Falling

22

Carson Hughes

My friends were getting suspicious.

I had first noticed it on Monday afternoon when we were all sitting in the basement at Logan's house. My phone was in my hand and my eyes were staring at the screen as I read through the texts Vinny sent me. He was complaining about the ending of a book he had just finished reading and his commentary was comical.

From: Vinvin

i'm so fucking pissed off

like why would you kill a character and make their death a huge fucking deal just to bring them back.

To: Vinvin

shouldnt you be happy the character was brought back?

From: Vinvin

are you serious

i hated him

and his death had a purpose why couldn't he just stay dead it makes every other death so meaningless if he could just be brought back

i cannot believe you said that to me

I smiled down at my phone, trying to stifle a laugh, but my expression didn't go unnoticed.

"Who's got you grinning at your phone like the Cheshire Cat?" Dana asked from where she sat between Logan and Hadley.

I looked up and noticed all eyes were on me. My friends had looks of suspicion on their faces as they waited for my response, all except Isaac who was shaking his head at me. He had voiced to me that he didn't think I was being subtle enough to keep my relationship with Vinny a secret. Of course, I had disregarded that because I didn't think any of them would pay enough attention to notice anything. And, of course, I was wrong.

"Carson are you seeing someone?" Hadley nearly shrieked in excitement. "And you didn't tell us?"

"Um, no?" I said with uncertainty. They all gave me expectant looks. "I mean, no, no I'm not."

"Do we know them?" Dana asked, completely ignoring my words. "Is it someone from school?"

"Or is it a hot lifeguard from the summer camp and you're rekindling a summer romance?" Archie added in a teasing tone.

"It's no one," I told them, locking my phone and sliding it back into my pocket. "I was just on Instagram."

"Sure, you were," Hadley sarcastically replied. "Fine, don't tell us for now. You will when you're ready."

Then, their suspicion heightened on Wednesday when I went to meet Vinny in the locker room at lunch time. When I stood from the table, they all sent me wide-eyed looks of knowing.

"What?" I asked them.

Hadley shrugged. "Nothing." Her and Dana shared a look while Archie grinned at my obvious discomfort. Logan gave me a blank stare.

"Seriously, what?" I asked, getting agitated. It really wasn't like me to get nervous around my friends, but the stress of trying to be secretive, and them catching onto me, was eating at me.

"You just seem to be leaving the table a lot lately," Dana answered with a light smile that appeared on her face more like a smirk.

"I told you guys I'm not doing well in Physics," I reminded her. "I have to go talk to my teacher so I don't fail."