Six Secrets - Noa Olivar

9

Jules had completely zoned out with everything happening around her. She couldn't take her eyes off her body and couldn't stop thinking about how she had basically predicted this. She couldn't get that thought out of her mind as she saw the ground around her turn more and more red. She thought she was going to vomit but it wasn't her that did. Mouse ran away from everyone as she threw up behind the stage and as much as Jules wanted to to help her, she physically couldn't move. She couldn't hear the screaming beside her but only moved when she felt a hand pull her, to bring her sight away from the corpse. Jules didn't realize she had been hyperventilating until she felt two hands on her face causing her to gasp slightly. "Hey Jules Jules it's okay. Look at me, not over there. We need to get out of here okay?" Jules felt her hands begin to shake and she let out a small whine from her lips. Noa kept her calm as she continued to calm Jules. She pulled her out into the hallway as she rubbed her arms and pushed her against the wall. "Stay with me Jules. Just try to take a breath." Jules watched as Noa tried to make her copy her breathing. Jules felt her chest tighten as she managed to take a breath and wheezed as she continued to try until they didn't hurt her chest and were more well paced. Once she calmed down Noa grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway to where the liars were standing. Mouse had a bottle of water in her hand that she sipped but she looked as white as a ghost. Jules couldn't look at her because she felt weird about what had happened. "Imogen what the hell happened? What did you see?" Faran asked. "I saw Karen up in the rafters, like you all did, but she had a bucket." "She was gonna "Carrie" you?" Tabby cut in. "I think so, but then I saw a man, with a mask, he- he pushed her. Karen didn't fall, she was murdered." "That text from A; one bully down, six to go." They were talking about us. Was that man you saw A?" Noa asked. Everyone looked around just as confused as she was. Well- Jules definitely wasn't expecting this after her first high school dance. She looked up at Mouse who was staring at her and Jules shook her head slightly."Jules...." "MOUSE! Ugh sorry for raising my voice. Umm can I talk to you real quick, alone?" Jules grabbed Mouse's hand and led her down the hall to the girls bathroom.

When they got inside Jules locked the door before pulling Mouse to the furthest wall in case the other liars were trying to eavesdrop. "Mouse keep quiet." She whisper yelled. "But we- we did those things." "It was a joke. A joke that has turned into a terrible coincidence. But we can't say anything. If we do, we'll be looked at as prime suspects." "But we didn't do anything wrong." "Yeah you're right. But the fact that we literally predicted her death, that makes us look super fucking shady. We need to keep this a secret." "I have too many secrets." "We all do Mouse. Every single one of us. Every single girl in this fucking group of six has their own secret. One that they will never ever want to share. But we got to suck it up. This can never get out, you hear me." "I-I hear you." Mouse said. "Okay." Jules whispers as she heads to the door. "Wait! About what happened tonight.." "I thought we just agreed we weren't going to talk about it." "It's not about what happened to Karen. It's about us.....dancing." "What's up Mouse?" "Umm...well I was just wondering what that meant...you know...for us?" "We were dancing as friends. Why did you want it to be more than that?" "I umm, I just didn't know." Jules walked towards Mouse as she grabbed the younger girl's hands. Mouse looked up at her and blushed slightly, without realizing it and she felt her breath tighten. Jules could tell Mouse was nervous and she thought it was so cute. "Mouse, I loved dancing with you, and I would love to do it again." Mouse smiled slightly as Jules placed her lips besides Mouse's ear. "And just to let you know, I did want to kiss you in that moment." Jules pulls away from her leaving the smaller girl in shock, as Jules exits the bathroom, Mouse following her out, still in shock. "What was that all about?" Noa asked. "We just needed to clear something up. Everything's fine now. Can we please get out of here so no one sees us?" Jules begs. Noa doesn't know if she fully believes her as she nods and they all head out, quickly. Jules makes sure Mouse gets home safely before She drives Noa home. "Are you sure you don't wanna stay with me tonight?" Noa asked. "It's fine. My mom actually seemed sober when I left the house. She complimented me." "Oh wow that's progress." "Yeah. I'm hoping it can stay that way. Anyways I'll text you tomorrow okay?" "Okay." Noa replied. Noa gets out of the car and waves goodbye to Jules, feeling kind of bummed that Jules wasn't coming inside with her. She really wanted to know what Jules and Mouse were talking about. She knew it wasn't her business but she just couldn't help herself. Why was she acting this way? It was racking with her head so much that after she changed out of her dress and cleaned herself up, she fell onto her bed and went straight to sleep.