Two updates in one day! I originally typed this to be part of Ch. 13 but decided to split them up so...you would have gotten both anyways. Oops. Its a short chapter though-only one page on Word.
After this there will be two more chapters and an epilogue. So Secrets is almost over.
Read and comment, and eat plenty of carrots!
Chapter Fourteen
Hide-And-Spy (Part Two)
I woke with a start. I was back in bed. For a second I looked, confused, at the unfamiliar room before realizing. I was in the Trio's.
It had all been a dream. No—not a dream. A nightmare. An omen, maybe. But things were already horrible. I didn't think they could get any worse.
The thought wasn't pleasant.
Someone knocked on the door. Heather's voice wafted in. "Wake up, Silver."
"Coming," I managed. The clock read eight oh seven.
I pulled on skinny jeans, a nondescript white tee, and gray Ugg boots. It was the most inconspicuous outfit I had. I pulled my hair into a low ponytail that would fit under the hood of my plain blue Hollister hoodie. Hopefully Brit wouldn't recognize me.
Trailing behind Heather and Alison on our way to breakfast, I noticed how their postures screamed On top and I know it. They walked confidently, chins up, eyebrows slightly raised. Lips pursed, faces disinterested in their surroundings. They walked without sidestepping, like they expected everyone to make way. Which they did. Make way, I mean. People stared like they were lit with a bright spotlight, but Heather and Alison brushed by like they didn't exist.
Instead of joining them, I shrunk back into the shadows.
I said goodbye to the Trio after a breakfast of French toast and two-percent milk. Well, Heather and Alison had eaten. I'd pushed the golden-brown syrupy bread around on my plate like I was playing wall hockey.
The minute I entered Mrs. Utz's first-period math class I instantly felt my muscles tense. Brit sat near the front, talking quietly on her phone. I couldn't make out the words. Normally I'd sit in the seat she'd saved me—I spotted her Prada messenger bag occupying the seat beside her—but this was hardly a normal day. I slunk to the back and pulled my hood lower over my eyes. Seriously. I couldn't live my whole life playing hide-and-seek with people who didn't even know we were playing.
The time until my free second period seemed to inch by. I just wanted to get out of there. Finally, the bell rang and the room filled with people. I crammed the books in my bag and raced for the door, only to find it jam-packed with other students. If I had been a little faster. I would have missed the whole thing.
Instead, I watched silently as Brit slipped on a guy's math homework. Her bag fell and split, spilling books everywhere. The guy quickly apologized and bent to grab Brit's pen bag. As he did so, his foot sent a Brit's purple notebook skidding toward me.
And then, I don't know why, but I grabbed it and shoved it into the inner pocket of my hoodie. It fit easily—the notebook was one of those smalle ones. And though it wasn't even very heavy, it felt like a thousand pounds of guilt.