Chap. 12

Will felt better now that he knew Bella's secret. He didn't want her to keep secrets from him, nor did he want her to feel like she had to. He didn't want anything to come between them.

He realized now that with these things in mind, it had caused him to do some crazy things. He felt some regret for it, too. He wished he hadn't exposed Bella to himself and he wished he would have just minded his own business with Bella's dyslexia. But he was being truthful when he said it was because he cared about Bella. It also gave him peace at mind that Bella realized this too and forgave him.

Will went into school the next day. After he got his books from his locker, he strolled down the hallway towards Bella's locker. He found her there, looking in her locker mirror playing with her hair.

Will came up behind her. She smiled as she saw his reflection in the mirror. "Hey," she greeted him as she turned around. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. Will returned the kiss.

"Hey," he greeted her back. He remembers yesterday what Bella was telling him about her dyslexia.

…

*Previous day*

"So all of this…" Will asks Bella as they sit in the moon pool. "How you've been acting… It's all because of your dyslexia?"

Bella nods. "Yup," she confirms. She's speaking quietly. "I only found out on Sunday, so it was just bumming me out to a point where there was nothing I could do about it. Sorry for the way I was acting…"

"No, no, it's fine," Will reassures her. "I understand." He's careful with his questions. He doesn't want Bella to get upset with what he's saying. He doesn't know how sensitive she is about it.

"So…" he starts uncertainly. Bella looks at him expectantly. He lowers his voice. "What's it like?"

He can instantly see Bella get a little stirred up at this. He tries to correct himself. "No, no, it's ok, I'm sorry, just don't-"

"It's fine," she says, putting a hand up to stop his stumbling apology. "I just never really talked about it… Never really opened up to anyone about it…" She pauses and thinks. "I mean, I've had it all my life. I've dealt with it every day, I just didn't know. But it's… difficult."

Will listens tentatively as she goes on. "When I see a word… all of the other words around it just seem to move… Like they won't stand still as I try to read the one word at a time… It all just looks swirled… It's not too bad, but it does sometimes give me a headache. I'm pretty fortunate. I don't have a severe case." Will can tell Bella is having a hard time talking about it, no matter what kind of strong face she's trying to put on.

Bella knows that Will knows her too well. He outreaches his arms and Bella voluntarily goes into them, letting them keep her in his embrace. She doesn't make a sound and just lets him hold her in silence. Bella knows now how safe she can feel with Will.

And then she really knows everything will be ok.

…

Having remembered this, Will asks Bella, "How are you feeling today?"

"Better," she answers. She smiles again, but a very genuine smile. "I think I feel better having someone know about it."

Will nods. "I'm glad you think so." Suddenly, the bell rings. He turns back to Bella. "I've got to get to class. I'll see you later for class."

"Alright," she says. "See you." She gives him a hug.

As Will heads towards his next class, he's stopped suddenly by a hand on his arm. He turns around to see Cleo. "Hey," he says. "What's up?"

"I need to talk to you," she says straightforwardly.

"Ok, what about?" he asks in reply. He follows her as she leads him down to the end of the hallway where there are no people.

She crosses her arms. "Did you talk to Bella?"

Without thinking, Will instantly replies. "Yeah." He almost smacks himself on the forehead. How could he be so stupid?

"And what'd you find out?" Cleo asks impatiently.

"Nothing really…" Will replies. He feels fidgety and nervous. He almost blew it and was trying hard to make a recovery. Failing, at that.

Cleo sees right through it and isn't happy about it. She glares at him. "You're lying," she accuses.

"No!" he says a little too quickly. He's doing a terrible job so far and it wasn't getting better. Cleo's death stare wasn't really helping either. "I mean, it's nothing… She's… fine…"

"Will," Cleo says sternly. "You knew something was going on with Bella. You pointed it out in the first place. And now, I assume you actually do know and you won't tell me. What's going on?" She taps her foot impatiently.

"I never said I knew what was going on with her," Will retorts. He never did, actually.

"Don't play games, Will," Cleo counters. "It seems implied."

"What if I said I didn't know?" Will proposes.

"Then I wouldn't believe you," Cleo says.

She obviously isn't going to let this go. Will finally caves. "Cleo…" he has a sort of plea in his voice. "It's not my secret to tell…"

"Secret?" Cleo replies. "Bella's keeping a secret?"

Will knows there's no way around this or bluffing his way out of it, so he just painfully nods. Cleo raises her eyebrows. "What's she keeping from us?" she asks.

"I told you, it's not mine to tell," Will repeats.

"But shouldn't me and Rikki have the right to know?" Cleo says. "We're her best friends, after all."

"That's not the point," Will exerts. Cleo narrows her eyes at his tone. "Bella doesn't want anyone to know. I'm not even supposed to know. It's certainly not mine to tell, it's barely mine to keep. If she wants to tell you, she will, and that's that. I can't help you." Will turns and storms off to his class.

"Will, wait!" Cleo calls, but it's too late, he's already gone.

Cleo takes out her phone and sends Rikki a text message, despite the fact that they're in school. She'll get it later.

Hey… It reads. We have some things to do…