Conspicuous Secrets

Chapter Three

On 6/12/18 I changed the lengths of all the chapters to be more effective in interest and reading. If you don't know where you left off, message me where you were in the storyline and I will let you know what chapter to start back off at. Sorry for the inconvenience:)

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By the time the girls finished their homework, it was around the time for the boys to arrive. The three of us went downstairs into Aria's lounge and started setting out pillows and blankets on the floor to make the room cozier. The flat screen TV in the room was huge—it covered a good portion of the wall that it hung on. I had never seen such a big TV in my life. There was a fireplace on the opposite wall behind the couch and fluffy chairs in the middle of the room.

"I love this room," I told Aria. "It's so relaxing."

She nodded, along with Marla. "We use this room every week for our movie nights. It's pretty chill," Marla said.

As we finished up spreading out blankets and placing pillows, we heard a door shut and loud laughs fill the air. Just a moment later, in walked Holden, Jaxon, and the boy I had yet to learn the name of. All three of them had wide smiles on their faces, probably laughing at something stupid that all boys find funny.

"We brought movies!" my brother exclaimed as Holden waved his hands in the air excitedly, holding multiple movies in each.

"Woohoo!" Marla cheered dramatically.

I laughed at them. "How long have you guys been doing movie nights?"

"Since freshman year," Holden informed me. "It was originally just mine and Aria's thing, but then Marla and Kason insisted on joining."

I nodded at him before glancing at the taller boy with brown hair and deep-blue eyes. So his name was Kason. As if he felt my eyes on him, he looked at me for a moment with an unreadable expression before we both looked away.

"So...pizza?" Jaxon asked. Everyone audibly agreed and nodded in response. "If you guys can go ahead and call the order in, I can go pick it up," he offered.

Aria stood from the white fluffy chair she was sitting on and nodded. "I'll just order our usual," she said, getting out her phone and walking to the edge of the room.

"I'll go with you to pick it up since you don't know your way around town too well," Kason spoke up. My brother nodded before Kason looked around the room. "Does anyone else want to go?" His mesmerizing eyes stopped on me as if he was asking me specifically. I wanted to say yes, but I stopped myself. I couldn't get attached to people. It would be a mistake that could get them killed. So instead, I shook my head like everyone else in the room. He nodded in return then looked at my brother. "Let's go ahead and leave. By the time we get there, it should be ready."

I watched the two boys leave and by the time they did, Aria had gotten off the phone and was sitting down beside Holden on the white couch. Marla took a seat on the blanket and cushion covered floor and I did the same. "So how are you liking this town?" Holden asked me, putting his arm around Aria as she cuddled into his side.

I shrugged and held a cushion against my chest. "Well, we've only had one night in our house, so I don't really know what to think of this place yet," I said honestly. "Give me until the rest of the week and I'll let you know."

"Oh, I didn't know that you just moved yesterday," Aria spoke up. "If you don't want to spend the night tonight you don't have to. You probably have a lot of unpacking to do," she realized.

I shook my head and smiled at her. "We're happy you invited us. Tonight will be fun."

The three of them smiled at me. "You are welcome to hang out with us anytime you want," Aria spoke. "I can already tell all of us are going to get along great."

I nodded, a grin pulled on my face. They wanted to become great friends. Little did they know, they wouldn't get to know the real me.

#

The boys walked into the house with the food and we all crowded around them as Jaxon opened the two boxes of pizza. I lingered behind the group of my newfound friends and let them get their dinner first. Without me noticing, the mysterious boy I knew nothing about joined me behind them. I looked up and found his bright blue eyes staring down at me. He stood a good foot higher than me and looked large compared to my own petite frame. "Hey," he spoke, his voice deeper than I would have guessed. "I don't think we've properly met." He held out his hand politely. "I'm Kason." I found it strange that he was polite. He seemed to have the whole bad boy vibe going on.

I shook his hand and slipped him a kind smile. "I'm Lydia."

He smiled down at me, kindly and again, with an expression I couldn't figure out. The few times I had seen him or made eye contact with him, it was never obvious about what was on his mind. It made him seem very mysterious. I didn't even realize I was staring at him until he turned away from me and grabbed a slice of sausage pizza from the box. I shook myself out of the daze I had ended up in. I really needed to stop doing that.

We all sat around the lounge floor on the blankets and cushions, eating our pizza. I was the only one who remained silent as everyone else argued on what movie to watch. Kason, who I noticed chooses to stay quiet most of the time, was even wound up in the debate. After what felt like forever, they all agreed to watch some horror movie I had never heard of. The decision took a lot longer than necessary—by the time we started the movie, all the pizza had been eaten. It was pretty sad if you asked me.

As soon as the movie started, Aria stood up to turn off the lights and Holden started making a fire in the fireplace. As he did so, a loud pop filled the air, probably from the logs starting to burn. I nearly jumped out of my skin as the sound of a gunshot filled the air of the empty room. All I could hear was my deep breathing as I flashed back to the worst night of my life. However, before I could see the details, a hand was placed on my shoulder, bringing me back to real time. I quickly looked to my side, to see my brother sitting there, looking at me with a knowing look in his eyes. "You okay?" he asked, loud enough for only me to hear.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm my sudden nerves. "Yeah," I whispered, with an assuring smile. "I'm okay." Loud noises and I didn't mix too well. Every time I heard a gunshot or a loud crack or pop, I freak out. It always makes me flash back to the night I knew I would never forget.

#

Halfway through the movie, I knew it was scarier than I would ever admit. The whole time, I was terrified, keeping my eyes shut half the time and one of the blankets pulled up to my neck. All our eyes were locked on the serial killer on the screen that walked the town's streets late at night, killing the people on his hit list. On multiple occasions, Marla, Aria and I were squealing in fear and jumping out of our skin at the jump scares. It was terrifying.

At one point during the movie, my brother made a plan. During the middle of a suspenseful build-up of the killer sneaking up on the woman hiding in the closet, Jaxon decided to run into the lounge, wearing a black hoodie and holding a kitchen knife in his hand. I screamed at the top of my lungs, alongside Marla and Aria. Immediately, Jaxon burst laughing and took off the hoodie. I held my hand to my chest, trying to breathe and slow my heartbeat. "You jerk!" I yelled at him. He only laughed harder, and Kason and Holden soon joined in.

"Jeez." Aria had her eyes closed with her head tilted back and hands on her face.

Marla started laughing. "I can't breathe. You scared the crap out of me."

My brother smirked. I knew his ego had raised. I stared at him with a dangerous look in my eye. "Come here," I told him.

He looked at me and hesitated after one step. "Why?"

I didn't move. "Just come here."

After a moment he shook his head. "No, you're gonna hit me." I inhaled once then grabbed the closest cushion and chucked it in his direction.