Secrets & Lies: Two Short Stories by Kody Keplinger

Brody looking at me. I looked down at my desk, not wanting to see his face. To see him glaring at me. I kept my head down for the rest of class.
    When the bell rang, I grabbed my things and ran toward the door as fast as I could. I wasn’t fast enough, though.
    “Bailey, wait.”
    I groaned quietly and stopped in my tracks. Brody was at my side a second later. I didn’t look at him.
    “Can I talk to you a second?”
    “Um… sure.”
    I followed him out of the classroom and down the hall to a small alcove. We wedged ourselves in, and the quarters were so close that, for a second, our knees brushed. I couldn’t avoid looking at him now. But when my eyes met his, I was surprised not to see any anger there.
    “I heard what happened,” he said. “With you and my sister.”
    “Oh, um… I’m sorry, but I just—”
    “Don’t be,” he said. “I knew it was her. Well, I thought it was. What she did was horrible, and I’m glad someone finally had the nerve to stand up to her.”
    “R-really?”
    “Yeah.” He looked down, his dark hair falling into his eyes. “You know… I’ve kind of liked you for a while.”
    “You have?”
    He nodded. “Actually, when I saw you hanging out with Justine, I was a little worried. That’s what I tried to tell you that night at my house. She’s manipulative and just… cold. I liked you because you didn’t seem like that kind of person at all. I’m glad I was right.”
    I had no idea what to say. I was sure my face was the color of a tomato, and I knew that if I opened my mouth I’d just be a stuttering, stammering mess.
    “Anyway,” Brody said, looking up again. His face was pretty red, too. “I was wondering if you’d want to go see a movie sometime. I don’t have my license yet, so one of my parents will have to drive us, but—”
    “I’d love to!” I squeaked.
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Cool.”
    We just stared at each other for a minute, neither of us saying anything. Finally, I cleared my throat. “Um, I should get to class…”
    “Right… Right.”
    We both slid out of the alcove and into the larger hallway. “You know,” I said. “If we start, like, hanging out, Justine is going to be really, really mad. She may actually try to kill us.”
    Brody grinned. “I can take it if you can.”
    “I can take it,” I said.
    “Good.” He leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was quick. It was nothing. But it made me feel like a million little sparks were lighting across my skin.
    “S-see you later,” I stuttered.
    “’Bye,” he said.
    Then I took off for biology in such a daze that I walked into the wrong classroom. Twice.
    ***
    Over the next few days, the truth about Justine’s punishment finally came out.
    She’d been suspended for two weeks, banned from all extracurricular activities, and placed in the school’s alternative education program for the rest of the year. Basically, that meant she had to take all her classes in one room, where she wasn’t allowed to talk or socialize with her friends. She even had a separate lunch. For a popular girl, there was no worse punishment.
    It was harsh, but Brody said it could have been worse. Principal Roth had wanted to expel her, but their parents had begged and pleaded. I guess they’d won in the end.
    Elsie still hadn’t come back to school. No one was talking about her or the video (which had been taken down) anymore, though. Instead, they were talking about me. Word had spread that I was the reason Justine had turned herself in. Some people hated me for it. Melanie and Wendy found every reason they could to torture me in cheerleading practice. Ryan and Justine’s boyfriend, Eddie, tried to spread gross rumors about me, but none of them ever took off. And not everyone hated me. Some people liked me for what I’d done—like Brody, and some of Elsie’s friends.
    I wasn’t popular anymore, but I wasn’t alone, either. And at least there wasn’t any pressure about what I was