The Lies They Tell

Secrets

"Did you hear?" Inej asked, pulling on Nina's arm. She dragged her down the driveway toward the footpath.
"Hear what?"
"Something happened last night."
Nina raised an eyebrow, smiling slyly. "What kind of something?"
Inej bit her lip, looking up at her friend. Nina was positively glowing in a green dress and sparkly makeup. "Something to do with Kaz and Jesper and Wylan."
"Something to do with Kaz and Jesper and Wylan last night, something?" Nina wiggled her eyebrows.
"Nina!" Inej batted her arm, looking up at her. Inej felt her face flush, repeating her own words in her head. "Not that kind of something."
"So what kind of something? And how do YOU know about it?"
"Jesper came by when I was watching Anime at 2 AM and was mumbling all this stuff about Wylan and Kaz and love and stuff. I don't really remember what 'cause I was half asleep...."
"What?" Nina said sharply, her teasing demeanor gone.
"I was half asleep."
A strange look crossed Nina's beautiful face.
"No the other bit.... Kaz and Wylan and love?" Nina widened her eyes.
Inej thought back. Jesper had definitely mentioned Kaz and Wylan, and someone being in love with someone.... Wait.
"No.... It can't be...."
"WHAT?" Nina pressed.
"I think had some sort of fight with Wylan because.... Because he's in love with Kaz."
"Who's in love with Kaz?"
"Jesper."
Nina rolled her eyes. "What else is knew? We all knew THAT."
"What did we all know?" Matthias's voice said from behind them. He pulled Nina's shoulder and pushed in between the two girls.
Inej had known he was there for a few seconds, but it was funny watching Nina jump.
"We all know you and Nina made out in the Green Room!" Inej blurted. Now Matthias turned bright red.
"I- how-"
Inej beamed. "I was just guessing!"
"Inej I can't do this," Nina said, looking across at her as the three kept walking. "Matthias, that's not what we all know. Although now Inej does."
Matthias squirmed. Nina laughed gaily.
"So what do we all know?" Matthias asked quickly.
Nina bit her lip and looked at Inej. Inej looked down as they crossed the bridge.
"We..." Nina began. "We can't tell you."
The three finished crossing the bridge, walking in awkward silence. The silence rose around Inej like the flooded river below. Her mind raced. Jesper was in love with Kaz? Nina knew? Nina and Matthias actually made out in the Green Room? Nina and Matthias's hands were clasped as they walked, Nina's left hand and Matthias's right. Something about it made Inej's chest feel tight. She shook the feeling off as the sight of the theatre appeared up ahead, in the midst of the Green Park, just past the football field.

Fifteen minutes later, Jesper was mad at Nina, Kaz was glaring at Nina, and Wylan appeared to be crying on a bench. Inej meanwhile had just got back from sprinting home to get the audition form she'd left.
"What in God's name happened?" Inej said in an unusually high pitched tone. Everyone ignored her, except Matthias who was standing awkwardly near the door, and simply said "Nina."
"Wraith, what did you do?" Kaz's gravelly voice interrogated as he stormed over to Inej. He called her Wraith because she possessed the uncanny ability to overhear everything without ever being seen.
"What happened?" She gestured to the weeping Wylan, and the furious storm that was Jesper.
"I just asked Jesper what happened last night," Nina began.
"And then she asked me if I was in love with Kaz," Jesper interjected.
"And now Wylan's crying," Kaz finished, shaking his head.
"And you don't care?!" Inej spat. She was furious, mostly at herself. Wylan was the sweetest person any of them knew. How could they just let him suffer?
"Inej," Nina said in a hushed tone, moving closer. Inej smelled her familiar sent of Orange Blossoms. "We tried to help him. He won't talk to any of us."

Inej sat on the railing of the stairs outside the green room. She held a mug of coffee tucked between her lithe brown fingers.
It had gotten cold out, and Inej had goosebumps on her bare arms. She smelled orange blossoms, and felt Nina sit down beside her.
"Sorry about before," Nina said quietly. Nina was usually confident, but Inej knew she sometimes got the feeling her loud, big, bright personality was too much. She got things wrong, and she beat herself up about it. "I just asked Jesper if it was true and then things.... Got out of hand."
Inej looked over at the taller girl. She put a hand on Nina's arm. "It's alright, Zenik."
Nina smiled. Her smile, the smile that could light up a thousand stormy mornings.  Her bright eyes crinkled at the edges, and her lips quirked upward.
Nina gave Inej a quick side hug, and she felt her stomach flip. Being around the girl always felt like floating twenty thousand feet up, and the moments after she left were like falling with an adrenaline rush.
Nina pulled away, grinning to herself about something.

Back inside, Wylan was curled up on the old sofa, his face buried in a book. Kaz was sitting on the floor and Jesper was wandering around the room wringing his hands.
"Jes," Kaz said, without moving his.eyes from his gloves. "What part are you trying out for?"
Jesper had lost track of what was going on several minutes ago. He figured Wylan was jealous of him, since the others thought he was in love with Kaz, and upset as he was that Wylan didn't feel the same about him, he wasn't going to go revealing his secrets. Kaz must be confused, with all this new information about Jesper's supposed undying affection, and Nina, Inej and Matthias had gone off god knows where.
"The Donkey, with my animal instincts" he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Kaz rolled his eyes.
"Can we talk for a minute?" Kaz said, but it came out as an order not a question. He stood up, looking up at Jesper. Kaz wasn't that short, but he still had to tilt his head back to look Jesper in the eye. Kaz's dark burnt coffee eyes glared at Jesper, and it felt like he knew something more than he was letting on.
Kaz grabbed Jesper's arm, the rough wool of his gloves grazing Jesper's skin. Kaz dragged the taller boy across the room, towards the privacy of the boys' bathroom. For a second Jesper's mind flicked to what Wylan might be thinking in this moment. Poor Wylan, the beautiful boy whose life was just about to get messed with Even more if Jesper couldn't keep his mouth shut.
In the bathroom, Kaz glared up at Jesper. He didn't look exactly angry, just frustrated.
"Jesper, listen-"
"I'm not in love with you!" Jesper quickly interjected.
Kaz shook his head slightly, widening his eyes. "I know that."
Jesper nodded.
"So I heard it's something about last night, you, me, love, ect. So what is it? What's going on?"
Jesper hesitated. "Well there's Wylan...."
Kaz's eyes flashed in sudden understanding. "It's not you, is it? It's Wylan."
Jesper had a lump in his throat. He hadn't meant Kaz to work it out. He hadn't thought he would. Why couldn't he just keep his big mouth shut?
"I don't like Kaz I like Jesper!" A voice said loudly from the door. Jesper spun around, and Kaz fixed his gaze on the red-headed boy in the doorway.