Keep My Secrets by Elena Wilkes (large ebook reader .txt) 📗

sighed, looking over at the door again, wondering what the hell Jude was telling him. All kinds of make-believe shit probably. Martin would be on her side though; his rules weren’t other people’s rules; he challenged all that. She knew his secrets. She knew his world, not just the different way he thought about things – but also the things he did. He didn’t abide by authority and laws – they were for other people.

‘I’m an old-fashioned revolutionary,’ he’d whispered. They were cocooned under her duvet. He’d grinned and kissed the end of her nose. ‘A dissenter, a disrupter of the social order.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means I’m dedicated to action, not words. I’m your modern-day Robin Hood. Fancy joining me on my quest to take from the rich and give to the poor?’

‘What? How?’ She’d felt scared and thrilled all at the same time.

‘Night-tripping. The houses in Chester are great for it; they’re plums ripe for picking,’ he said enigmatically.

‘Night-tripping?’

‘Yeah, I’ll teach you. You’ll be fantastic at it. I can tell. Wanna come?’

Of course she did.

She blinked again languidly at her reflection and gave a mischievous smile. He was so right. She was brilliant.

It had gone quiet in the hallway. She glanced again at the door, her ears pricked with vague irritation. So where was he? Surely he could find some excuse to come up here. What was wrong now?

The slam of a car door sent her scurrying over to the window again. The passenger side opened, and Nat got out looking very sorry for herself, swiftly followed by Caro, one of the other staff members. The squawking downstairs started up again as she heard the front door open and all the girls began to pile out onto the drive to throw their arms around Nat in a great tide of dramatic concern. Frankie took her opportunity. Slipping out onto the landing, she made her way to the top of the stairs, swinging round the corner and literally colliding with Martin.

‘Oh! There you are!’

‘Shh! They’re all outside.’

‘I know.’ She giggled as he drew her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist as he buried his face in her hair.

‘Mmm… You smell wonderful. You’re like chocolate and coconut and brown sugar. I could eat you,’ he whispered.

She giggled again and glanced over his shoulder. A couple of the chattering girls trooped back inside, too busy to notice them. But they didn’t have long.

‘You okay?’ He looked deep into her eyes. His were the most beautiful colour she had ever seen, hazel flecked with green, deep-set and heavy-lidded like a girl’s.

‘I warned you to keep your head down,’ he admonished her with a smile. ‘Don’t get so wound up. Natalie’s just a kid. Did Jude hammer you with a load of penalties?’

‘Not too much. I’m good. You know me,’ she grinned.

‘No, you’re not good,’ he said softly. ‘In fact, you’re very, very bad. Look what you’re doing to me.’ He pulled a strand of hair from her cheek and then held out his hand; his fingers were trembling. ‘That’s you. That’s the effect you have.’ He let them drift down and gently touch the belt. She thought she might die with the sudden ache that shot through her. ‘You’re wearing it – wow! It looks great on you…’

‘Shh! Careful,’ she warned, peeping over his shoulder. ‘Jude’s only just down there.’

He grinned. ‘Oh, she’s fine, you know how much she likes me.’

She rolled her eyes. He’d conned Jude a treat; she let him get away with loads. He’d told her he wanted to be a social worker and so he wanted to get into voluntary work – well, he had got into it, just not quite in the way that Jude had envisaged.

‘Shouldn’t you be back in your room?’ he suddenly said very loudly.

She sprang away as Jude’s face appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

‘You’ll need to have a think about the consequences of your actions and how you’re going to apologise for them.’ He took a couple of steps away. Jude was standing staring up at them both.

‘Ah, Jude,’ he trotted down the stairs and drew level with her. ‘Frankie was trying to sneak out of her room but I didn’t think, under the circumstances, it was appropriate.’

‘Absolutely not.’ Jude glared at her. ‘I think we could all do with a bit of time out don’t you, Frankie?’ She made a ridiculous ‘T’ sign with her fingertips pressed into the heel of her hand. ‘Are you coming into the lounge for the formal de-brief, Martin?… Say, five minutes?’

‘Sure,’ Martin said loudly as Jude disappeared along the hallway. He glanced back and winked. ‘Tonight?’ he mouthed and held up both hands to signify ten o’clock.

Frankie nodded quickly and retreated back to her bedroom, her heart thudding like a mad thing. She perched on the edge of the bed, her knee jiggling, her fingers sawing impatiently as she stared at the digital clock on the bedside table.

There was the chatter of voices from down below as all the girls tried to talk over each other, desperate to put their ten cents worth in and grass her up. Frankie stared glumly at the carpet. Ten o’clock. Jesus. That was almost seven hours away. It felt like forever, although she knew that if he asked her to, she’d wait a lifetime.

Ten o’clock came and went.

She stood at the top of the stairs not daring to go down, straining her ears. It was the quiet after the storm. The girls loved a bit of drama and now they were satiated – for a while, at least. She paced around her room for a bit, picking things up and putting them down again. It felt as though she’d been waiting all day. He couldn’t be too much longer, surely?

She went out onto the landing again. She could hear Jude’s nasal whine behind a closed door somewhere. Was she keeping him talking, was that it? Then she heard two voices getting louder and the creak