Keep Our Secrets

4

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. The clock is the loudest thing in the room. People shifting in their seats, flipping though the packet, I can't concentrate. I sigh and run my hands through my hair. I should have studied. I peek over at Josh and he's already halfway done. I lean over to see Bailey, who is sitting there already finished, waiting for someone else to turn it in first. I look back to my packet, and start circling answers that seem right. I feel Josh tap my arm. I peek over and he has the answers done. I quickly write them down, and he flips to the next page.

I feel stupid. Josh always gives me answers in every class. He's way smarter, which makes me hate myself a little.

"Alright class. 5 more minutes." Mrs. Simmons says. I finish copying the answers, and I lean over to see Bailey. Her legs are crossed and the cuff of her jeans are covered in little doodles. I smile. James gets up and turn in his paper, and Bailey gets up and does the same. I now get up and as I walk past her, I catch a wiff of her perfume. Sage, and mint. I slow my walking, feeling dizzy.

"Hey you good?" Josh whispers to me. I quickly nod.

"Yeah." I say. He gives me a weird look but walks away.

I walk back to my desk, but I feel Baileys arm grab me. I look at her, and she hands me a note. I sit back down and open it.

Next weekend Frakenmouth is having a festival. You guys should play.

ps: make it seem like your idea.  :)

I fold the note back up and I lift my head. Bailey is staring out the window. Wonder what she's thinking about.

"What's that?" Josh leans over to see.

"Nothing. Just some doodle about Mrs. Simmons." I answer. He shrugs. Bailey is always drawing little comics of teachers and other students. Normally she passes them to Josh, but every now and then she will pass them to me.

"Alright class. Time is up. Please place your tests up here, even if they are not finished." Some kids walk up and turn in their tests in. "Now, I hope you all have a wonderful summer!" Mrs. Simmons smiles and the bell rings. Everyone jumps up and races to their lockers. Josh and I are walking out when I notice Bailey taking her time packing up. I stop and walk back to her, and I hear her sniff.

"Bailey?" I whisper. She shakes her head but won't look at me. "Bailey." I try again and she just gets up and wipes her face. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing. I'm fine." She says. She grabs her stuff and quickly leaves the room. What's wrong with her? I run to catch up to her.

"Hey!" I yell running up to her locker. "Bailey." I say. She sighs and looks at me. Her eyes are red and puffy, and her lip trembles. "Talk to me." I softly say.

"It's nothing. I'm just being over dramatic." She shakes her head again, grabbing her bag and she starts walking away.

"Hey Jake!" I hear behind me. I spin around and see David waving at me. "Hey man, you going to Chris's party tonight?" I shake my head.

"Not tonight." I say. "Hey, I gotta go, but send me a text when the next one is." He nods his head and I turn around and don't see Bailey. I run out of the school and look around. I see red poking out of the crowds of people rushing to their cars. I run over to her, and gently grab her arm.

"Bailey." I say as she turns around.

"What?" She snaps.

"Don't snap at me. I'm just trying to help." I snap back. She rolls her eyes. "Hey. Knock that shit off." She looks back at me and looks down. "What's wrong?" I ask. She takes a deep breath and lifts her head, but doesn't look me in the eye.

"Mom and dad were fighting again. And I-" she sniffs. "I don't want to go home." She cries covering her face with her hands. "They are always yelling and throwing things at each other. I just want out of there." She sobs. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay." I shush her. Her cries start to quiet, and I start to pull away. "You can stay with us." I say. She looks up at me.

"But your mom said not until the beginning of June." She sniffs.

"I'll talk to her." I smile. She nods and looks away. "Go home. Your parents don't get off until 4 right?" She nods. "Okay. So go home, pack some bags of stuff you need. I'll talk to mom." She smiles.

"Thank you Jake." I nod and pick up my bag.

"Don't mention it." I answer. She climbs into her car and I walk over to mine. Josh is sitting in the front seat listening to music.

"Hey man, where were you?" He asks.

"Nothing." I say as I turn the car on. "By the way," I turn to look at him. "Bailey is going to be joining us a little earlier than June." I watch as his face goes from confused to excited.

"Sweeeeeet!" He yells. I roll my eyes and laugh.  A few weeks won't hurt anything. Right?