Her Secrets - Morgan B (books for 9th graders TXT) 📗

was something that made him want to tell her everything.

"About twenty years ago I lost my brother, Jason." He gulped hard, his hands shook and he avoided eye contact at all cost. "He was only fifteen."

"How?" She mumbled. He didn't answer right away. "You don't have to tell me."

"He died of cancer." He said quickly. He figured saying it all at once wouldn't hurt as much; boy, was he wrong. "He got diagnosed two years earlier." He paused, hoping to find the strength. "After a couple months the medicine started working and he got better." For a slight second his blue eyes glimmer but what he was going to say cast a dark shadow over it. "But then it came back. It hit him all at once. I had to watch him suffer." His lip twitched as the tears covered his eyes. "He was in pain every second. He was slowly dying and the doctors did nothing." He finally looked up at her.

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?" She whispered.

"Why are you sorry?" He didn't help.

"Because its sad."

"But its not your fault. Why are you sorry?" She thought he was messing with her but his facial expressions were completely serious.

"I don't know why." She answered. She was a little upset that he was so blunt and rude.

"Then why did you say it?"

"Because its just something you say. I say I'm sorry when someone has a head ache, even though its not my fault and I can't do anything to help. I'm sorry is just something people say to make other people know its okay, and their not alone." Her voice wasn't soothing, it was more blunt like his was.

"I'm sorry." He said ashamed.

"Why?" She mocked. He looked up with a amusement.

"I didn't mean to blow up on you. I just never talked about Jason to anyone before."

"Its okay." She smiled.

The waiter came back over with their pancakes. He stopped a second too long and stared at Sam. He noticed his staring and quickly walked away, but it left her uneasy.

She looked down at the table and felt her cheek. The shot that made the pain go away had finally wore off. She flinched at the pain and quickly removed her hand.

Adam abruptly took up and straightened his shirt.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"No where. Just relax." He smiled. He walked behind the diners counter and he disappeared into the back.

Sam sat nervous. She jumped when she heard a loud noise. She leaned to her left and caught a glimpse of what was happening. Adam had the waiter pinned to the wall, his muscles bulging with tension, the waiters feet floating above the dirt stained tile.

"You don't know what she's gone through. Maybe you'll think about that next time you think of staring at someone. I wouldn't walk around judging people if I had a face like yours." She could barely hear him speak, but what she did hear made the hair on her arms raise. His voice when he talked to her was light and soothing, but his voice then was dark and disturbing.

At that moment Sam has a flashback. *Smack* He reached his arm out again. *Smack* She flinched at the memory.

She could hear his repulsive voice say, "Stay still, this wont hurt," He'd pause for a second. "Unless you want it to." He'd finish. He'd pin her arms down and open her legs with his knees. She was helpless, alone, always.

He let the waiter down and straightened his shirt. He walked back to the table like nothing happened. Sam had tears in her eyes, she was shaking head to toe, covered in chills, and terrified.

Adam sat down unaware of her state. He took the napkin from the table and laid it out on his lap. He looked over at her and realized something was wrong. When he slid closer to her to see waht was wrong, she jumped up in terror. She stood lifeless for a second. She was shaking head to toe. She was sweating, but her skin felt ice cold. 

"Samantha?" Adam stood but she ran out faster than anything he's ever seen. He chased after her but she was gone before he knew it.

After hours of driving, checking every nook and crany of that town, he gave up. He drove off a dirt road and parked the car. He placed the keys in the cup holder and then stepped out onto the wet dirt. His brand new black shoes sqooshed into the mud. He walked furthur into the woods, following his path. He took a walk to his place. It was off a fishing path. He could hear the water roaring in the distance.

He stopped when he got there. The bridge sat just feet away from him. He stepped onto the light brown wood and smiled when it cracked. It took him back to when he was five years old and his Grandpa took him fishing there. The cracking use to scare him, but now it sounds like home.

He walked up the bridge and stopped at the middle. He walked closer to the wooden rail. He leaned over it with just his elbows touching it. He sighed deeply and looked down at the rushing water below him.

It was his favorite spot indeed. His Grand-Father use to take him there all the time. It was their fishing spot. It was where they got over Grandma's death and where their wedding was. It was everything for Adam. It was where his parents got married and its the only place that can take his worries away.

Birds flew high above the bright blue sky. Green trees towered over the crystal clear water. Bull frogs and crickets echoed in the distance. Adam looked down at his reflection and closed his eyes. Usually this was where his happy place but he felt like there was a black cloud hanging over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." A voice said behind him. He abruptly turned around. He was frightened, and especially shocked when he saw who it was.

"How did you," His voice trailed off.

"I didn't mean to find you here; I just came here to think." She nervously walked closer to the edge and looked over it. The wind blew, taking her beautiful red hair off her back. She looked down at her reflection, just like she always did, but this time she jumped back in tears. She saw herself, her scar, everything. It was like a complete flash back of her whole past

She fell to her knees in agony. He wanted to help her, but he stood still. He wasn't able to move, he wasn't able to tell her it was okay, he wasn't able to comfort her, and he didn't know why.

"I'm hideous!" She cried out. He looked down at her, still frozen. He finally snapped out of it and knelt to one knee.

"No." He said quietly. He slid his hand under her chin, lifting her to his eye level. "You are beautiful." He placed both his hands on her cheeks. He knew very well that her cheek would be tender, but he had to do it.

He slid his thumb over her stitches. She closed her eyes, not in pain, but in disgust. She thought she looked ugly and everytime she looked at those stitches she thought of him. She thought of what he did and what he put her through.

"Open your eyes." He whispered. She opened her bright green eyes and stared into his.

"How can you say I'm beautiful? I'm scared for life." The tears bubbled up in her eyes.

"Because I can see past the stitches. I can see past your broken heart, past your tears and the wall you are putting up." Adam knew it wasn't from a hiking accident but he wasn't going to ask her what it really was from.

"But you barely know me." She whispered back. He knew she was right and he didn't know how to respond.

She shook her head and stood to her feet. She wiped her eyes and stood tall, something she hasn't done for a while.

"I should go." She began walking away and he didn't know how to stop him.

"Do you even have anywhere to go?" She shouted just as her feet stepped off of the bridge. She stopped dead in her tracks and squinted her nose. "You could stay with me." He suggested. She turned around slowly. His soft eyebrows drew her attention to his bright blue eyes.

"How can you invite a total stranger to stay with you?" She asked. He took a step towards her.

"I don't know." He answered honestly. She was about to keep walking. She knew this was a bad idea. He was going to turn into one of two things; a phyco or he's going to be amazing, a complete dream come true. Either way, nothing good would come out of it. "Please," He begged. He took another step towards her, now just an arms length away.

She looked up at him. She didn't understand this man. Here they are, just having met and she's already taken a shower in his bathroom, and now he's inviting her to stay with him? This was completely crazy and they both knew it.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Okay?" He smiled.

"Okay." She repeated.

"Okay." He said again. He didn't know why he was so happy, but he was.

He walked back to the bridge and leaned back over. She stood not far behind him, but not close enough to see herself in the crystal clear blueness running beneath them.

"Why do you come here?" She asked quietly.

"Because no matter how hard life gets," He paused and sighed. "This place always makes it seem as light as a feather." He answered without turning around, not wanting her to see how close he was to tears.

"How hard could your life be? You're a doctor, you're handsome, and your family looks like they adore you." Part of her became very upset. She couldn't imagine how his life could be so hard.

"Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'Don't judge a book by its cover'?" He rubbed his forehead and sighed again. "You don't know me."

"Then let me know you." She took a step closer and pulled his hand off his forehead so she could look into his beautiful eyes. "I am going to be living with you; I should know something."

"Fine," He looked up, praying the quivering in his stomach would go away. "One answer for one answer." She began to get nervous, but nodded anyways.

"You first." She gulped.

"How'd you get this?" He asked while touching her cheek. She closed her eyes again and squinted them tightly.

"Ask a different question." She snapped.

"The rules was one for one."

"I don't care." She whispered. She looked down into the water, but this time she didn't look away. The tears glazed her eyes over but she refused to let them fall.

"Okay," He said defensively. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Yes."

"Then, why are you-"

"Because I'm not welcomed." She answered before he had the chance to ask. "I'm not like that. I have nothing to be proud of like they do." He wanted to say something to comfort her, something to take her tears away, but he had nothing. "What's so bad about your life?"

"Besides losing my brother," He paused. He wanted to tell her it all, but he liked how she thought he was perfect. "Nothing." He lied.

She knew he was lying, but she didn't pry.

She looked up into his eyes and she shrugged it off. They looked back into the distance. The quietness was just what both of them needed.

"Thats it?" She asked. "Thats what makes your life so unbearable?"

"I guess so." He lied. And again, a small part of her hated him.

"Adam, people die. They leave and never come back. People we love disappear, and we have to live with that. Ironically, its life." Her voice was full of sorrow.

"Who left you?" He asked. He looked over at her, but she didn't speak. Her expression showed a broken heart; someone whos been through hell and back.

She looked down into the water. She watched as a tear