One Tiny Secret

Chapter Fifteen

I gasp, pulling in a heavy breath as I shoot up in bed. The nightmare I was just having replays in my head on fast forward. Flashes of images fill my mind, and my temples begin to ache while trying to make sense of the visual fragments.

Wiping away the beads of sweat running down my forehead, I attempt to focus on my surroundings. The room is dark and I can’t even see two feet in front of my face. When my eyes finally adjust, I start to see the faint outlines of the furniture around my room. A hand rests on my hip and I realize that Parker’s still lying there. When the sound of his light snoring flows through my ears, I smile while looking down at his face. It’s framed by the dim light from the lamppost outside shining through the open sliver in the curtains.

He shifts, but doesn’t wake up. It occurs to me that I’ve never seen him asleep before. We’ve never really gotten to this point, and the last time I woke up, thinking he’d still be there, he wasn’t. Maybe he’s changed. I know I have.

I think back to the night we first made love, reliving every emotion and feeling. There are no words for how Parker made me feel. He treated me like a princess. I was his sole focus the whole time, even though it was his graduation we were celebrating. I remember being in mid-conversation with one of my friends when he grabbed my hand and snuck me away from the party to the forest behind his house. He led me to this small clearing with a tent set up in the center of it. A bottle of his parent’s finest champagne was nestled in a bucket of ice next to a roaring fire. It was uber romantic, like our own little private getaway. That’s why I was more than eager to renounce my virginity crown. It felt like the perfect time. I thought he had gone to such lengths to show me that what we had was the real thing. Maybe he just did it because he knew he was leaving soon, and wanted to make a lasting impression. Instead, it made waking up alone the next morning that much more harsh.

But right now as I lay next to him, it reminds me of how Parker can make me feel. I must mean something to him if he came back to me after almost three years...right?

I study his facial features as I run my hand across them. He looks so peaceful, not to mention gorgeous. That’s real talent there, retaining your gorgeousness even while you sleep. He really is the total package for me. Except for the annoying habit he has of acting like a stereotypical jerk sometimes, but I’m starting to believe that might actually be a reason I’m so drawn to him.

Resting my cheek on his chest, I cuddle up close to him and wrap my legs around one of his. His fingers begin to trace circles on my back before finding a place to rest on my shoulder.

“Good morning,” he says quietly after kissing the top of my head.

“Technically, it’s still evening. Oh crap, you better get going,” I respond, realizing that it probably wasn’t such a great thing that he fell asleep. My father could’ve come in at any moment, gun in hand.

He answers me with a kiss. “I’ll leave soon, promise. But first,” he begins and plants his lips on mine again, kissing me senseless. I become lightheaded, giving in to what we both really want.

He pulls back, me still reeling from the effects of his lips, and grins. “Now, I can go.”

“You’re such a tease. You know that, right?”

“Takes one to know one,” he replies. “I really better get going.”

“Yeah, probably for the best. Since your odds of having a run-in with a certain revolver is ever increasing the longer you’re here.”

He laughs. “Well, there’s always that.”

Rolling off the bed, he strolls over to the window. He has this way of doing things that infatuates me. Phoebe and I used to call it his “Parker swagger.” I used to think everything he did was sexy—and I guess I still do.

He slides the window open and looks over at me with a smirk on his face. He steps through, but then stops once he’s outside and perched on the lattice fence. “Come here,” he says, poking his head back through the window to look at me.

“What?” I whisper into the quiet room, but instead of a direct answer, he just motions to me, waving me over with a nod of his head.

Standing in front of him, I lean down to be on his level. He steals a kiss without saying another word before heading downward. “One for the road,” he calls up to me while he continues to descend.

“That was a cheap shot, Mr. Reed,” I whisper down to him. He smirks again.

The light from Janice’s room catches my eye. When I look over, I see Hattie peering through the curtains at me. Did she see my kiss with Parker? The heavily judgmental look on her face makes me think she did. I wave, letting her know that I see her, but she doesn’t return it. She proceeds to close the curtain, and then turns off the light a few moments later.

I shut and lock the window before rushing back to my bed to lie down on the spot where Parker was. It feels so warm, and his cologne clings to the sheets and pillow. I breathe in, feeling like he’s still there with me. His scent brings me a sense of comfort and security that I was starting to lose the moment he left.

Hearing the message notification chime from my phone echo throughout the room, I lift my head to look over at it on the desk. The little blue LED light is flashing rapidly. Dread sets in as I alight from the bed to check the message. My first instinct is to just ignore it and it will go away, but who am I kidding? This unknown person has snuck into my room while I’m sleeping. I don’t think he or she is going away anytime soon.

Picking up the phone, I unlock the screen and click on my messages icon. I smile when it’s a text from Parker:

Wish I could’ve stayed the night.

I hold the phone close to my heart, reliving the momentous kissing that happened between us a few hours ago. I become a little hot and bothered when I take the make-out session a little further in my head than it actually went.

My focus is drawn back to the phone when another message comes through. Thinking it’s a continuation from Parker’s text, I eagerly press on the messages icon again. This one’s not from Parker, though:

What would your father think?

At first, I’m confused by the message—that is, until the picture comes through. It’s one of Parker kissing me through the window.

I run over to the window and scan the yard below for any sign of someone, but there’s no one there. The picture looks like it was taken from the right side of the yard, looking up at my room. It’s blurry and not completely in focus, but there’s no mistaking who’s in the picture. I stare back down at the phone, fear setting in and the feeling of being secure completely swept out from under me. I worry this is only going to get worse.



After the local news report last night, today at school was all about Janice’s disappearance. The fact that the news openly stated she went missing at Gunnar’s party makes the situation even more of a hot-button topic. To say I received the cold shoulder from the majority of the student body who attended said party is putting it lightly. It’s no secret that my dad grilled Gunnar for information about Janice, and I guess everyone now assumes I was the snitch. Technically, they’re right.

“Did you get the plague and not tell me?” Alex jokes, coming up next to me as I sift through my locker.

I just roll my eyes and don’t answer.

“It’s just that I’ve noticed a lot of people giving you a serious case of stink eye.”

“Really? Huh, didn’t even notice,” I respond.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she says, wrapping her arm around me and pulling me in for a side hug.

“I kind of wish you could’ve, though.”

“Hey, I know something that will cheer you up. Want to know what it is?”

“Sure,” I reply, though I’m not at all convinced that it will cheer me up.

“You, me, Rory, and the Brick House. This Saturday night. The band is performing there, and I know how much you love hearing us play.” She sounds excited, but then falters when she doesn’t see the same enthusiasm reflected on my face. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Did you really get the plague?” she jokes again, which causes me to crack a smile even though it was a bad joke. “Ha, I knew I could do it—mission accomplished. I figured you needed a laugh after what I heard today.”

“What exactly did you hear?”

“Oh, you didn’t hear?” she replies, dodging my stare.

“Uhhh, no. I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

She pauses before she starts to answer. “Rumor is you snitched on Gunnar’s party.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I knew about that,” I say, pulling out two schoolbooks and placing them in my messenger bag.

“Wait, there’s more,” Alex says, almost like she’s about to tell me a secret. “People are kind of saying you’re somehow responsible for that Janice girl’s disappearance. And by ‘people,’ I mean Portia and her bitch squad. Gunnar may have mentioned it as well, but there’s really no telling, right?” Her hollow laugh sounds nervous and I can tell by her face that I must be making a strange one.

“What the shit?” I blurt out, feeling enveloped with anger, while at the same time trying to ward off the sting of multiple backstabbings.

“Yeah, totally agree,” she says in a consoling tone with a hand on my shoulder. “Which is even more of a reason why we should go dance off these shitheads and get drunk at the Brick House Saturday night.”

“I don’t know, Alex. My dad’s really been on my case lately, and now it seems he’s not the only one who thinks I’m to blame for Janice. And let’s not forget, I’m kind of grounded for life,” I reply, sounding defeated.

Not to mention there’s this crazy psycho bastard out there effing with me.

“Please, please, please. If it’s any consolation, I don’t think you had anything to do with the whole Janice thing.”

Regretting the words even before they leave my mouth, I say, “I’ll see. I can’t promise anything, though.”

“Perfect. Hey, that’s better than no, right?” she replies with a huge grin before wrapping me up in another hug.

“Right,” I say, thinking to myself that I wish she knew what I was going through. Then she might not be so insistent.

As I watch her walk away, a scary thought enters my mind. If Unknown is so hell-bent on messing with me, I wonder how long it will take for the person to start taking it out on the ones I love. I shudder at the thought.

My locker slams behind me and I turn to see who did it. Gunnar stands there with a shit-eating grin on his face, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes.

“I really wish you’d stop doing that,” I say.

“Stop doing what exactly?” he asks.

“Whatever. I assume that since you slammed my locker, you have something you want to tell me?”

“You know, there was a time when I thought you were kind of cool, Dani. But it turns out you’re just a little nark,” he replies, the grin now gone from his face.

“I didn’t mean to nark on you. My dad just has this way of getting the truth out of people. He didn’t become sheriff for nothing, you know. ”

“It’s just a shame it all went down like this. I was kind of starting to like you,” he says, sounding completely conceited.

“Like I’d be interested in you anyway,” I counter.

“I could have any girl in this school, and you’re telling me you wouldn’t be interested in this?” he asks, pulling up his shirt and showing off his chiseled abs.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I don’t date nark bitches like you,” he comments, making me want to punch him right in the throat.

“Screw you, Gunnar,” I say before walking away.

“No thanks, I think I’ll pass,” I hear him call out after me, which only succeeds in making my footsteps that much angrier as I stomp down the hall.