The Secret I Tried to Keep

Chapter 25

I don't know how long I stood there watching them, but eventually, they pulled away from each other and noticed me. Zane's eyes bulged as he looked at me shocked. He let go of Paris immediately. The look on his face made it seem as if he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Paris did nothing but lean against the wall and smirk. She knew what she was doing. She just didn't know to what extent of damage she just created.

"Dria," Zane started as he took a step towards me. I held a hand up to stop him as I shook my head.

"This... this is why I asked you to stay away from me. You haven't changed one bit, Zane... and you never will," I said, my voice raw with emotion as my eyes burned. Paris just stood there smirking like the bitch she was. My attention snapped to her.

"And you... you just don't know when to quit, do you?" I snapped at her. She shrugged, looking satisfied with herself.

"I told you to stay away from him. I warned you what would happen, so you have no one to blame but yourself," she said indifferently as she inspected her manicure. I rolled my eyes, ready to leave.

"Dria, don't listen to her," Zane started again.

"And what, I should listen to you? I tried to, Zane. I really did. I believed you, and the funny thing is, I was coming to find you to say that I would give us a chance... but there is no us. It's just me. It will just be me... stay the hell away from me," I ranted angrily. I turned on my heels and left quickly. I touched my cheeks to find them soaked with tears. I don't know when I started crying, but I didn't care. I just wanted to go home. Midnight stuck a little early anyway. I pulled out my phone and shot a text to Aria before I could get hysterical.

     CON: It's all been a lie and he still only cares about himself.

"Dria, hey... what's wrong?" Tyler asked when he ran into me in the hall. I sighed shakily before my eyes darted around the empty hall.

"I just wan to go home... please," I sighed as I closed my eyes briefly. Tyler pulled me into a hug before he agreed to take me. We waited next to the valet stand while they got his car before we left. We rode in silence for the first few minutes as I stared out the window. It was dark by now and my sash rode up my neck slightly. I felt a little silly for still having it on. I took my crown and sash off before trowing it into the backseat.

"What did that idiot do?" Tyler asked eventually. I breathed out a short laugh as I wiped under my eyes carefully.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked. Tyler shrugged with his lips pressed into a tight line. I sighed heavily before I told him the whole story, starting with Zane kissing me. By the time I finished, Tyler was parked at the Ridgeford neighborhood park. We were silent as he turned off the car.

"Come on," he said before he came around and opened my door for me. I stepped out and took my heels off, hooking them onto my index and middle finger as we walked towards the swings illuminated by dim lampposts. There were only two, so we each took one. Tyler loosened his tie and took his coat off so he was left in the white button-up and a loosened tie. He draped the coat over my shoulders before he sat back down on his swing.

"I just don't know what to do anymore," I admitted with a sigh. Tyler pumped his legs lazily. He was so tall that they grazed the ground.

"The pieces don't add up. If he despised Paris as much as I know he does, why would he make out with her and take her to Homecoming? Especially when he's in love with you," Tyler asked. I shrugged as I ran my toes through the sand beneath the swing.

"I don't know... because she's easy and always willing; because he's not capable of a relationship and he got scared so he retaliated? Who knows why Zane does anything," I answered. Tyler didn't look convinced.

"Maybe," he gave it, but he didn't believe it. I sighed and began pumping my legs a little more.

"Can we talk about something else, please?" I asked. Anything would do at this point. I just wanted to stop thinking about Zane. It hurt too much. Tyler was great at distracting. We talked about everything else. We swung, we talked, we looked at the stars, and we even danced. By the time all was said and done, it had been hours, but I felt better.

"It's getting late, I should get you back home," Tyler said after a while. I nodded after he showed me it was well into one o'clock in the morning. We walked back to his car and I was actually smiling. I didn't want our night to end, but I knew it had to at some point. Before we got in, Tyler reached into the backseat and retrieved my crown before placing it on my head.

"You are a queen, Dria. If you ask my opinion, you have all the help you need without that son of a bitch. You have friends you can lean on, and people who will protect you and your baby... including me," he said with a soft smile. I smiled gratefully before I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Tyler," I muttered into his shoulder. He squeezed me back gently.

"Any time," he replied softly. We got into the car and Tyler drove me home. I sighed when he parked the car in front of my house.

"Thanks for tonight, Tyler. I needed it," I said. He shrugged with a lopsided grin.

"Friends help each other out, right? Plus, all I did was listen," Tyler brushed it off.

"But you missed the rest of the dance because of me," I said, feeling guilty that I didn't think of that before. Tyler only laughed.

"I'm not that great of a dancer anyway," he winked. He walked me to my door before I handed his suit coat back to him. He pecked my cheek gently. "Goodnight, Dria," he said. I smiled up at him,

"Goodnight, Tyler," I replied. He walked back to his car as I pushed the key into the door and walked inside. The house was quiet except for Domino's panted as he greeted me at the door. I scratched him on his head before he followed me up to my room. I got undressed and took a quick shower before I finally checked my phone after snuggling under a blanket next to Domino. I had ten missed calls from Aria, five from Cassie, and one from Fehtra. I also had fifteen texts from Aria, two from Cassie, one from Fehtra, one from Tyler, and one from Zane. Curiosity got the best of me as I opened Zane's text first.

     ZANE: Please don't shut me out. I'm sorry.

I didn't know how to take that. He apologized but that was all he did. He offered no explanation, no excuse, no lie. Zane was the type of person who always covered his own butt, but he didn't this time. I was starting to see what Tyler meant about the pieces not adding up. Something wasn't right.

Aria was freaking out about where I was and what happened with Zane. Cassie was worried about my whereabouts, Tyler wished me a good night's rest, and Fehtra was telling me that her and Ben were going to sleep early. I only texted Aria back, asking her to come over. She had a spare key in cases where I didn't want to get up... like now. It was half an hour before she was entering my room, wearing her pajamas.

"What happened?" Aria asked softly as she turned my lights off and got in the bed with me. She must have known something bad happened because she let me be the little spoon, and Aria was insistent on always being the little spoon when we cuddled. I told her everything and included Tyler's pick-me-up session. Afterwards, she just held me until we dozed off.