My Number One (001/Henry Creel/Vecna x Reader)

Justified Lies

"Twelve," whispered Eleven, and she ran over to hug me. I hugged her back.

"I need to talk to you," I said, swiftly pulling her out of the hug.

Her expression changed from happiness to concern. She must have known the reason would be a bad one if I came all the way to school to talk to her about it.

"It's about...things I can only say in private. You know."

Eleven then looked down at the floor, and I sensed she felt guilty about something. She didn't reply to me.

"We know about your powers already," said Mike. "...And the Upside Down."

My eyes widened and I stepped backwards, but then I composed myself. "What do you mean? What powers, and what's the 'Upside Down'?" Maybe our secret could still be saved.

"Oh, come on. What about 'we know' don't you understand?" said Mike.

"You know what? I don't know what you're talking about!"

Then, Eleven reached her arm out, and before I even had time to process what she was doing, she jolted the teacher's desk in front of me halfway across the room, sliding into the students' desks and messing them up, too. She just stared at me, telling me without words to accept that the boys knew. The was proving her powers in plain sight—there was nothing I could do to argue against their existence.

"How did they find out?" I asked in horror.

Eleven continued to stare at me. "I told them."

My mouth dropped open. "What? Why?"

"I trust them."

"You hardly know them! And, even if you did, it still wouldn't be safe to share what you know! Regardless of whether they want to expose you, what happens if they accidentally slip up and mention it in front of other people! The only ones you can trust are the ones who have abilities, too. Like me. We're the only ones who will truly protect our secret with our lives, because we're the ones who have to deal with the consequences if it gets out. Not them! They won't!" I said, gesturing to the boys.

"So the only people I can share it with are the people like me?" asked Eleven slowly. "Well, you're the only one I can think of, and you know why that is. Your good friend Mr Ballard got rid of the others."

I sighed. "You didn't like them, anyway."

"I can't talk to you, either, because you left. You can't expect me to stay quiet forever. I need to talk to people."

"You couldn't wait a while until you knew them properly? I managed to keep my mouth shut."

"Well, where have you even been?"

I glanced at the boys and noticed them staring in amusement. Dustin looked as if he even had what was almost a smile on his face.

"I told you I came to talk in private," I said to Eleven, giving the boys a piercing side-eye. "It's not just about our powers."

Eleven reluctantly led me out through the classroom door and into another one. I didn't know why she was reluctant. Was she attached to those boys or something?

In the new classroom, I stood facing the window in the door to watch in case the boys attempted to listen in.

"So, where have you been?" asked Eleven.

I took a deep breath and braced myself. "With Hen—Mr Ballard."

Eleven's mouth dropped open. "Mr Ballard?"