Conspicuous Secrets

Chapter Sixty-Two

"Are you ready, Delilah?" he asked, stopping to stand beside me in front of our old, blue car.

I glanced at my brother hearing my real name roll off his tongue for the first time in public for a long while. This was it. We were going back to school. I stared at the large school in front of me, and to the large crowds of students scattered across the whole property. Flashbacks circled in my head of our very first day here when all I was worried about was keeping our secret. Back then, we didn't have a choice but to constantly look over our shoulders. Now, here we were, about to walk into school with our real identities and our secret out for everyone to know. "Yeah," I breathed. "Let's go."

Our story with Charles had been all over the news these last few weeks. As we walked up the steps and into the main entrance, people stared and whispered amongst themselves. Everyone knew that our names were Delilah and Gavin Rose. They knew that we didn't actually move here from California. We were in fact just runaways from the state of Florida. Our parents didn't die in a house fire. My mother was murdered, and my father was the one to blame. Now, we were almost back to where we started four months ago, just this time, in peace.

We walked inside the school, trying to ignore all the eyes on us. "See you later, Sis." Gavin turned down a hallway to head toward his first class, leaving me to feel alone under the stares and pick up my pace toward the hallway I needed to get to. I made a beeline for my locker, where I shoved my backpack in and then only grabbed the books that I would need before lunch.

Arms wrapped around me from behind and gently pulled me back against a firm chest. "Hey, you," a familiar voice spoke softly in my ear.

I immediately grinned. "Hey." I closed my locker and turned to face my boyfriend.

"You okay?" he asked me, reaching up to brush my hair behind my ear.

I nodded. "Yeah," I said honestly. "Everyone will stop talking about us within the next week, I'm sure."

He exhaled and fit my hand comfortably in his. "You're right."

"Psht, no she's not," Miles said walking up to us. "This is groundbreaking for this school." He laughed. "People can't believe you were lying to everyone about who you are for months."

Miles and Kason did a weird handshake/fist bump thing. "I'm sure they are more freaked out over the fact that you two are friends now," I told them with a laugh, catching all the widened eyes in the hall staring at the two boys.

The warning bell rang through the school and I squeezed Kason's hand before kissing him on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

"Bye."

"Later, Rose," Miles jumped in, making me smile before I left them for my class. Before I turned the corner, I glanced back and saw them walking together and laughing at something. I was glad that they were actually getting along.

After making my way to my first period, I walked in and was greeted by my English teacher. "I'm glad to hear that you are safe, Ms. Rose." We smiled and nodded once respectively. It was weird hearing my real name being used in public. Lydia King was gone. She had just been a safety mask concealing Delilah Rose, but she wasn't needed anymore.

Marla and Aria both greeted me with bright smiles as I sat down in the group. "Look who's the talk of the school this week," Aria sang.

I shook my head and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, let's hope it dies down soon."

#

I'm graduating today.

It's been almost a year since I and Gavin started running and just over five months since we stopped. These past five months have been great. I've lived in peace with my brother, best friends, and my boyfriend, and it's been the time of my life.