Everything was not okay. Elliot didn’t come around and when I asked him if he wanted to hang out on the weekend he said he was busy. Liar. It had been a really crappy week and our friendship had never been in such a tenuous position.
To make matters worse, it wasn’t the only friendship suffering. Every time Dani and I popped out of our love bubble we were met with growing hostility. It’s not that we were trying to avoid my friends, we were still eating lunch with them and hanging out as usual, but they knew something was up and the fact I refused to budge whenever Dani was out of earshot irked them something chronic. It made me want to stay away from them and just bask in Dani’s sweet company, but I didn’t want to lose my friends and so I kept trying…and failing. By the end of the week, things were at a hot simmer.
Jaeda was pissed at me because I’d made Elliot mad. AJ was continually trying to lighten the mood by cracking jokes that even ended up annoying Liesl. They never fought but parted in a huff after lunch on Friday.
I ignored the bell and pressed my forehead into my palms as my friends all scattered.
“What is up with everyone?” Dani rubbed my back. “It’s because of me, isn’t it? Elliot hates me and is turning them all against me.”
With a sigh, I raised my head and glanced at her. “It’s not that. They just know something’s up and I won’t tell them. I think deep down Elliot’s worried that I’m getting myself into shit again. But a promise is a promise.” My tone was terser than I meant it to be.
Guilt scuttled over Dani’s face, but it was mingled with irritation. “You know, maybe us being together is a bad idea. I don’t want to come between you and your friends.” She started to rise from her seat, but I snatched her hand before she could.
“I’m not going through this just so I can lose you.”
“You shouldn’t be going through it at all. You’re a senior at this amazing school with awesome friends. You should be living it up…not putting up with my crap.”
“I don’t put up with you. I choose you.” I tried to tug her to sit down, but she wouldn’t budge. “They’re my friends; they’ll get over it.”
“I don’t know whether Elliot will.”
“Well, that’s his problem!” Since when did I turn into such a jerk?
‘This is why I shouldn’t stay.” She squeezed my hand. “I don’t want to cause a rift between you and your friends. You’re such a tight group. I’m messing everything up.”
“Well, maybe if you told them the truth, it’d bring us all back together.”
Her bright blue eyes grew dark and stormy. “Don’t ask me to do that.” She wriggled her hand free.
“Hey! You two! Get to class!” Principal Hurst called across the tables.
“Sorry, sir.” I waved as he briskly walked past the cafeteria to his office. He looked distracted and annoyed over something and didn’t look back to check we’d moved. So I stayed put. Dani and I needed to finish this.
I stood slowly, not wanting any sudden movements to make her back away from me. “Dani, I’m not asking you to spill everything. Maybe just tell them the part about your parents and that’s why you have to be secretive. Even that much would appease Elliot.”
“Even that much? Zach, I’ve never told anyone this much about myself before. I don’t think you understand how difficult this has been for me. But I know you needed it, so I’ve opened up. I’ve let you in.”
“You haven’t let me in on everything.”
Her lips puckered with a frown. “I’m trying, okay? But you have no idea what you’re asking me to do.”
“Well, tell me then.”
“I’ve already told you, it’s too dangerous.”
“What’s so dangerous about five or six trustworthy people knowing? They won’t tell a soul, Dani, I can say that with 100% conviction.”
“Wait. Five or six?” Her brows bunched together sharply, her eyes narrowing.
My mouth dropped open. Seriously! What the hell was wrong with me?
“Who else knows?” Dani fired blue daggers at me that bit into my conscience, piling on the guilt until my body actually hurt. “Zach, what have you done?”
“Nothing bad.” I met her eyes, trying to ease that scared look in her eye. “I just mentioned it to my uncle. He was the one that helped me ask around on Saturday.”
“You had help on Saturday?”
I shrugged, going for a casual. “He helped put some pieces together and work out some of your identities.”
“Your uncle.” She looked dubious.
“Yeah.”
“Who is he?”
I swallowed. “He’s Uncle Alex.”
She closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose as if she was trying to summon some inner calm that was too far from reach. “And what does Uncle Alex do? Is he a cop?”
“No!” I shook my head. “He’s…” My lips flapped over the truth. Damn, she was going to hate this. “He’s a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle.”
Her face drained of color, her blues eyes rounding with horror.
I winced.
Fear swept across her expression. “A reporter? You told a San Francisco reporter!”
“It was off the record. None of this will get printed. He has resources and connections, Dani. He can help us.”
Her hands were shaking as she grasped her head. “He’ll find him. He’ll find you,” she whispered.