people who'd bail on their friends for something so trivial, even Cori who'd used to intimidate her quite a lot (and still did, sometimes), but it had been easier to just keep lying than to disappoint them all. They would have forgiven her if she'd admitted everything after a few months, Allison was certain of it, but after several years?<br/><br/><em>Taras might, and some of the others...</em> It was Cori's reaction that she was most scared of. Their relationship had always been a bit tenuous, to the point where the older girl sometimes plainly voiced her mistrust of Allison after she'd put away several drinks. That had always wounded her and made her feel nervous, though she tried to tell herself that it was just the alcohol speaking. The two of them had gotten along swimmingly on many other occasions, so it was hard to really tell what was what. <em>If I tell the truth, she'll never trust me again. She'll kick me out.</em> Allison thought sadly.<br/><br/>When she finally worked up the courage to turn and face her adoptive big brother and long time friend and protector, the look in his eyes spoke volumes even though he spoke as sparingly as usual. It was only then that Allison realized it. <em>He already knows. He's known from the start...</em> She couldn't even imagine how difficult it must have been for him to swallow her lies, how patient he'd been that whole time. It wasn't something that she'd ever have been able to handle. <br/><br/>It was as if somebody had suddenly been tied Allison's stomach into knots when she thought about how badly she must have hurt Taras for him to look at her like that. He was angry, really angry. <em>H's never angry with me.</em> She wanted to look away; she wanted to cry, but she did neither. She would look him in the face, Allison owed him that and much more, and she didn't deserve to cry, so she batted away the tears that had been welling up inside of her eyes.<br/><br/>"There's things I need to tell you...I just...now's not the best time. Tonight, after the race. Right after we get home, if you want, okay? I promise." Her eyes were stinging even as she spoke the words. <em>Don't cry. The race, the race, think about the race. Don't cry!</em> "We should get going if we don't want to miss the start..." Allison added half-heartedly as she finally slid the key into the ignition and turned the engine over. Tonight was the night that she was finally going to have to pay for all those times that she'd taken the easy way out.</div>