Keep Our Secrets

1

"Stop tapping your foot." I whisper. She doesn't acknowledge me, nor does she stop tapping. Instead she just keeps doodling and twisting her hair around her paint covered finger. "Hey." I whisper again. Nothing. God damn woman. "Hey." I kick the back of her chair and she stops everything.

"Uh oh. You've done it now Jakey." Josh chuckles next to me. I watch as she turns slowly around in her chair to look at me.

"Jake." She spits, frowning at me.

"Bailey." I answer.

"What did I tell you about kicking my chair?" She presses her lips together.

"And what did I say about tapping your foot?" I snap back.

"You two! Pay attention and quit talking!" Mrs.  Simmons yells. Bailey quickly turns around, huffing.

"You know," Josh leans close to me. "Your gonna get your ass whooped after school right?"

"Definitely." I mumble. Bailey has always had a temper, and so have I. It clashes often, but I try to tolerate her for the sake of Josh. But she makes it really difficult. Maybe it's because she's a red head. Or because shes impatient, stubborn, tenacious, or that she loves to argue. But she's always been like that. Annoying with the constant tapping of her foot, doodling on everything, passing notes and talking to Josh. I never understood how her and Josh got along so well.

"Alright class. Tomorrow is your test. Don't forget to study, since this is the last test of the year." Mrs. Simmons starts wiping down the board and I realize that I forgot to write everything we did down.

"Shit." I mumble.

"What?" Josh asks.

"I didn't write down anything." I say.

"Why?" Josh asks again.

"I guess it's because I was being distracted." I say out loud for Bailey to hear me. "Someone, wouldn't stop tapping their foot." Bailey shoots up from her desk and walks out as the bell rings. I smirk to myself, and Josh shoves me. "What was that for?" I look over to him confused.

"Why are you always an ass?" He grits.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"She's going through shit right now, and your being a huge douche bag to her." He says. We stand up and start walking out of class.

"Well how am i supposed to know? You guys never tell me things." I say.

"Well, you always act like you don't care." He answers. It's not that I don't care, I just don't know how to respond. I'm not close with Bailey. And she is always tip toeing around me.

"My bad. I didn't know." I say. Josh huffs while opening his locker.

"You should apologize to her man. It'll mean a lot." He says looking at me. I roll my eyes.

"Fine." I say.

"You can apologize tonight." I give him a puzzled look. "She's coming to practice."

"What?!" I stare at him.

"Yep." He says while shoving books into his locker. "She's gonna sketch up a few things for us so we can use them on posters." I grunt for a response. "Hey, she's really good. You should see some of her stuff." He closes his locker and starts walking.

"Hey! Wait up!" I yell running after him. We start heading to the car when I hear Josh laugh. "What's so funny?" I ask looking at him. He starts wheezing and he points to the car. The car is covered in sticky notes with boobs and other profanities drawn on them. "Really?" I yell. I spin around and look for Bailey and see her laughing by her car. I drop my bags and run over to her. Her eyes go wide and she starts to run.

Chasing her through the parking lot, I finally catch her. I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder.

"Hey! Put my down!" She starts hitting my back and kicks her legs. I just hold her tighter and walk her to the car. Tossing her down I stare at her.

"Take the damn sticky notes off. Now." I snap. Josh walks up and wraps his arm around her shoulder.

"Good one Bailes." They both start to laugh.

"Guys." I say. Neither one listening to me, I walk over and grab my bags and hop into the car. I lock the doors and turn the car on.

"Hey!" Josh yells. "Hey man!" He starts banging on the window. "Hey!" I start backing up and he jumps out of the way. I start driving out of the lot and I see Bailey rolling on the ground laughing at Josh. I can't believe it, but deep down, I'm glad I made her laugh.