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I exhale, the air deflating from my lungs, and as cliche as it sounded, it’s as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I told someone. Finally. And she didn’t judge me for it or think I was a jerk for keeping it from my mother.
Me:It REALLY sucks. But it feels good to finally tell someone.
I bit my lip, thinking about it. Had I never discovered my father’s affair, I may have gone along with his plans for my future, allowing him to guilt me into them. My father had never been the affectionate type. He’d always been headstrong and expected a lot out of me. But it was discovering the infidelity that pitted me against him. If I had never seen those emails, would I have had the courage to stand up to him and pursue my dreams?
Julie:And no one else knows?
Me:Not a soul, so the pressure is on. You hold enough ammunition to destroy my father’s reputation that could affect his business, his marriage, his position on the school board, and some of his friendships. Lakeview doesn’t exactly look kindly upon scandal.
It was the truth. People in Lakeview dropped you like a sack of rocks and fled faster than you could blink at even a hint of soiled reputation, less some of your stink rub off on them.
Julie:I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that alone.
I felt an unfamiliar ache in the back of my throat. It was funny how you could be surrounded by people, yet still feel alone, and it had been years since I felt like JT, Mikey, Luca, Gabby, and our crew were actually my friends. Like real friends, ones you could share secrets with and talk to. Ones who would stick by you no matter what.
But suddenly I had two people I could trust enough to share my secrets. Penelope and Julie. And though Penelope was currently just a friend, and I had feelings for both girls, I knew it would work itself out. It had to. Because I hadn’t felt this way in a long time.
Chapter 24
PENELOPE
PenelopeclosedhertextexchangewithTopherafterrereadingitforthemillionthtimeandturnedherfacetowardherwindow,staringoutintothebackyardasherthoughtsraced.
Holy crap. . .Ms. Stone and Mr. Elliot.
She worried her lip with her teeth as she thought about all of the implications. Lakeview had strict policies for students and teachers. If this secret got out, Ms. Stone could lose her job. Topher’s family name would fly through the gossip chain faster than an atomic bomb, with as much potential damage. He’d lose business, no doubt. Possibly friends, too. Destroy his marriage. Pit people against him. And kiss any chance of a political career goodbye.
It was a whopper of a secret. Ammunition. Exactly what I wanted when I started texting him as Julie.
And it was all in my hands.
My chest tightened as I dialed Scarlett’s number and waited while it rang. I could trust her to keep this secret, and I needed to tellsomebody.
When her voicemail picked up, I called again. And again. And when she finally answered, I wasted no time before I said, “I’ve got it. The secret. The one I wanted from Topher.”
“Whoa, slow down there, Dale Earnhardt. What do you mean? I thought you nixed that plan when you started getting all googly-eyed?”
“I did. I wasn’t even trying to get it out of him, but I was just texting him about his meeting tomorrow, and he told me.”
“Okay,” Scarlett drawled. “So how big of a secret is it?”
“Big.His father is cheating with one of Lakeview’s teachers.”
“Whoa.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, you’re gonna keep it a secret, right? So what’s the big deal?”
“Yeah, I’ll take it to my grave, but . . .” I swallowed, forcing down my rising panic. “He’ll hate me even more when he finds out the truth. Think about it, he tells his biggest secret, something he’s been hiding, something that could jeopardize his family, only to find out that the one person he confided in, the one person he trusted, is a liar.”
A brief pause, then: “I see the suckiness of it now.”
“Right? I mean, had he wanted to tell Penelope, he would’ve. He probably figured it was safe to tell Julie because she doesn’t go to Lakeview. She has no idea who Ms. Stone is. So when he finds out that I know, I’m sure he won’t be happy. And that’s on top of the fact that he obviously has feelings for Julie, so he’s going to feel betrayed no matter what.”
“And you. He has feelings for you too,” Scarlett chimed in.
I groaned. “We don’t know that for certain.”
