Unchain Me

Chapter 6-Secrets

‘If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the tree’ -Kahlil Gibran

 

 

Adrian POV

 

I let out a groan. She could really punch. When I managed to uncurl myself I saw that there was not one but of remorse in her piercing blue eyes and I was confused. Usually she would have immediately apologized and although she was unpredictable that never changed. Ever. Before I could say anything she went back to punching the bag in front of her. I climbed the tree and entered the tree house and saw her tap shoes sitting in the open. When I tried to put them in her bag I was stopped by something. On closer investigation I saw that it was a folder. It was completely black and I couldn’t see what was in it so I took it back down with me.

 

I sat down and put my back against a tree and watched Ash for a little while. I debated what was wrong. This was a completely new side to her that nobody ever saw and she was determined to keep it that way obviously. I’ve seen her cornered by the girls who were considered the ‘popular’ group and not once has she tried to defend her self if she gets slapped or hit. I knew that it was only the one group of girls that bullied her because they liked to do it in public and make her humiliated in front of everyone and everyone else acted as though she didn’t exist. Not once have they sported a bruise or any injury that has indicated that they were hit back. This girl was a mystery and being the observant guy I am I have picked up a few hints about what she was really like underneath her façade of perfection. I have always had my eye on her and have meant to get her to date me since the day I first saw her. Luckily I didn’t because every guy that tries gets turned down. When she first came she was too perfect, you know. I know that the people who are perfect usually have something to hide. Eventually I gave up trying to figure her out because it seemed that she really was the quiet, bookwormy girl she showed to the public. And them sometime during 8th grade she was different. Ash had come back from holidays overseas and something was different. She seemed disconnected, spending all of her spare time at the library or in a classroom. It was rumored that she was seeing some guy and that she considered herself too good for the rest of us and didn’t want to be around us because we were below her, getting everything but straight A+’s. I knew that they were complete lies because she had never shown that and it was completely against her nature

A) because she never let a guy ask her out and

B) She gad never shown that she was any different to us and didn’t possess any hostile feelings towards anyone.

It was about then that the bullying started. I still gathered and stored hints about her though and todays actions were going into a folder I had organized as ‘Ashley Summers’.

 

I had a gut feeling that when she punched me she was showing a side to me that no one had ever seen before. It was intimidating to say the least. Now I realised that this folder was a possible insight to the real Ashley Summers. Just as I was about to open the cover there was a whisper of wind above my head and beside my arm and 2 dull thunks. Looking down at my arm I saw that it was a knife. I had forgotten that she had that belt of knives on her. Slowly I put down the folder the same way you would if you were approaching a wild, dangerous animal.

“Don’t you dare look at that!” Ash yelled as stray piece of hair fell across her face. She quickly pushed it behind her ear in a quick smooth motion.

“It’s alright, I won’t look. It obviously means a lot to you so I’ll leave it on the ground here. Don’t shoot a knife at me again.” At the word shoot her face went from full on anger to completely blank. Even her eyes revealed nothing. She was good at hiding secrets. And she had trigger words that made her like this. I’d seen it happen before but I couldn’t remember the word.