All Chapters of SECRETS & SCANDALS: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

IVYMondays were simply the worst.As I walked through the hallway, I sighed, wishing that the weekend had been twice longer. My legs felt too heavy, I honestly could have used another twenty-four hours to sleep.Dragging my tired self along, I rounded a corner without thinking and bumped into someone, smacking my face hard against what felt like a rock, or maybe a chest, I staggered back, totally ready to fall. Strong hands caught me stopping me from hitting the floor. I gasped, half in shock. “Oh my God,” I whispered, cheeks burning, wishing I could just melt into the floor. I shut my eyes for a second, sending a desperate little prayer up , thanks for not letting me totally crash and die.I looked up to apologize, and my words got stuck.Because staring back at me were the most breathtaking sea-green eyes I had ever seen. Eyes that belonged to someone I least expected to see. Liam.The star quarterback of our school football team. For a second, I swear I forgot how to breathe

LIAMCoach had been hard on us today. As captain, I bore the brunt of it. Our last game against the Taylor High had been though, and even though we won, it wasn’t by much. They had been good but we were better.Coach was not impressed, he made that clear with the extra practice and mandatory school hours.I didn’t have time for this.Practice was already hell. Extra school hours? That was torture. Things at home weren't great either. Mom had a fight again with Aunt Lexy, and I was once again pulled in as the middle man , Dad was on one of those long business trips.Fantastic.Still musing about the recent hell I was about to face, I didn’t see her until it was too late. Someone bumped into me, hard. I instinctively reached out, holding the person upright, only to regret it. My body ached from practice, and the impact sent a sharp pain shooting up my arm.It was at the top of my tongue to lash out at the person, until I saw who it was.Ivy.I knew her. More than I should. Zane never

IVYBailey smiled.My stomach dropped.“So, Ivy, will you join the planning committee?”She said it too loud. On purpose. She wanted an audience.I froze. My damp fingers curled into my hoodie sleeves.If I said no, she’d make a show of it. If I said yes, she’d find a way to make fun of me anyway.I looked at my friends. They were never short of words, but even they themselves had nothing to say at that point.No one spoke.Bailey was still waiting. The longer I stayed quiet, the more bigger her smile became.She tilted her head to the side., her eyes glinting. “Something wrong? Thinking too hard?”Laughter rang in all corners of the room.I swallowed hard. “Um… I—I don’t… I don’t know. I just—” I swallowed, my hands clenching. “I’ll think about it. Maybe.”Bailey smiled wider. “Oh, come on, Ivy. Just say yes.”I hated this.Nola stepped forward.“Bailey back off. She said she’ll think about it.”Bailey barely looked at her. “Relax, Nola.” She turned back to me. “Ivy, do you want to or

IVY My alarm had gone off way too early. That clock was placed very far from the bed because I had a habit of smashing everyone of my alarm clocks out of anger. I was sure every breathing organism could relate to that. Dragging myself out of bed was a whole event. I was still half asleep, barely awake, I couldn't even get my eyes to focus properly. I tried standing up from the bed, at some point my leg got stuck in the blanket and I did this weird hop fall catch thing. Super graceful. Would’ve made a great blooper reel. And no one was even watching. I somehow managed to catch myself. Thank God. I stretched my body, my bones made weird sounds I secretly loved. I moved across the full length dressing mirror in my room, habitually looking into the mirror, I drew back in shock at what was staring at me. I legit almost screamed, took a full five seconds for my brain to be like, chill, that’s just your face. Hit myself a couple times on the forehead. Not hard. Just enough to k

IVY What? What do you mean, accident? What kind of….. What does that even mean? What accident? My head was already spinning. My ears started ringing, I wasn’t even sure I was hearing her right. An accident. Accident where? With who? Like how? My parents? No, no, no. God forbid. I immediately rejected the thought. I just saw them this morning. They dropped me off. They waved. They were fine. They were smiling. The woman was looking at me. You know that kind of stupid sorry face people do when they’re about to ruin your whole life? That one. She was just doing that. She looked like she didn’t even want to say it. And then she said it. “It’s your parents.” Boom. Just like that. Just like that. No softness, no build-up. Just your parents. My whole body locked. Everything inside me went cold. But also hot. My skin felt like it was burning and freezing at the same time. I stood. Or tried to. My legs gave out. My knees didn’t even bend, they just di