Uncovered Secrets

William McKinley High

"Demi, are you going to go back to school?" Kevin asked me two hours later. I sigh.

"Yeah... I guess I'll have to. My mom can't homeschool me forever." I wish she could but she has a job and I don't blame her for wanting to get back to it. She would always put my happiness first, but she's been meeting with the principal and the counselors to make sure that I won't be bullied anymore. Which of course, I will.

"Well maybe you could come to my school. I'm a senior, but you'll make friends so you won't be lonely when I graduate." I think for a while. Kevin goes to William McKinley High School, which does have an award winning Glee Club, and I love to sing.

"I'll ask my mom what she thinks." I say, making Kevin grin.

"There's a girl... Her name is Marley. She has the same... Issues... As you. She starves and purges too. Maybe it would help to meet her?" I look up at Kevin. He's talked about Marley before, and she sounds really nice. I nod.

"Yeah that sounds great." I smile and yawn.

"You tired?" He asks. I shrug and stand up.

"Will you do something for me?" I ask. He nods and stands up too. "Dance with me?" He smiles and plugs in his iPod. I don't honestly know what I was thinking. I was standing there at 12 am in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, my hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, with no makeup, asking Kevin to dance with me. In the middle of his basement. He holds me as I lay my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. We sway back and forth for a while.

"You're so beautiful, Demi." I smile and look up, so I'm staring into his gorgeous eyes.

"Thank you. For making me feel beautiful." I say quietly. He stares at me for another second before leaning in and pressing his lips against mine. I kiss him back, and we stay like that, our bodies pressed together for what seemed like hours. When we pull apart, I grin. "What was that for?" I ask.

"That was for you. I really like you, Demi."

"I like you too." I really do like Kevin. It wasn't something I'd ever really thought about, but now that we were in the moment, I knew. We sit down on the couch and he puts in a movie. He wraps his arms around me and I snuggle into him. We fall asleep like that.

The vibrating of my phone wakes me up, and I rub my eyes and check the time: 6:14 am. What the hell? I sit up and grab my phone.

"Hello?" I hiss, quietly tip-toeing upstairs so I don't wake Kevin.

"Hey honey!" My mothers voice booms on the other end.

"Mom!" I groan. Then I remember that Grandma's in the hospital. "Is Grandma okay?" I ask, worry clear in my voice.

"Yeah, she's fine. I was just checking in on you." I close my eyes for a moment.

"At 6:15 in the morning?" I growl.

"Oh that's right! Sorry the flight kind of messed up my times. I'm sorry. Were you asleep?" I almost burst out laughing.

"Yes, mother. Yes I was." She sighs.

"Okay, I'll let you go back to bed. Bye honey, I love you." I grumble goodbye and go back downstairs, flopping on the couch next to Kevin and almost passing out. I wake up a few hours later, alone. I quickly sit up and look around, but the room is empty. I walk upstairs and breath a quiet sigh of relief when I see Kevin.

"Morning." I say. He turns around, and I see that he's making eggs.

"Hey." He smiles softly. "How'd you sleep?" I look at him and smile.

"Better than I have in a while." He grins a goofy smile.

"That's cause I was there." He jokes. I laugh, but somewhere inside me, I know it's the truth. He hands me a plate with toast and eggs. "Here's your breakast." I smile and accept the plate. I take a bite and then remember that I'm not supposed to eat. But then I look up and see a picture on the fridge. I walk over to it and take it off.

"Is this Dianna?" I ask softly. Kevin stands behind me.

"Yeah. That's her."

"She's beautiful." She is. She has his color hair and blue eyes, just like him. But there's something different about hers. They're a different shade, and they tell a different story. But her smile has that same mischievous twist and her skin practically radiates kindness.

"She would've loved you." I glance up at him.

"You think so?" I ask, putting the picture back.

"I know so." He sits down next to me. "So... Are we like an item?" He asks. I blush.

"If you take me out on a date." I say. He laughs and smiles at me.

"Okay. How about today?" He asks.

"Well I'll have to check my calendar..." He smacks me playfully. He drives me home and I shower and change, and then we go to the mall. "So, where do you wanna go?" I ask him.

"Who're they?" He asks, tilting his head towards a group of girls walking towards us. My blood turns cold.

"Those are the girls. Like the girls." His eyes widen and he nods. "Let's go." I say grabbing his arm. But they are already standing in front of us.

"Hey, Demi!" They say. "Is this your boyfriend?" If you didn't know them, you would think they were just being friendly. That's the part that gets me the most.

"Yeah," Kevin says, sticking out his hand to one girl. She looks taken aback and glances nervously towards the others. "I'm Kevin." He drops his arm and puts it around my waist. They smile tightly and walk away.

"Whoa." I say. He looks at me funny, but just keeps walking.

***

"Demi! Get up! It's your first day at school!" My mom calls to me. I jump up, and immediately put on the outfit I picked out last night. I spent extra time on my makeup, and didn't eat breakfast. I was far too nervous to keep anything down. Kevin's car pulled up and I ran out.

"Hey." He says, giving me a reassuring smile.

"Hi, what if they don't like me?" He laughs and puts his hand on mine.

"They'll love you." He says. About fifteen minutes later, Kevin pulls into the parking lot. To say I'm anxious would be a huge understatement. Kevin parks, and goes around to the passenger side door and opens it for me. He notices how bad I'm shaking and puts his arm around me. "Don't be nervous."

***

"Demetria Lovato?" Asks a lady with ginger hair when Kevin knocks on her door.

"Demi." I say, holding out my hand. She shakes it and then squirts some hand sanitizer on both of our hands.

"I'm Ms. Pillsbury. Okay let's look at your schedule. You're in all AP and IB classes... First is AP History, with Mr. Schuester." She lists off all my classes, and all too soon it's time to go. Kevin stands up and offers his hand. We walk to my locker and he helps me with the combo. As we're putting my stuff in the locker, he says,

"We have first and third hours together. Mr. Shue also runs Glee Club." I swallow and smile.

"Great." He smiles and takes my hand. We walk into Mr. Schuester's class and Kevin smiles.

"Hey Mr. Shue, this is Demi." Mr. Shue's eyes brighten and he nods.

"Great! Take a seat back there, next to Marley." He points to a girl with long brown hair, sitting it the back of the room. I look at Kevin and he nods encouragingly. I walk to the back table and sit down next to Marley. Everyone in the class has their eyes on me, even though Mr. Shue started the lesson again.

"Hi, I'm Marley." Marley says, sticking her hand out and smiling warmly at me.

"Demi."