Deception (Dirty Secrets #2) (2 page)

Before Jace gets a chance to answer, the bell rings and Mrs. Duff walks into the classroom. She explains that instead of our normal class, we are going into the gym for an assembly.

Great.

More Daisy talk.

This is absolutely the last thing I want to think about right now.

We all follow Mrs. Duff into the gym. It’s already almost full. Our class takes a seat in the middle.

It’s loud inside. Everybody is talking excitedly to each other. I hear a girl behind me.

“I bet they’re going to announce that they found Daisy’s body. I mean, we all know she’s probably dead…”

I stop listening. I can’t hear this right now.

Jace puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer. I lean my head on his shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay,” he says, then kisses the top of my head. “I’m sure Daisy is fine.”

But she’s
not
fine. She’s so not fine. Right now, she’s probably locked up somewhere — scared and confused. I just hope whoever took her isn’t hurting her. I need to believe that she’s okay, because if I don’t, I feel guilty. I should be going to the police with the information I know. I’m such a coward.

“Are Madeline and Jace dating?” I hear the girl behind me whisper to her friend.

Her friend isn’t quiet with her response. “It’s about freaking time. The two of them have been flirting since the seventh grade. It’s completely obvious they’re way into each other.”

“They make such a cute couple,” the girl replies.

Jace doesn’t move his arm away. I know he heard them; he had to. But I don’t read into it.

Sometimes, I have no idea if he’s really into me, or if he just acts the way he does because we’ve been friends for so long. He’s never had a girlfriend, so I have
no idea
how he acts when he’s into somebody. I hope the reason he’s never dated anybody is because of me. More than anything, I want him to like me as much as I like him.

“If it’s not Josh, then who is it?” Jace asks.

I don’t say anything; I just shake my head at him.

“Come on, Madi. You’ve never been into anybody before. I want to know which guy has managed to capture your attention.”

“Why do you want to know so bad?” I ask.

“Why do you want to keep it secret so badly?”

“I told you I would tell you if you figured it out.”

My phone vibrates in my pocket, so I pull it out. It’s a text from a blocked phone number. My heart jumps in fear. I angle my phone away from Jace and sit up.

Blocked ID:
You two look cute together. Want your first clue to getting Daisy back? Kiss him right now.

I keep my face neutral, but my hand shakes as I slide my phone back into my jean pocket.

I have to kiss Jace.

But this makes
no sense
. Why would the person who took Daisy
want
me to kiss Jace? How is this in any way beneficial to them? Unless their idea is to humiliate me. In that case, mission accomplished.

I will do it. For Daisy. I will do the
one thing
I’ve wanted to do since I was eleven years old, but was always too scared to do.

I turn to face him. He grins at me.

“I wrote the song about you, Jace.” I don’t give him time to react to my words. I just lean over and kiss him on the lips… just a peck. Then I get up and run out of the gym.

I don’t care if I get in trouble for leaving. I can’t just sit in there… not after that. Not after I told him the truth.

My phone buzzes again.

Blocked ID:
Good job. Your next task will be coming Friday. Keep complying and I might just let your friend live.

I lean against the wall and feel myself sliding down.

Oh, God. This is
not
what I thought was going to happen. What did I do to deserve this? Why is this person targeting me and my friends? What is this person gaining by taking Daisy and having me kiss my long time crush?

“Madi,” I hear Cassidy’s voice. “Are you okay?”

I look up and see her standing in front of me. I hold out my phone for her and she reads the texts.

“They’re texting you now? Oh my God.”

“I just kissed Jace in front of the whole school.” I run my shaky hand through my hair, still not believing that really happened.

“Yeah, I saw,” she says. “But isn’t this really a good thing? I mean, you’ve been crushing on the guy forever.”

“I don’t think the feeling is reciprocated,” I tell her. “If it was, you wouldn’t be the one talking to me now. He would.” I pull my knees up to my chest and hug them. “Oh, God, Cass. I’m such a loser. I’ve been in love with him since I was four years old, and he doesn’t feel the same.”

“You don’t know that.” She sits down beside me. “I’m sure he’s just shocked. I mean, you’ve never admitted that you have feelings for him before. You can’t just kiss him, run away, and expect him to just run after you. He needs time to process. You
are
his best friend’s sister. Maybe he’s scared Trey won’t be okay with it.”

“Maybe.” I wipe under my eyes. “I still can’t believe that happened. What does this person want with us?”

“I don’t know,” she says. “But this person is sick.”

“I just want Daisy back. I know she was mean to me, but I never wanted anything like this to happen to her. I’d put up with her spreading vicious rumors about me the rest of my life if she came back,” I tell Cassidy.

“Me too.” She stands up and holds her hand out to me. “Come on, we need to get back in there. You can sit by me.”

I nod and wipe under my eyes again. “Okay.”

She holds my hand as we walk back inside. I look at our intertwined hands and avoid making eye contact with anybody.

As we walk up the bleachers to the top, I feel all eyes on me. Finally, we reach the top and take our seats. About that time, the gym doors open and five cops walk inside lead by Mr. Holbrook. He has a somber look on his face.

Cassidy squeezes my hand, and I can’t help but think that this is going to be a
long
day.

French

Threatening texts.

I still haven’t talked to Jace since I kissed him. Not that I’ve
seen
him to talk to him. The only class that we share is first period, and we went straight from the assembly to our third period class.

I am sitting in French trying to pay attention when Mr. Holbrook pulls me out of class. When I get to his office, Detective Condie is there. My heart speeds up when I see him sitting there, and I think that
maybe
he knows about the texts.

Why didn’t I tell the cops when I had the chance? That was so dumb.

My hands are shaking, so I cross my arms in attempt to hide them.

“Madeline Grey, may I talk to you?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah, of course.”

Mr. Holbrook lets us use his office. Detective Condie takes Mr. Holbrook’s seat, and I sit down across from him. He doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, and the suspense is building. Any second I feel like he’s going to tell me I’m going to jail for withholding evidence, and I am
freaking out
.

“Madeline, are you aware that Daisy was receiving threatening texts?” he asks.

“Texts?” My voice comes out higher than I intended.

“We found her phone in the woods behind her house,” he tells me. “She was getting threatening texts from a blocked number. We have IT trying to track where the texts were sent from.”

Oh, thank God. He doesn’t know that I know.

Play it cool
, I tell myself.

“Dee never mentioned anything to me,” I tell him. It’s not a lie. “But we didn’t talk over the summer. She was on vacation with her family, and we were both busy. I hadn’t seen or talked to her in three months until Monday when school started.”

“But you were best friends. Isn’t it weird that you didn’t talk all summer long?” he asks.

“Not for us. Daisy and I have the same group of friends, but we aren’t really close,” I tell him. “Like me — I’m closer to Cassidy and Frannie than I am to Hayden and Emma. I don’t know why, it just works out that way.”

He writes something down in his notebook. “So, have you gotten any texts from this person?”

“What?” I choke out.

“We want to know if this person was just targeting Daisy, or if they’re targeting the rest of you too.”

I shake my head. “N… N… No.”

“You’re certain?” he asks, looking at me. I can see it in his eyes. He doesn’t believe me.

I’ve always been a good liar, but I’m
not
right now. By me lying, I could be putting my friends in danger. I could be putting
myself
in danger. But I promised Cassidy I’d wait until Saturday and I don’t intend to break that promise.

“I’m certain,” I say with more confidence.

Detective Condie nods. “Okay, Miss Grey. That is all we need for now. Thank you for your cooperation.”

I get up from the chair and walk out of the office. In the waiting area, I see Cassidy, Frannie, Emma, and Hayden. They are all looking about as sick as I feel. I give them an encouraging smile before I head back to my classroom.

I just want this day over with.

When I get to the door of my classroom, I put my hand on the knob, then pull it back away.

I’ve never ditched school before, but I am so over being here today. I turn around and walk out of the school.

I need time to process what’s happened with Daisy. I need time to consider what I’m doing with Cassidy. I’m lying to the police and I’m putting everybody I love in danger. But most of all, I need time to think about what happened with Jace today. I can’t believe I kissed him.

Everything is changing, and I don’t like it.

I just want it to go back to the way it was — Daisy bossing us around, and me crushing on Jace in secret.

I miss my normal life.

Band practice.

Love song.

I want to skip band practice. So badly I do. But when I text Trey and tell him I don’t feel like messing with it today, he tells me that he has a few guys coming in to play bass for us. Which means that I will be forced to talk to Jace.

I wait until the last minute to come into band practice. When I walk in, Trey gives me a funny look but doesn’t say anything.

“I’m ready,” I tell Trey, not making eye contact with Jace.

“Jace told me that you wrote a song,” Trey says, smiling. “Maybe you can teach it to us. The guys aren’t going to be here for another thirty minutes.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Come on, Madi,” Trey says, nudging me with his elbow. “You wrote a song. I didn’t even know you wrote. Jace said you put music to it and everything. I’d love to at least hear it, even if it sucks.”

“I’m not playing the song,” I say, raising my voice. I am embarrassed and I desperately want him to change the subject. Or start playing. Because I am so over everything today.

“Geez… who pissed in your cereal?”

I roll my eyes. “Can we just practice? I’m not in the mood to talk today.”

“Mads, I’d like to hear the song,” I hear Jace say behind me.

My back stiffens at his words.

Finally, I turn to meet his gaze.

He looking at me like he always does, and I’m not sure if that disappoints me or excites me. Maybe a little of both? On one hand, I don’t want things to change between us. I love our friendship. But I want
so much more
than just friendship with him.

I want him to take me in his arms and tell me that he loves me just as much as I love him. I want him to kiss me senseless, and I want to have a relationship with him. I
want
to be his girlfriend, and I want everybody to know it.

“Fine,” I say and hold my hand out to Trey. “Give me your guitar. And don’t laugh at my playing, because I suck.”

I strum the chords a few times and start playing.

I sing the words like I mean them, because I
do
mean them. I’m baring my heart and soul right now. Jace
knows
that this song is about him. It makes me nervous, but at the same time I’m glad he finally knows. I shouldn’t have kept my crush a secret for so long. I’ve wanted to tell him, and now he finally knows.

“Trey, I need you to sing the second verse,” I tell him, and then pull my notebook out of my backpack. I show him the part that Jace wrote.

“This is Jace’s handwriting,” Trey says.

“Yeah, it was for English class.”

He read the words out loud. “
You look at me. I look away. You pretend you don’t notice the way I stare
. This sounds an awful lot like a love song.”

“Lots of songs are about love.” I feel my face grow warm.

“Wait… wait…” Trey looks from Jace to me. “Are you saying that the two of you wrote a
love
song?”

“Mads wrote it,” Jace answers. “I just changed her words around. It’s what the guy would say to her… ya know?”

It’s what the guy would say to her.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

Does that mean that Jace feels the same way as me? And if he does, then why hasn’t he talked to me all day? Usually, he texts me throughout the day, but today he has been dead silent.

“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Trey says, sitting the notebook on a stool.

“I told him,” I say, just so Trey will shut up. “Jace knows that I wrote the song about him.”

“About freaking time!” Trey smiles at Jace and me. “The two of you have been in love with each other for years, but you’re both too stubborn for your own good. I’m glad you’re
finally
together.”

“We’re not. Together.” I look down at my orange Converse as I tell him.

Trey looks at Jace. “What the hell? Why not?”

I push the guitar strap over my head and hand it back to Trey. “Look, it’s not a big deal. Jace doesn’t feel the same. I get it. We don’t have to make this weird.”

“Jace doesn’t… feel the same?” He looks confused as he says it.

“Wait,” Jace says. “You think I don’t feel the same?”

I look at Jace, my hear hammering hard against my chest. “Well, you haven’t talked to me all day.”

“Mads, you kissed me and then ran away,” he says. “You left school and this is the first time I’ve seen you. I thought this was a conversation that we should have in person. And we will. After band practice. Don’t run away this time, please.”