One Tiny Secret - By Adam Kunz Page 0,3

putting his hands up, showing innocence.

“Hey, I’ve only done this like three times so far this year,” I hear Alex state as she plops back down next to me.

Rory laughs. “Yeah, but the year just started.”

“Irrelevant,” she says, intently flipping through the notebook.

“All right you guys, it’s late, and I, unlike some people, have work to do.”

Alex thanks me again before heading out the window and Rory follows quickly after. When I glance up after watching the two of them scale down the lattice fence, I see that Janice’s window curtain is closed, but the light in her room is casting a gentle, eerie silhouette against it. As the light turns off, the silhouette disappears. I sigh, thinking back to when Janice and I were younger. It’s sad that we haven’t talked in forever, especially since we live right next door to each other. A feeling of guilt flows over me as I shut the window before heading back to my bed.

Taking off my slippers, I slide under the covers to warm up. As I go to reach for my laptop, my phone chimes again. Unlocking the screen, I find that it’s just reminding me of the unchecked Facebook friend request. Tapping the Facebook icon, I wait for the page to load. Being on the outskirts of town really sucks for reception and Internet.

My eyes grow wide with surprise and my heart stutters as I see the picture and name of the person who sent me the request.

“Parker Reed?”

The moment that name leaves my lips, I feel a tingling sensation course throughout my entire body. The last time I saw his face was a little more than two years ago, when I was massively making out with it.

I used to be attached at the hip and utterly inseparable from his stepsister, Phoebe. Our best-friendship was rocked by my little…well, I wouldn’t call it “little”…fling with Parker. I found it really hard to keep my relationship with Parker from her, and it made some of our sleepovers quite awkward, especially when he’d text me sweet little messages before bed. When Phoebe eventually found out, I was so worried that I’d lose my best friend. We still hadn’t made up by the time Parker split for California, and it killed me not to be able to seek comfort from her since she’s someone I cared a lot about. Thankfully, Phoebe and I were able to keep our friendship intact even after what happened.

I let my phone’s screen fade to black without clicking accept or ignore to the request, and then place it down by my side. I let out a heavy sigh as I think back to the night Parker and I first kissed. He was a senior and I was a freshman. I pretty much had a crush on him my entire post-pubescent life, and that crush was firmly cemented the moment our lips locked.

“No…you’ve got to snap out of this, Dani!” I groan. “You can’t eff things up with Phoebe again.”

I shut off the TV and flip the switch on my bedside lamp, plunging the room into darkness. The only source of light is from the street lamp outside, shining through my window. While patting the pillows behind me, trying to fluff them into the perfect pile, thoughts of Parker keep flooding my head. I was going to try and get some more work done tonight, but there’s no damn way I’ll be able to concentrate with him on the brain. I should hate him for just up and leaving the freakin’ state for college without even so much as a goodbye, but here I am, thinking about how much I want to trace his perfect jawline with my hand while sucking face.

I toss and turn until I flop over onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. “Damn you, Parker Reed. Damn you and your damn friend request,” I mutter under my breath, succumbing to the realization that I was in for a long night of no sleep.

Chapter Two

The smell of a freshly brewed pot of French roast coffee pulls me from a dream I don’t want to awaken from. And yes, it was about Parker.

The strong French roast means one of two things. Either my dad spent the entire night thinking about Mom and needs the good stuff to get him motivated, or he spent a good portion of the night actually talking to her and needs a swift kick in the ass.

I stretch and release a yawn,