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I couldn’t disagree with her there. With a shrug, I chugged the rest of my root beer and crumped the can, throwing it behind me in the direction of the trash.
“I’m just shocked that you lasted until now before people found out. How did that happen, anyway?” Ali asked, grabbing another can and tossing it to me. I caught it easily, taking a few chugs before explaining what happened earlier.
“I had business to deal with after school, which took longer than it should have. An underclassman needing help with a bully,” I paused, a bit upset thinking about how I didn’t put that contract into action yet like I wanted to. “When I was done, I told Flow to come get me.”
Malia snorted. She reached back and pulled her massive amount of long, dark hair into a messy bun on the crown of her head. She pulled down a few strands in the front, framing her face. Her bone structure was something models yearned for. Not that Malia cared. “That was your first mistake. That boy has been home in his basement since the second the bell rang after school.”
I sighed. “I know that now. Obviously. He said he was coming, but then a minute later he got caught up. Or whatever. Knowing Flow, he never left his couch.”
Ali leaned back, kicking a rogue log with the tip of his boot. “That doesn’t explain how the varsity soccer team found out about your dad.”
My brows furrowed as I frowned. “My car, remember? It’s at Papa Tony’s. Without Flow, I was stranded. Before I could call anyone else, Dad and the team came off the field.” I smiled, remembering the pure shock on all of their faces. “I threw in the Dad bit to mess with them. I’d say it worked.”
I didn’t mention the concerned look on Charlie’s face after he did the mental gymnastics of Dad offering me a ride, when Charlie thought he was just a coach then. He put two and two together and came up with a bad scenario, fast. Announcing the relations had been quick thinking on my part; no one needed some sort of allegation brought up against dad.
Charlie seemed like the goody-too-shoes that would do that, too.
Malia jumped in again. “By ‘it worked,’ you mean you were successful in outing yourself and now that the Fairy Godmother knows, everyone knows. Your cover is blown.”
I scrunched my face. “My cover? Since when have I been undercover? I don’t care what they think, Mali. Heck, I’d lie and tell the school the principal was my father. Nowthatcould get me somewhere. But Dad? No. Honestly, no one is going to care.”
Ali swiped his signature beanie off his head and scratched at his scalp. “Yeah, but how much do you think they’ll care if they find out about Aria?”
I stopped cold, my gaze sliding over to him. “Don’t you dare.”
Ali would never drop one of my secrets like that. It was why we were best friends. We didn’t rat on each other. But the way he threw that comment out so casually, like it would be hysterical for him… it made my heart drop into my stomach for a second.
Malia let out an evil cackle of laughter. “Nowthatis one secret I can’t figure out. How did you hide the fact that your dad was married to Aria’s mom for over a year? How did no one know?”
I pursed my lips while fiddling with my ring again. My hands felt normal now, the tension eased by the familiar movement around my finger. “By carefully constructed facades and secrets. On all ends.”
Aria hadn’t wanted anyone to know about it either, which made keeping the secrets easier. A Fairview princess and the terrible Teller tycoon? No one would believe it. It was better that we kept it dead and buried.
Besides, Dad and the Wicked Stepmother were already divorced, and we were back in Teller now. Hopefully for good. Moving houses every few years was not only exhausting, but the market was looking more and more grim. If we went through this again, there might notbea house to come back to in Teller. Dad broke the lease every time we went to a new family. I hadn’t lived in the same house for more than three years straight.
“That’s the truth,” Ali snorted. “No one in their right mind would spill one of your secrets. It would be social suicide.”
“Life’s full of tough choices, isn’t it?” I replied with a maniacal grin. “But you’re right. You don’t cross the secret keeper.”
Chapter 3
Una
“Why did youkeep it a secret, Una? Are you embarrassed?” someone rang out the second I passed through the back lobby.
Usually, going to the back meant a little more privacy. The front lobby, with its massive oak doors and grand staircase, was for those that drove to school in their fancy cars, their designer clothes, and their hair coiffed.
For me? The back lobby was better. The far parking lot was for the Teller cars, the broken-down pieces of junk that didn’t really look like it would make it from point A to point B, much less more than once. We snuck into school without the fanfare, without the runway and the catwalk.
But it didn’t mean the Fairview freaks didn’t get to us back here. We didn’t own the area; it was still part of school. And considering I had been the topic of the Fairy Godmother last night, they knew right where to find me.
“Why don’t you have the same last name as your dad, Una? Or maybe he’s not yourrealdad…”
I whipped around so fast, my braids smacked me in the face. I pushed them back, then responded. “Listen here, you little sea worm. What my name is has nothing to do with you. And if you’re smart, you’ll keep it out of your mouth from here on. Understood?”
The guy I had never laid eyes on before nodded, clamping his lips shut and sulking away like a dog with its tail between its legs.
That’s how we were going to start today? With backtalk and gossip? With people who have never spoken to be before thinking they had any right to my personal information? No one deserved access to me unless I specifically gave it to them. And even then, they got what information I decided to dole out. Everything else was secret.
