Secrets, Lies, and Hide

Chapter 1

"Whatever you're going to ask, the answer is no!"

"But you haven't even heard my question," Morgan raises her eyebrows, smiling sweetly.

Her scarlet hair, envied by everyone, drifts past her shoulders as she strides over and finds her place next to me on the couch.

"Does it have anything to do with...," I pause, struggling to get the words out. "You know...?"

I return my gaze to the tv and absentmindedly start to pick at the baby blue nail polish that I just painted only a few days ago.

"If it wasn't already obvious you're referring to Kaden, your face is turning bright red," Kiara blurts out to the right of me.

My cheeks burn uncontrollably. At the mention of his name, I swear I can see the corners of both of their mouths threaten to lift.

"And to answer your question," Morgan says before taking a bite of cake, "No, it's not about Kaden."

I narrow my eyes, looking back and forth at Morgan and Kiara, who have completely straight faces. But as soon as a smirk erupts on Kiara's face, it's obvious the facade is a complete lie.

"I knew it," I reply, shaking my head. "I'm going to go get some more cake."

"Come on, Audrey," Morgan protests lightheartedly as I get off the couch. "You never talk about him."

I ignore her, smiling to myself as I make my way over to the counter.

I guess that is one of the main differences between Kiara, Morgan, and me. Morgan is an open book about her love life. I've been with her through more breakups than I can count. Same with Kiara, although, unlike Morgan, I've only been friends with her for just under a year.

My eyes land on the all too familiar cake on the counter. It has the same elegant light purple frosting, the same delicate roses, and of course the same fudgy chocolate cake inside. For the past seven years, since sixth grade, there's only been one year where I haven't gotten Morgan this cake for her birthday. It's tradition.

As I grasp the knife to cut a square of cake, I can't help but notice the twinge of guilt that takes hold of my stomach.

I look back at Kiara and Morgan, who chat and occasionally look back at the tv only to watch the scenes of their favorite couple. As much as I pretend to hate that they skip all the action scenes only to fast forward to romantic ones, secretly I don't care.

Walking back to the couch, a clap of thunder almost causes me to drop my plate.

"It really is April isn't it," I add, careful not to knock over Kiara's yogurt as I put my plate on the coffee table and sit down.

"Please, don't remind me," Kiara groans, leaning back as she takes her long black hair out of its usual braid. "We still have over a month of school left."

"And it's the last day of our last spring break," Morgan adds.

Both Kiara and I glare at her. Leave it to Morgan to be brutally honest. She is right, though. Tomorrow is the day we have to go back to school.

"That's it. I'm getting more cake," Kiara declares before getting off the couch.

Aside from us in the living room and kitchen, the house is completely silent. For such a huge house, anyone would expect it to be at least a little quieter than a smaller place. But coupled with the fact that Morgan's dad is no longer around and that Morgan is an only child, the house is ten times quieter than expected. It's really just her and her mom who live here.