Best Kept Secret (Best Kept #1)

Chapter 10: Protect Me From The World

Song: Avalanche by Bring Me The Horizon

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The house phone was ringing too loudly Monday morning.

And it kept ringing. Finally, I got out of bed and trudged down the stairs to answer the phone. It was placed on the hook next to the couch. Lazily, I picked it up and answered it. "Hello?"

An automated voice answered in a chirpy tone asking me if I'll accept a call from Zoe. My eyes opened wider and my heart dropped. Of course I accepted the call quickly, even though I know it's not me she wants to talk to. Mom's already at the bakery to get an early start on holiday orders that I know. "Hey," She said casually.

At first it didn't sound like Zoe. We haven't talked in months and the person on the other side didn't sound like my sister. Her voice sounded distant, slightly cold and held no emotion. Just flat.

"Hello?" She called again.

"Zoe," I breathed. "Mom isn't home."

"Oh, Lucy." You could hear the disappointment in her voice. "Just tell her I called and I'll try again tomorrow."

"Is everything okay?" I asked and started picking nervously at my bottom lip.

"No," She said honestly.

"I miss you," I said softly.

She was quiet for a moment. "I miss you too, Luce." She sniffled and sighed. "Just tell Mom and Dad I called."

Then the line went dead. Over just like that.

It was pointless to cry again because she clearly didn't want to talk to me. So I hung up the phone and walked back upstairs. I climbed back into bed and curled up under my blanket.

Zoe will talk to Mom, she'll talk to Dad, and occasionally she'll call to talk to Jason. But you can forget about her ever calling to talk to me. She still blames me, I know. But I just wanted to help her. Everything I did for Zoe was to help her and now she thinks I'm against her.

She won't let me visit because she thinks I betrayed her. Mom doesn't see past that and she thinks it's because Zoe's in a bad place, but we all know the real reason why she doesn't want to see or talk to me.

I cut my thoughts off and reached for my phone on the bedside table. There weren't any notifications that clouded the screen and I quickly swiped to unlock it. The time read 7:15. I found Benji's number in my recent history and tapped on it. It probably wasn't smart to call Benji this early, but I didn't want to be stuck here by myself all day. I was probably pushing it with Benji. It's Mia's last day of school before break—"Lucy?"

"Oh, sorry," I said quickly. "Are you working?"

"I just got off," He answered, his voice slightly raspy. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied. "Go home and get some sleep. I'll talk to you later—"

"Are you alone?" He interjected.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and said, "Yeah."

"I'm five minutes from your house."

"You don't have to do that. I'm just being a baby as always—"

"Four minutes. Come let me in." And he hung up.