Seth Unseen

Part 8: The Secrets That You Keep

I normally look forward to Saturdays, but not this one. Knowing that I have to spend two hours in some school meeting ruins the entire day. The weekends are usually my time to decompress from all the stresses of the week. I can just stay at home, read my comics, draw, and play video games uninterrupted. I don't worry about school, or teachers, or other students, it's my time to be alone and doing what I want to do. To my dismay, this parade float business is getting in the way of that.

I suppose I should count my blessings. This week has been the best one I've had in a long time, thanks exclusively to Ken. I can't go long without thinking of him; his words of encouragement and his good looks pulls me out of whatever melodramatic teen bullshit that I get stuck in. Now that I'm imprisoned in this English room, talking about floats and school spirit, I need these thoughts of him now more than ever.

Brynn goes on and on about the information presented in the binders. As I had foreseen, I didn't read all of those pages, but it didn't matter because she detailed the finer points of it anyway.

"You've all had time to look over the float options," Brynn says. She's wearing a pink daisy dress, which offsets her prickly personality. "We'll first vote on the float, then we'll decide on the color palette. Next week, we'll discuss any minor alterations that need to be made, and then we can send off our design to the team. Okay, let's vote: who wants the first option?"

Sally and Laith raise their hands tentatively, as if they didn't have any stake in their opinion.

"Who wants the second option?"

Brynn herself raises her hands and so does Sally. They're both considerably more enthusiastic than the previous two, but that's not saying much.

"Seth," Brynn says, turning to me. "You're going to be the tie-breaker. Which do you want, the first or second option?"

"Neither," I say firmly.

"You can't choose the third option, Seth. It's two for the shooting star and two for the giant football."

"I don't want the third option either," I say, sitting up in my seat. "I had an idea for a fourth option, something that's at least somewhat original. Over the last ten years, Middleton High School has only used variations of those three options, and it's time for a change. I've designed a float with the head of our school mascot: the fox."

I open my notebook and show them the sketch of the fox head float colored in with colored pencils. The other group members turn around to see and Laith and Sally look vaguely impressed, which is a win in my book.

"I thought that this could be a viable option. At least then we could say that we actually contributed."

"I'm sorry, but there's not enough time for that," Brynn says, crossing her arms and jutting her hip to the side.

"But if we decide early on, won't that give the builders enough time to get it done?" I ask. "Maybe they'll be excited to try something different for a change."

Brynn frowns and looks around, like she's been caught in a trap and says, "That's just not how it's done."

"Then why don't we take it to a vote, then. Who wants to use the fox float?"

Everyone looks at Brynn, then turns back to me and they raise their hands, voting in the affirmative.

Laith says, "I think the fox is kinda cool. I like foxes."

"Yeah, I kinda like it, too," says Sally, looking at Laith.

"I mean, I did want to leave my mark," Katelyn adds. "And what says originality more than doing something that hasn't been done before?"

Brynn stands up straight, as if to appear unaffected when she so obviously feels betrayed by everyone in the room, and says, "Fine. I will bring it up to the builders, but if they disagree, we're moving ahead with the football float and it will be up to my specifications. Am I clear?"

Everyone nods in agreement.

"Good," she says, smiling as if this small battle was her victory in a war.

After the meeting ends, I go to my locker to grab a textbook I had forgotten. Algebra of course. I think subconsciously I did it on purpose. I catch myself smiling and I'm happy that these halls are empty. I can't wait to get home and tell Ken that his idea worked. It's lame, but I like the idea of him being proud of me.

 I get to my locker and turn the notches to the proper combinations, but when I open it  I see aa small note atop of my books. I look at it for a few seconds, then grab it and open it up. When I read it, it doesn't immediately register and I don't react. I tell myself it's some kind of joke, or maybe it was a mistake, but deep down I know it's not.

The note reads:

"I know about you and Ken." And I feel like my world just ended.