Prologue
Ollie
Secrets. They were what drove a wedge in reality. They were the bridge between the past, present, and future. They were everywhere. Everyone had secrets. Some bigger than others, sure, but we all had them.
And she knew my deepest, darkest one.
Piper sat beside me in the back of my brother’s Charger as he reluctantly stepped out and climbed up the side of a drab, shithole of a house to get to Hayley’s bedroom.
I couldn’t even fathom the amount of secrets those two shared. Old best friends turned enemies with enough sexual tension to light this entire fucking town on fire. But Hayley was Christian’s little secret, and no one liked to reveal the truth.
Leaning back in the Charger, my lip lifted as I glanced over at Piper. The interior of the car was dark, the window tint blocking the glow of the moon, almost as if it had disappeared altogether. Small specks of illuminating blue light from the dashboard dotted the side of Piper’s delicate cheek. Her soft features were drawn tight as she stewed in her hatred for me.
“Stop staring at me,” she hissed.
I chuckled, the deep sound reverberating in my throat.
“Are you angry because I’m right or because I’m wrong?”
“I’m angry because you tricked me into thinking my best friend was in the car. You all but kidnapped me from the party!”
A jealous side of me emerged as I thought back to an hour ago when I’d walked into the Wellington Prep party. Piper was too close to one of their own, and it irritated me. Fire fanned over my skin as if she were actually mine. It was the reason I’d revealed my hidden ace in the first place.
I slowly shook my head back and forth in Piper’s direction. “That's not why you're angry.”
Her eyes flared to mine. I couldn’t see their color, but I knew they were a jade green, just like the leaves of the evergreen trees that lined the back of English Prep.
She scoffed. “Then please enlighten me as to why I’m angry.”
I answered matter-of-factly, “You’re angry because I know it was you that night.”
Her face didn’t so much as twitch. Her pink lips stayed straight. Her eyelashes didn’t flutter closed. Nothing. Not even a tick of her cheek. And that right there, my friends, proved that I was correct in my assumptions. She knew if she reacted, she’d give away her poker face and crumble.
I leaned in a little closer, watching Christian through the Charger’s window, following after Hayley as she stormed across the street. I breathed in Piper’s soft scent as I dipped my lips down to her ear. “I know your secret, Piper. You aren’t nearly as innocent as you lead people to believe.” She held her breath, not daring to make a move. The heat from her body put the interior of the car at a solid 100 degrees, and it stirred up something unholy inside of me. “But that means you know mine, too.”
Chapter One
Piper
The Secret Keeper. If I ever had a title at English Prep, other than Friend of Hayley’s, that would be it. Piper: The Secret Keeper. My gaze lazily moved around the room as I sat perched on top of the kitchen island inside Eric’s parents’ cabin, mentally counting all the secrets I knew of my fellow classmates.
The group of cheerleaders huddled in the far corner of the living room, all gulping cheap beer from their cups filled to the brim, had secretly sexted the PE teacher last year for an easy A. That was secret number one. I shifted my eyes over to Eric, one of Christian and Ollie’s best friends, as my feet kicked back and forth below. Eric, with his sobering dark features and stoic expression, definitely had a plethora of secrets, all of which revolved around Madeline, the ex-queen-bee of English Prep. That was intriguing in itself, considering Madeline was Christian’s ex-girlfriend. But that brought me to secret number three: mean, callous, bitchy, spiteful, vindictive Madeline. Madeline wanted everyone to believe she had a perfect life, the happiest of families. But she didn’t. She was lonely and drowning in self-pity. The many windows in her house rarely had any lights on when I’d drive past, and her father was in and out of her and her mother’s life, which of course meant that Madeline had to watch her own mother bring stray men to their house whenever she did come home. Madeline was like a Pandora’s box. She had many secrets that she held close to her heart.
Much like me.
I was drawn to the hidden depths inside my peers. Gathering illicit information on people was my favorite pastime. I could see right through faces that were masked with fake serene. I observed, watched, and waited. I wasn’t sure why I was like that. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had my own imperceptible, deep secrets buried down underneath my skin that no one truly knew—not even Hayley, my best friend, who was staring directly at me from across the party as she sat on her boyfriend's lap.
Hayley crinkled her eyes and tilted her head, her dark hair falling past her shoulders. She was silently asking if I was okay.
I gave her a short nod wi
th a tiny, fake smile and averted my eyes around the room once more.
It was funny. A month ago, I was the one all but begging Hayley to go to Eric’s cabin for the hyped, you-don’t-live-until-you-go-to-the-cabin party, but now it was the opposite. Hayley begged me to hang out with her, Christian, and Ollie almost every day, and that would be fine, except for Ollie.
I hated Ollie. Loathed him. Or…at least that was what I told myself.
He and I shared a past. A past that I pretended didn’t exist, and he dangled it in my face every single time we were alone together.
But Ollie had secrets, too.
I always toed the thin line of hate that I drew in between us, acting as if I couldn’t stand him. And, in a way, it was truthful. I got edgy when he was around, but it was only because he knew.
And I didn’t like that.
Of course, he’d only ever once came out and said it in an attempt to get me to fall at his feet, but typically, we both pretended like that night didn’t exist. It was a raw, heavy, secret-sharing night underneath covers in a black-as-onyx room that neither one of us wanted to touch.
He knew something about me. And I knew something about him. Every time I locked eyes with his baby blues, it was like we were in an impasse. My stomach clenched; my heart thumped a little faster; my blood rushed. Looking at Ollie gave me a rush, but in the worst way possible.
My eyes skipped past Hayley and Christian, his head nuzzling her neck, as I spotted Ollie. A burning hole tore through my belly as I watched his casually cool facade whoosh a fellow classmate right off her feet. He was wearing a tight, plain t-shirt with his backwards baseball cap on, and my breath caught when his large hand cupped her tiny waist. Amber’s fingers gripped his forearm, and I clenched my teeth in an envious rage. That was another reason why I hated him; he brought out the worst side of me. The feisty, hot-headed, red-haired girl reared her ugly head whenever he flaunted his excessive flirting in front of my face. He did it on purpose, and I knew it, because each and every time I’d catch his stare, his devilish smirk would appear, and he’d have a twinkle in his eye. I wanted to smack that stupid, sharp jawline of his so he’d stop tormenting me.
But I wouldn’t.
Because that would give away everything I was hiding.
I finally casted my eyes away as my phone vibrated in my hand. My heart paused as I read the incoming text.
Mom: The silent alarm went off. Is that you at home?
Two things bothered me about that text. One, she didn’t even have the decency to say “hello,” even though we hadn’t talked or seen each other in over a month—which, to be honest, was nothing new. And two, it wasn’t me that had set the alarm off.
Panic shot down my spine as I hopped down from the counter. As soon as my feet hit the floor, it felt like my stomach did, too.
I had a couple of different options. I could tell my mom it wasn’t me who tripped the alarm and get on with my night of watching Ollie sweet-talk Amber and simmering in pure loathing. Or, I could dip out of the party and go check for myself, because I was pretty certain I knew why the alarm was tripped.
My heart skipped as I stood in the middle of the cabin’s kitchen, clutching my phone in my hand as my peers partied and chugged their keg-filled cups of malty beer. I was frozen. My shoes were planted to the wooden floor, the warm lights above my head shining down on me as if I were in the spotlight.
I slowly pulled my phone up and hovered my fingers over the keyboard. You already know what you’re going to do, Piper.
Me: Yeah, it’s me, sorry. Can you turn it off? I’m about to jump in the shower.
I bit my lip as I waited for my mom to text back. Please don’t question it. The one benefit to my relationship with my parents was that they trusted me. We didn’t talk much. My father always traveled for work, and my mom—who was his assistant—went along with him. They checked my bank account every day, waiting for the red flags that they’d learned to recognize in the past, but other than that, they weren’t protective at all. Paranoid? Yes. Protective? Not so much. As long as I kept my ducks in a row, they stayed at a distance, and I liked it that way.
My phone buzzed again as I stared a hole into the side of Ollie’s head. His perfectly plump lips traced along Amber’s neck, and it made my stomach coil like a bundle of snakes. Do you remember what those lips felt like? I scowled at the tiny voice in the back of my head. Shut up.
Mom: I disarmed it from my phone. Your father and I are thinking of getting cameras hooked up for extra caution. We don’t particularly enjoy panicking.
I wanted to text back and ask what exactly they were panicking about. Were they afraid things would get stolen again? Or were they fearful that I’d be in a house with someone who was unstable at best? Or were they afraid their business trip would get cut short, and they’d have to deal with the repercussions of their parenting skills? I’d never know.
I rounded a group of football players who eyed me briefly as I walked over to Hayley and Christian. Hayley’s cheeks were painted pink as Christian whispered something in her ear. His hand was clamped down on her inner thigh, and I wanted to puke at how perfect they were. Months ago, they hated each other, and now they were #goals. The king of the school and the broken girl had somehow found a way to fall in love, and basically everyone in our class foamed at the mouth when they were near. We all wanted what they had. Even me.
“Hey, I’m gonna head home.”