The Secret Keeper

“Have you seen the new girl?” another dork whispered to her friends as I passed them. I rolled my eyes. All anybody had been talking about since school started back up again – a whole five minutes ago – was the new girl from some place near Port Angeles. I think the town was called Forks.

And, frankly, I was sick of it already.

As I walked into my first class, I sunk down into my seat. It had been two weeks, two horrible weeks, since Holly had gone missing. Everyone knew about it now, even the socially challenged of Witch Hazel High. A large feat in itself.

“So… have you seen the new girl?” a voice whispered in my ear.

I jumped and almost knocked heads with whoever had said that. One guess who.

“No, Bo,” I mumbled, rubbing my forehead. “I haven’t. You?”

He stopped nursing his head and nodded vigorously. Oh, boy. Hot girl alert. “Yeah, and she’s hot!”

Did I call that or what?

I rolled my eyes. Boys could be so stupid sometimes… “That’s great. Go ask her out, or something. I don’t care.”

That didn’t seem to be the reaction he was looking for. Why? I have no idea. “Oh… Well, maybe I will, then…”

I smiled up at him. Maybe he’d finally get over Holly. “Great. Maybe you and what’s-her-name and Evan and I could double.” Never in a million years.

He lowered his head, looking defeated. What was up with him? “Yeah… See ya…”

I cocked my head as he walked away. Bo was acting… well, moody since Holly disappeared. I was devastated, yes, and I was still looking for her kidnappers, but that didn’t mean that I was completely giving up on life. It seemed, to me, that Bo was almost always depressed. Maybe I’d have to talk to him about it later…

“Excuse me?” a high, soft voice chimed behind me.

I whirled around. Well, this must be the new girl. She had black hair that was combed back off her face, and dark brown – almost red – eyes. I shuddered inwardly. That was not a natural eye color.

“Yeah?” I said warily.

“Do you think you could show me around? I’m new here.” Her voice sounded almost like she was singing. I’ve never heard a voice like it.

“Um… Sure…”

She beamed, and not so surprisingly, her bright, perfect teeth flashed at me. “Thanks. I’m Faye, by the way.”

I nodded. “Eve. So what’s your first class?”

She looked at her schedule. “Chemistry…”

“Cool. Mine, too. Follow me.” I started waling toward the classroom, with Faye on my heels. “So why’d you transfer?”

I glanced over at her. Her head was ducked, and her ebony hair fell around her like a waterfall. No wonder Bo liked her. “My dad just got a job here in Witch Hazel. This place is so different than Forks…”

I snorted. I just realized why that town sounded so familiar. “So do you know Edward Cullen?”

She laughed. I noted dryly that it sounded like bells ringing. Peachy. “You don’t know how many people have asked me that. One girl even asked who was nicer: Edward or Jacob. I said I liked them both the same, and she actually believed me!”

I had to laugh at that. The people at Witch Hazel High were so gullible.

“So what’s it like, living here?” she asked, suddenly.

I glanced at her again. “It’s… um… strange.” And the understatement of the year goes to…

“Strange…how?” she asked, looking genuinely curious.

Poor, naïve Faye. “Trust me; it’ll be better if you don’t know.”

-[-]-

I never liked lunch time at school.

I mean, you try and pack 200 kids in a room that was really only meant for 50 at the same time, and see how much elbow room you have to spare. I swear, sardines are probably more comfortable than that.

But since it was Faye’s first day, I showed her around the cafeteria. Of course, there was always a table open for the populars like me, but Holly and I never usually took advantage of it. We had a few excuses today, though: Faye was new, and it was damn cold outside.

“Wow… This is… um… warm?” Faye commented, uncertainly.

I laughed. “We know it’s crap, Faye. No one actually buys hot lunch anymore.”

That would be the other reason no one really sits in the caf. I’m pretty sure the food is the same stuff they feed the horses.

“I have a big lunch. You can share with me,” I offered.

Faye looked at me, then back to the substance on her tray warily. “Normally I would refuse… but would you? I’m not so sure this stuff is edible…”

I laughed again. “It’s no problem. Trust me, I made this mistake before. If Holly…” I trailed off. It was still too hard to think about Holly at the moment.

“Who’s Holly?” Faye asked.

I gulped as I set my lunch down on our table. “Holly’s my best friend. She… she disappeared a few weeks back,” I whispered, trying to hold back the flood of tears that were threatening to spill.

I heard her gasp beside me. Faye put her arm on my shoulder. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Eve! I didn’t know…”

I wiped my eye to clear the tear that had managed to leak out. “It’s fine. You didn’t know.”

She nodded solemnly and started eating. Suddenly, someone joined us.

“Hey, Eve! Bestest buddy…”

I groaned. “What now, Bo?”

I glared at him. His jacket hung loosely around his muscled frame. I tried not to think about it.

“Can’t I say hi to my own girlfriend?”

My eyes widened. Did he just say what I think he said? Girlfriend?

“Who are you and where is the real Boris Cromwell?” I demanded. That was the only explanation I could think of. Were aliens invading Earth?

“Oh, you’re so funny, Eve!” he said. I looked at him, confused. Ignoring this, he glanced at Faye. “May I borrow my love for a second?”

Faye smiled and winked at me. She mouthed, You have a boyfriend?

Apparently, I mouthed back as Bo started dragging me across the cafeteria. I glared daggers at his back, wondering what in the world was going on.

“Bo what the fu-”

Before I could utter some very nasty words, Bo swung around and pulled me into his chest, his mouth connecting with mine. My eyes widened. What in the world was he doing?!

I pulled back, and slapped him across the face as hard as I could. “What the hell was that about?” I hissed.

He brought a hand up to his cheek. “I needed to get you away. I don’t know, I’m getting a weird feeling about that Faye girl.”

I blinked at him incredulously. “But why the f*ck did you have to kiss me?! I’m going to have to freaking disinfect my mouth now…” I mumbled the last part, but Bo still seemed to hear it. He rolled his eyes.

“Eve,” he said seriously, gripping my shoulders to keep me from going anywhere. “I’m not joking around now. Look, Holly just disappeared, and-”

“Aha!” I cut in. “I knew this had to do with Holly! Why would you say I’m your girlfriend if you’re so in love with Holly?”

Bo seemed taken aback by this. Hell, even I didn’t know where that came from. “You think I’m in love with Holly?” he asked, looking almost amused.

I looked at him like I usually do: like he was stupid. “Duh. Who else?”

He gave me a look, like I was the stupid one now. “Eve, how can you possibly not know that I’m in love with-” He stopped suddenly, as if catching himself.

“In love with who, Bo?” I don’t even know why I was bothering. How the heck did we go from talking about Faye to talking about who Bo was in love with? More importantly, why did I care?

He pushed me away from him, so that I smashed into some nearby lockers. I whimpered. It hurt.

“You know what, Eve? It doesn’t matter anymore.”

He stomped off in the other direction, away from the cafeteria, leaving me alone and horribly confused.

“Eve?” a small voice said behind me.

“Yeah, Faye?” I responded quietly.

I heard footsteps come up behind me. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head. Tears started leaking out of my eyes. “No, Faye. I’m not okay.”