Secrets

Chapter Thirty

The last chapter! This one got a bit longer because I didn't want to split it up and get an uneven number ... anyways, hope you enjoy reading!

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"Come in!" Kimby shouted when she heard a knock on the door.

She and Kariann had arrived back at college earlier that day, having stayed with their parents for a night longer than originally planned because they still had to talk to the police.

The door opened very slowly and when Kimby turned towards it, she saw Kelley shyly standing in the doorframe. Usually, especially when Tobin was there as well, the lively girl would burst into the room without knocking and start talking animatedly. This time was different, but it didn't surprise Kimby.

"Hey" Kimby said softly and smiled at her friend.

She had already seen Christen and a few of the others, but Kelley hadn't shown up until now to welcome her back.

"Come in" she added and sat down on her bed, gesturing to her friend to sit down next to her.

Kelley closed the door behind her – another thing she usually did not do – and sat down next to Kimby. Without saying anything, she pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're back" she whispered and Kimby could hear her voice cracking.

She knew that they would have to talk about what had happened, even if Kelley had not been directly involved. She had already prepared with Mrs Yanez on what to say to her friend.

Kimby reciprocated the hug and let her friend collect herself, not wanting to push the subject.

"I'm so sorry" Kelley started after a while, still not letting go of her friend.

"I just ... my big mouth really got you in trouble, and I didn't even realize it. My family always made fun of my uncle for ... that. And I-" she stopped.

Kimby rubbed her back, trying to sooth her.

"It's not your fault" she said softly and separated from her to look at Kelley face.

Ever since she had put two and two together and figured that Mr O'Hara and Kelley were somehow related and she had not been kidnapped by coincidence, she had wondered what Kelley's role was in all of this, but when she learned about the background of it all, she found that Kelley was not to blame. It was hard to convince her friend of that, however.

"I never thought he could do something like this. I know he was pressured and was against the boss's methods, but still. He was involved in the group, that's bad enough for me" Kelley continued.

"You didn't know, Kelley. I'm not holding a grudge against you" Kimby said.

"Thank you" Kelley said sincerely.

"But I'm still blaming myself" she said sadly.

They looked at each other for a moment, until Kelley spoke up again.

"I don't know if I should really be asking this and you don't have to answer this, but ... what was this all about? Do you ... are you ... I mean ..." she tried to form her question, but failed and looked away from her friend.

Kimby sighed. She knew that this question was inevitable. The others hadn't asked her yet, but she knew that this was the burning question on everyone's minds. The question nobody dared to ask out loud, not even Kelley.

"I know what you think. But it's ... it's not that easy. I know what it looks like. The group had something they considered evidence of me having some sort of magical powers, and so they targeted me. But it obviously didn't go as they planned, and they made up their own evidences, and then your uncle revealed their location and the police found me. But I'm just a normal kid, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time" Kimby said quietly and looked at Kelley to gauge her reaction after she had finished speaking.