Dark Secrets (92 page)

“
Then that just makes
you even dumber than I thought.”

“
Look. Stay out of it, Em. It’s
my
life.”

“
And I’m your friend.
That means I get to tell you when you’re being a dumb
cow!”

“
No, Emily, I’m being
sensible
. I’m doing what any normal,
sane teenager should do.”

“
That’s the point! Don’t you get it? You’re a
teenager
. You don’t have
to make smart choices.”

“
That’s the stupidest
thing I’ve ever heard.”

“
Well, exactly. And I
have the freedom to say and do stupid things, because I’m young,
Ara. And so are you. And if you let love go now for reasons only an
adult would care about, you’ll regret it for the rest of your
life.”

“
What would you know
about regret? You’re the same age as me.”

She looked down at her
feet. “I have my regrets.”

“
Yeah, well, for me,
David won’t be one of them. It’d be worse if I stayed with
him.”

“
What is wrong with you?” She tossed her phone onto my bed.
“Do you need a brain scan or something? It’s David!” She waved flat
palms at me. “David
freakin
Knight, Ara, not just some random
guy.”

“
Just stop it, Em.
Okay!” I thrust my body forward a little, tightly holding back
tears. “He’s gone! He’s not coming back, and I don’t want to talk
about it!”

“
That’s because you
know you should have gone with him.”

“
What the hell does
it matter to you?”

“
He was my friend,
Ara. I cared about him. And I care about you, too. God only knows
why I bother, because you obviously don't care about
yourself.”

I shook my head,
looking away.

“
I'm sorry, okay,”
she said. “I just…I’ve never really had close friends before and, I
mean, David was my first one. He was the first person that ever
understood me.”

Yeah, or read your
mind.

“
And you—” she continued. “You became my friend because you
actually
liked
me. Not because I was popular or knew all the guys. You
actually liked
me
, Ara, and I don't have any other friends like you and…” Her
lip quivered. “He’s gonna take you back to Australia, isn't
he?”

“
Who?”

“
Mike.”

“
He wants to,” I
said, unable to look at her.

“
And what then? Then
I’ll have no one.”

“
You have
Alana.”

She swiped her tears
and sat on my bed. I sat down beside her.

“
I'm sorry,
Emily.”

“
I'm sorry, too.” She
took my hand. “It’s not my place to interfere, I just—”

“
You
care?”

She nodded. “I don’t
like him.”

“
Who?”

“
Mike.”

“
What?
Why?”

“
I
don’t like how he calls you
baby
and
girl
all the time.” Her nose crinkled. “Don’t you find
it degrading?”

“
Why would I?” I
shrugged. “He’s not trying to control me or own me by using a pet
name.”

“
But you’re not his
pet. That’s just the point.”

“
And he doesn’t treat
me like a pet, either. It’s a term of endearment. I, unlike you,
have an appreciation for verbal affection.”

She laughed through
her nose. “You sound like David.”

“
I do?”

“
Yeah. He says stuff like that all the time.” She softened.
“Er, well,
said
.”

I shrugged. “Guess he
was starting to rub off on me.”

“
Guess
so.”

“
It started out as a
way to tease me, you know.” I smiled at a distant
memory.

“
What
was?”

“
Baby
. The way Mike always calls
me
baby
. It
started because he was always faster, stronger and smarter than me.
No matter how hard I tried, I could never beat him at any game or
race or anything. So I’d sulk.” I shrugged again. “He’d always call
me a baby, then, after a while, he just started saying it after
pretty much everything he said, until one day it changed—there was
a warmth behind the word that hadn’t been there before, and I—” I
smiled, “—I kinda liked that. It made me feel
special.”

“
I guess I know what
you mean. We kind of let almost anything go when they make us feel
special, don’t we?” Em twiddled her fingers in her lap, then
exhaled and stood up. “But, let the record show; I don’t like Mike.
I don’t think he’s good enough for you.”

“
But he is good for
me.”

“
They’re not the
same.”

“
Are in my world,” I
scoffed. “So, anyway, how do you know Jason?”

She stiffened, going a
little pale.

“
Oh, now you
have
to tell me,” I said, pointing at her.

She turned away and
walked over to my window, heavy, as though gravity gifted her with
iron legs.

“
Em, are you
okay?”

“
It’s nothing, Ara.
Really. It was just a summer fling—it ended.” She braved a teary
glance at me as I stood beside her.

“
Doesn’t mean it
didn’t happen,” I said.

The corners of her
lips twitched, turning downward. “I was in love with
him.”

“
Love?”

“
Mm-hm.” She grabbed
a tissue from my desk and wiped her nose, nodding. “We dated for
the summer and then, when it got cold and the fun of the sunshine
disappeared, he just left.”

“
Left? As in—he
moved, or he just didn’t come back?”

“
Just gone.” She
stood back, wiping her face again.

“
Really? Without a
goodbye?”

“
Can you hear how
fast my heart is beating?” She touched her chest. “That was the
first time I’ve heard his voice in nearly a year.”

“
So, what, he never
even left a note to say where he’d gone?”

“
No—that was the
worst part. He just didn’t show for our date and stopped answering
his phone. I asked David if he knew what was going on, but he said
his brother was a player—that I’d just been one of his
victims.”

“
Victims? That’s a
pretty cruel way to put it.”

She nodded. “David had
a way with words.”

We both
laughed.

“
Yeah, he did,” I said. “Actually, he told me his brother was
a bit…
malevolent
.
Why would you be with a guy like that, Em? You’re gorgeous, you can
do better.”

She sniffled. “That’s
just it; he wasn't like that at all. I don't know what David was
talking about, but Jason was really sweet.”

I smiled. Brotherly
love. I guess it was the same as me telling everyone Sam was a
troll. He wasn’t actually a troll. And I was glad for that—that
Jason wasn’t…malevolent. I could never picture David's twin being a
creepy, stalking vampire. I tried so many times, but putting the
face of David on anything cruel just never fit. “So, is it true
they’re identical?”

She nodded. “Yep.
Like,
perfectly
identical.”

“
That must’ve been
hard for you then—after Jason left, you know, being friends with
David—always seeing his face.”

“
Not really. They were
very
different people. David was cute, but he had
boundaries you couldn't cross. You could never be,
like…
relaxed
with
him.”

I shrugged.
“
I
could.”

“
I get that.” She
gave a soft, distant smile. “I really do. It was the same with
Jason and I. People always seemed to avoid him, you know, and I
just didn't see what they saw.”

The
predator.

“
He was gentle and
loving and…” She looked at my bed then. “He jumped through my
window on the morning of our six-week anniversary and filled my
room with frangipanis, waking me up by running one over my face.”
Her fingers traced the memory over her skin. “I loved him, enough
that we talked about growing old together and what we’d name our
kids.”

“
And then winter
came.”

She nodded. “Yep.
Literally.”

I wished I could tell
her about the Set laws and vampire migration. She probably blamed
herself, deep down inside, for making him leave. “Guys do that,” I
said instead. “Summer flings.”

She lifted her hand
from the fold of her arms and wiped another tear, nodding. “It just
hurt to think we had something special—only to find out it was just
a game.”

“
Is that what you
really believe? That he didn't love you?”

“
I never used to
believe it—never wanted to. But it has to be the case. You don't
just walk out on those you love.”

I shrugged. “Maybe he
was like David—maybe he had secrets, too.”

“
No. I think they’re both just assholes. I mean, how could
David just go and leave like that, too? He
saw
how broken I was when Jason
left—
he
was the
one who picked up the pieces. Surely, he must know what he’s done.
Why couldn’t he have just said goodbye—at least to
me
?”

“
Maybe he just thinks
it’s better this way.”

“
Better for
who?”

I clicked my tongue.
“I wish I could fix this, Em. I really do.”

She shook her head,
looking out the window. “There is no fixing it. There's not even
any point. They're gone and we just have to move on.”

“
Exactly,” I said,
waving my ring hand in front of her.

She smiled. “I guess I
see your point now. But…David still wants you, Ara. I’m sure of it.
If I had that choice—with Jason—I would’ve taken it. No matter
what.”

“
I know.” I rubbed
her back gently. “Do you think he still thinks about
you—Jason?”

Emily stood quietly
with her arms folded, her eyes on the dreary day. “I hope so. I
think about him from time to time. You never genuinely get over
your first love, Ara. This—” She lifted my ring hand. “This will be
a long journey for you.”

“
I know.” I nodded.
“Trust me, I know.”

“
Just…” she took a
breath, “—if Mike steals you away, takes you back to Oz, will we
still be friends?”

“
Of course,” I said,
dragging the word out. “I think we’ll always be
friends.”

“
I hope so.” She
hugged me. “I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re so real, you
know, you just, you’re honest with who you are.”

“
You think?” I half
groaned.

“
Yeah. I mean, you have this weird bad joke thing, you dress
how you wanna dress, and you tell it to me straight—you aren’t
even
pretending
not to be in love with David, even though you’re marrying
another man. I think that’s really cool.”

“
Well, thanks,
Em.”

“
So, what does Mike
think—about David? Does he know how you feel?”

I nodded. “He’s okay
with it.”

Emily sighed and
looked out the window again. “I really don’t like him.”

“
You don’t have to
like him, Em. I do.”

“
I know, but, I think
that—” she hesitated, “—if he weren’t here, you would’ve gone with
David.”

“
Nup.” I shook my
head with certainty. “I wouldn’t have.”

She suppressed a
conceited smile and shrugged one shoulder. “I think you
would.”

As I waved goodbye to
Emily, Mike stood behind me with one hand in the small of my back
and the other waving. “She hates me,” he said as her car
disappeared down the street.

“
No. She just doesn’t
understand.” I turned and closed the front door. “She thought David
and I were a sure thing. And so, all of this—” I held up my ring
hand, “—is a little sudden for her.”

“
I get it. No offence
taken. So?” He stood taller and grinned. “Terminator or The
Mummy?”

“
You choose. I’ll get
popcorn.” I grinned.

Mike walked up the
stairs and when the door to his room closed, I headed into the
kitchen.

“
Hey,
Dad.”

“
Hey, honey.” He
looked up from his newspaper for a second.

“
Any good news?” I
asked, opening the pantry.

“
No news is the only
good news,” he scoffed.