It was the kind of secret you really wanted to know. So bad. The type of secret that sits in your mind, nagging at you, keeping you up at night. A really, really juicy secret that could make or break someone.
It was also the kind of secret you didn’t want to know, but, only after you found out what it was. It wasn’t idle gossip, since only the four of us knew and we all knew it was true. A odd four, I might add, but, only four, never the less. There was only one rule. You couldn’t, under no circumstance, tell anyone. Of course, the first one of us, and the second, broke the rule. That’s how we grew to four. Now, we can’t tell anyone . It wasn’t because we liked keeping this secret, our little thing, forming us into our own clique. No, it was because if this secret got out, the consequences would ruin people’s lives. Not only ours, but, people important to us. Especially important me. That’s why I keep the secret, because, though I’d never admit it, I’m in love.
Our group is the type you’d see in a chick flick. You know the story: Four girls, thrown together by fate. Completely different, yet, the same. Could a relationship like this survive in this challenging high school world
Uh-huh, original, I know. There was Kimmy, a smart African-American girl with a short bob and chunky-yet-cute glasses. She was the first to piece it together, and come to the conclusion. She passed it on by accident to Shannon, in a attempt to become popular. Shannon’s a nice girl, I guess, a part of the most popular crew at school. Luckily, she didn’t spill the information as soon as Kimmy did, but, almost seven months later, Shannon went to a party. Maybe she drank too many hard lemonades, or maybe she smoked something crazy, but, either way, she spilled it in the haze. She must have been seriously messed up, because she spilled it to one of the least popular girls in the school, Kendra Malarck. I hate to say it, but, Kendra’s a huge biotch. She hates almost everybody, and is constantly cutting off nearly all her hair and making rude points in class. The last time I checked, she hasn’t spoken directly to anyone to say anything nice, not even people who hang with her at lunch and after school smoking. Nobody. She’s pretty much avoided, so, Shannon must have pretty damn drunk.
For months it was just them. They pretended they didn’t know each other at school, but, afterwards, they would meet up at a out-of-the-way cafe, and talk like old friends. Except for Kendra, of course. She would just smirk and throw in negative ideas.
You’re probably thinking that Kendra spilled it to me. There’s no way. It was Kimmy who tipped me off.
I had met him when i transferred to my new school in, Harvarde High School, in September. Well, more specifically, I had become acutely aware of his presence in a handful of my classes. It was only when I took Art for a trimester in the middle of the year that I actually spoke to him, other then asking to borrow white-out or asking him if we could move, since he’s blocking the door. Me and him become fast friends, even though he had a few faults. One, he talked a tad too much. He had a habit of spacing out when I talked sometimes. Two, he had a little bit of a HUGE ego. Three.. well, three was the one only the four of us knew. He was a nice guy, though, dark hair which he cared deeply about and was constantly fixing, blue-grey eyes and was only a inch shorter than me. He was so, so, so very smart. He was expected to exceed expectations, and was always getting a mark or so higher than me, which annoyed me. I would normally hate guys like him, but, my feelings were the exact opposite. I fell for him, very slowly. It was hard, since I was scared to hurt. I was scared to be rejected, and to feel pain again. I wanted to fall deeply in love, but, I was also scared and often decided to quit while the going was good, before I ended up picking up the pieces of my broken heart. Again.
But, I fell anyway. It hurt a little, since he had so many girl admirers, but, I couldn’t break away. I promised myself I wouldn’t let another guy slip through my fingers because I wanted to be tough.
Back to this secret. It was Kimmy that tipped me off, got me curious with his name, and then, I suddenly found myself stuck in the middle of it. I still remember waiting, in silence, as they mulled over to tell me or not. I wanted to know so bad, since I knew if I didn’t, I wouldn’t sleep that night.
Finally, Shannon dug into her designer leather messenger bag, and slid a piece of paper towards me. I held it up, and squinted to see through the charcoal burn marks on the sides. You could just see a teenage boy, who seemed to be posing for a mugshot. I couldn’t make out the numbers on the board, but, I could see the name. Jordan Cameos. My heart dropped and I gasped. It was a real gasp, not the type you fake to pretend to be concerned. It was him. Same well-tended-to black hair. Same grey-blue eyes. I felt weak.
Kimmy now pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and passed it to me. It was a block of text, printed on regular printing paper, not like the newspaper I held in my other hand.
“Fit them together, Tarren,” She whispers, clutching her mug.
I carefully slide them together, and I sickeningly realized that they fit. Perfectly. I swallowed as Kendra now dug into her bag and slid me the final piece of the article.
“These are the last three copies of the newspaper. He made sure of it.”
“Yeah, so, be careful,” Kendra snapped.
I ignored her and placed the final piece, a picture of a switchblade, into the right hand corner. I felt weak again. The first line told me everything I dreaded:
Local boy, Jordan Cameos, confessed to killing six-year-old Martin Matheers