Rumours Inc.

Chase-ing Secrets

"Why'd you do that?" Sophie asked later. I knew she'd be wondering about that trade. It wasn't the easiest purchase I've ever dealt with, but I couldn't wait to see that poor girl get even. The thought of that sweet girl planning and scheming ways to get even was different to say the least. "Do what?" I replied, the thought of that girl's revenge still stuck in my head. Sophie looked at me with her big blue eyes and sighed. "You know perfectly well what you did. You lowered the price and you hugged her. Those were against the rules last time I checked." I rolled my eyes, sometimes Sophie could act like this. I didn't say anything though, I didn't want to upset her. She continued to stare at me until finally... "Ray! Answer me!” Ugh. "Look," I said "I don't know what happened, okay? I just had to hug her. I'm not heartless like you, I wasn't going to let her sob until she drowned in her own tears. I get that I lowered the price but that was only because you wouldn't let me tell her. That girl was nice and sweet and that Jerk had the guts to lead her on? If I didn't tell her she'd never be able to get revenge. I get that you might be upset but at least consider that it might've been for a good reason before getting mad.” By the end I was steaming. How dare she question my trade. How dare she question me. This was just what Sophie was like, rule following and I loved and hated that part of her. Sophie had been my best friend since grade 5, but sometimes it felt like longer, for better or for worse. Sophie was tall and had the legs of a model. She had a square face and small blue eyes that lit up when she heard a new secret. Sophie and I had agreed years ago to start this business. When you think about it it's actually a very good idea. What do teenagers want more than anything? To know other people's secrets, and we had them all. We had over 10 secret books. Sophie had one that was always on her that had secrets that weren't too big. The big secrets we kept in a secret space in my basement. Sophie had three siblings; One older and two younger. We could never risk them finding the books, especially since Violet and Coby were two thirteen year old twins who would not keep their mouths shut if they ever found one. Chase, her older brother I trusted completely. It wasn't as if he really cared, he was leaving our school in less than a year. Plus the only time he ever wanted to know anything from the book was when he wanted to know about Ella, whether she was single or not.

You might find it weird how right once a rumor about this girl breaking up with her boyfriend was out there would be boys asking everyone if it was true or whether they should make a move, but the truth is, Ella moved quickly. She never left a minute for boys to wonder about asking her out. First guy who was hot would get to go on a few dates with her and they'd date for a few weeks, and then they'd break up and the cycle would start over. Chase was hot and definitely stood a chance against the other guys asking Ella out, he was smart and funny. Ella didn't care about any of that though, but he was hot so she didn't mind going on a few dates, but when Chase said he wasn't ready to have sex after only three dates, she told him that it was her senior year and she didn't want to "waste it" waiting for him to be ready.

I knew all this because Sophie and I were going to have a sleepover one Friday night but she wasn't going to get back till later, so I went over early to bake cookies for our Netflix raid when I heard speaking. I had thought I had been alone, but low and behold Chase was in his room tears threatening to spill over. I had asked him what was wrong and if he was okay, he didn't exactly take kindly to me being in his room at first, but once he realized that I cared he told me the story. When he had been done telling me about the girl I had hugged him and he had hugged me back. I had asked him whether he was a virgin or not, waited for a response and once he had said yes, I had smiled and slowly slipped out of his room. Later on that night he came downstairs his green eyes no longer glossy and had asked me not to tell anyone, I had promised and he stole a cookie, hugged me and smiled as he went back upstairs to his room. 

We never spoke of it again.

We never spoke of it, but I thought of it more frequently than healthy. In the moments where he was completely vulnerable he had allowed me to see him, it made me feel as if he trusted me. And when you've had a developing crush on a boy for 6 years, you'll take anything you can get. He had trusted me to see him like that and to not tell anyone. I suppose he knew I could keep a secret since that was how I made money, but he still allowed me to be there and to hug him and make him feel better. I loved thinking about that night, because even though Chase was so unhappy with how things were going, he allowed me to help him become happy again. Even if that meant a hug and stealing a few of the cookies I had baked.

A little girl's crush really. I had never told Sophie about my interest in Chase. I just never though it would be okay with her. Sophie had always hated being outshone by me, and the feeling was mutual. I didn't want to tell her about me liking Chase because I didn't want her to think he'd like me more than her. Granted, he never had liked me back. He thought of me more as Sophie's little friend than a potential girlfriend. Which I suppose made sense, if I had any siblings I don't think I'd want to date their friends either.

Sophie and I were pretty good friends. Every Friday night was reserved for homework and Netflix and Saturday was our gossip day; the day when we read the secrets we got from the week and would drink some coke if we hadn't heard it before then. If we got above three cans of coke, we had had a successful week. This week we had gotten 5 cans of coke worth of secrets. Untold secrets. Things like how Joel Sulier was sneaking off for some time alone, with another guy. Not really alone time if you ask me. There were so many other secrets too. We loved the secrets so much. Sophie and I had always loved to know everything that was happening around us and after a while we had figured out how to find out all of the secrets we wanted to know. We had lost some friends and gained some enemies along the way, but we were untouchable. We had secrets on half of the guys from the sports teams, so we had protection. And even the enemies we had gained by ruining their lives' couldn't touch us because we had dirt on everyone. If someone ever tells you that they're an open book, or that they have no secrets, they're lying. Everyone has something hidden, whether it's near the outside or hidden deep down, it is there.