Whispered Secrets by Jay Mirano (the beginning after the end novel read .txt) 📖

look of insanity she now had.
“I was at Jake’s,” I shrugged, pushing past her and starting up the stairs.
“All night? What about Amy’s Party?”
Crud. I’d forgotten she’d dropped me off there.
“It was a total flop, so Jake and I bailed,” I said, trying to look convincing. “We went back to his and watched Zombieland.”
My mother seemed to falter, and her expression softened. “Why didn’t you call? I was so worried.”
“Well, I sent a text. I guess it didn’t go through.”
“Oh, I’m sorry Sam,” she said, advancing towards me and extending her arms for a hug. “You know I always think the worst.”
I held my breath so she wouldn’t detect the booze, before slipping away from her grasp and going up to my bedroom.
“I’m just going to do some studying!” I called down to Mom, throwing my purse onto the bed and slipping out of my Converse sneakers. “And I won’t want any dinner!”
“Okay honey!”
Her reply was permission for me to lock my door, and burrow under my duvet fully clothed. Sleep claimed me in a matter of seconds.

***

When I awoke, my room was bathed in darkness. My bedside clock claimed it was 7:43, but the remnants of my hangover still persisted.
I turned my lamp on and fished out a packet of paracetamol from my bedside drawers. I popped two, before dragging myself out of bed.
I switched my computer on, and rubbed my temples while I waited for the pain-killers to kick in.
I logged onto Facebook, and saw I had a message.
It was from Jake, of course.

Sam, what’s gotten into you? Tell me what’s up, please? I need my best-friend back... I want to tell her all about this amazing girl I met last night. Her name’s Lacey, but I think you know that. You have Home Room together, don’t you? Anyway, I’m off subject. She’s incredible, Sam, the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. I want to ask her to be my girlfriend, but I need your advice. I don’t want her to just be some random chick I hooked up with, y’know?

I groaned. My worst nightmares were coming true; Jake was actually into this girl. And to top it all off, he wanted my advice! But, he was right. I was acting like a psycho, and I was risking losing the most important person in my life because of it. So I sent off a reply, inviting him to spill all, then I pulled out my diary and told it the truth.

Chapter III

M onday at school was Hell, literally. It was Halloween, meaning the entire placed had been decked out to look like ghoul’s haunt. Of course, I hadn’t gotten the memo. I was wandering around in jeans and a T-shirt while everyone else was in costume.
I spied Jack leaning against his locker, and I ran up behind him and pushed him roughly on the back. He spun around, looking more shocked than usual, his blue eyes ablaze. I looked around him and saw Lacey there, looking highly amused. A pang of inferiority made my lower my gaze.
“Hi Sam,” Lacey trilled, flipping her blond ringlets off her shoulder.
She looked like a porcelain doll, a sharp contrast to my mousy features and dark auburn hair.
“Hey,” I said weakly, forcing a smile. “Jake, can I talk to you?”
“Now?” He looked panicked, before lowering his voice to a whisper. “Can’t this wait?”
I scowled. “Fine.”
I turned to leave, but Johnny stood in my path.
“Hey babe!” He cried, flinging his arms around my waist and drawing me in for a tight hug. “I’ve been looking all over you.”
I shot a glance over my shoulder to see Jake looking very, very entertained.
“Oh, hi Johnny,” I wheezed, ducking out of his grip. “How are you?”
“A whole lot better now that I’ve got you again,” he beamed, resting his arm over my shoulders. “The best girlfriend in the world.”
My stomach lurched.
Johnny was dressed as a vampire, and he pretended to drink from my neck before erupting into hysterical laughter.
Girlfriend?! How drunk was I?

“You guys are dating?” Lacey shrieked. “That’s great, we can double date!”
I winced, and turned to smile sarcastically at her.
“Lacey and I are dating now, too,” Jake said, filling in the obvious. He looked far too happy to be sane.
“I think we should all give Amy a thank-you card,” Johnny laughed, wrapping my hair around his fingers. “She’s the ultimate match-maker!”
What a mess.

***

My cousin Danielle looked like a Cheshire Cat.
“So let me get this straight,” she said, taking a sip of her milkshake. “You’re in love with Jake?”
“Yes.”
“Who’s in love with Lacey?”
“Ya-huh.”
“And Johnny’s in love with you?”
“Pretty much.”
“Damn girl, you know how to dig yourself into holes.”
“Danielle! So not helping.”
Danielle was my confidante incarnate when my diary simply wouldn’t do. I was just thankful we didn’t go to the same high-school; I don’t know who I would turn to if I couldn’t talk to her.
“So what are you going to do about it?”
“Break up with Johnny, I guess. I mean, it’s not that he’s bad-looking or anything, it’s just that my heart belongs to someone else.”
“No! Don’t do that!”
I was genuinely taken aback. “Why not?”
“Because you’ve got to make Jake jealous. How are you going to manage that when you’re single?”
“... How am I supposed to make him jealous when he’s head over heels with Lacey?”
“Be the seductress.”
I raised my eyebrows at her.
“Summon your inner siren!”
“You’re insane.”
“C’mon Sam, you’re a hot piece of ass.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You could lure Jake over to your side if you just put your mind to it.”
“Is that so?”
“I guarantee it.”
Before I’d even had time to reply, Danielle had leaped to her feet, grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me from the store.

***

“I look ridiculous.”
Danielle had spend the better part of the afternoon giving me a, “make-over” but I’d only ended up looking like a stripper.
“Sam, you look like a babe. If Jake isn’t blown away by this, well... He simply can’t be straight.”
“And you’re an expert, are you?”
“I’m never short of having men fall at my feet, am I?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Honestly, Sam, wear this to the double date tonight. You’ll knock his socks off.”
“This better work, Danielle. Or it’s your neck!”
“I get it, I get it, my neck’s on the line. Need a lift?”
“Yeah, okay.”

***

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s the puppy-dog look. But there seemed to be an abundance of it at this table; the way Jake and Lacey where gazing into each-other’s eyes was enough to make my stomach turn. I could feel Johnny staring a hole in the side of my face, but I refused to give him eye contact. No way, no how, could he ever get the impression that I was somehow into him.
I cleared my throat. “So, this is awkward.”
Jake broke his Lacey trance just long enough to cock an eyebrow in my general direction.
I cleared my throat again, this time much more obnoxiously. “Look, this isn’t much of a double date if there’s no talking going on...”
I tried to add a hint of laughter to my voice, but I still came off sounding bitter and vindictive.
Jake let out a long, exasperated sigh, just so that there was no mistaking the annoyance I caused him.
“Well, what do you want to talk about?”
My mouth gaped open and closed; I had no idea. What was there to talk about with the man you’re in love with and his girlfriend? Not to mention Johnny...
“Um... Uh... Well... Where did you guys meet?” I felt the regret of my freshly-spoken words hit me like a ton of bricks, and my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. I was an idiot.
“Are you kidding?” Lacey asked, giggling.
“Well obviously you guys met at school,” I said, trying to salvage the situation. “But how did you... Meet?” I groaned inwardly.
Jake smirked. “I’ve always seen her around in the halls and such,” he said, returning his gaze to Lacey once more. “But I never worked up the courage to ask her out until Amy’s party...”
Lacey let out another of her trademark giggles, and entwined her fingers with Jake’s. Johnny seemed to take that as an invitation on my part, because he snaked his hand over to my knee and squeezed in lightly. I swatted him away perhaps a tad too harshly, the disgust etched plainly on my face. Johnny let out a pitiful little yelp, and I felt a twinge of guilt for leading him on.
“So Sam,” Lacey said, setting her piercing eyes on me. “I need to go to the bathroom... Come with me?”
I was struck by the absurdity of her question, but neither Jake nor Johnny seemed to think the suggestion was in any way odd. I shrugged meekly, and slid out of the booth to follow her.
The diner was crowded with Saturday night traffic, and it took a lot of dodging waitresses and squeezing past chairs to actually reach the bathroom.
Once inside, Lacey made a bee-line for the mirror, and I hovered uncertainly beside her, wondering what she was doing. She applied a lick of cherry gloss to her lips, and pouted at her reflection. I had to stifle a snort.
“Johnny seems nice,” she said, peering at me from beneath her mascara-laden lashes. She leaned back against the counter and inspected her nails.
“Yeah... He’s great,” I replied, trying to muster as much as enthusiasm as was humanly possible. It wasn’t convincing.
Lacey sighed. “Let me just cut to the chase here, okay Sam?” She narrowed her eyes at me, and I nodded for her to continue. “It’s fairly obvious that you’re into Jake.”
I tried to protest, but she merely raised her hand to silence me.
“It was cute while you two were kids, but you’ve grown up now. You need to start acting like it.”
My heartbeat suddenly seemed very loud, and I had to put my hand against the counter to steady myself. “How do you know?” I whispered.
“It’s pretty obvious,” she said, smiling. “The way you always follow him around, or do whatever he asks. And the way you always stare at the back of his head in class, even during exams. It’s sad, really.”
I felt a rush of dizziness overcome me. “You’re not going to tell Jake, are you?”
She stared at me in disbelief. “I, a total stranger, know about your infatuation with Jake, and you don’t think that he hasn’t realized? Give the guy some credit.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, trying to squeeze out the information my brain had just absorbed. This couldn’t be happening.
“Look, if it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll make you a deal.”
“Well?”
“I won’t tell Jake... If you back off and leave us alone.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sam, Jake’s with me now. He doesn’t want you, he wants me

. Why can’t you understand that?”
I stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. Was she really trying to tell me I couldn’t see my best friend anymore?
“You’re crazy if you think I’m ever going to stop talking to Jake,” I spat.
"What is wrong with you? Can't you see that Jake's just using you? You're handy to have around, handy for doing homework, but nothing more. You're nothing to him,