Secrets & Lies: Two Short Stories(22)

Brody turned around and opened a cabinet behind him. He was tall enough to reach the top shelf with ease. I always had to hop or climb on a chair to do that. But then, I wasn’t even five feet tall. People always thought I was ten or eleven years old, not fourteen.

“What do you want to drink?” Brody asked, taking a glass from the cabinet. “We’ve got milk, juice, soda, water…”

“I was just going to have water. But I can get it—”

He waved me off. “I got it,” he said. He opened the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of filtered water. “You’re a guest, after all.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

I looked down and silently congratulated myself on picking out cute pajamas—silky blue shorts and a matching tank top. I couldn’t imagine standing in this kitchen, talking to Brody Frasier, in one of the enormous, faded T-shirts I usually slept in.

“Here you go.” He handed me the glass of water and put the pitcher back in the fridge.

“Thanks.”

We stood there for a while, not looking at each other but not ignoring each other, either, really. I was trying to think of something cool and clever to say, but my mind was a complete blank. I decided it was probably better to just keep my mouth shut than to embarrass myself.

“So,” Brody said. “You’re friends with my sister now, huh?”

I took a sip of my water and nodded. “Yeah. Justine’s great. We only started hanging out recently, but we’ve hit it off.”

“Hmm.” He ate the last bite of his brownie and threw away the paper towel he’d been holding it with. “I probably shouldn’t say this because she’s my sister, but just be caref—”

“Bailey.”

I jumped, almost spilling my water, and turned around. Justine was at the top of the stairs, peering over the banister at Brody and me.

“Oh, sorry to interrupt,” she said. A knowing grin spread across her face, and I blushed. “I just wanted to let you know we’re starting a movie, if you want to join us.”

“Yeah. I’m on my way. Just…” I looked back at Brody, wanting him to finish his sentence from before.

But he just shook his head. “Never mind. Have fun.” He turned toward the living room. “Good night, Justine.”

“Night! Come on, Bailey.”

I finished my water and left my glass in the sink before hurrying upstairs. Melanie and Serena were sitting on the floor, munching on potato chips.

“Movie time,” Serena said, picking up a remote and pointing it at the TV in the corner of Justine’s room. “Time to get our rom-com on.”

“Speaking of movies”—Melanie pointed at Justine’s computer—“is it uploaded yet?”

“It will be soon,” Justine said with a sly smile.

“Is what uploaded?” I asked, settling into my spot on the floor.

“Check your school e-mail tomorrow when you get home,” she said. “You’ll see. It’s just a funny video. You’ll get a good laugh out of it.” She stretched out on her bed. “Okay, Serena. Start the movie.”





Chapter Three


I didn’t get a good laugh out of the video Justine sent me. I didn’t think it was funny at all.

She’d sent me a link to a YouTube video, obviously taken on someone’s phone in the girls’ locker room at our school. The camera was at a weird angle, like it was on top of something, looking down, but that didn’t matter. It was in the perfect position to spy on anyone looking in the full-length mirror.

In this case, Elsie James.

At the start of the video, she appeared in nothing but her bra and panties, her hair wet, fresh from a shower. Then she started posing—just like she had the day I walked in on her. These over-the-top, sexy poses. The camera caught them all. And to make it more humiliating, the whole thing had been set to this horrible dirty hip-hop song.

It made Elsie look like an idiot. An almost-naked idiot. And it was on the Internet for anyone to see.

“How could you do that?” I asked Justine on the phone about ten minutes after I watched the video.

“What?” she asked. “It’s funny. It’ll teach her a lesson about being so narcissistic. Thanks for the tip, by the way. You’re the one who gave me the idea to have Wendy hide my phone in the locker room after your practice.”

It felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I felt sick.

“You have to take it down,” I told her.

“What?” She was laughing. “Are you kidding?”

“People can see this,” I said. “Anyone can.”

“Yeah, and they already have. I e-mailed it to everyone in my list of contacts, and I’m sure it’s being forwarded all over school as we speak.”

“Justine, this is… This is really mean.”

“I’m just trying to teach her a lesson,” she said.

“Couldn’t you have just talked to her?” I asked. “Told her she was being a snob or something? I really don’t like this, Justine.”

She sighed. “Wow. I thought you were cooler than this, Bailey.”

“W-what?”

“I’ve been hanging out with you this week because you seemed cool,” she said. “But maybe I was wrong.”