The Secrets We Keep

The Thirty-Eighth Chapter

Hayden

Sunday comes and goes before I can even blink. And as it gets closer to evening, I shoot Nathan a quick text asking him if he's going to sleep over again. 

Last night was... precious. Of course, I feel a bit guilty that I lied to my parents and genuinely can't look them in the eyes most of the time, but I liked sleeping next to Nathan. 

When I woke up, my heart hammering and my skin glistening with sweat, he soothed me down and laid my head on his chest until I fell back asleep to the sound of his heartbeat. But now... 

Nathan: I can't. My parents are at home tonight hosting some function. By the time I'm able to leave...

I sigh as I read his message but tell him it's alright. I need to be a big girl now anyway. If I don't learn how to fall asleep on my own without driving myself to the point of exhaustion, I'll never be able to function in real life. 

-

But when I wake up the next morning, I feel like death. My mind feels fuzzy after my fitful sleep and I'm so out of it that by the time I'm rocking up to school, I'm wondering how I got here. 

Students buzz around me, refreshed from the weekend and now ready to start and get this week over with, but I feel like mine dragged on way too long and was at the same time, not long enough. 

"Hayden, can we talk?" 

Groggily, I turn around on my way to class to see Christopher walking behind me. I wait for him to catch up before picking up my legs again. 

"What's wrong?" I ask, thinking only a problem could warrant him seeking me out. 

"I want us all to get together after school to talk about what Reyes questioned us about on Friday."

Usually, I'd prolong this conversation by telling him to buzz off or to mind his business but I'm too tired to think up a good enough insult or lie to myself that I don't actually agree with him. I've been foaming at the mouth to get Damien and Nathan to tell me what happened with them, and here's Christopher, giving me what I want like a Monday morning present. 

"Sure," I say, and he seems genuinely concerned and unsettled by my agreement. I guess he was prepared for a trading of barbed words.

"Good. Meet me in the library after school. And bring your brother."

Damien might be a problem to get around but I just give him a tired thumbs up and head on to class. 

-

"You're back," I say when I see Grace in the seat next to mine. My face crumples into a relieved smile as she stands up and throws her arms around me. 

"Yep, finally, and what the hell happened when I was gone? I heard they arrested the chemistry teacher or something?" She says, her voice sounding pitched, and then bites her bottom lip, almost looking guilty. 

We take our seats as we separate but Grace inches hers forward so that we can still talk without being overheard. 

I lean forward and let my chin rest on my palm. "Yeah, it was crazy." I pause and bite my lip. "Actually that was kind of because of me. I, uh, I read the diary and found some things out about him and Amelia."

I don't bother mentioning that I didn't just alert the cops, but that I'd gone down to throwdown with him. But Grace seems to absorb the shock of my words all the same except... I lean more forward, wondering if it's just my sleep-deprived imagination or...

"Did you know?" I blurt out, analyzing the way her dark-brown eyes seem to be forlorn and knowing instead of shocked and revolted that a teacher could've done something like that. I lower my voice more and then demand, "Did you know about Mr. Johnson and Amelia?"