21 Keeping a Secret

"Here." Madison softly replied as she came back from the bathroom with a warm, wet washcloth.

Speed gladly took it from her as he pressed it against his lower lip. The bleeding had almost stopped, but the skin around the pink part of his lips had begun to swell.

"You're lucky he didn't break your jaw." Madison replied as she sat down on his bed while he still stood in front of the mirror.

"Yeah." Was all Speed said as he brought the washcloth away from his lips.

The bleeding seemed to have stopped, as there was no blood coming from the wound. Thankful that he could now finally sit down, he gladly tossed the washcloth in the dirty clothesbasket as he sat down next to Madison.

"How can you be so cool about everything? Your brother just punched you and your acting like it was nothing." Madison couldn't help but to ask.

"I don't know. I just figured it came with the territory. A couple of months ago I was a kid who grew up in an orphanage. Now Spritle is my uncle and X is my brother. Just another one of the burdens of being Speed Racer's son I guess." Speed softly replied, as Madison couldn't help but to feel a little sorry for him.

She did have to agree with him on that…it wasn't like Speed asked for anything to happen to him. It just always did. Rather somebody wanted to get at the Mach 6…or something else…something always seemed to happen rather Speed wanted it to or not.

However in retrospect, the same thing seems to have the same effect on Madison. Just because she is the daughter of Oriana Flub, things just seem to happen to her too. Which is why she thought about telling Speed about what happened yesterday. In reality it involved Conner, but it also involved Speed too because Conner was Speed's best friend.

"Hey…can I talk to you for a sec?" Madison questioned as she turned to face Speed.

"Sure…what's up?" He questioned.

But just as Madison opened her mouth to talk, the door opened to reveal Conner and Lucy as if they were on cue.

"Hey guys." Speed said as Conner took a seat on his own bed and Lucy took a seat on the giant beanbag chair that they had in their dorm.

"Are we interrupting something?" Lucy couldn't help but to ask.

"No…actually I'm glad you guys are here. I wanted to talk to you guys about something." Madison replied as she braced herself before she started to explain her situation.

XXX

X took a deep breath before he knocked on the door to his uncle's office. He softly heard Spritle give the okay to come in. He nervously placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly began to turn it. Once inside, he let out a small sigh as he shut the door behind him, as he was nervous to talk to his uncle about what was bothering him.

But he just had to talk to his uncle about what happened earlier. He knew he couldn't keep this a secret for long.

"Ah, X…what can I do for you?" Spritle questioned as he looked up from his desk.

"Can I talk to you uncle Spritle…like family to family for once?" X questioned.

Spritle took off his glasses and laid them down on his desk. He normally never wore glasses, but he sometimes wore cheaters if he had to look at a lot of paperwork for a long period of time.

He looked at his nephew and could tell something was bothering him. He had been doing paperwork for a while now and taking a break from it all sounded like a good idea.

"Of course X…you can always talk to me about anything. But why don't we step outside. I could use some fresh air." Spritle replied as he led the way out of his office.

"Headmaster." Zile replied as he passed Spritle in the hallway.

"Zile." Was all Spritle said in return.

Nothing was said as X followed his uncle out to the courtyard where they took a seat at a vacant picnic table. Unsure of how to start on what was bothering him, X let out a small sigh as he just rested his chin in the palm of his hands as he hoped that his uncle would start the conversation. And he did.

"What's wrong X? You're not acting like your normal self. You're never this quiet when you come into my office…you always say something." Spritle replied as he hoped to make X smile.

He smiled slightly, but the smile faded as it was followed by another sigh.

"I punched Speed earlier today…"

"What? You and your brother had a fight? What happened?" Spritle asked, as he was concerned about his nephew.

"I don't know. I tried to call Madison but she never answered. So I thought I'd go up to the student lounge. When I got there, I saw her with Speed. I don't know what came over me but I just ended up throwing a punch at him. I was okay until I saw my brother's blood on my hand and watching him walk away with Madison…." X started as he trailed off and started to roam his eyes around the courtyard.

"I'm disappointed in you X…but at the same time I can't help but to sympathize with you." Spritle replied as X looked over at his uncle with a surprised look on his face.

"What? You mean…you're not mad at me for punching my own brother?" X questioned.

"No…I'm just disappointed. None of you kids ask for anything that has happened to you within the past couple of months. I'm sorry X…I know it's hard to still accept the fact that Speed is your brother. I don't blame you for anything. It's not your fault that you're paying the price for being Speed Racer's son. But, we're still family and we can't change that. I know brother's fight, believe me. But try to take it easy on your brother…he's still trying to accept everything as well." Spritle replied as he saw a little smile creep onto X's face.

"Thanks uncle Spritle…I knew I could talk to you…"

"Always." Spritle told him.

Before they parted ways, Spritle couldn't help but to embrace his nephew in a hug. And for once, X actually felt like he was with his uncle…instead of the Academy's Headmaster.

"But promise me that you won't keep anything from me ever again." Spritle replied as he looked into his nephew's eyes.

"I promise…I promise not to keep any kind of secret from you ever." X told his uncle, as it was X who now gave his uncle a hug before they actually parted ways.

Spritle walked on in the direction of his office and X stayed back. He couldn't help but to watch his uncle until he could no longer see him. It was just that for once as long as he could remember he actually felt like he was with family…and not some faculty member.

True he had been nervous in talking to his uncle before, but now…he knew he could go to his uncle for anything. And he knew keeping a secret from his uncle was no longer necessary.

He now felt like he could go to his uncle for anything.

PS: Yeah…this chapter's kinda boring.

I honestly didn't know what else to do.

Hope it made sense.

Still more to come.

Thanks for reading.