Her Darkest Secret

Chapter 44

"I'm so glad you and Kimberly made up!" Felix exclaimed.

I laughed at how cute he was. "Yeah."

We were taking yet another stroll around the street.

"I wonder when Priya's going to tell Xavier. It's going pretty fast for them compared to us," Felix said.

I nodded. "True. I think she'll be telling him soon," I sighed.

"You're not still thinking about that power that your mom was talking about, right?" he asked.

"Nah," I said, shaking my head.

"You're lying," he replied. "I know you're lying."

I looked at him. "How?"

"You play with your hair when you lie."

I looked down and saw my hands twirling my hair around. I instantly pulled them away and shrugged. "It's kind of hard to not think about it."

"I know, but please don't. You're almost free."

I opened my mouth to say something but instantly closed it. I knew that even if I explained it, he wouldn't understand.

"For all of our sake, please just forget about it."

"Fine," I said, lying again.

He sighed, knowing that I was lying. "I'm going to go now. There's an interview tomorrow that I need to wake up early for. Bye, babe." He pecked my lips and walked back to his house.

I walked back, too. Is he mad at me? I thought. Felix isn't the type to get mad. He was probably just upset. I was annoying and I knew it.

I went into my room, too. Nora, Priya, Haruki, Kimberly, Jasmine, and I were going to get lunch tomorrow. We wanted to get to know each other well.

I went to bed without eating dinner because I didn't have an appetite.

***

"Since when were you two friends?" Priya asked, pointing at Kimberly and me.

"Since like three days ago," Kimberly said, shrugging.

I nodded. "We just put everything behind us. 'Cause both of us understand each other now."

Nora glared at Kimberly. "Don't you dare steal my best friend."

"Chill," I laughed. "She was friends with you before you were friends with me."

"That's true, but we drifted apart over the years."

"All of us can just be friends now. So, no stealing friends, or anything."

"But, I'm going back to Japan when this is over, sooo..." Haruki started.

"Who said we can't be friends if we're not with each other in person," Priya said, nudging Haruki. "My mom actually said once this is all over, we're going to move to California. I'm going to finally start going to school. Not at your school, though. That's too expensive."

"Really?!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah. She doesn't want to keep me away from Xavier. Otherwise, I'll be unhappy."

Everyone squealed in delight.

"Exactly why I'm going back to Japan. For Scott."

"That's really sweet," Jasmine laughed. "I just wish you can stay here, though. I never really got to know you."

"Nah," Haruki said. "My dad is in Japan, so my mom's lonely, Scott's in Japan, so I'm lonely, and Hisaki's girlfriend, Yuina is also in Japan, so Hisaki's lonely. In all, it's pretty important that we go back."

I sighed. I know I didn't really like Haruki, but having her around made me feel safer and relieved. It made me a little sad that she had to leave.

Haruki gasped. "Aww. Looks like someone else wants me to stay. Right, Skyler?"

"I do not!" I defended.

"You're lying," she sang. "One, I know what you're thinking at this moment, and two you're doing that thing you do when you lie."

I looked down to see if I was playing with my hair, and yet again I was. I need to stop doing that. "Okay, fine. I don't want you to leave."

"Okay, now hug it out," Jasmine giggled.

"That's not happening," Haruki and I said at the same time. We looked at each other and laughed.

"This is lowkey making me super happy," Kimberly said.

"Don't say anything cringe, please. I can't handle anymore of it," Priya begged, clasping her hands together.

"Can we make ship names for the people who have boyfriends?" Kimberly asked.

Nora thought for a second. "Sky and Felix would be Skylix. Or Feeler... Okay, Feeler just sounds weird. I think Skylix sounds better."

"What would Nora and Leo be?" Priya asked. "They both have fairly small names. Lora? Neo?"

"Ooh, Lora sounds nice," Jasmine cooed. "What about Haruki and Scott?"

I giggled. "Hot."

All of us burst into laughter and I saw Kimberly cover her mouth after she took a sip of water.

"I feel so immature," she muttered.

"No-ugh!" Haruki beamed. "Scaruki?"

"That sounds like a name a serial killer would have," Jasmine laughed.

"I know that Xavier and Priya aren't official, yet, but what'll they be?" Nora inquired.

"Xiya," Haruki said. "Duh."

"That's actually a really cute name. I would name my kid that," Kimberly agreed.

"Does everyone here have a boyfriend?" Haruki asked. "Skyler, Nora, and I do. Priya's about to have one. So, Kimberly and Jasmine don't."

"I get it. I'm lonely," Kimberly said, rolling her eyes.

"Doesn't Tanner have a crush on you or something?" I asked. "I remember Felix telling me that."

"He does?" Kimberly asked, looking surprised.

"Did you not know that? You could've just dated him. I think he just wasn't brave enough to tell you."

Kimberly shrugged. "Maybe."

"What about you, Jasmine?" Haruki said, looking over at her.

"Carson and I kinda have something," she mumbled.

"Carson?!" I exclaimed. Carson was a dorky kid in our class. "Really?!"

"We were partners for a project and he came over to work on it once and I sorta developed a crush on him. He's super sweet once you get to know him. And so funny. And, you don't really see them because he doesn't smile much..." She leaned in and motioned us to do the same. "He has adorable dimples."

"Jas... Son?" Nora said, looking up. "That doesn't sound right. How about Carmine?"

"Carmine it is," Kimberly said, nodding. "So, what happened after you got a crush on him?"

"I told him. And, he said he has the same feelings for me. He thought I was playing a prank on him at first, so I had to persuade him I wasn't. But, he said that his parents don't want him in a relationship at all and he has to wait until college. So, we can't really do anything about it."

"My heart is literally dying, right now," Nora said. "Help me."

"Don't forget you have a boyfriend," I said, nudging her.

"I didn't," she giggled.

I looked around the table, happily. It was nice to have friends like this and have fun conversations. I hoped it never went away. 

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Sorry everyone, I'm going to have to take a small break from the book. I'm very busy with homework and we're still moving in. I hope you understand. I'll make sure to start updating again soon.