Sharing Secrets by Matthew J. Metzger

Author:Matthew J. Metzger [Metzger, Matthew J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Totally Entwined Group Ltd
Published: 2017-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * * *

“You.”

Adam was getting used to being yanked into bathrooms.

“Ollie?”

“No, it’s Tinkerbell,” she said snidely, and folded her arms. She was dressed in her kit, ready for the after-school hockey practice, and somehow it was even more intimidating than the usual blazer-and-black-trousers combination. Maybe it was the cap pulled low over her curly hair, making that sharp, tan face even sharper.

Adam could feel his guard going up and tried forcibly to lower it.

“You and Charlie a thing now?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“I don’t know if you’re gonna hit me.”

She snorted and rolled her eyes but uncrossed her arms. “Look,” she said. “I like you, but fact is? Charlie’s my bestie. He and me, we’re like married. We’ve been together since we were five and you don’t change that.”

“Er…”

“I don’t want to sound so trite and shit, but…you two get into a fight, even if it’s ‘cause Charlie’s being a fucked-up prick, I’m not on your side, okay?”

“Um, okay.”

“And…you’ve got to be ready for Charlie,” she said. “He’s…he’s my best friend and all, but he’s not exactly right in the head all the time, yeah? And if you…if you put him through all of this shit to get close to him and cut and run first time you see him really lose his shit then you can cut and run now and not make me have to see him through it with an episode on top of it.”

“Ollie, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Adam blurted out. He got it, okay? Charlie had had some weird mental stuff happen—he was bipolar or whatever—but… “He got mad at me the other week. That’s why I eventually told you all about it. And…”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Sorry?”

Ollie heaved a sigh. “Look, Charlie’s…he’s not well, okay. Upstairs.”

“Will you and Phoebe stop talking in riddles?”

“You’re not the only one who doesn’t want things aired all over the place,” she snapped. “There’s rumors and shit but nobody—not even Feebs—nobody but me here knows how bad he really got. Okay? He didn’t just have a little freak-out. He got really ill and I—”

She stopped. Sharp and abrupt, the way…

The way Adam recognized from himself. The way he’d stop if someone conned him into talking about his old schools and old friends a little too much. And a cold feeling began to work its way up his spine.

“I figured for a while I was gonna lose my best friend,” Ollie said quietly and that just floored Adam. She spoke quietly. Ollie didn’t do quiet. She was kind of like Charlie—okay, a lot like Charlie—in that she either said nothing at all or she was mad-crazy-hyper and screamed it. “And he’s…he’s better, but he’s not okay and you don’t put him back there.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Adam said, “but I never thought I’d ever date anybody. Charlie…he just kept pushing, you know? And I let him. That says something, right? I don’t know where it’s going, but…”

“Don’t change your mind and lock him out again,” she ordered.

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