A Body of Secrets
Chapter Four
A few days later, Daisy's shuns still hadn't ended. She had kept her secret bottled up for this time, and could barely hold in it group. This night, it would come bursting out.
Daisy walked into the lodge 10 minutes late. They had already started group, but she didn't care.
"Glad you could join us Dais," Peter said, looking up at her with an understanding glance.
"Sorry, I was thinking."
"Thinking's good," he responded.
Daisy took a seat beside Shelby and Juliette. Daisy glanced at Juliette uneasily then at Shelby, even more uneasily.
"Tonight's topic is secrets," Sophie said, looking at Daisy knowingly.
"Oh great," Daisy thought. "My secret is gonna spill out tonight; I can just feel it."
"Jules, you first."
"Um, my secret is that . . . um . . . I accidentally messed around with one of my ex step-siblings."
Everyone's eyes widened, but Peter and Sophie's just went to the person beside her, wanting to go on.
"Uh, my secret is that I snuck a little pocketknife in when I first got here and I still have it," Auggie confessed, looking up at Peter and Sophie and pulling the knife out of his pocket, handing it to them.
"Good Auggie," Peter encouraged. His eyes then moved to Ezra, who was beside him.
"My secret is that I once caught my principal using some of the drugs they confiscated off of me," he said, snickering.
"Is that true E. Z.?" Scott asked, intrigued.
"Yeah. It was funny. I told him I saw him usin' 'em and I got straight A's for the rest of the quarter."
"Haha, that beats studyin' any day," David said, laughing at himself a bit. He then continued with his secret. "My secret is a tad bit funnier though. I . . . once dressed up as a girl on a dare and kissed a guy," he said, keeping a straight face.
"No way!" yelled Shelby.
"You're right. I'm joking."
"What's your real secret?" Sophie asked, giving him a "Be serious," look.
"I once sold drugs to a kindergartner," he said, his eyes growing shameful as he looked down into his lap.
"That's awful," Juliette said, her smile from his earlier comment fading.
"Yeah, I know. And I regret it," he admitted.
Peter cleared his throat, feeling David's tension and looked up at Scott.
"Oh, uh . . . my secret is that I almost overdosed one night at a party," he said looking up at Peter and Sophie and seeing the hurt in their eyes he turned to Shelby who had ¼ of a smile on her face.
"I'm glad you didn't," she told him, pecking him on the cheek while Peter and Sophie looked away as if not to have to get them in trouble. "My secret," she continued, "is that on my first night of prostituting," she looked at Scott as he looked away, partially uncomfortable with her secret, "I made $700.00—"
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Per customer," she continued, looking up at Scott as he turned to look at her.
"How many customers did you have?" he asked, his voice overflowing with hurt.
"Seven," she said as her eyes filled with tears and overflowed.
"Ok, Daisy, your turn," Sophie interrupted, feeling the thickening atmosphere.
Daisy, who already had tears streaming down her face, started bawling harder.
"I—I—slept with—two people," she sobbed.
Auggie and Ezra's eyes widened beyond belief as everyone else's mouths dropped.
"How could you?" Auggie and Ezra yelled in unison as they abruptly stood up and looked at each other. "You mean—she was with you too?" they also asked in unison.
Everyone's mouths dropped open even more—if that was possible.