S e c r e t s r e v e a l e d

We reach the town eventually, and I drag my gaze from the last manor (by now they're more like mansions, smaller with less land) and turn to the town.

At the top of the street, just near the last mansion, is a hospital, small but big enough for the small population of the town. Next to it is the fire station, and across is the police station. Both also small. After them are stores, like the grocery store, pharmacist, and a shopping centre. Past that is a playground, preschool, library, and then comes the other side of the town and the schools.

"You coming?" Casper's voice interrupts my observations, and I blink and look at him.

"Yeah, sorry, I was just staring at the town that I have become oh-so-bored of these past fourteen years," I say, and walk over to the rest of them, following them to the shopping centre.

"Where to first?" Cecilia asks.

I don't say anything, knowing my choice will be rejected. They all look at me though, waiting for me to say what I normally would.

"Guys, I'm just gonna wait till the end cause you're gonna reject the bookstore. It feels very left out," I add.

We all end up splitting up anyway, the boys not wanting to come clothes shopping with us girls, and they head off to I have no idea where, while we go over to one of the clothing stores. As we try on the skirts and shirts and dresses, we start up a conversation.

"Okay. Char, what is going on between you and Lucas?" before I start to protest that there's nothing, she adds, "Don't say there's nothing. There is obviously something. Now, I'm not trying to get into an argument or whatever, but girl it's so obvious that there is something, and neither of you can tell. It's frustrating, really."

I sigh. "Honestly, Mia? I have no idea. I mean, we were friends, but then I think we started talking about a sensitive subject for him, and you and Casper, no offense, but you keep teasing about there being something and now it's really awkward."

"Ohh," she breathes.

We pay for the clothes then leave the shop and go towards the food court, where we said we'd meet the boys. On the way, we pass a lolly shop so we stop and buy some, and we are sitting at a table and feasting on sugary foods when they come into sight. When they get into earshot, Alexa yells out, "Look who it is!"

They come closer and stand around the table, and Damon says, "Well sorry, some people wanted to do something."

The girls all pause. "Okay, I can tell that's aimed but I have no idea who at," I say.

"Eh, we'll leave you to figure it out," Damon answers.

We walk over to Macca's and order drinks, not hungry yet, and when they come we walk around the centre for a while and watch the people rushing past doing Christmas shopping. I manage to buy a few gifts for all my family members, except for Cecilia.

After around two hours, we finally get back out of the shopping centre and into the fresh air outside. We begin the walk back home, then when we get there disperse and do our own thing. I go back to the secret study. I know, I'm going there often now, but I wanna finish that book.

Later, when everyone sleeps, I just can't seem to doze off. I stand up, walk out to the room, and notice Lucas standing on the balcony.

"Hey," I say cautiously, not sure if we are still on bad terms.

"Hey. Do you wanna go somewhere?���

"Okay," I reply, unsure of where this is heading. We walk out of the room and down winding passageways into the gardens. We walk through, and the scent of flowers in bloom fill the air. The air is becoming cold however, and I forgot to bring a jumper.

"So, I'm sorry about earlier. I just-it's a topic that means something to me. I'm not meant to say much about it either," Lucas begins.

"It's okay. Sorry for trying to get you to tell me when you didn't want to," I say, trying to stop my teeth from chattering.

"It's fine. Are you cold?" he asks, and I turn away, rubbing my arms slightly.

"No."

"Yes you are," he says.

"Why do you think so?"

"One, cause you're shivering, two you've got goosebumps," he says, pointing to my bare arms. I look down. My pj's were summer ones, thin and short.

"I didn't know it was gonna be this cold," I mutter.

"Here," he begins to take his jumper off, and suddenly I remember every single romance I have ever read. It always starts with the boy giving the girl his jumper. Or at least, that always happens. I try to banish the thoughts from my mind, but then the kiss comes back to my brain. 'That meant something to you, didn' it?' the tiny voice in my head whispers.

"No, it's fine," I say, my cheeks red from the cold air and my thoughts, as if he could read them.

"Really," before I can say anything, he's given me his jumper, so I sigh and put it on, the sleeves long and it reaches down almost to my knees.

"Thanks for the dress," I say.

"Not my fault you're shorter than me," he chuckles. I watch his face, paying more attention to his features than before. His dimples deepen, his eyes soften, then I quickly look away before he can catch my dreamy gaze, lost in his dark eyes.

"Aren't you gonna be cold?" I ask, to distract my thoughts.

"Nah."

His fingers brush against mine as we stroll along, and I take his hand. We walk for longer, in a comfortable silence, and I am glad that we've got no issues between us now. After a while, Lucas turns and pulls me into a small garden, flowering vines coating the walls in a colourful array, stone walkways leading towards the middle of the garden, where there is a gate, two gates sitting on a patch of dirt. There is nothing behind them, they are just standing there alone.

"What's this place?" I breathe, not wanting to disturb the silence.

"Think about it," he whispers back, but not unkindly.

I think for a while, but can't make it out. "Can I have a hint?"

I look at him and can tell he's thinking. "I don't wanna give it away. Huh. Think of all the conversations we've had about magic. Every one of them." He looks at me, as if he's given it away. I think back. What have we spoken about? Magical families, how he believes, when he said it should be easy for me to figure out how he hid from me.

"A magical place?" I joke, not meaning it at all, and I'm still thinking, certain that's not the answer.

However, his reply surprises me.

"Yes."

The gears in my mind stop working, and I look at him in shock. "Haha, very funny. For real this time, what is this place?" I say uncertainly.

He raises an eyebrow. "A magical place."

"Lucas!" I say.

"Charlotte!" he answers with the same voice.

I look back at the gates. They don't lead anywhere. They are covered in moss and lichen, and small white flowers adorn the frame. It looks ordinary, but I recall it from a book I once read. Not too long ago, actually.

"Solve the cypher and you shall enter," Lucas says beside me.

"It's a portal," I say blankly, my mind not thinking at all, and Lucas chuckles darkly.

"Yes. Do you know where to?"

"The magical world. Arcadia."

"Very good. You wanna go there?"

"But-it's the magical world. It's not meant to be real," I stutter.

"But it is," he replies. He pushes open the gates. Unlike I imagined as a child, there is nothing interesting behind them, only a slightly distorted, wavering view of the garden behind them. I stand there, staring at the gap.

"Proof," I manage to get out, then I shake myself out of my awe, take my hand out of his and look at him. "How do I know this is real?"

"Look at it," he gestures towards them. "Doesn't look real to you?"

"No, there's no other world or anything behind them."

"But it's blurry behind there. If you don't think it's real, well, there's gotta be some kind of magic behind it to make the garden behind the gates look blurry, right?"

"Stop telling me that magic's real," I growl at him, my confusion leading to anger.

"Stop getting mad at me," he hisses back.

We glare at each other, and then he says, "Do you want me to prove it to you?"

"Yeah," I counter. "Try and trick me into believing."

"Okay."

I watch him closely, and nothing happens at first. Then, as I watch, he disappears. I look down, see his feet crushing the grass underneath him, then I see the grass be trampled under him as he moves behind me. I feel his arms go around me, then he appears again.

"That's how I hid from you," I hear the smirk in his voice. I jerk myself free of his hands then look back at him, slightly scared now. I've heard and read the stories about what magics can do.

"Gonna do anything to me?" I ask.

His forehead furrows in confusion. "Huh? What-no," he realises what I'm talking about. "Lotte, I'm not one of the bad guys, I don't use magic for worse."

I try to calm myself down. "Okay. Okay."

"You good?"

"Yeah. Just trying to deal with the fact that the stories I was told all my life are false are actually true, magic is real and one of my best friends is magic and never told me," it all comes out in a rush, Lucas watching me and waiting patiently for me to finish.

"Why didn't you tell me before though?" I ask. He doesn't look away, but I see the hesitation in his eyes. He knew this was coming.

"I'm not meant to. Magics aren't allowed to tell non-magics about it. We're not even meant to speak about it. You shouldn't know about this."

"Then why'd you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to keep it from you any longer. It was ruining what we had, and I didn't like that."

He reaches over to the gates and pulls them closed again, and then we walk back to the manor. We go back to the mattress room, and I fall asleep quickly, tired and confused from all I had just learnt.