The Secret We Keep

Prologue

Morgan

Hip, hip hooray!

Today is Holly’s big day!

We are going to be friends forever.

Morgan, age 10

Our feet hit the ground as soon as everyone finishes singing.

My friend, Fi, swipes her backpack off the table. “Let’s go!”

While we still have to wait for Holly’s mum to cut the cake, time is running out.

Me and Holly hurriedly follow Fi outside. The sun shines brightly, the grass smells fresh, and unopened sweets still litter the ground from the pinata we smashed.

My heart is thrumming by the time we reach the end of Holly’s garden.

She swings open the wooden gate which leads to the river, and the wild ponies whinny and look up at us, startled, their hooves thumping the ground.

“How much further do you think? I want to get back to my party,” Holly whines.

I catch Fi smile mischievously. “I saw him walking past your window. He can’t have got far.”

My heart ticks faster, knowing who we’re following.

We make it across the lazy river using the logs Holly’s parents placed there so that we could get out onto the plains safely.

“There,” Fi bellows, pointing past me.

My eyes follow my friend’s to the largest oak tree known to Stoney Grange, the one with four teenage boys sitting underneath it.

“There he is. Mum and Dad are going to be so pissed this time.” She says it so sternly, but there’s also excitement in her voice.

Hanging out with my best friends consists of doing one of two things: playing out in the forest, making up our own fun, or spying on Fiona’s older brother.

Paddy.

I like doing both.

“What are they doing?” Holly and I both try to get a better look as thick, white plumes of smoke hit the warm air. “Smoking,” I say surprised, answering my own question. I tuck a lock of my curls behind my ear, excited eyes landing on him.

He’s leaning against the wood like he owns the entire forest. Wearing his signature sports jacket, he looks a little stupid with it on in this heat. And yet, for some reason, I want to move closer to the boy who clearly has a new attitude.

When a beam of sunlight dances against his hair like it has a crush on him too, our secret mission switches to my mission of trying not to explode when looking at him.

“Yeah. But what? Dad told Paddy that if he gets caught smoking pot again, he’s out of the house for good,” Fi tells us firmly.

I look at her. “Shouldn’t we leave him alone then?” I don’t want the person who’s always looking out for us getting into trouble.

Fi gives me a roll of her petulant blue eyes. “I’m not going to miss the perfect opportunity to get leverage on Paddy, even if one of my best friends is crushing on him.”

“Am not,” I protest, cheeks heating. I hope she can’t see.

She huffs.

Oh my God, she knows.

“Fat chance I’m letting this one go. He shouldn’t have cut my Barbie’s hair off. This is just payback.”

Unlike my older brother, everybody in our little village loves Paddy O’Keefe. His charm, his brilliant brain, and now his apparent bad boy side… there really isn’t anything not to like.

When I look at him, he grabs my attention like a thief. Tall. Chestnut hair. Well-dressed for a thirteen-year-old. Yeah, Paddy O’Keefe might be at big school now, but he is still the boy all the girls at my school talk about.

As if he can hear the wild thoughts running through my mind, he looks over his shoulder.

Fiona yelps, tugging the hem of my party dress.

I grab Holly’s arm, pulling her down with me, and we fall behind a giant tree stump, my bare knees hitting the ground. When I look at Holly, I quickly cover my mouth with my hand, desperate to stay quiet.

“That was close,” Fi eventually points out, sniggering from our hiding place.

We listen intently for any signs they might be coming our way, my lips rolling into my mouth to stop my nervous laughter.

Low chatter from Paddy and his friends echoes through the trees. Just the thought of us getting caught has my legs trembling.

Fi quickly slides her gaze over me, and my cheeks heat, embarrassed that I’m clearly not hiding my feelings for her older brother very well. “Hold this.” She swings her backpack to her front, thrusting it my way.

I hold it steady, chancing a glance at Holly, who’s enjoying this as much as Fi is.

When I look back at Fi, she pulls a camera from the backpack. “We need a few pictures, then we get out of here.”

I nod in time with Holly.

“They looking this way?” Fi looks at Holly, who peers over the log.

“Um, you could say that.” Holly stands abruptly, her voice jittery. “Time to go.”

I jolt when Fi does, both our arms and legs scrambling.

“Run!” Holly cries, and we spring into action, scarpering as though our lives depend on it.

“I see you, Fi! And you, curly fries,” Paddy yells, making my heart flutter like it has a mind of its own. I love it when he calls me that because of my hair.

Laughter bursts from all three of us as we pick up the pace. I try to ignore the ticking in my chest when I look over my shoulder and see Paddy and his friends gaining on us.

Crap.

Paddy jumps over a log before his feet come to a stop, and he glances up, his eyes connecting with mine. For a second, everything fades. My feet slow. My breath catches. My tummy flips.

“You know, a picture would last longer.” And then he smiles. It’s warm. Real. Not just any old smile, the one that makes something inside me feel like sunlight whenever I see it.

My cheeks burn hotter, and I quickly snap a picture before looking away and running again, my laughter getting caught with my breathless panic, not just from his footsteps behind me, but from the thrill of being chased by the boy I’ve had a crush on forever.