Secrets

35th US Drama Queen

"A little rebellion now and then is good."

Kennedy's P.O.V

Autumn was always my favorite time of the year because of the way the air felt at night. It wasn't too hot, but never too cold and it smelled clean too. It felt like my body was wrapped in a warm blanket. I seemed to be the only one enjoying the night air, sadly. I stood out on the balcony watching 10 or so kids from my school puke their guts up.

"Idiots," I mumbled into my cup filled with water.

I could still hear them cheering some poor kid into drinking more. "Chug, chug, chug, chug!" I found out they were cheering for Peter, the dumbest frat I ever met. Bless his heart - he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box.

The next morning my mom told me, "that nice boy, Peter, that used to go to your school, was in a car wreck last night. Sherrif Thompson told your father they're going to investigate who was at the party the night of the incident since he's was intoxicated and only 19." 

"Oh my goodness! I hope everyone else is alright." I faked my concern and went into the kitchen for breakfast.

In other more devastating news, we were out of bread. That was the worst thing I could ever imagine waking up to, I love toast with my coffee. Truthfully, I was kinda like Hannah Montana I guess you could say. Maybe not to the extreme of her double life, but I lived in two completely different worlds. My mom nearly fainted when she found out I was only invited to a high school party when I was a freshman, so I let her believe that her little saint daughter would never attend one. I'm not sure if my parents have chosen to ignore my lifestyle, or really don't know yet. Either way, if anyone snitched on my friends or Me, I knew it was game over. For that individual, of course. People would go to the grave with my secrets because of the leverage I had on everyone. I was a grade A bitch at only 16. 

Half of the kids from the party didn't show up at school. Why not just put a target on your back that says, "I'm hungover from that party too!"? While walking down the halls, I felt a sense of darkness over the school. Peter was friends with a lot of the kids here, well, girls I should say. I made eye contact with Mara, my best friend. Her eyes said she was sad and worried. She always did have a crush on Peter in middle school. I almost started to feel bad if it weren't for the reassuring voice of my boyfriend.

"Hey baby," he whispered to me. I turned to see him, and he was his normal, happy self. "I took care of it, so don't stress about a thing." He kissed my cheek and sat on the desk in front of me.

I slapped his jacket to get his attention and he leaned his head back to where he could hear me. "I love you so much, Simon." He turned his head and smirked at me, indicating he already knew.

The bell rang and my grumpy English teacher handed out worksheets. I zoomed through it and passed it up to Simon to copy. Once he finished, the bell rang shortly after. That's about how every class went until lunch, where we sat at our "trouble-maker" table. All my girlfriends had jock boyfriend's - including myself - which I thought was cute. They were a mix of basketball, football, and soccer players, but they were all equally handsome.

"So what do y'all think about the whole Peter thing?" One of the boys asked the table.

All the light chatter instantly ended. No one had much to say about the matter - it was still a fresh wound being covered up. The fools girlfriend patted his arm lightly and we dropped the topic before it was even discussed. As if prophesying it, cops came in the lunch room to call out a couple of students to talk. They never came close to any direct lines to my friend, though, of course. If Simon says it's taken care of then by God it is.

On Mondays, Simon's basketball always ran late so we didn't hang out on this particular day. I didn't think much of it because I didn't realize how much I would need his comforting skills. When I came home, both my parents were sitting at the dining room table with grave looks on their faces. Was Simon messier than normal this time?

My father addressed me first with a stern tone. "Kennedy, please sit."

I quietly did as he said, not about to admit anything.

"You remember little Thomas, right?" My step-mother's shaking voice set a dark mood.

Why was she bringing this up again? The kidnapping of my Thomas was still something I struggled with after 11 years. Images of our lives back in Cali were so vague to me. We once lived in LA, where my brother was kidnapped and held for ransom by some thugs that mistook my father for a wealthy man. It was devastating for my parents because they had put every last penny in moving us out there. We were flat broke and in an attempt to get her child back, my mother offered her life if instead without telling my father. She left me a letter and her necklace and vanished. We woke up to find she was dead and Thomas was "probably sold into human trafficking", according to the cops that "helped" us. As soon as we went to the police, our house was burned to the ground and once investigated, there wasn't a trace of the gang or Thomas. How could the police not find a single thing... I naturally assumed they were in on it. I remember that was the first time my heart was numb to my surroundings. My dad was so shaken that he moved us back to Kansas where we have lived quietly ever since. Why were they going to pester this topic again?

"I remember."

"Well, at church Sunday, they had a group of kids in need of a foster family. God laid a particular child on our hearts, Lance. Your father and I have thought about this for months and decided to foster a boy that would be the same age as Thomas now. This is temporary, but the poor boy really needs a home this upcoming year. He's a troubled teen that will just be here for a little while. I hope you can understand why we were moved to do this."

I looked them up and down with pure insanity. You gotta be shittin' me. "It's a surprise, I'll give you that. But if this is what y'all want, I'll accept it." I walked over to the fridge and stuck my head inside to hide the dissatisfaction in my face.

"I can't believe you accepted that so easy. Thank you, Kennedy! He will be here this evening."

I felt the water catch in my throat and threaten to choke me to death at the sound of his arrival. I smiled awkwardly and went straight to my room. I was thoroughly confused. I took a vow to never question my parents unless they questioned me. They haven't, so I didn't have much ground to stand on. I was actually curious. A boy my age sleeping in the same house... Yeah, that's really smart. I knew Simon was going to love this situation.

The poor lad didn't arrive until early in the morning around 3 a.m. I actually felt a little bad because my mom said it was a 26-hour drive. I learned that he was coming from California and lost his father in a fire a couple months back. They said that was his only family, and even at an older age, he wound up in the system. I decided to take it easy on the guy, he had just lost his dad for Christ sake.

The excitement on my parent's face was priceless - it even made me a little excited. The door creaked open and suddenly my reaction was a bit different from theirs. He walked through the door wearing a white t-shirt under his black leather jacket, ripped jeans, and red and white Jordan's. His hair was jet black to match the rim of his dark brown eyes. His expression never changed, not even when he saw me. He wore just a leather backpack and a smug look on his face. Where on earth did they find him? We had plenty of Koreans at our school but none of them have a vibe like this. He was going to cause me issues, I knew it. This boy hadn't even said a word and I wanted him to go back where he came from.