For Good

Chapter 23 - Confession

Skie bounced her leg up and down nervously as she sat at her desk. The bell had just rung for lunch, and she'd sent a quick text to Dani, asking her to please get the other girls to come back to the dorm. Although she knew that Nikki was right, and although she wouldn't go back on her promise, Skie felt extremely anxious to talk to her friends.

Skie glanced at the half eaten muffin on her desk that was still there from the morning, but knew that she wouldn't be able to eat anything. The knot of nerves sat heavy on her chest, and her stomach felt all twisted up.

They'll love you no matter what.

They'll hate you.

They'll think you're a freak.

They'll accept you.

Skie shook her head as the conflicting voices in her mind continued shouting back and forth. Dammit, Dani, hurry up.

"Skie?"

Skie looked up, blinking quickly as she realized Danielle actually had come into the room. "Dani." She sighed in relief. She looked around quickly and felt the knot of nerves tighten. "The others didn't want to come, did they."

"No, no, they're coming, I just got through the line faster than them. They're coming, I promise."

Skie relaxed slightly. "Oh."

Danielle sat down on her bed. "Are you okay?"

Skie almost lied and said she was fine, but she stopped. She knew it was probably pretty obvious that she was not fine, and she was sick of feeling like she was constantly lying. "Um, no."

Dani gave a short laugh. "Well, yeah. I guess a better question is, is there anything I can do?"

"Don't leave?" Skie asked in a small voice.

"Never."

At that moment, the door opened, and Madi walked in, followed by Hannah, who was pointedly not looking at anyone. Madi noticed Skie sitting on her bed and looked as though she was about to say something, but then stopped and crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. "Okay, this had better be good."

Skie bit her lip, and without a word, Dani slipped over to sit by her. Skie took a deep breath. "It's about the tablet."

"Did you do it?" Madi asked coolly. 

"Shut up, Maddison." Dani muttered.

"Let her talk, Princess." Madi shot back.

"Guys." Hannah put a hand up and then finally looked at Skie. "Keep going, Skie."

Skie shot a glare at Madi before continuing. "I didn't do it, as I already said."

"Then what are you hiding from us? And don't lie and say it's nothing, because you're a really bad liar." Madi hissed.

Skie flinched slightly, Madi's tone reminding her of her first year. Madi seemed to notice, because she took a step back and relaxed her posture. Skie paused for a moment before continuing.

"Ok, yeah, there is something. But it's hard to talk about, especially if you're trying to force it out of me."

"Take your time, Skie. You can talk whenever you feel comfortable." Danielle gently took hold of Skie's hand, asking a silent question with her eyes. Skie gave half a smile and squeezed her hand.

Skie was aware that all three of her friends were looking at her, waiting, and part of her regretted telling all of them at the same time. The voices in her brain kept going, and Skie did her best to breathe, to focus on Danielle's hand in hers, and forced herself to start talking.

"I got diagnosed with anxiety. But they also did some testing for other things too. And they think they might have found something." 

"What is it?" Danielle asked softly.

"Autism." Skie mumbled.

Danielle squeezed her hand. "Okay."

"What was it?" Hannah spoke quietly, not having heard Skie.

"Autism." Skie spoke a little louder. "They think I might have autism."

"Okay? And?" Madi asked.

"And what?" Skie bristled slightly.

"Is that all?" Madi raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. And it wasn't me who stole the tablet, because I was in there after school yesterday, getting the diagnosis." Skie said, leveling a glare at Madi.

"That's seriously all." Madi reiterated.

"Yes! I'm not hiding anything else!" Skie snapped.

Madi sighed, then a small smile spread across her face. "You're a dork."

"What?"

"Why were you hiding that? Did you think we'd be mad or something?"

Skie huffed. "It was...embarrassing. And yeah, based on how you've been acting."

Madi sat down across from Skie on Dani's bed. "You shouldn't have to be embarrassed just because there's something going on with you. And yeah, I've been upset, but it's cause I knew you were hiding something from me. We're your friends, we support you no matter what."

"But it's ok to not want to talk about things."

All three girls looked over at Hannah in surprise. The redhead smiled over at Skie, and Skie could see that her eyes were shiny with tears.

"I'm sorry Skie. I was so worried, I didn't mean to push you so hard. That wasn't fair."

"Han." Skie stood up and pulled her friend into a hug. "It's okay, I get why you did it."

"Are we okay?" Hannah asked softly.

"We're okay." Skie gently let go. "Thanks guys, for, ya know, not freaking out."

"Of course. Thanks for trusting us to tell us." Dani stood up to join her other friends, and in a few seconds, Skie found herself in the center of a group hug.

"So wait, do you know who stole the tablet?" Madi asked as the hug broke apart.

Skie shook her head. "I asked people to keep their ears open, but I haven't heard anything yet. I really hope whoever did it gets caught before the end of the day."

Madi looked at the others. "We still have 20 minutes left of lunch period."

Hannah grinned. "Where are you going with this?"

"Do you want to do a bit of sleuthing?" Madi smirked.

Skie smirked back. "I'm in."

The four girls hurried off.

AN: So Skie finally tells her friends! Sorry for a bit of a wait on this, I wasn't totally sure where I wanted to go with the end of this chapter, but I think I have some ideas now!

Anyway, thank you for reading! Next up, Skie and Co. do just a bit of snooping around, we'll see what they discover.