--Six time award winning novel by June D. Silver-
"Hidden truths are unspoken lies"
As a straight A student, Finnley never got himself into trouble. He goes to school, runs track, hangs out with his two best friends Cristian and Emma and studies; a...
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– Sixteen months ago –
"Are we going to sit inside, or outside?" Emma skips towards her locker, that is right next to mine. It's really how I got to know her. We always ran into each other in front of our lockers.
"Let's wait for Finn and then decide." I look back into the hallway, waiting for him to join us for lunch. "If we change places he might not find us."
"Right." She grins widely. "I'll wait for Finn."
"I bet you will." I chuckle. "When are you going to tell him?"
"I don't know." She mumbles. "I don't think he is interested in me that way."
"Only one way to find out."
"Not today." She shakes her head. "He's a bit stressed about grades. You know how he gets about grades."
I chuckle and nod. "And he probably aced all of the tests."
"But I'll wait until he's a little less stressed. Maybe we can convince him to go out with us." She wiggles her eyebrows.
"You know Finn doesn't drink or goes out for that matter." I wink at her. "You'll have to tell him when he's sober."
"Ugh." She groans. "It's way easier to tell someone you like them while being a little drunk and not aware of how embarrassing things could be if someone turns you down."
"Cheers to that."
"Where is he?" She whines, looking at her watch. "He's late, again."
"We can go and pick him up?" I suggest, closing my locker and grabbing my bag. "Let's go." I start walking and Emma jumps in action, switching books, which she could have done while waiting for Finnley. She grabs her back, slams her locker shut and runs after me. By the time I'm rounding the corner to head for the stairs, she catches up.
"You could have waited." She complains, taking in a couple of deep breaths to steady her breathing. "You know I hate running."
"I know." I laugh and nudge her softly. "But you'd run for Finnley, wouldn't you?"
"I'd run to the end of the world and back." She giggles. "And I regret ever telling you about my feelings. Will you shut up about it already?"
"No, I'm gonna tease you until you finally tell him how you feel."
"That's a really bad way of motivating me." Emma dramatically pretends to climb a mountain instead of just some stairs. "You could ask him if he's into someone. You know, hear him out for me."
"I could." I nod, grinning at her when we finally reach second floor. We start looking for Finnley, who isn't in the classroom he last had a class in, or in the smaller lunchroom on this floor. I take Emma with me to the library. She's never been up here before since Finnley normally meets us downstairs. The last time I was up here, was when Finnley promised to sit with me for lunch in first year, but totally forgot about lunch because he was working on some project.
