Little Do They Know

Chapter 40 - Explaining

Messages soon came flooding in. Not only were my teammates, both current and past, messaging me about these new revelations, but also fans were DMing me on instagram and tweeting me too. The whole world wanted to hear what I had to say about this new discovery that me, Bradie Van Dyk, was in fact Willow Meyer.

The person I knew I had to talk to though was Sam. She had been my best friend for so long and I knew it must be hurting her knowing that I kept this secret for so long. I would hurt if she had done that to me.

Jackie left me to make this call, and as I sat in my room, leaning against my bed, ringing Sam, my heart kept skipping two beats. But then, she picked up.

"Hey," I said, over the phone, looking at her through the screen.

"Bradie, this is crazy. Is what the media is saying true?" Sam questioned. All I could do was nod my head.

"Yeah, it's true."

"So, you're not Bradie?"

"No, of course I'm Bradie."

"I don't know what to even think," Sam replied, looking off into the distance, "this is all very confusing."

"I know, I know, and I'm so sorry for not telling you."

"Can you tell me now?"

"Yes. What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

I spent the next hour on facetime with Sam, telling her every detail of my life that I could remember from when I was a tiny toddler in Andorra, to an eight year old in Holland, to a little orphan in Lyon and a teenager in Boston. She listened, intensively, not wanting to miss a single detail.

"So your parents were spies?"

"Yeah, spies."

"Oh my," Sam said, "that was not on the list of what to expect when we became friends." I laughed as she said this, and so did she. "So, is that why you and Jackie got so close?" Sam asked, "because she found out about you?"

"Yes," I answered, "and also we were more connected than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, our fathers knew each other."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they worked together during that year I was in Amsterdam."

"Wow, it really is a small world." I was glad Sam was talking to me, and not filled with anger after hiding my true identity from her after all these years. To be honest, in this situation, I'm not sure how I would've reacted.

"What is the plan moving forward?" Sam asked me.

"Not sure, I don't really have a plan."

"Can you keep playing?"

"Yeah," I answered, "they were able to shut down the operation I believe and I'm free to do what I want."

"But, are you Bradie or...?"

"Willow?"

"Yeah, or Willow?"

"I'm not sure," I said, finding truth within my answer. For the longest time, I never thought I'd want to be referred to as Willow again, but maybe that's because it brought back all the memories of my parents that filled me with trauma. Willow, I think, is someone that needs to stay private. It needs to stay within myself. "I think I'm Bradie, but I'll always be Willow too and that will never change."

I stayed on the phone with her for a little while longer until all the messages that were flooding my inbox became unbearable. I said goodbye to Sam, knowing I'd see her at the June camp before our friendlies, and hung up the phone.