Can You Keep A Secret?

Chapter 13

    As the weeks rolled on, school kept getting worse. It was hard to focus when I'd keep seeing Mariah's face everywhere, wondering if it was real or just a dream. But on top of seeing Mariah's face, the school work, and becoming more and more lonely, I was constantly thinking about Zach. I couldn't even walk to my locker without someone making a comment about Zach not being there. The worst part was they had no clue what actually happened. Lately, his dissapearance has been getting to me. There are two other guys in my school with the name Zack, so just hearing his name now would usually end with me crying in the girls' bathroom for twenty minutes. One particular day in history ended up bein the worst. That was the day the biggest jerk in school, Tyson Rider, made a comment, which took everything in me to not cry.

    The teacher, Ms. Prisley, had stepped out of the room for a minute, so it was only the eighteen students. That was the moment when Tyson attacked me. What he said was particularly loud, so it carried over the murmurs and whispers of the other students, causing them to be quiet at once.

    "So Abbie, I see your seat is empty. Where's the boyfriend? He's always sitting with you."

    I didn't look at Tyson for a minute, but I could feel that he was smirking. Some people started murmuring again, but were quickly quiet, and they all stared.

     "He's always with you. It's like you and Zach are joined at the hip," Tyson had continued on before I could answer. A few of the kids started chuckling, but Tyson silenced them.

    "C'mon Abbie. I'm talking to you. Answer me," he demanded.

    With everything it took in me to not cry, I turned around in my seat, and looked at Tyson with all the hate I could muster. Through gritted teeth, I told him blankly, "He's dead. Zach, my boyfriend of three years, is dead, for all of you who didn't know." I said this a little louder than I normally would. A few people gasped, but mostly everything was silent. Most of the kids, including Tyson, gaped at me, mouths open.

    "Oh my god Abbie. I'm sorry. I had no idea," Tyson said, sounding serious.

    "Save it," I told him, just as Ms. Prisley came back in the room.