Silence In The Snow (Phan)

Twin Secret

Song: Still Take You Home - Arctic Monkeys

Welcome back.

I'm guessing you came for the gossip. Our school is fuelled by gossip. People get so much satisfaction out of spreading lies about other people, but these are not lies. No, these are true. 100% guaranteed.

Let's go to two people that are quite well known at Ridgewell, Jack and Finn Harries. Nice guys, I guess. But what are they hiding? They claim they have nothing to hide, but of course, they're lying.

Money is a big thing right now, what with the recession and all, but these two don't have to worry. What you don't know about them is that they are very well off. Anyone ever been to their house? No, I didn't think so. You should see it. I wouldn't really call it a house, more a mansion. Very nice place.

While you may not think this is a big deal, it is to them. How would you feel if your friends only liked you for your money? It would be horrible. And I'm sure that's what they were trying to avoid. But no secret is safe in Ridgewell anymore, and Jack and Finn are the first to be exposed.

Dan POV

I walked into school, and I could already hear the mentions about Ridgewell Exposed. A new entry had been posted last night, and I knew it would have spread like crazy. The question was, would Jack and Finn show up today? My question was answered when I walked to my locker and saw the two of them trying to hide from everyone. I looked around to make sure no one was looking before making my way over to them.

"Hey." I said.

"Come to laugh at us or ask us for money?" Jack asked.

"No." I said as I shook my head. "I actually came to see if you two were alright. You should probably find a better hiding place, being out in the open isn't the best." I told them.

"Who have we pissed off lately?" Finn asked.

"No one that I can think of." Jack said.

"Remember, it said no one's secret is safe, so it wont just be you they expose." I told them.

"But people will be bugging us now." Finn complained.

"It will blow over by next week." I said.

"No it wont. People don't just forget these things here." Jack said.

"No, but the first post was a week ago, and then they posted again yesterday, so maybe next week they will have another victim, and you will be alright." I said.

"I guess so." Jack said.

"But until then, we have avoided everyone because they might try to get our money." Finn said.

"Maybe you should have more faith in the people here." I said, then carried on to my locker.

"Did you read it?" Was the first thing Alex said when I reached my locker.

"Yeah." I said, opening my locker to grab my books.

"And?" He asked.

"And what?" I asked.

"What did you think? Do you think it's true?" He asked.

"I know it's true." I said.

"How?"

"Because I just spoke to them, and they said it was. Everyone knows it's true. They're hiding from everyone at the moment." I told Alex and Charlie, who was also there.

"But why would they keep that from everyone? If I was rich I would tell everyone." Alex said.

"Because they didn't want fake friends." I told him.

"Like people would do that." Alex said.

"I know I'm going to sound like a hypocrite saying this because I just told them the opposite, but some people here would do that." I said.

"But you'd know who your fake friends were soon enough, right?" Charlie pitched in.

"Eventually, yeah. But that won't stop people from asking anyway." I said. If either of them were about to say something, they wouldn't have been able to as the bell rang, signalling first lesson. "See you guys at break." I said.

"Bye." They said. I walked to my lesson, Maths.

I walked into the class and sat down in my seat. The rest of the class filed in after me, taking their seats as well. Finn was in my class, and I could see him trying to avoid any contact with anyone by keeping his head down. I wrote a not on a bit of paper saying 'just ignore everyone', and then screwed it up and threw it at him. It hit his arm and fell to the floor. He looked over in my general direction, obviously to see where it came from. I gave him and smile and then motioned to the piece of paper. He picked it up and opened it. I could see his eyes scanning over the message. He looked over at me, giving me a smile and then turned to the front where our teacher had just started teaching.

The rest of the double lesson was uneventful. People were obviously talking about Jack and Finn, and I could see Finn trying his best to ignore it. Soon enough the bell went, and Finn was one of the first out the class. I walked to my locker to put my book away, and then went to meet Alex and Charlie.

"...wouldn't talk to anyone." I heard the tail end of Charlie's sentence.

"Who wouldn't talk to anyone?" I asked as I reached them.

"Jack. He was avoiding everyone as best as he could in that lesson." Charlie told me.

"Finn didn't seem too bad, but he wasn't really talking like he usually does." I told Charlie and Alex.

"Well, they don't think they can trust anyone now." Charlie said.

"And quite right too." Alex said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, they've been outed, who's next?" Alex asked. "It said that no one's secret is safe, so it could be anyone." He carried on.

"Paranoid about something, are we?" I asked.

"No, but if these two are like this, then what will other people be like. Everyone is going to be watching their backs and being careful about what they say around here now, and if you let the slightest thing slip, who knows what will happen." He said.

"Everyone is just being too paranoid. So Jack and Finn are rich, big deal. Clearly these are only crappy little secrets." I said.

"Yeah, but it isn't to them." Charlie said.

"Everyone will forget about it soon enough." I said.

"They hope." Charlie said.

The rest of the day, and the week, were spent with Jack and Finn trying to avoid as much social contact with people as possible until everyone forgot, but people kept talking about it. We didn't know who would be targeted next, but we would definitely find out soon.