Secrets

Chapter 8

"Eleven days and I still know next to nothing!" I grumble, pushing my books into my locker.

A buzz at my hip brings my eyes down then, and I pat my skirt pocket with a small smile.

After the whole blow up over the rumors a weak and a half ago, Ryan made it up to me by presenting me with my first cell phone!

Noah had always said that I didn't need yet another distraction to keep my attention away from where I'm going.

And I'll give it to him, I am severely accident prone.

I'd mentioned this to Ryan too, when he'd handed me the neon pink and black touch screen, but he'd waved me off with a laugh and said it was just a bonus that my having the cell would tick Noah off to no end.

I was so excited in the days that followed, that I completely forgot about all about the rumors and stuff.

That's is, until Lance left me a note that asked if I was giving up on finding out the truth about my family and their role in the city.

It made me mad at first, but then I began to wonder if the cell had been a distraction, and not just a gift to cement the fact that Ryan and I are on good terms with one another again.

The next day I'd gone to school and made sure to whisper some random thing or another into either Elise or Mattie's ear at least once per class, and then left muttering to myself about rumors.

As I'd expected, I was picked up from school -this time by Noah- and though I was grateful that he'd waited until after school to come get me, the not so subtle questioning on what I'd been whispering to my friends all day confirmed undoubtedly that I am, in fact, being watched inside the school building.

When Noah dropped me off, I'd faced a lot of guilt just by looking at the crushed expression on Ryan's face, but as soon as I'd whispered to him that Mattie, Elise, and I had been gossiping about how to get revenge against "Lane" for being so mean to me -and that Noah had misinterpreted the whole situation- my younger elder brother instantly brightened.

Patting me on the back, and promising to help me work on the would-be plan for payback, Ryan then turned his attention to cussing out our big brother until he got annoyed and left.

It hurt to lie to Ryan, but he's just so gullible sometimes!

And besides, it's not like he's not keeping secrets from me too.

...and that's the thing that I've come to realize the most in the past week.

My brothers and sister have been keeping something from me.

Something big.

It might not be that they're spies or aliens or half the other idiotic crap that I'd heard, but they are keeping something from me.

I mean, Noah is a businessman.

He works as an accountant at Harvey and Lynn's First National Bank.

He might be kissed up to for his good reputation within the banking industry and five digit pay check, but that doesn't explain why he's got so many friends who like to stalk his little sister and report back to him like he's some kind of mob boss.

Vanessa is in a similar line of work, only she's the assistant to the CEO of the restaurant chain Corby's Crew, which has restaurants and café's all over the country.

It was announced three years ago that Vanessa had been chosen to take Mr. Corby's place after he retires –since he's never married and so has no children or relatives- and so she brings home a pay check just about the same size as Noah's.