One Tiny Secret

Chapter Nine

I finally feel clean after my much-needed second shower. Though Parker did wash my costume, it still reeked of vomit, which had me gagging every time I got a whiff of it. Speaking of Parker, he’s the last thing on my mind as I sit here on the window seat, staring out at Janice’s window. I’ve still yet to see the light come on in her room, and it’s starting to get late.

It’s been several hours since I last talked to my dad, and the fact that he hasn’t come home yet has me worried. I really hope Janice is okay.

I look down at the walkie-talkie in my hand and then back across the side yard. Pressing the button, I say, “Janice? Are you there?” I get no response.

A knock sounds at my bedroom door.

“Come in,” I say, knowing full well it’s my father on the other side. I’m not looking forward to this conversation at all.

The door opens and he stands there with a bewildered look on his face. He doesn’t come into the room, but just looks at me, as though he doesn’t know how to say what he’s about to.

“Dani, we need to talk,” he stammers, looking down at the ground and then back at me.

“About what?” I reply. I’m still a little pissed by the way he treated me earlier, though I hope he has some good news about Janice.

He takes a seat on the edge of my bed, facing me. “What were you doing at that party?”

“I was invited by Gunnar, so I went,” I state. “So, did you get Janice back to the safety of her crazy mother?”

He exhales heavily. “No. In fact, when Janice wasn’t with the Benson boy, we took him in for questioning based on your statement.”

“Wait, what? You took Gunnar to the station? And Janice wasn’t with him?” He shakes his head. “Did he say anything?”

“I can’t tell you, and you know that.”

“Come on. If it involves my friends, I want to know.”

“This may actually become a full-fledged missing person’s case, and there’s a procedure I have to follow, regardless of whether they’re your friends,” he replies.

“She can’t be missing,” I say.

“Technically, she isn’t yet, but if we don’t find any trace of her soon…well, you know the rest.” He places his hand on my shoulder as he stands up.

When I look up at him, we share worried expressions. “If she’s gone, it’s all my fault,” I say, dodging his stare.

“Don’t blame yourself, Dani. It’s not like you forced her to go with you, right?”

“No, I didn’t force her, but I did do pretty much everything else.”

He sighs. “Do you have any idea where she could be? Or who she might be with?”

“I have no idea,” I reply, a hopeless feeling coming over me. “Last night was kind of a blur. And this morning was just…confusing.”

“Yeah, what about this whole thing with you waking up in a boy’s bed?” he inquires in a stern tone.

“Like I said, nothing happened. I promise.”

“That still doesn’t mean I’m okay with the idea of you sleeping in a boy’s bed,” he says, giving me the disapproving parental look.

“I know. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, okay?”

“Damn right, it won’t happen again. And if I find out whose bed you woke up in, he’s going to be looking down the barrel of my revolver.”

“Seriously, Dad. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” he replies. He turns and heads back toward the door. “I feel like I don’t even know my own daughter right now. Sneaking off to parties, waking up in boys’ beds, drinking. Are you doing drugs too?”

“No, I’m not doing drugs,” I respond.

“Well, what else have you lied to me about? Did this all start after your mom left?”

“No. Surprise Dad, not everything is about Mom. Even though lately you seem to think so,” I feel a twinge of guilt, but he needs to hear it.

“That’s not fair, Dani. You don’t get to turn this around and blame me for why you’re lying. I know I haven’t been here as much as I probably should, but that doesn’t give you the right to use my recent actions against me. We’re both going through hard times right now.” He shakes his head and turns his eyes up the ceiling, almost like he’s asking the man upstairs for some guidance. After a quiet moment, he asks, “Why’d you feel you had to lie?”

“Everybody lies once in a while, Dad. But it doesn’t necessarily change the person they are.”

That statement really resonates with me. Unfortunately, my lies have changed who I am. My father has no idea I’m no longer a virgin, nor does he know that I’ve been drinking since I was fifteen. This party is just the tip of the iceberg of my lies, but I could never tell him that. He already has enough on his plate with what he already knows now, and with Mom.

“Little white lies. Those don’t change the person you are. Yours are very different. How am I supposed to trust you with anything now?” he answers.

I take a few moments to think it over. I sigh when I can’t seem to find an answer fitting enough for his question. “I don’t know, Dad,” I say softly, anticipating his heart breaking at any moment.

“That’s disappointing, to say the least.” Opening the door and stepping one foot out, he stops and peers at me over his shoulder. “Oh, and one more thing. You know you’re grounded until you leave for college, right? Just so we’re clear on that?”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that already.”

“Good,” is all he says before closing the door.

When I hear the rain beginning to pound on the roof, I look back over to Janice’s window. A streak of lightning illuminates the outside, followed by a wicked clap of thunder. The light in Janice’s room turns on and I immediately press the button on the walkie.

“Janice, are you there?” I ask, and wait for an answer. I groan with frustration when there isn’t one.

“Marshmallow, this is Mint Chip, are you there? I see your light’s on. Are you there?”

I hear the crackle of the walkie-talkie and then Hattie’s voice. “Who is this? Dani, is that you?”

I toss the device onto my bed, not really wanting to talk to her. I shut my curtains when I notice her peering at me through the ones covering Janice’s window. Guilt envelops me as the thought of being the one responsible for this whole mess starts to really sink in. I don’t even know how I’ll face her mom if this all comes out.

The sound of my cell phone vibrating draws my attention to the nightstand. Thankfully, my dad hasn’t decided to take that away yet. Hopping onto the bed, I grab it and settle into a comfortable position, propped up by my pile of pillows. Unlocking the screen, I see that a text message from an unknown number has come through. It reads:

Want to know a secret?

I stare at the screen until it fades to black, wondering what the message means, and more importantly, who sent it. I start to reply with sure, but then delete the text.

A loud clap of thunder makes me jump while I’m concentrating on the phone in my hand. When it vibrates, I’m startled again.

“Jumpy much?” I ask myself.

I see Rory’s face show up on the screen, and smile. I know he’s calling to hear all the gossip about last night’s party, and boy do I have some things to talk about.



The drive to school the next day is awkward, to say the least. It’s filled with my dad constantly reminding me how disappointed he is, and I think I heard, “What were you thinking?” at least a hundred times. I don’t even want to get into the discussion we had over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table earlier.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the icing on the cake. Lexi has been marked off-limits, and now I have a personal chauffer for an indeterminate amount of time. You know, though, it’s not often a girl is lucky enough to get dropped off at the very front of a public school—with everyone watching mind you—by a sheriff’s car. The walk of shame up the school’s steps is easily the most memorable part.

Standing at my locker, I find myself staring at the pile of books inside and not really doing much else. I can’t shake the thought that they still haven’t found Janice. As more time passes, the outcome becomes grimmer in my head. The slamming of my locker door brings me back to reality. I turn to see Gunnar waiting there, not looking very happy.

“So, your dad grilled me pretty hard at the station yesterday. He was asking a lot of questions about Janice. Do you have any idea why he’d single me out like that?” he asks in a hard whisper.

I panic. “Uh…not really, no.”

That’s it, Dani, keep piling on the lies.

He sends me quite the glare. “Well, do me a favor and tell him to back off, because I have no idea where she is, all right?”

“Okay, got it,” I reply, wanting to crawl inside my locker forever and never come out. Damn, I’ve never seen Gunnar this pissed before, but I guess I don’t really blame him.

As he storms off, I look around and notice that the halls are quickly clearing out. The bell must’ve gone off and I didn’t even notice. That may have something to do with the irate GQ model who was just all up in my face.

I lean back against the lockers and release a deep sigh. Drawing up my messenger bag, I sling it over my shoulder and trudge my way to Mr. Whitman’s office. He may be slightly irked with me after hearing I still have no idea what my essay is going to be about. I’m so dreading our little chat this morning. The last thing I need right now is to have yet another person tell me how disappointed they are in me.



Not really feeling up to eating when lunch rolls around, I enter the cafeteria and search out Rory and Alex instead of heading for the food line. They’re sitting at one of the round tables in the back corner of the room, and Rory waves me over when he sees me.

“Where the hell did you go Saturday?” I hear Alex ask as I approach the table. “You just up and disappeared.”

“It’s a long story, believe me,” Rory interjects, referencing our conversation last night.

“Wait—you knew and didn’t tell me?” Alex complains while scowling at him.

“Hey, it wasn’t my secret to tell.”

Alex turns her questioning look in my direction and waits for me to reply, her fingernails tapping on the tabletop. “Well?” she asks, after I take my seat and don’t give her what she wants. “I’m waiting.”

“I may have had a little too much to drink and then woke up in a guy’s bed…no big deal,” I say.

Alex’s mouth drops open and Rory reaches over to push it back up.

“What? Really? Who was it? You’ve got to tell me,” she insists.

“A girl never kisses and tells. You know that,” Rory comments. Alex just flashes him a glare.

“Hey, Alex, I already asked Rory this, but do you remember the girl I was at the party with? Janice?”

“Yeah, the one dressed in your slutty bride costume, right?”

“Yeah, her. Did you see her again after we bumped into you? Like with anyone else other than me?”

“No, not that I can remember. Why?”

“No reason really.”

“Come on. You can’t ask a question like that and not follow it up with a reason,” she remarks.

Rory laughs. “It’s a hopeless cause, Alex. I tried to get it out of her last night, but she wouldn’t spill.”

“I was just curious is all,” I state, which only leads to me getting questioning looks from both of them.

I laugh to cover my nerves and look for any opportunity to change the subject. “It was Parker,” I whisper so that only the two of them can hear.

“What was Parker?” Alex asks, but it seems that Rory realizes what I meant.

“Shhh…not so loud,” I chastise. “I woke up in his bed the morning after the party.”

“Shut up,” Alex says loudly.

“Shhhh!” Both Rory and I shush her.

“Sorry,” she replies. “You mean you woke up in the Parker Reed’s bed? You mean the one who left you in the dirt, causing us to have like a million ‘I hate Parker Reed’ sleepovers to get over him? That Parker?” she whispers.

“Yes.”

Her mouth drops open again and Rory is right there to push it back up. “Dani, insert middle name, Marks, what in the hell were you thinking? Have you lost your damn mind?” she asks.

“It wasn’t like it happened on purpose,” I huff.

“Need I remind you of what that a-hole did to you?” Alex asks, and Rory nods while looking pointedly in my direction. “I mean, we even wrote a song entitled, ‘Parker Is a Giant Douche Canoe.’”

“No, I’m fully aware of what happened between him and me. No need for a refresher course on all things douche canoe Parker.”

The lunch bell rings, saving me from further scrutiny from Alex.

“This convo is so not over, Dani,” she says as we get up from the table. “You, me—conference, after school.”

I giggle. “Yes, ma’am.”