The Casual Horror of Sebastian Adler

The three of them were sitting outside the school, waiting for the late bus. Sebastian was playing with a loose thread on his sleeve, Lily was scrolling on her phone, and Adam was picking at his shoelaces. It was one of those rare, peaceful moments where none of them had anything to argue about.

Then, Sebastian spoke.

“I think I’d be really good at lying if I wanted to.”

Adam and Lily both looked up immediately. “Uh… what?” Adam asked.

Sebastian shrugged, like he hadn’t just dropped a weird bomb into the conversation. “I mean, I never did, ‘cause my mom said I was a terrible liar. But I feel like if I really tried, I could convince people of stuff.”

Lily frowned. “Dude, what does that even mean?”

Sebastian tilted his head, thoughtful. “Like, when my mom had people over, sometimes they’d ask if I was okay, and I’d just smile and say ‘yeah, I like this.’ And they’d believe me.”

Silence.

Lily’s grip on her phone tightened. Adam sucked in a slow breath through his nose.

Sebastian, oblivious, kept going. “I think it’s all about eye contact. You have to really sell it, you know? Like, even if you don’t mean it, if you say something enough times, people start thinking it’s true.”

Lily swallowed hard, forcing her voice to stay casual. “Uh. Yeah. That’s… that’s kinda messed up, Sab.”