Secrets

I've been staying at Charlotte's house for two days now.

Against my will may I add.

Every time I try to go outside they either don't let me out or escort me out.

I'm literally going insane staying here.

I may not feel safe staying at my house but at least I'll have more freedom, plus my mom is there.

I walk out of Charlotte's room and down the stairs only to hear some hushed arguments.

As I get closer to the kitchen I can Identify that it's Carolina and Charlotte.

Of course it is.

"Charlotte, there's nothing else that we can do" she says with an annoyed tone

"You said that last time and I got shot in the shoulder" Charlotte says with an angry tone

What are they talking about?!

"They've been M.I.A for weeks now" Carolina says in a stressed tone

"I don't care, check again," Charlotte commands before sighing

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I lost her, she's already in great danger" I hear Charlotte say

I'm about to walk a little closer so that I could hear them better when a hand is placed tightly over my mouth and I'm being dragged back until I'm in a gaming room.

They lock the door before turning to face me.

Collin?

"What did you hear?" He asks hurriedly while looking into my eyes with panic

"What?" I ask confused

Why is he so panicked?!

"When did you hear Carolina and Charlotte say?" She asks getting even more impatient

"Nothing, just something about someone shooting Charlotte in the shoulder and being M.I.A" I say which makes his eyes widen

"Shit," she says as she starts to pacing in from of the door before turning his head to face me

"Did they say who?" He asks carefully so that he doesn't expose any information to me

"No" I say which makes him release a breath of relief

Why is he acting so weird?

He's acting exactly like Charlotte and Carolina have been these past two days.

"What is happening? Why is everyone acting so weird?" I ask confused

"No reason" he says way too quickly

Does he really think I'm that stupid?!

"You're obviously lying to me" I say and cross my arms as I narrow my eyes at him

"Listen, Aspen, I can't tell you. It's for your own safety" he says seriously

"Fine" I say with a hard face as I walk around him and unlock the door

I walk out of that room so that I could pack my things.

I'm sick and tired of their lying.

"Aspen, where are you going?" Collin calls out behind me but I continue to make my ways towards the stairs

As I'm making my way up the stairs I hear the beginning of Charlotte and Collin's conversation.

"What happened?" Charlotte asks as she walks out of the kitchen

"She asked what you and Carolina were talking about" he says with a monotone voice

"Did you tell her?" She asks with angry tone

"No, of course not" he says with the same monotone voice

I don't hear the rest of their conversation as I walk down the hall and turn into Charlotte's room.

I quickly pack my clothes before she can tell me some dumb reason why I can't leave.

As I'm zipping up my bag she walks into her room and sighs.

"You do realize that I can't let you leave, right?" She asks with crossed arms as she leans against her doorway

"Well, I'm not staying" I declare as I grab one of my hoodies and throw it over my tank top

"Aspen, I can't let you leave because it's not safe" Charlotte says with an emotionless expression

Honestly, she looks exhausted.

"Then how come the rest of you guys get to leave whenever you want?" I ask as I slip on my checkered vans and grab my bag

"Because we can actually defend ourselves" she says with an annoyed tone which causes me to face her and give her an 'are you serious right now' look

"Is that really what you think about me?!" I ask her with a sarcastic laugh in between

"Aspen, that's not what I meant" she says in a monotone voice as she rubs her temples

"Yes, it is" I say with an annoyed tone

"You know, if I knew you thought this badly of me I wouldn't have even agreed to be your girlfriend" I say with an emotionless tone

I feel my heart start to increase in speed as she stands up from the wall and walks a little closer to me

"Are you breaking up with me?" She asks with a emotionless voice but I can see the pain in her bright green eyes

I probably look the same.

"I don't know, am I?" I say calmly before I brush past her and run down the stairs

My tone said it all.

I can't believe that I really broke up with her.

I rush towards the door before swinging the door open and quickly closing it behind me.

God, what have I done?!

This has to be one of the dumbest things that I've done.

I feel a couple of tears fall on my cheeks but I quickly wipe them away.

Stop it, Aspen.

Wait until you're in the confines of your room to let your tears out.

-

As soon as I walk into my house my mom starts to scold me about not telling her where I was.

That's when the tears that I've been holding fell free.

I starting to cry and it wasn't pretty.

"I'm so sorry, it'll never happen again" I whisper as I look down at my shoes

"Aspen, sweetheart, what's wrong?" She asks with a worried tone

"We broke up, mom" I say as my bottom lip shakes

"Aww, What happened?" She asks as she slowly guides me to the living room

She doesn't sound mad.

She sounds upset but understanding.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, maybe later" I say with a small smile so that she doesn't worry too much

"Okay" she says and kisses my head before letting me go

I stand up from the couch and make my way upstairs towards my room. As soon as I enter my room I'm hit with all the memories of us in here.

My heart starts to ache more and I feel my legs shake before I collapse onto the bed.

I start to cry harder as all the memories replay in my head like a movie.

I eventually fall asleep from dehydration and exhaustion.

-

Charlotte's POV

"You do realize that I can't let you leave, right?" I ask with crossed arms as I lean against my doorway

"Well, I'm not staying" Aspen declares as she grabs one of my hoodies and throws it over her tank top

It's one of the hoodies that I gave to her since it didn't fit me anymore.

She looks better in it than I ever did.

"Aspen, I can't let you leave because it's not safe" I say with a dead tone

I'm so exhausted.

Carolina and I have been working all night to try and figure out who Maddie is working for but kept running into dead ends.

The whole time Aspen has been here there's been a black van parked across the street just watching my house.

"Then how come the rest of you guys get to leave whenever you want?" She asks as she slips on her checkered vans and grabs her bag

"Because we can actually defend ourselves" I say with an annoyed tone since I haven't slept in over twenty hours and I'm stressed

I quickly realized that was a mistake when she faces me and gives me an 'are you serious right now' look.

Shit, I fucked up.

"Is that really what you think about me?!" She asks me in a pissed tone with a sarcastic laugh in between

Shit, she's going to kill me.

"Aspen, that's not what I meant" I say in a dead tone as I rub my temples

Fuck, how do I word this.

"Yes, it is" she says in an annoyed tone

"You know, if I knew you thought this badly of me I wouldn't have even agreed to be your girlfriend" she says with an emotionless tone which immediately makes my heart break

Wait what?!

Is she saying what I think she's saying?

I stand up from the wall and walk a little closer to her

"Are you breaking up with me?" I ask her carefully with an emotionless voice but I can see the pain in her brown eyes

I probably look the same.

"I don't know, am I?" She says calmly before she brushes past me and runs down the stairs

Her tone said it all.

I can't believe that she really broke up with me.

I'm frozen in my spot as I continue to look at the spot she was standing awhile ago.

Next thing I know I'm slowly sliding down my door and hugging my knees close to my body.

I'm too shocked to cry.

I expected her to punch me, hit me, maybe even tackle me.

Not break up with me.

"Charlotte, Carolina needs to tell you- Are you okay?" Collin says but stops mid-sentence when he sees me sitting on the floor hugging my knees

"She broke up with me" I say with a broken tone as tears start to slowly stream down my face

"Aspen? Where is she?" He asks with a confused tone

"She left" I say with a hiccup

"Like left the house or left this room?" Collin asks with a panicked tone

"What do you think, genius" I say sarcastically with an eye roll

"Shit, Shit, Shit!" He says with a panicked tone before starting to pace outside of my door

"Calm down, Lightning McQueen, you're creating a draft" I say as I slowly stand up since I'm feeling a little bit dizzy

Damn, I need sleep.

"What's the problem?" I ask as I cross my arms and look at him

"That black van just moved, Carolina thinks that it's following Aspen" he says which makes me tense

Of course its following her.

It's obviously not following a turkey sandwich.

"Calm down, Chucky" I say with an eye roll

"Chucky?" He asks with a confused facial expression

"You're worrying so much that you remind me of Chucky from Rugrats" I say and he nods his head

"Does Carolina have a lead on who she thinks it is?" I ask him

"I don't know" he says which causes me to rub my temples in frustration

I walk past him and down the stairs while wiping away my tears so that I don't look vulnerable and unprepared.

'A leader must show no emotion' I remember my father saying before he and my mother ditched me.

"Do you have a lead on who you think the van owner is?" I ask as I walk into the dining room and see her violently typing on her computer

Fun fact, Carolina is also a hacker which comes in handy in most situations.

"Have you been crying?" She asks without even look up from the computer

What the-?!

"No" I lie

She continues to type as she looks up at me for a second then rolls her eyes.

"Yes, you have and you're a horrible liar" She says before she stops typing and looks up at me

"What's wrong?" She asks with a motherly tone which makes me sigh as I walk over to sit in the chair beside her

"Aspen and I broke up" I say and immediately start to feel tears build up in my eyes but I force them down

"Aww, I'm sorry. Are you okay? Where is Aspen?" She says sincerely as she places a hand on my shoulder

"I'm fine and she left" I say which makes Carolina freeze

"What do you mean by 'she left'?" She asks in a hurried tone

"She went on a vacation to mars" I say sarcastically

What is up with everyone asking stupid questions today?

"You need to go speak to Aspen" Carolina says

"We literally broke up twenty minutes ago, she's not going to talk to me" I say as if it's a fact, which it is

"Fine, I'll ask Kayden to do it" she says with an eye roll and picks up her phone

"Why would I need to speak to Aspen anyway?" I ask with a confused tone

"If the owner of the van is who I think it is then Aspen needs to be watched closely" she says with a serious tone

"Who's the owner of the van?" I ask slowly, scared of what the possible answer could be

"I'm not one hundred percent sure" she says as she places her phone down

"Just tell me" I say

She pauses for approximately five seconds before turning her computer in my direction which makes my eyes widen.

There's a mugshot of Aspen's dad displayed on her screen with his name under the photo.

Henry Alexander Bailey III.

"It might be her dad" Carolina says sadly while carefully watching my facial expressions.

Shit.