The Secret Inside

Chapter 07

My fork scratched the plate again and I flinched at the sharp noise. I glanced up at my mom who appeared to be speaking with my dad through eye contact alone. My dad on the other hand was wiggling his eyebrows wildly, with the universal 'don't do it' expression on his face. My mother ignored this and turned to face me with a tight smile.

"So I heard that Nikki Gray is back in town. Have you seen her yet?" Mom blurted suddenly.

I looked up in what I hoped was a nonchalant manner. "Yeah." I continued eating.

"How was it?" Mom asked in a concerned tone.

"It's Nikki." I answered as if that explained everything.

"And?" Mom sounded annoyed now.

"Honestly, I don't understand why you act like you care. If you did you would tell me what happened all those years ago. I want to know what made her hate me." I burst out unable to hold it back.

Mom's expression became one of shock and hurt as she processed what I had said. "Everything I do is to protect you, honey, so if it was something you needed to know I would tell you." She said in a sweet tone.

I was sick and tired of my mom avoiding this conversation because it had to be said at some point. I put my fork down and got ready to continue the conversation. "I deserve the truth, or at least some part of it." I seethed, "I'm not ten anymore, you don't need to protect me!"

"Honey, we would never keep what happened from you, except for the fact that we weren't there, all we have to go off of was the rambling that Nikki was doing. The same day that you got a concussion all those years ago Nikki was also in the hospital from fainting in school. She was found lying in the hallway halfway through the school day and an ambulance was sent immoderately when she wouldn't wake up. When she woke up she was talking like a crazy person about ghosts and spirits and a frightening woman with hair the color of blood. She stared at the wall for hours, just shaking. Her mother decided soon after to move Nikki away from... this town." Mom snapped her mouth shut, clearly realizing that she told me more than she meant to.

"Okay, but I still don't understand why this would lead to her hating me." I continued.

"That's just as much a mystery to me as it is to you." I held eye contact for a couple seconds before my mom looked away, a clear tell when she lied.

I decided that I wouldn't push her to reveal any more of the truth, and hopefully she would decide to tell me herself at some point.
The conversation slowly drifted into nicer topics although everyone at the table was still thinking about Nikki Gray and the trouble she was likely bringing. I finished up the last of the food on my plate and brought it out to the kitchen to wash it. As I began washing the dish I got the weirdest feeling that someone was watching me. I turned around and through the window I saw two glowing red beans staring back at me. I dropped the dish and heard a cracking noise in the distance. I stood frozen, unable to look away. My mom came into the kitchen, and I felt her hand on my arm and suddenly I was flung back to reality. I gripped the side of the sink and looked up at my mom. She was worriedly watching me.

"What happened?" She demanded, "for a second I thought you were having another panic attack."

I drew in slow breaths. My mom was closer to the truth than she probably thought. According to what I told my parents, the panic attacks had stopped years ago. Although this was actually mostly true until this week.

"I thought I saw someone outside. I got startled, that's all." I replied in a weak voice.

"Well there's no one there, so you don't have to be worried. Anyways your father just got a new security system installed since we thought it would be safer for you with both of us gone so often." Mom said with a kind smile.