Can You Keep a Secret?

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ten years later

Lewis was standing in the middle of his living room, wondering what on earth had possessed him to think going to a college so far from all of his old friends. Yes, it would mean a new start from all the…unpleasantness of his last school, but it also meant that he would know nobody except Jake, whom he had met many years before when he had been visiting his mother. And that was only if Jake remembered him. Not for the first time, he wished that he had been bothered to keep in touch with the people he had met living near his mother.

For maybe the hundredth time, he looked in the large mirror hanging over the mantel. Looking back at him was a sixteen-year-old boy with dark hair and stormy dark eyes. He didn’t think he was bad-looking although he was still growing into his tall frame, wishing his limbs weren’t so uncoordinated and awkward. In all, the same person that always looked back at him stood in the mirror, although his counterpart looked as nervous as he felt.

“Lewis! Did you have breakfast?” His mother called, popping her head around the kitchen door as she said it. She was a beautiful woman, her eyes a chocolate brown and her hair a chestnut colour. The same intelligence that hid itself in his eyes shone through hers, clear and true. She was slim with few curves, short where he was tall, what most would call petite. Currently, her small hands were placed on her narrow hips, her lips pursed ever so slightly. “You know you can’t go to school without a full stomach.”

“Aww, Mum, you know I can’t eat when I’m nervous,” Lewis complained, his mouth contorting into a pout. “Can’t I skip it just this once?

“Of course not! Come on now, just some toast before you have to leave. And don’t think I won’t make you late so you can eat. Lord knows I don’t have anywhere to be today.” She had recently lost her job due to cutbacks at the store she worked in. Truth was, rumour had it that the store would be closing soon and that his mother was lucky to get as much as she did with her severance package. Grumbling, Lewis trudged into the kitchen and poured a quick bowl of cereal, which he proceeded to wolf down as quickly as possible in the hopes that it wouldn’t upset his stomach.

“Ok, since that did actually make you late, I’ll drop you off,” his mother said good-humouredly. Lewis glanced at the clock but dismissed the time – if his mother said he would be late, he would be.

Fifteen minutes later, his mother pulled up in front of his new college, which was bustling with lots of chattering kids, all looking excited and cheerful. Lewis was dreading trying to talk to any of these kids. He couldn’t see anyone else looking as nervous as he felt, or sticking out like a sore thumb like he was sure he would. Muttering goodbye to his mother, he slid out of the car, hunching his shoulders hoping not to draw too much attention to himself.

As soon as he was across the threshold of the college, he heard his mother driving away, moving further away from him. He tried not to notice the curious glances directed his way but he couldn’t block out the whispers that followed him. His eyes were focused on the floor so he didn’t spot the girl who went flying into him from the side. He stumbled and fell over, hitting his hip hard on the ground.

“Jess!” came the exasperated voice of someone who was tired of repeating the same things, over and over. “You’ve got to watch where you’re going! Sorry, she’s a bit ditzy,” the girl said, leaning down and offering a hand to him. “Are you ok?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so,” he muttered, taking her hand and hauling himself up gingerly. “It’s my fault too – I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you okay?” he asked the girl behind him, glancing back before doing a double take. “Oh, wow, twins, huh? Or did I hit my head harder than I thought?”