The Lying Game

This chapter begins the section “Rule Three: Don’t Get Caught.” Circumstance forces Isa and Thea to take the village bus back to Salten. Thea sits with shy, acne-ridden Mark Wren. Another girl wonders why Isa spends so much time at Kate’s. Isa thinks of Luc but lies and says Thea has a crush on Mark Wren, adding that they fooled around on the bus. Isa realizes she broke one of their game rules but thinks she cannot take the lie back. Later, Isa finds graffiti in the women’s restroom of the pub, calling Mark Wren a sex offender who “fingers Salten House girls” (118). Isa worries about the harm her lie caused. Mary Wren confronts Isa in front of the crowd, telling her that if she spreads more lies about Mark, Mary will “break every bone” (119) in Isa’s body. 

Isa angrily asks Kate what made Luc change. Ambrose and Luc’s mother, Mireille, were together when Kate and Luc were young. When they parted, Mireille went back to France and became a junkie and unfit mother. Ambrose took teenage Luc and made him part of the family. When Ambrose disappeared, Luc was 15, and Kate nearly 16.