One Tiny Secret Read online

  “Thanks. I think I will.”

  I run my fingertips along Lexi’s shiny(ish) blue hood before rushing to fling open the door and jump inside. Sticking the key in the ignition, I turn it, then smile when the engine starts up.

  “Ah, you’re a lifesaver, Kevin,” I exclaim, pounding on the steering wheel. “I was getting a little tired of my dad saying that it was time to let my girl go.”

  He laughs. “Well, maybe it is.”

  “Oh, no…not you too?” I groan.

  “Hey, I just call ’em like I see ’em. I haven’t seen anyone drive around a Prelude in a couple years. They’re kind of a dying breed, Dani.”

  “Well, Lexi gets me where I need to go, which is all that counts in my book,” I reply, turning my attention back to my car.

  “Yep, and I guess I’ll keep fixing her,” he comments with a cheeky smirk. “She’s probably only got about two more years left in her, anyway.”

  “Okay, Dad,” I quip while rolling my eyes and closing the car door. He just laughs.

  “So, Dani?” I hear him ask through the closed window.

  “Yeah,” I reply, rolling it down.

  “Are you going to Gunnar’s party tomorrow?”

  “Shhh! Not so loud.”

  “Sorry. It’s the first time I’ve ever been invited. I didn’t realize there was a protocol.”

  “It’s okay. It’s my first time going too, but the party’s kind of a secret, and I’m trying to stay off my dad’s radar.”

  “Understood. Hey, I saw the flyer you made up. It looks awesome. But then again, you were always great with designing stuff like that.”

  “I’m going to kill Gunnar. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone I did the flyer,” I whisper.

  “He didn’t tell me. I knew just by looking. It had you written all over it.”

  “Oh...thanks. Hey, I’d better get going. I’m doing some last-minute Halloween decorating around the house with Pops, and I’m pretty sure if I’m not home soon, he’ll send out a search party.”

  I see the disappointment on his face because of my response and feel horrible about it. His light hazel eyes seem to lose a little of their luster, and I want to just give him a hug, but I don’t want to send any mixed signals.

  “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asks.

  “Yeah, definitely. I’ll be dressed as Little Red, in case you were wondering.”

  “Classic. I like it.”

  As I drive away, I see him in the rearview mirror watching me leave. The sight of him kicking around some dirt makes me feel worse about how I handled our little chat. It sucks when somebody likes you and you can’t like them back in that way. That’s probably why we haven’t been hanging out as much as we used to. And things change when you go to high school…people change.

  To take my mind off Kevin, I roll down all the windows and turn up the radio while letting the cool fall air flow through the car. I love fall in the Northeast, especially while driving through the neighborhoods. People really go all out for Halloween. Our house, on the other hand, is the only one on our street not decorated yet. Halloween is only a week from tomorrow. To say the least, I feel ashamed.

  When I pull up to the house, my dad’s car isn’t in the driveway. He’s probably buried himself in work again at the station for the nth time this month. I bet he’s left me a note on the fridge and twenty bucks for a pizza. My father’s a creature of habit, which makes him easy to predict. I guess in some ways, that’s a good thing.

  I was right. I find twenty bucks and a piece of paper stuck to the fridge with a cute little happy face magnet. The note reads:

  Had to go back into work. Will explain later. Sorry about the decorations. Pizza is on me.

  I notice several open boxes of Halloween decorations sitting on top of the kitchen table. I guess he made an attempt to decorate the house before he went back into work. I have this gut feeling that thoughts of Mom combined with those decorations were too much for him to handle.

  I begin to dig through the boxes, removing all the little knickknacks my mom collected over the years. As I start to place them around the house, I feel strange doing this all by myself. It just doesn’t feel right. A sense of apathy toward the whole thing suddenly hits me.

  “I think I need music,” I say.

  I remember that Dad connected our surround sound system to Pandora radio a couple of weeks ago, and decide to switch on the Halloween station. One of my favorite songs, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, comes through the speakers.

  “Ah, just what I needed.”

  I’ll be honest…decorating while trying not to break out into the zombie dance is kind of killing me.

  I barely hear my phone ring over the music and rush to the kitchen counter where I left it. Just before I answer, the caller hangs up. The number comes up as unknown. They don’t leave a voicemail, so I assume it’s a wrong number. I set the phone down and head back into the living room to finish putting up the remainder of the decor.

  When I feel like I’m at a good stopping point, I take a little break. Collecting the twenty dollars from the fridge, I grab my phone and dial for pizza. I figure I’ve got at least twenty-five minutes to kill before the food arrives, so I decide to sort through the box of my old stuff upstairs. I know if I don’t go through it soon, Dad will keep pestering me about it until I do.

  There’s an old framed family photo on the wall right in front of me as I reach the top of the stairs. For the past year, every time I reach the second floor, I stop right in this spot and just stare at it for a moment. It’s a reflection of what I believed was a happier time for our family, but now I’m pretty sure it’s just a constant reminder to my dad of Mom’s cheating. He claims he likes to keep it up because I look nice in the picture. Personally, I think he’s still in denial about the whole thing.

  Flopping down on my bed, I begin sifting through the open cardboard box sitting on the floor in front of the nightstand. Underneath some of my school stuff from middle school, I see the walkie-talkie again and take it out. As I begin to walk toward the window to look over at Janice’s room, I hit the switch on the side of the device to check if it still works. Nope, batteries must be dead.

  I turn it over and open the compartment where the batteries are housed to see what size it takes. AAA. Scurrying over to my desk where I sometime store batteries, I open the top left drawer. Sure enough, I find a package of AAAs. After putting in the batteries, I hit the button on the side again and hear that old familiar electronic crackle sound. Oh, how I’ve missed that sound. I’m not sure why I even replaced the batteries. Janice’s walkie-talkie has to be dead by now too.

  Just for shits and giggles, I take a chance and talk into it.

  “Janice?”

  I try to remember the nicknames we used to call each other over this thing. It suddenly comes to me. “Marshmallow, this is Mint Chip. Over.” There’s no reply.

  “Well, I guess it was worth a shot,” I say, and toss the walkie on the bed.

  The doorbell chimes. My stomach grumbles in anticipation of the pizza waiting for me at the front door, and I hurry down the stairs to meet it. With the delivery guy paid and food in-hand, I run back up to my room to stuff my face. The moment I enter through the doorway, I hear a muffled static noise coming from the bed. I see the walkie-talkie lying there face-down. The noise sounds again and I’m sure it came from the walkie this time.

  I put the pizza box on the desk and pick up the hand radio. Pressing the button, I talk into it. “Janice? Is that you?” There’s a moment of silence followed by another static noise. “Janice?”

  “Marshmallow here.”

  I run over to my window and look out across the way. She’s standing there with her curtain drawn, staring back. A smile lights up her face the moment she sees me.

  “Oh my God!” I exclaim. “How’ve you been? It’s been forever since we last talked. I wasn’t sure if your walkie was even still working.”

  “Mom told me that you n
ever wanted to talk to me again. That’s why you haven’t heard from me,” she replies.

  “Why the hell did she tell you that? I never said anything even remotely close to that.”

  “Well, you know how she is. Actually, she’d probably kill me if she knew I was talking to you right now.”

  “I’ve been wanting to apologize for how things went down between us. I’ve felt horrible ever since…” I trail off. After a moment, I continue, “You were my best friend, Janice.”

  “I know, Mint Chip. You can’t really blame yourself, though. My mom had a huge hand in this too. She’s had me locked up in here for what seems like forever, and to say the least, I think I’m getting cabin fever.”

  An idea enters my head the moment the words cabin fever leave her lips. “Hey, I know this is going to sound crazy, but there’s this Halloween party tomorrow night. Want to come?”

  “I don’t know, Dani. I’m not sure anyone other than you would want me there.”

  “Oh, come on. That’s so not true. It’ll be like old times. We’ll have lots of fun—promise. Kevin will even be there.”

  “Kevin? Wow, I haven’t seen him in a while. I’m still not sure, though. The old times weren’t always so great, Dani. That’s why I ended up homeschooled in the first place. And Mom really hates everything about Halloween. Like I said earlier, she’d probably kill me for even talking to you right now. Imagine what she’d do if I snuck out to a party with you.”

  “I guess you’re right. Maybe we can start out with something a little lower key than a secret party.”

  After a long pause, she says, “Well, I guess I could just tell her I’m going to the library to read. I spend a lot of time there, anyway, so that might actually make for a good alibi.”

  I can almost hear the wheels in her head turning as she works out the scheme. “Wow, Janice. I didn’t know you could be such a rebel.”

  “Have you not heard what I’ve been saying? My mom is keeping me prisoner here, and I’m starting to go crazy. I’ll take any excuse to get away from here.”

  “Well, work out the details and let me know what you come up with, okay?”

  “We’ll talk later. I think I hear Mom coming up the stairs.”

  “Over and out, Marshmallow,” I say.

  “Over and out, Mint Chip.”

  Chapter Four

  So the lie is all set. I told my dad that after work today, I’m having a little late-night study session with Rory and Alex for a big test on Monday. I guess it’s not a total fib. We are going to be hanging out tonight, except it will be at a party, and we will most definitely not be studying. Unfortunately, I’m stuck at work for another three hours.

  It’s been slow today in the café area at the In the Stacks bookstore where I work. The hours seem like they’re dragging by while I sit behind the barista counter. Usually I’m on the floor, interacting with the customers and restocking the shelves with the newest releases, but today I’m trapped here watching the clock. All because Monica decided to call in sick. I swear, if I see her at the party tonight, I’m going to be so pissed.

  “Hey, slacker. What does someone have to do in order to get some service around here?” I hear a familiar voice ask.

  Turning to look down the counter, I smile when I see Phoebe. My smile falters when her stepbrother, Parker, enters my mind.

  “Hi, stranger. What’s up?” I ask, trying to act inconspicuous.

  She laughs. “Not much. I was just on my way to the store down the street for a last-minute addition to my costume and thought I’d slip in to bug you.”

  “Aww, you really do care,” I joke.

  “Of course I do, silly.”

  “So, can I get you anything? On the house, perhaps?” I ask with an eyebrow raised.

  “Nah, I’m pretty well caffeinated already. I’ve had, like, two Red Bulls so far today. A coffee might just make my heart explode.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, smart choice.”

  “Oh, I completely forgot to tell you. Parker’s back in town. He transferred to Blackburn over the summer and is finishing out his last year there,” Phoebe says. I’m not sure what to say. I would’ve never thought she’d give me updates on Parker…ever.

  Eventually, I respond with, “Really? That’s cool. I bet you guys are happy to have him back home. You must’ve missed him while he was in California.”

  I break eye contact with her while I wipe down the counter with a damp cloth. The last thing I want is for her to see the look in my eyes right now. This must’ve been why Parker sent the friend request.

  “He asked about you,” Phoebe says, and I start wiping down the counter even harder and more thoroughly. Could this conversation get any more awkward? “I told him that we made up. He was happy to hear that.”

  “That’s great,” I reply. “Hey, not to change the subject, but I kind of have a lot of work to get done before I head out tonight. Mind if we continue this convo a little later?”

  She looks around and clearly sees there aren’t any customers to tend to. “Right. Sure. We’ll talk later.”

  “See you tonight,” I say as she begins to walk away.

  “Definitely,” she responds, looking over her shoulder.

  After watching her leave and hearing the chime of the front door open and close, I release the largest sigh I think I’ve ever let out.

  “What the hell was that all about?” I ask under my breath. But I couldn’t answer my own question.

  “Later, Joan,” I call out to my boss after my shift. I remove my apron, place it in my cubbyhole, and head toward the front of the store. I hear her say goodbye just as I exit out the door.

  Running to my car, I jump in and start her up. I’m in a rush, anxious to beat my dad home. He’s supposed to be at the station until eight, so that only gives me about an hour and half to get dressed and out the door.

  My eyes widen when I see his car in the driveway already. I hit the steering wheel in frustration and pull up to the curb next to the house.

  “Well, there goes that plan,” I grumble.

  While exiting the car, I see him coming through the front door.

  “I was just about to lock up and give you a call,” he says when he sees me.

  “Heading back into work, huh?” I comment while giving him a hug, hoping I don’t sound suspicious.

  “Yeah, just had to come home because I forgot my Maglite. It’s the perfect tool for searching out secret parties,” he teases.

  I laugh nervously. “Ah, I see. Good luck with that.”

  “Hey, how was work today?” he asks, thankfully changing the subject.

  “Slow and quiet.”

  “That’s all? Slow and quiet?”

  “Yeah, pretty much. We did have an abnormal amount of people looking for books on the occult and ritual sacrifices, though.”

  “Really?”

  “No.”

  He chuckles. “All right, I’ve got to get back to work. Call me if you need anything, okay?” he says before placing a kiss on my forehead.

  “Will do.”

  “Oh, and have fun studying with Rory and Alex. You know, I’m so glad that you have good, stable friends who don’t party too much…even though Alex is in that silly band of hers,” my dad says as he opens his car door.

  I laugh nervously again and reply with, “I’ll try.”

  While watching him pull out of the driveway, I slowly begin to back up toward the front door, but keep my eyes glued to his cruiser. I know he’s going to roll down his window and wave goodbye to me. Like I said, he’s a creature of habit. The moment his vehicle disappears from sight, I bolt through the door and up the stairs to my room.

  I dive into my closet and pull out the Little Red costume. After hanging it up on the hook affixed to the back of the bathroom door down the hall, I hurry back into my room to grab a red lacey bra and pair of panties from the dresser. I’m going to be sexy Little Red, after all.

  The moment I hear the crackle of the walkie-talki
e, I stop dead in my tracks and run over to pick it up.

  I hear Janice’s voice come through. “Mint Chip, this is Marshmallow. Are you there?”

  “I’m here, Janice. So, are you coming tonight?” I ask, making my way over to the window in order to see her across the way. The curtain is pulled back slightly, allowing me to see her face as she talks.

  “It was easy to convince my mom, which is strange. She usually grills me about everything. She completely bought the whole library thing,” Janice replies. She speaks in a quiet voice and I assume her mom’s nearby.

  “Oh—do you by any chance have a costume? It’s kind of a requirement for tonight.”

  “That’s where we may have an issue. Mom hates Halloween, remember? So no costumes in the house,” she answers, sounding defeated.

  “Hold on a sec,” I tell her, and set down the walkie. I hear her respond, “Okay” as I move over to the closet. I sift through the back of my wardrobe in an attempt to find a costume I wore two years ago. Janice is about my size, so anything could work.

  “Yes,” I exclaim when I find the costume.

  I pick up the walkie-talkie. “What’s your opinion on the Bride of Frankenstein?” I ask, examining the skimpy white gauzy dress and tall black and white wig that’s been preserved in a plastic bag.

  “Indifferent, why?”

  “Well, I think I have the perfect costume for you tonight,” I reply with a smirk. “All right, leave your house in about thirty minutes for the library. I’ll pick you up on the way. Sound like a plan?”

  “Sounds good. See you soon,” she replies, and I hear the eagerness in her voice.

  I head back to the bathroom to finish getting ready. I want to be gone soon in case my dad decides to pay me a surprise check-in visit.

  Fully dressed in my Little Red costume, I lock up the house and hurry out to my car. I opt for my red Converse sneakers instead of my glossy red pumps, because I know with my luck, I’d probably bust my ass running across the gravel path in the front yard if I wore the heels.

  After throwing my picnic basket, containing the sexy Bride of Frankenstein costume into the back seat, I start the car and pull away from the curb. Passing by Janice’s house, I slow down. I see her mom, Hattie, tending to the hedgerow that separates our houses. Her focus hones in on me and a glare appears on her face. I dodge it and switch my attention to the road ahead as I speed up.