Secrets

Chapter 5

"It's Friday already." I whisper, tapping my pencil against my desktop, as the class wait's for Mr. Peircein to show up.

He's always twenty minutes late.

Releasing a tired breath, I glance back to where Lance sit's, laughing it up with two guy's whose names I can't really think of right now.

They get into trouble a lot though, so it makes sense that he'd be hanging out with them.

"Jerk." I mutter, and just before I turn my head back, I could swear that Lance shoots me a look.

"Let him hear me. After all, it's his fault that I haven't been able to pay attention to anything this week!"

And it's true too.

Ever since Monday's after-school conversation, I've been trying to repress what Lance said about my life like it's the last thing that I'll ever do.

I mean, how is it so different from everyone else's?

Sure, I have a lot of people to watch out for me. But is that really a bad thing?

I always have someone to turn to, someone to count on when I need them.

They aren't really my friends per say, but they're close enough!

"Maybe he's just jealous." I decide. "'Cause seriously, I bet it's hard to make friends when you're a gangster."

"So Rose!" Elise laughs, pulling my attention to where she's sitting at the desk beside me. "Are you going to Arianna's party tonight? I hear it's gonna be so big that it'll shut down the whole city!"

Brushing my hair out of my eyes, I shake my head and offer her a small smile.

"Nah, I'm supposed to hang out with my big brother tonight. Maybe-"

"Do not say maybe next time."

Twirling a long brown curl around her finger, Elise rolls her big blue eyes and flashes me a pointed frown.

"You never get to go out Rose, and this is going to be the biggest party of the year! Isn't it time to leave your baby sitter's at home and get a life?"

"I do have a life!" I object, too used to Elise's whining over my strict elder siblings to let it bother me.

Much.

"As if! You can never go anywhere without one of your brother's, or one of their creepy friends, tailing you like a lost puppy dog! It's getting to the brink of pathetic Rose."

"They're just looking out for me Elise." I sigh. "I mean, you know how accident prone I am. I'd probably be dead by now if I didn't have everyone to look out for me!"

"Whatever." Elise groans, waving me off. "If you wanna live the rest of your life being stalked by all the thugs and creeps of Rose City, then who am I to judge?"

"They don't-"

The rest of my objection never comes, because it's at that moment that I realize something crazy.

Elise is right.

I've always pictured everyone as watching out for me, but the fact that the same people always just so happen to cross my path can't be a coincidence.

Not for this long.

And really, it's always in specific places too!

Ryan's friends only show up close to where he lives, Noah's pop up everywhere, and Vanessa's friends tend to stick to the area that her apartment's located in.