Chloe

Secrets

Stephanie flipped when she found out that Keaton was in detention with me. "We were supposed to hang out that day! Thanks a lot, Chloe!" she had yelled. What a bratty bitch.

I was heading to school the next day when Keaton came up behind me.

"Hey." he said.

"Oh, it's you again," I said sarcastically.

"How rude!" he replied, also sarcastically.

There was a short silence. "So, how are things going with you and Stephanie?" I asked, even though I didn't care.

"Pretty good. Same as usual, I guess," he said.

We arrived at the school. Keaton went off with some of his friends. Kaylee, one of my surf friends, came running over to me. "Are Keaton and your sister still dating?" she whispered.

"Unfortunately, I'm so jealous," I said without thinking. I put my hand over my mouth, realizing what I had just said.

"Oh, you like him!" she said in a little more than a whisper.

"Don't tell anyone! I swear to God, I will kill you if you do!" I said.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

+ + + + +

On my way out of the school, Kaylee once again came running over to me.

"You'll never guess what I heard!" she said.

"What?" I asked.

"Here, let's get away from the crowd."

We started walking off campus. "So, Keaton was talking to one of his friends, and I heard your name, so I started listening. His friend was like, 'So you like Chloe?' and he was like, 'Yeah,' and then his friend was like, 'Then why are you still dating her sister?' and he was like, 'Well, I want to know if Chloe likes me back. Otherwise it will just be awkward, and I don't want that,' so good news, he likes you back!"

I couldn't help but smile. "That's good. But how is he supposed to know that I like him back?"

"He isn't, unless you tell him. Or you could tell someone that could talk to him about it."

I instantly knew what I needed to do. "You just saved my life. Thanks," I said, letting out a chuckle. By that time, we had arrived at my house. "I'll see you later."

I went inside and went to my room. I pulled out my phone and called Wes.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"I gotta talk to you about something..." I replied.

"Talk to me."

"You're not allowed to judge me or hate me for this, and you can't tell anyone, okay?"

"I won't, I promise."

"Alright..." I took a deep breath. "I like Keaton."

"Really?!" he asked, sounding somewhat excited. However, I wasn't sure why.

"Yeah... why do you seem so happy about it?"

"Because he's gonna be hella stoked if I tell him that you like him back." He paused. "Oh, shit, I just gave away that he likes you. Oops."

I chuckled. "I already knew that. Kaylee overheard him telling someone. But are you actually gonna tell him? He's still dating Steph."

"Yeah, but he's gonna break up with her soon. He likes you way more than he likes her. I probably wasn't supposed to tell you any of that, but I don't really care."

"But even if they break up, Steph would basically ruin my life if I ever dated Keaton. She probably wouldn't talk to me ever again."

"Don't let your sister get in the way of everything you do. You're your own person, and if she can't respect that, then she's irrelevant."

"True. Thanks, Wes. I knew talking to you was the right thing to do."

"I'm always here to talk if you want to. Look, I gotta go, but I'll talk to Keaton, okay?"

"Alright, thanks. Bye," I said, hanging up.