Secrets & Lies: Two Short Stories(24)

“W-what do you think the chances are of her getting caught?”

“Not likely.” We started walking toward our class. “She set up a fake e-mail for the YouTube account and sent the links through it before shutting down the e-mail—she’s really freaking smart. That’s why no one ever found out what she did to Gretchen.”

“Who’s Gretchen?” I asked.

“Oh, right. You didn’t go to middle school with us.” She lowered her voice. “She was this girl in Justine’s class two years ago. This girl was obsessed with Justine and her friends. Total stalker. Justine got sick of it, so she pretended to be friends with the girl and managed to get hold of her diary. Then she totally started a blog—posting all the embarrassing entries. I read the blog. It was awful. So hilarious. The girl totally moved away after that.”

“Wow,” I murmured.

“Yeah, but, like, good riddance. She was a creepy stalker. Anyway, I’m just hoping this gets Elsie to quit the cheerleading squad. I figure moving away is a little too much to hope for,” Wendy said. “I’m sick of her bossing us around and acting like she’s so great. Maybe this will teach her to get over herself.”

“Maybe,” I mumbled.

But on my way out to the bus that afternoon, I saw Principal Roth walking Elsie and her parents out of the building. And Elsie didn’t look like a girl who needed to get over herself. She looked like a girl who needed to be put back together.





Chapter Four


Principal Roth made an announcement the next day, asking for anyone with information to come forward.

“Our school has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to bullying,” he said over the intercom. It was first period, and I could feel Justine looking at me from across the room in geometry class. “This is bullying of the worst kind. The persons who filmed and posted this video will face serious consequences.”

But I kept my mouth shut all week.

I was glad when the weekend came. Because it meant I had a couple days away from all of it. But also because on Saturday, my brother and stepsister started their spring breaks and got to come home from college for a week. The only problem was that if anyone could tell I was keeping a secret, it was my brother.

“What’s up with you?” Nathan asked while we were hanging out in his room, watching The Dark Knight on his laptop.

“Nothing. What are you talking about?”

He shrugged. “I can tell something’s bothering you. You didn’t even try to make Whitley or me watch Bring It On with you again. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I don’t always want to watch Bring It On.”

“Since when?”

“Since… can we just watch The Dark Knight, please? I don’t want to talk about it.”

“So something is bothering you.”

“No.”

“Well, you’re definitely hiding something,” he said.

“No, I’m not.”

“Is it a boyfriend?” he asked. “Is that what you don’t want to tell me?”

“Nathan,” I groaned.

“Jesus, leave her alone.” Whitley, my stepsister, passed the open bedroom door, carrying a basket of clean laundry. “I know you’re her older brother, but you’re being even more annoying than usual.”

“I haven’t seen her since Christmas,” he said. “I’ve got three months’ worth of annoying saved up just for her.”

“Whatever,” she said, dropping the basket in her room, just across the hall.

“How are you already doing laundry?” I asked her. “You just got here.”

“She’s been putting it off for weeks,” Nathan said. “She’s had this massive pile of dirty clothes in her room. They barely fit in her suitcase.”

“Ew,” I said.

“What? It costs money to do laundry at school,” she argued. “Screw that.” She walked into Nathan’s room and sat on his bed next to me. Nathan swiveled his desk chair around to face us. “And it’s not like I wore the dirty clothes. I’m not a freak.”

“That’s debatable,” Nathan said.

Whitley stuck her tongue out at him.

He laughed. “I love you. And your maturity.”

“Among other things,” she said.

They smiled at each other.

Their flirting was gross, I guess, if you didn’t know the story. Last summer, just before my mom married my stepdad, Whitley and Nathan had started dating. It had been a little dramatic at first—Whitley’s dad, Greg, was so not cool with it—but eventually things had calmed down. Sometimes it was kind of weird, but they were happy with each other. And I guess that’s what mattered.

“Man, I wish I were on spring break, too,” I said. “I hate that I’ll be at school all week while you’re here.”

“We’ll see each other in the afternoons,” Nathan said.

“Yeah, but… I don’t know. That’s not enough. And what about you guys? Mom’s at work all day. I’m at school. Greg is at the station. You guys are here alone. What do you even do?” I paused, then squeaked. “Ew! Don’t answer that. Ew, ew.”

“Oh my God, shut up, you little perv!” Whitley said, laughing as she shoved me off the bed. Nathan, on the other hand, just looked mildly horrified.