scarlett10884

[scarlett10884]

PART 2 WIP 🥳🥳🥳

[scarlett10884]

Keeping Secrets

Prologue

James

I think its around 11:30PM on Sunday. I’m lying in my bed, scrolling though my phone, just waiting. I should really go to sleep. I’ve started to refresh my phone, shutting it off and on again, turning the wifi off and on, but nothing.

Maybe it’s my fault though. Maybe I said something I shouldn’t have. Maybe its because…

Wait a second.

What am I doing??

I put my hands on my face, and ran them through my greasy hair. Oh shit, when’s the last time I washed my hair? Since when have I not taken a shower? I sat up and turned to look at my mirror/closet door. Jesus, my mom is going to kill me if I don’t clean up soon. I got up out of my bed, and opened my door ever-so-slightly, hoping my parents don’t hear my creaking door. I open it all the way, and made it down the hall without waking them. Phew. I opened the door, turned on the light, and splashed water on my face. Gasping for air, I looked up. My hair was drenched from the water, I have red lipstick marks on my face, and I have some weird substance on my face that they threw at me last night, all while tears are running down my face.

…

My mom was in the kitchen with my food. “How’d you sleep last night hon?” she asked, but her face turned from kindness to concern. “Why are you so dirty?” I shook my head and muttered, “Nothing.”

Nothing and everything.

Part 1

James

Ugh… what time is it…?

I looked at my buzzing phone, while my alarm was still going off. I picked it up. 8:15? Shit I’m so late! I got up out of bed, threw some water on my hair, changed into a t-shirt and jeans, grabbed my backpack and phone, and ran out the door with a protein bar in my hand. “Do you want a ri-” I hear my mom say, before I shut the door. Sorry mom, I’m already late, and today I have my favorite English teacher. Hopefully she’ll understand. I just barely got on the late bus, heading for school. The usual late kids are there, as always. Theres the chatty girls up front, the weed smokers in the back, and the geeks in the middle. In the middle of the geeks’ group, I spot Ethan Carroll, my best friend, sitting there, scrolling through his phone. “Ethan!” I said, sliding into the seat next to him. He pulls out his headphones and rolls them up in his pocket. “Yo, James! What are you doin’ on the late kids’ bus?” I laugh and respond, “I woke up ten minutes ago, I was so freaking tired.” “You? Tired? Please. You don’t even go to any parties. How can you be tired?” I roll my eyes at him. “I do go to parties…” I mutter, trailing off. He gives me his signature cut the bullshit look. “I think you mean birthday parties for your siblings’ four-year-old friends.” he remarks, smirking. “Shut up,” I shove him playfully. “Plus, I go to adult parties. Like the ones my dad hosts at his accounting firm when they manage to make more money than usual. There’s alcohol there, and it always ends late at night, around ten. Doesn’t that count?” Ethan narrows his eyes, and responds “I mean, if there’s alcohol and it ends at ten, which by the way, is super-duper late, then of course!” I roll my eyes, and try to give him my version of his cut the bullshit look, but it’s ineffective. Instead, we’re glaring at each other with a deadpan stare, not even blinking. We burst out laughing. He wipes away a fake tear from his face as he says, “Come on, this is our stop.” We got up and out of the bus. When I check my phone for the time, it says 8:27. “Shoot. Gotta run. See ya Ethan!” I manage to yell over my shoulder as I run to Room 0007, my homeroom.

I manage to fly into my seat just before the bell rings, almost falling out. My seat mate, Clarissa, giggled as I just barely managed to keep my balance. I ignore her as she coos “Heyyy Jamessss, you barely made it today.” She giggles again. I swear to God if she giggles like that one more time I will grab my chair and throw it out the window. “Hi Clarissa.” I mutter in an emotionless voice. As soon as my teacher calls my name for attendance, I raise my hand. Meanwhile, Clarissa continues to fawn over my hair, clothes, freckles, and according to her, anything that make me look “suuuuuper cuteeee~”. I can almost see the hearts floating above her head and Cupid’s arrow through her heart. Sorry Cupid, looks like you made the wrong call.

After English and Bio, the lunch bell rings. The second it does, everyone runs out of the classroom, except for me. The entire class is pushing and shoving each other in order to be first in line for lunch. Don’t think too much into it, because the lunches here aren’t that good. It’s just that the students here haven’t eaten since seven. It’s currently one o’ clock. Do the math. Anyways, I’ve devised a simple plan for this lunch dilemma. I have a small snack during English class, (hidden from other guys, of course,) and that keeps me from becoming a savage. After, I wait in class for a little bit, or at least until the lunch line dissipates. Then I go grab my lunch, swipe my student ID, and sit with Ethan and his geek friends, (who are pretty generic considering that all they talk about are spaceships, sci-fi fan-fiction, and superhero comics.) Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind listening to these kinds of conversations, let alone participating in them, but they don’t listen to anyone except their group of ten. Plus, that back-and-forth bickering about whether the fan-fic finale of Superman! was better than the actual finale. As I go to sit down, I see Ethan put his head in his hands and mutter something under his breath. I sat down next to him. “Hey! I see they’ve already gotten on your nerves.” I elbowed him playfully. He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. “I honestly hate these guys. You’re the only sane person here.” I laugh. They might not get along, but they sure give for some good entertainment!

~

Kianne

I woke up around ten or so. I think it’s 11PM on a Wednesday night. I’m sitting here watching Stephen King movies with popcorn and candy corn. My mom fell asleep around eight, so I should be okay to blast the movie at full volume. Ever since my asshole-of-a-dad left, she’s been going to work in pajamas and hair clipped up. I don’t really think she’ll stop being so numb, at least for a while now. Plus, I’ve learned that she sleeps much deeper if she cries herself to sleep. I don’t blame her. I have to start school soon, so someone will probably ask me how I’ve been, maybe a counselor or a teacher, but I’ll just tell them that I’m fine. It’s true. I never loved him as much as I did my mom. He was always “away”. I think my earliest memory of him is him arguing with my mother. I remember him saying something about something not being a big deal. The most vivid part of this was my mom yelling, “NOT A BIG DEAL?! YOU’RE NEVER HERE. KIANNE NEEDS HER FATHER, I NEED HER FATHER. YOU’RE MY HUSBAND! WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE A FAMILY!” I don’t remember much after that, but I guess that’s okay.

~

My mom woke me up earlier than usual. I would be mad at her, but there’s no reason to be. She told me that I had to go to school one of these days. I shrugged and continued to eat my breakfast. A banana and a cup of coffee, two creams and two sugars. Perfect for today. She told me that I need to stop acting like this. I don’t really remember what she’s talking about, so I don’t think I can give her an answer. It’s fine. I continue eating my breakfast, when all of a sudden, my mom just bursts into tears. I felt my eyes widen a little bit, but they softened quickly. I got up and gave her a hug. I caressed her head while I held her. Her sobbing slowly reduced to sniffles. She held me tight.

I guess I forgot how it felt to be held like this.

By someone you love.

~

James

It’s finally Friday. I can’t wait for school to be over, (for once), because after class, Ethan is coming over so we can do our Friday Night (Hangout?). I don’t really know what to call it, but ever since second grade, we go to each other’s houses on Friday nights and hang out and sometimes we sleep over. Today, it’s my turn to be the host. My LED lights are charged, I made sure to buy popcorn and candy corn, (they’re my favorite snack to eat during movies.) Of course, I bought Pop Rocks for Ethan because he’s a masochist. (Not really but he likes the feeling when his tongue gets pinched by whatever chemicals they put in those. I’ve told him that those are horrible for him, but then he criticizes me for eating candy corn and popcorn.) I check my phone and it reads 10:32 AM. School ends at 4 PM. I’m gonna be here a while. As I look up to continue taking Biology notes, I hear an “Ahem.” Shit. I look up, and there’s Mr. Martin, my Bio teacher, staring at me with his hand out. “Phone, Mr. Marseilles. Now.” I handed it over reluctantly. I won’t be able to get in contact with Ethan until French class. “On another note, Miss Johnson,” said Mr. Martin. “Please come in, and for the love of god get off your phone!” Johnson? Never seen a Miss Johnson at school. Must be a new student. Maybe she’ll be really nice! I’d like another friend. All of a sudden, I noticed a girl standing against the wall with headphones on, staring at her phone. Has she been standing there this whole time? She’s wearing a dark blue hoodie with leggings. She looks so quiet. She looked up at the teacher and opened her headphones. “Hm?” she whispered. “These devices are rotting these children…” he muttered. “Come on up, don’t be shy. The whole class is excited to meet you.” He looked at the class with a wide-eyed stare. “Right, class?” he said with his teeth clenched. The entire class was too distracted to even notice Mr. Martin. They were all analyzing the new girl. I began to analyze her too. She has light, colorless eyes, as if there was no soul behind them. Her lips are chapped, and she has this beautiful caramel-beige skin tone that compliments her medium-length hair, which is a dark brown, almost black, and you can’t really tell unless you look closely. She has a normal-looking body for the most part, but-

Wait,

What am I doing??

It’s disrespectful to think and look at her like that.

But she’s really pretty. She looks like a fallen angel.

As I continue looking at her, Mr. Martin says, “Now, where to seat you…” I perk up, my hand shooting up to the sky. “Mr. Martin, she can sit next to me! There’s an empty seat right here.” I said. Mr. Martin squints at me, and I can see a glimmer in his eyes, (and this is taking in count that Mr. Martin is a very emotionless person.). “Alright Mr. Marseilles, why not? Introduce yourself first, then go sit next to Mr. Marseilles, Miss Johnson.” I hear her whisper something about her name being Kianne Johnson as she walks to her new seat. I guess that’s her name. “Hey, nice to meet you Kianne, I’m James.” I said as a put my hand out. She looks at me blankly, tilted her head slightly, and sat down without saying a word. Guess she’s not feeling the first day of school. I retract my hand and whisper, “You might want to pull out your notebook and pen, because Mr. Martin is brutal with the notes.” She turns to look at me, looks forward, and puts her hoodie on. She put her head in a little hole her arms she made, resting on the desk. I pat her on the shoulder, but no response. How did she fall asleep so quickly? She must’ve been so tired last night. I’ll let her copy off of my notes tomorrow. I keep on copying down notes. This’ll be a fun year.

~

Kianne

I had to wake up early today, because I’m starting school again today. I put on a Metallica t-shirt under my plain navy hoodie. I pulled on some leggings, and left my room to go eat breakfast. A cup of coffee, two creams and two sugars, and vitamins. Perfect. I grab my backpack and head out of the door. I know that I might be assigned a “guide” but I don’t really care about anything they have to say. They’ll probably tell me a long story on why there’s a pair of boxers glued to the second left pillar down the east hallway. It’s always the same.

As I get to school, I’m greeted by a woman with a floral dress that makes her look twenty years older than she already looks. She says something about teachers, a Biology class, and a schedule, all as she hands me a slip of paper with all my classes. I look at her, nod, and walk to my next class, Room 0021. I’m already late, but it doesn’t really matter. Better late than never. I’m already here anyways. I look at the door, and I have…

Biology…

All of a sudden I don’t want to go in.

You have to go in,

Or you’ll never get over it.

I take a deep breath and knock. An old man opens the door, and says that I’m early for his class. He introduces himself as Mr. Martin. He tells me to stand over in the front corner of the classroom, behind a closet and that he’ll let me be an exception to his “no phones or headphones” rule. I comply, putting on my noise-cancelling headphones. By the time I look up from my phone, I see Mr. Martin looking at me. I pull my headphones down to my neck, mutter my name, and sit where he told me to. There’s a boy next to where my assigned seat is, and he looks… chipper, for lack of a better word. He tells me his name, James, and sticks out his hand.

How can I hear him so clearly…?

His voice sounds… comforting…

I sit down, and he tells me “You might want to pull out your notebook and pen, because Mr. Martin is brutal with the notes.” I turn to look at him, and I wonder how I can hear him so perfectly compared to everyone else. I put my head on the desk, my arms acting like a pillow, and I go to sleep. I’ll get the notes later…

~

I’m awoken by the same boy. I look at him with a blank stare, analyzing his face. He has glowing-brown hair, brown eyes with golden speckles, a warm smile, and light freckles that are barely noticeable. “Good morning Kianne, I’m your new guide for the rest of the week, or as long as you need to get accustomed to this new school. I’m James Marseilles, nice to meet you!” He sticks out his hand again. I look at him, and at his hand, and I stand up and grab my things. There’s no need for such commonplace greetings, just to occupy silence. I tell myself. But I don’t believe myself. He says “Our school counselor, Mrs. Fracklebaum, set our schedules exactly the same, so our next class is math. Ms. Williams is sweet, and she’ll be happy to help you get used to her class.” I look at him as he leads me out of class, and to his locker. “This is my locker, and the code is 1370. They haven’t been able to appoint you a locker yet, since most people don’t like sharing lockers, but your more than welcome to use mine for now.” He’s so happy… to meet me… whatever. I leave my Bio stuff in the space he parted for me. I grab a sticky note out of my backpack and write “kianne” on it, and put it on my books. He smiles. “Come on, we have math next, and we have to climb three flights of stairs.” He groans. Yet he still gives off a warm energy…

~

James

As I lead Kianne up the stairs, we don’t speak at all. She hasn’t said a word to me, and when she did speak, (which was only when she introduced herself in front of the class,) I couldn’t hear her voice. We continue going up in total silence. As we reach the top floor, I see the football team blocking the middle of the hallway, and I hear one them say “Yo dudes, look! It’s scrawny-boy Jake!” Shit. I grab Kianne by her wrist, and she flinches, but she doesn’t move. “Let’s go. These guys are strong.” I tug on her arm, but she doesn’t move an inch. The jocks start to walk towards us, cracking their knuckles. I look back at Kianne and I hold both her hands. “Trust me.” I say, as she looks at me. Her eyes widen slightly, and soften just as quickly. She looks at my hands, and nods. This is the most amount of emotion she’s shown all day! I lead her through a narrow hallway, and just as I’m about to reach Ms. William’s classroom, I hear one of the guys say “Looks like he finally got a girlfriend.” The rest of the team chuckles, and I can feel myself blushing. When I look back at Kianne, she doesn’t look back at me. She suddenly seemed very interested in the pattern of the floor tiles. I ask her if she’s okay, and she nods. We enter Ms. Williams classroom, sit down, and as I pull out my computer, Kianne pulls out hers. It’s covered in alternating stickers, from Metallica to Converse to a pair of headphones. “I like the stickers on your computer! They look cool.” She simply looks at me and puts her head down, and goes to sleep. Whatever she’s thinking, I’ll never know. At least she seems comfortable. I smile at her, and start working on my assignments.

She’s really pretty.

~

Part 2 coming soon!!