"I can't believe this. My best friend is dating an older man!" She sighed. "How romantic."
"Not yet. We're just talking. He knows people won't like it, so we're just getting to know each other. But I'm going to meet him this Friday for an official date."I left a swooning April at her door, swearing her to secrecy, and joined Priest.
"Heard you were popular today?" He snickered at home as we peeled off our winter gear.
"Jealous?" Priest was every bit the annoying, asshole big brother. He loved to dull my shine, but I refused to let him today. I rushed to my room to admire my valentines. I tossed all the candy and notes and cards on my bed. And then screamed!
Was I the most popular girl in ninth grade now? Maybe because I was nicer than the other girls. Or that my mom finally let me wear lipstick to school.I spent the afternoon going through each love note, deciding to write thank you notes back. I took my time, saving the best ones for last.
When I got to my locker between History and English, a pink envelope dangled out of the little slit, with my name on it. It was a beautiful pink card, laced with red roses. Opening it, I found a small note, which broke my heart for whoever had the courage to write it.
"I've spent months trying to figure out how to say it to you, but I'm not ready yet, so enjoy the card, Laney Duvall."
The only one who called me Laney was Priest.
I wished they'd left a name, so I could tell them thank you, but it wasn't signed.
A knock around dinnertime interrupted my thoughts, and Priest swung open the door, leaning against the doorframe. "You coming to dinner? Marta made Italian chicken."
Marta was our housekeeper. Our parents were so busy, and my mother wasn't exactly housewife material.
Priest's eyes settled on the array of gifts. I tried to scoop them up, but it was too late. He quickly grabbed Marco’s card.
"Hallmark?" He snickered, turning the oversized heart-shaped card. "How inspiring. Which loser spent their allowance on this?"
Priest enjoyed being mean to me. Making fun of my clothes, my friends, whenever I did something different with my hair or makeup. It hadn’t always been this way, but over the last year, he’d become a real jerk.
I stood and snatched the card back from him.
"If you must know, I got them from an older boy, a man. Because he sees how much I've matured this year."
Priest's dimpled smile slid off, and his eyes darkened. "Laney, you're in ninth grade. How old is this guy?"
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that he loves me and wants to take me on dates and go to dances and you're just jealous because you've never had a girlfriend."
"Who is it, Laney?" He stepped closer, looming over me. I'd never seen Priest like this before. Eyes blazing, jaw tight, fists clenched. He was shaking with rage.
"No one," I lied.
"Tell me."
"Marco Brandis," I confessed. "But you can't tell Mom and Dad!"
"Marco Brandis?"There was a sudden shift in the air, and Priest turned to leave. "I'm going to go eat."
The tension in the dining room was deafening. Priest was fuming and ate quickly. He was finished before I could get even halfway through my plate.
"Priest!" I stood when he did. He was halfway to the stairs when he turned. The Michael Myers mask he'd worn for Halloween this year sat abandoned on the side table. He snatched it up as if noticing it for the first time in months.
"What?" His gaze pierced my heart. He'd never looked at me like that before.
My body and soul screamed for me to ask the question that had been weighing on me since I got the handmade card with my nickname on it, but I couldn’t. The answer, regardless of what it was, would change our relationship forever. I chose the coward’s way out instead.
"Don't tell Mom and Dad, please," I begged.“about Marco.”
"Fine." He stormed up and slammed his bedroom door shut.
That night, I was restless. Marco didn't message me, which was unusual. I cried, praying my brother didn't share my secret with our parents.
