Dark Secrets (18 page)

“
May I?” he
asked.

I tried to say yes,
but only a quivering breath came past my lips.

David’s cheeks lifted
with a soft grin; he turned his hand, sliding his fingertips under
mine, closing them against my palm, then pulled me down gently to
the grass in front of him.

“
Ara?” David paused,
frowning at me. “You’re supposed to breathe.”

I took a deep breath
and, though daylight remained, all around me night enclosed my
world—tunnelling my vision to the only thing in the universe worth
looking at. I smoothed my thumb over his, feeling myself lean
closer, our eyes locked so intensely that if we were any nearer,
the colours would’ve blended.

“
Are you okay?” he
asked quietly, holding my hand with a kind of gentility that made
me feel precious.

But I wasn’t okay. Not
anymore. I was lost, fallen completely into some feeling I wasn’t
ready for. Somehow, our fingers fit so perfectly together, like
they were created only for this purpose. I was the lock and he was
the only key. How would I ever come back from this? “No. I’m not
okay.”

“
Let me tell you
something.” David edged a little closer. “And I say this as your
friend, Ara.”

I braced
myself.

He brushed my ponytail
over my shoulder, the softness of his touch sending a shiver down
my neck. “Your scars make no difference to the way I see you. I
know you’re afraid that you aren’t good enough for me, but how
could I ever look past those eyes long enough to see
scars?”

I half smiled, rolling
my face downward; he’d been allowed to look at them longer than
anyone so far. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

His fingers tightened
on mine. “Because I like you.”

Behind me, the swing
stirred gently in the breeze, and the golden glow of sunset
surrounded the sky in a blanket of soft pink and purple clouds,
making his eyes dark and shadowed. “Why do you like me?”

“
Because you’re
funny, cute, sweet, smart—”

I scoffed at that one;
he smiled.

“
You’re, believe it
or not, actually quite witty and, from what I can tell after this
short period of time, I have a lot more in common with you than any
other girl I’ve ever spoken to.”

“
Not hard since you
never talk to girls.”

He shook his head,
smiling as he ran his fingers down my ponytail. “I feel a
connection to you, Ara—one I’ve not felt before.”

“
Connection?”

“
I—” He kind of
laughed, looking past me for a second. “I think we roll on the same
wavelength, if you know what I mean.”

“
Yeah.” I nodded. “I
think I know exactly what you mean.”

He looked up from my
lips. “You wanna know something else, pretty girl?”

“
Only if I’m going to
like what you have to say.”

His serious eyes
warmed, a wide smile showing his teeth again. “I think I like
holding your hand.”

Chapter
Seven

The rain passed left a
chill that made my toes cold under the strappy shoes. I hugged my
arms across my chest, making myself small as I passed a group of
obviously drunk boys.

“
Hey.” One of them
broke from the cluster.

“
Oh, hey.” I waved,
glad it was only Mark from school.

“
What you doin’ out
this late?” he said, but kind of kept walking past me.

“
Just headed
home.”

“
You want a ride?” He
motioned behind him to his group of mates.

“
Nah. I’m gonna call
my mum.”

“
Okay.” He nodded and
turned back, jumping into the huddle as I headed for the corner
store, where the only pay phone still in existence resided. The
flickering light beamed down on me inside the booth, making my skin
almost blue. I picked up the receiver with two fingers and held it
just beside my face, not touching my cheek, then dialled reverse
charges; it picked up in two rings.

“
Mum?”

“
Ara-Rose?” she
sounded groggy and confused.

“
Yeah, it’s me. Um—”
My lip quivered. “Can you come get me?”

“
Why?”

“
I’m at a pay phone.
Can you please just come get me?” I burst into tears.

“
What happened? Why
are you crying?” Her voice became clear with panic as she threw a
dozen questions at me.

“
I...I had a fight
with Mike.”

“
Mike? What were you
doing at Mike’s? I thought you were at Kate’s.”

“
I was, Mum. Okay. I
don’t wanna talk about it. Can you just come get me?”

“
Ara-Rose. It’s the
middle of the night. I just got Harry down again and
he’s—”

“
Mum!” I yelled down
the line, holding the grotty phone in a tighter grip. “It’s three
in the morning. I’m cold and tired and—”

“
Ara, just...” She
let out a breath. “Hang up, okay, I’ll call Mike. He can
come—”

“
No, Mum. Don’t.
Please don’t. I don’t wanna see him.”

“
Why, honey, what
happened?”

“
Nothing,” I
practically screamed, my tears coming out in streams. “Just come
get me.”

“
Harry’s sick, Ara.”
She went quiet. “He shouldn’t go out at this time of night. You
know I care about you and, quite frankly, I’m terrified of the fact
that I don’t know where you are. I mean, I’m guessing you’re on a
pay phone, aren’t you?”

“
Mm-hm.” I sniffled,
wiping my cheeks.

“
Honey, you’re
seventeen now. You’re too old for this. Just stop being a baby and
go back to Mike’s. I’ll come get you first thing in the
morning.”

“
No!” I held the
phone right in front of my lips to make my voice as clear as the
goddamn day. “I am never going back there, Mum. Never. If you don’t
come get me, I’ll hitchhike home.”

“
Please, honey,
just—”

“
Fine. I’m hanging
up,” I said. “I see a car.” I didn’t see a car. “I’m sticking my
thumb out, Mum. I’m doing it.”

“
All right. Okay.
I’ll come get you. Just—just stay there, okay?”

“
Okay.” I calmed
instantly.

“
Where are
you?”

“
The corner
store.”

“
Ronnie’s?” she
screeched. “Ara, that’s three blocks away. You can walk
that.”

“
I’m scared, Mum. And
I’m...I’m wearing heels.”

It clicked then. I
knew it did. I knew she knew the only reason I’d be wearing heels
when I was supposed to be at a sleepover would be if I wasn’t at a
sleepover.

“
Just stay there,
Ara-Rose. And by God, child, you are in a world of trouble when we
get home.” She hung up.

I held the phone for
another few seconds, resting my head on the glass, feeling the
swirl of alcohol mix in my system with fear, making me want to
puke. But when I opened my eyes again, daylight flooded my world;
it took a second for my eyes to adjust—to see the dresser mirror on
the other side of the room, the yellow walls, the white door and
the new morning greeting me. And I could still feel her; still feel
her voice in my ears.

I smoothed the covers
out on top of me and let the proverbial rock on my chest keep me in
place, on my back, unable to breathe.

Downstairs, Dad’s
burly laughter rose above the clatter of Vicki making breakfast,
arguing about something with Sam.

But I was
okay.

Slowly, the air came
back into my lungs and, breath by breath, the rock lifted, leaving
me picturing only one thing: David.

I jumped out of bed
and headed straight for the shower, eager to start the brand new
day.

Sam burst through the
front door. “Ara, David’s waiting for you across the
road.”

My spoon hit the side
of my bowl, splashing milk onto the placemat, as I leaped from my
chair to peer out the window. David’s head whipped up, his eyes
meeting mine for a split second when I pulled the sheer curtain
back. And I was out of there. I grabbed my bag, leaving my bowl on
the table, and ran out the door. In the case of David versus
Breakfast, the judge and jury were in; we all knew the
verdict.

Outside, the morning
sun cast a spotlight on his perfection. I wanted to stop walking
and just stand still—gawking at him for a while. But he looked
different somehow, than he did yesterday. His mysterious green eyes
held a smile in the corners, but the depth of focus in them, when
added with his thinly pressed lips, made him look almost
uneasy.

“
Hi,
David.”

He took my backpack
and threw it over his shoulder, then started walking, without
saying a word and without the usual smile.

My brow contorted into
a frown. “David?”

“
Mm?” he said, but
his eyes didn’t answer, like they usually did.

“
Is…everything
okay?”

“
Uh, yeah.” He
dropped his fingers from the bridge of his nose and looked up,
remembering suddenly that I was alive. “Sorry. I have a lot on my
mind.”

“
Oh.” I stared
forward, wishing I had pockets to shove my hands in so I wouldn’t
chew my nails. “Anything I can help with?”

“
No.”

“
Maybe I can at least
listen? You know, lend an ear.”

“
If discussing this
problem would solve it, then I would. But it won’t, so there’s
little point.”

So, he’d taken a leaf
out of my book. Suddenly, Mike’s threat to either talk to someone
or have him do it for me didn’t seem so big and scary. In some
ways, after sitting with David in my backyard last night, letting
the sun set around us, just two friends, holding hands, I’d almost
considered telling him what brought me to live here. So many times
I even opened my mouth, and while sleeping last night, had, I
think, resolved to ‘let him in’. But his sudden distance, like
someone had flicked the ‘reality’ switch, made me think all that
magic I felt with him was an influx of hormones and, today, the
world was back to its usual cold self.

I stole a glance at
David; he was walking beside me in physical form, but his mind and
spirit were so far away that his eyes had completely fixed on one
spot—narrowed with deep concentration. I almost wondered if he was
trying to start a fire with telekinesis.

“
So…did you…did you
get up to anything interesting last night?” I asked.

“
Interesting?” he
said, kind of confused.

“
I just…never mind.”
I looked away. And he didn’t mind. Didn’t even bother to engage in
small talk.

At the top of the
stairs, Emily and Alana talked casually as if they’d been close
their whole lives, despite their friendship being only as old as
theirs to mine. They didn’t really match, as friends. Alana was so
plain and almost gothic; she was smart and read books by indie
authors, whereas, Emily was so colourful; she always looked fresh
and happy, or maybe…overexcited. She must drink coffee every
morning—
lots
of
coffee. Mind you, that never worked for me. But despite originating
from different ends of the galaxy, they seemed to fit on exactly
the same page. Kind of like I thought David and I did—until
today.

“
Hi, guys.” I waved
as we reached the top.

“
Hey.” Emily
smiled.

“
No cheer practice
this morning, Em?”

“
Not for me. Had a
meeting with the school board.”

“
Oh, okay,” I said.
“What for?”

“
Benefit
concert.”

“
Cool. So, where’s
Ryan?”

“
Right here.” He
popped out from behind the glass doors, wearing a wide
grin.

“
Hey.”

“
Hey.” He gave me a
quick hug, then cupped hands with David, who’d managed to wake up
enough to appear social all of a sudden.

“
So, new girl. You
made it through your first week, and—” Ryan scratched the back of
his neck and looked at Emily.

“
Well, we were
thinking,” Emily jumped in. “Would you like to come to Betty’s Café
tonight—to celebrate?”

“
Is that the little
fifties-style café?” I asked.

Emily nodded. “Yeah,
the pink and blue one.”

“
It belongs to
Emily’s aunt.” Ryan hooked his thumb in Emily’s
direction.

“
Aunt…
Betty
?” I raised one brow.

“
How’d you guess?”
Emily faked surprise, then waved a dismissive hand in the air as
she laughed.

“
Well—” I looked at
David, wondering if he’d go. He placed his guitar case on the
ground and rested his hands in his back pockets, then, ever so
subtly winked at me. “Uh, sure, you know what?” I looked back at
Emily. “That sounds really great.” The distraction would be a
welcome relief; maybe I could stop thinking about David for a
while.