Dark Secrets (91 page)

When the wind swept
past my window again, I flicked the petals into the day; they
floated up into the air, making circles on the breeze, following
the autumn leaves to the old oak tree in the garden, finally
resting, with one last kiss from the wind, right on the seat of the
swing.

“
I love you, David.
Forever,” I whispered into the nothing, reluctantly shutting my
window on the stormy wind. A tear rolled down my cheek as I looked
up to the sky and saw one, single star sparkling out above the
waking world, almost like it was David watching over me.

“
Make a wish.” Strong
arms wrapped my waist from behind.

“
I don’t believe in
wishes anymore, Mike.”

“
Well, I’ll make one
for you, then.” He squeezed me tighter, then crossed his
heart.

“
What did you wish?”
I asked.

“
Can’t tell you. It
won’t come true.” He pressed his hands to my waist and turned me
around, slowly plucking my earphones from my ears. “Why are you
crying, baby girl?”

I sniffed back the
runny liquid in my nose. “So much has happened. Everything’s
changing for me now, Mike. Sometimes, I feel like I’m losing
control of it all—like it just goes too fast.”

“
It does go fast,
princess,” he said; I looked down. “But, that’s why you’ve got to
make the most of every day. To love whole-heartedly—” he kissed my
forehead, “—to laugh at stupid jokes—” he kissed my nose, “—and to
find the good in every moment; happy or sad or difficult.” He
pulled back for a second as he moved in to kiss my lips and added
one more thing, “And I’m going to be here to do it all with you.
For the rest of our lives.”

I closed my eyes,
nodding. “I love you, Mike.”

My phone forced me to
get up off my back, leave my comfy pillow behind and wander across
to my desk. “Hello?”

“
Hey,
Ara.”

“
Hi, Em. What’s
up?”

“
Um. I need you to do
me a favour.”

“
Sure. Anything,” I
said, peeling the curtain back with my fingertip, looking down over
the evening.

“
I…I kind of need you
to tell Spencer I can’t go to the ball.”

“
What!” I screeched.
“Why can’t you go—and why can’t you tell Spence
yourself?”

“
He…well…I was kind
of going to get you to tell him I have laryngitis.”

“
Why?”

“
I didn’t want to
tell him I can’t go. I just…I think I might cry.”

“
Em, I don’t get it.
Why aren’t you going?”

“
I haven’t got a
dress, Ara.” She started crying. “And I don’t even have anything
old in my wardrobe. My mom cleaned everything out a few months ago
and donated it all to charity.”

“
Oh, Em.”

“
I only have this
ugly red thing that I wore when I was twelve. And I can’t go to the
ball in a dress that short, either. I’ll look like a
hussy.”

“
Ara?” Sam said,
popping his head around the wall.

“
Hang on, Em.” I
looked over at Sam, covering the mouthpiece of the phone. “What are
you doing in my wardrobe?”

“
Can I borrow your
hair gel?”

I raised a brow at
him. “Why?”

He stepped into my
room, grinning. “I got a date tonight.”

“
A date?” I
smirked.

“
Yeah. Can I use it
or not?”

“
Fine. But shut that
bathroom door. I’m talking girl stuff.”

He walked off,
starting up the hairdryer in the bathroom, but didn’t shut the
door.

“
Argh. Sorry, Em.
Pest control.”

She
laughed.

I walked into my
wardrobe and glared at Sam through the bathroom mirror. “I told you
to shut this door.”

He shrugged. “So shut
it.”

“
Argh!” I slammed it
behind me and stormed out of my wardrobe, but a flash of blue
fabric on the hook caught my eye, and as I thought back to the
night David forced me to accept that dress, an epiphany hit me like
a rock in the head. “Oh my God. Em!”

“
Still
here.”

“
Come over. Right
now. I have a dress for you.”

She didn’t even get to
say anything. I hung up the phone and ran downstairs to wait for
her, opening the door seven minutes later to a solemn-looking
Emily.

“
Hi,” she
said.

I gave her a hug, and
she smiled as she pulled away—but not at me.

“
Hey, girls,” Mike
said, sitting on the stairs behind me.

“
Hi, Mike,” Emily
said, her cheeks going pink.

“
You back for another
shaking?” he joked.

“
I’ll pass,” she said
sheepishly. “You know, you look kind of different when you’re not
mad with worry.”

Mike laughed. “Yeah,
guess it’s easier to see my face when I’m not towering over you,
badgering for information on missing girls.” He cast a raised brow
my way.

Emily giggled. “It was
okay. You didn’t actually shake me.”

“
Okay, enough small
talk.” I grabbed Em’s hand. “Come see your dress.”

Mike laughed as we
rushed past him, then slammed my bedroom door behind us.

“
Now, close your
eyes—and stay here.” I held out a warning finger.

“
Can't go far with my
eyes closed,” she said.

I left her by my bed
while I ran to the wardrobe to get the green dress, and came back,
holding it against my body. “Okay. You can look.”

Emily’s eyes lit up
and her mouth popped open as she ran toward me—well, to the dress.
“Oh, my God, Ara. This is perfect. Where did you get
this?”

“
Had it for ages.” I
shrugged.

“
Can I try it
on?”

“
Of course, dummy,
that’s why I asked you over. Here.” I handed her the dress and
directed her to my wardrobe. “I hope it fits.”

“
It looks like it
will,” she said, her voice muffled under a shirt or
something.

“
Yeah, we’re the same
size, so it should be fine.”

“
I can’t thank you
enough for this, Ara. I just haven’t found anything I love enough
to wear, but I think this—” She stepped out and her beauty struck
me. “Might do?”

“
Emily?” I couldn’t
help but to rush over and hug her. “How perfect is this on you—oh
my God!”

She readjusted the
shoestring strap on her shoulder and spun slowly to show the low
back, scooping down just past the purple cotton undies she had on
today, while the shimmering emerald green hugged her curves, making
her skin look like liquid satin.

“
I hate you, you
know.” I sighed enviously, folding my arms. “It never looked that
good on me.”

“
Aw, I’m sorry, Ara. But I do
love
it,” she
said.

“
Well, then, it’s
yours.”

“
Mine? Ara, I
can’t—”

“
Yes, you can. I want
you to have it. It was—” I shook my head, looking for the right
words “—meant for you.”

“
Thank you.” She
reached out; I hugged her again. “I’m so glad we’re
friends.”

“
Me too. Come on—” I
took her hand, leading her to the door, “—we have to show
Mike.”

“
Wait.” She pulled
back a little. “Are...are you sure it looks good? I
mean—”

“
Em. It’s great. Stop
worrying.” I stuck my head around the corner. “Mike?”

“
Yeah?” He flashed a
really sexy grin, stopping just as he was headed down the
stairs.

“
What’d you
think?”

When I pulled Emily
around the corner, Mike tilted his head to one side. “Wow. Yeah,
that’s a great dress. Do a spin,” he said, twirling his finger in
the air. Emily spun around. “I don’t know, Ara. Perhaps I’m
marrying the wrong girl.”

Emily’s head whipped
up; she looked at me, her mouth falling open. “Marrying? Did he
say
marrying
?”

I shot a death glare
at Mike. “Um, yeah. We’re…Mike asked me to marry him,” I said,
fraying my fingers to show my ring.

“
Oh my God,” Emily
squealed, grabbing my hand; Mike rubbed his ear with his finger.
“When did this happen?”

“
Yesterday.”

“
Wow.” She pressed
both thumbs to my ruby, becoming seemingly smaller from the
shoulders down. “And…what about David?”

“
Um—”

“
He’s—out of the
picture,” Mike said softly, but very politely.

Emily’s eyes screamed
her true thoughts. “Well, that’s just, like, so great, Ara. I’m so
happy for you two.”

“
I’m just gonna…”
Mike jerked his thumb toward the stairs and walked a few steps
backward before fleeing with the speed of a man in trouble. Oh,
wait—he was in trouble!

“
Emily?” I closed my
bedroom door, then spun around to look at her. “What’s
wrong?”

“
What have you done?”
her voice trembled.

“
I already told you,
Em.” I sat on the bed, shifting Emily’s jacket out of the way.
“David and I broke up. Why are you so surprised?”

“
Because, you were
supposed to meet again one day, on a windy autumn morning, and fall
in love all over again. Not go and marry another man!” She pointed
to my door.

“
Em?” I chuckled.
“This isn't a fairy-tale.”

She looked at me for
a long moment, then threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t know
what to say to you, Ara. You know, he
loved
you. Why should kids or
careers or anything stop you from being together?”

“
It’s not just the
kid thing.”

“
Then what else is
there?” She sat beside me.

“
He…he has things in his life that he doesn’t want me a part
of—that I don't
want
to be a part of.”

“
Like
what?”

I raised a brow at
her. “Em, come on, you know David's got secrets.”

Her eyes narrowed.
“So, you can't love him if he has secrets?”

“
No, it’s not that.”
I stood up. “It’s that I can't be with him now I know those
secrets.”

She stood too. “Are
you kidding me? His
inner demons
are stopping you from being together?”

“
Yes.”
In a roundabout
way.

“
That’s not love
then, Ara. It never was.”

“
Shut up, Emily. You
don’t anything about what I felt for him.”

She doubled back a
little.

“
Look, I'm sorry.” I
dropped my arms to my sides and slumped on the bed. “I'm just tired
of people thinking they know my heart.”

“
I wasn't saying I
did. I just…I just don't get it, you know. You wanted him so bad. I
remember you telling me you’d give anything if he’d just ask you
out. What changed?”

“
The heart.” I
shrugged.

She shook her head. “I
gotta know.”

“
What?” I asked,
confused, as she reached into her bag and pulled out her
phone.

“
I gotta ask
him.”

“
Ask who
what?”

“
Ask David what he
did that’s so terrible it’s destroyed this magic love I thought you
guys had.”

I smiled. “He’ll never
answer his phone, Emily. He’s probably got a new
number.”

She shrugged, holding
her phone to her ear. “It’s ringing.”

I tensed. What if he
answered? What then?

I felt my toes edge,
turning in preparation to run and snatch the phone.

“
Jason?” She
practically screeched, almost projecting forward. “Hi, um,
I—uh—where’s David?”

I tried to force my
brow into a dismissive position to hide my obvious confusion at the
way she spoke to Jason—like she’d known him for years, or had, at
the very least, met him before.

“
Just tell me where
he is,” she said, then went quiet. “Well, does he know what Ara’s
gone and done?”

“
Hey!” I
scoffed.

She bit her lip,
ignoring me, then nodded—to herself, I think. “She’s marrying him,
Jason.”

I gathered, from the
look on her face, that Jason didn't really have a lot to say about
it. And why would he?

“
Okay.” She shrugged. “He’s
your
brother.” She hung up the phone
and looked at me; I felt like a school kid in big trouble from the
principal. “You are the stupidest girl I've ever
met.”

“
Hey! I am not. I'm
just trying to be happy.”

She shook her head,
conceit littering her smile. “By living without David?”

“
Yes.”