Page 1 of Little Buried Secrets

CHAPTER 1

Margot Remington exited the wood-lined boardwalk at Moonstone Beach and pedaled her bike onto the highway. It was dusk, and the sky had started to grumble, the clouds shifting and bending as they turned a melancholy charcoal color. Rain was coming. Margot could smell it in the air. But after the fight she’d just had with her older sister, she wasn’t ready to return home yet.

The argument had started out as a simple one, with Margot asking Bronte if she could borrow a blue sweater.

“Why can’t you wear you own clothes?” Bronte had asked.

“I want to wear something I haven’t worn before,” Margot said. “I can’t afford to buy new clothes until I get paid on Friday.”

“Why is it so important? Where are you going?”

“I’m meeting Sebastian later tonight.”

“I thought the two of you broke up.”

“We did,” Margot said.

“There’s no reason for you to see him. He cheated. End of story.”

“I never let him explain his side of things. I feel like I owe it to him to hear what he has to say.”

“I don’t believe you. I think you’re looking for a reason to get back together with him. If you take Sebastian back after what he did, you’re an idiot.”

The argument had escalated from there until Bronte got so heated she’d slammed her fist onto the kitchen countertop. Desperate to get away from Bronte’s over-the-top drama, Margot had hopped on her bike. She needed time to think, to process all the cruel things her sister had said.

Margot and Sebastian had started dating a year earlier, even though she’d had a crush on him for the last three years. In her sophomore year of high school her body had started to change. She grew a couple of inches and developed curves in all the right places. Sebastian swooped in, and the two began dating.

For years, Margot had dreamed about dating Sebastian, and when the dream became a reality, it was just like she thought it would be. She was happy … until one night when Sebastian’s parents had gone out of town, and he decided to throw a party.

The get-together was supposed to have been an intimate one at first—a few close friends, nothing more. Once word spread, it wasn’t long before the party turned into something else:

Alcohol.

Dancing.

Loud music.

Partygoers stripped down to their undies doing backflips into the pool.

The drinks were flowing, and Margot knew it wouldn’t be long before even more shenanigans began. As she scanned the drunken crowd, Sebastian had come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She’d found it cute at first, until his hands wandered, and Margot suggested they take a break from the party. She grabbed Sebastian’s hand and helped him to his bedroom, relieved when he fell asleep a few minutes later.

With Sebastian out of commission, Margot took over the party, keeping a close eye on everyone and everything. She played the perfect hostess, picking up after her fellow classmates, refilling snacks, and trying her best to keep everyone in line. As the party wound down, Margot helped people find a safe ride home, and then she went to check on Sebastian. When she entered his room, she slapped a hand to her mouth, shocked to find Sebastian butt naked next to Kaia Benson, the new girl in town.

Sebastian insisted nothing happened between them.

Margot left Sebastian’s house in a fury that night, refusing to speak to either of them until a couple of days ago when she ran into Kaia in the girls’ bathroom. Kaia apologized about what happened at the party, and then she said something interesting—after giving it a lot of thought, she wasn’t sure what, if anything had happened with Sebastian. Every time she’d thought back to that night, it was all a bit of a blur. Blurred lines or no, even if Kaia was telling the truth, Margot couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn’t walked in when she had.

After her conversation with Kaia, Margot found herself trying to find a loophole—any loophole to justify giving Sebastian another chance. He’d gone above and beyond to win her back, and before the incident, he’d always been a stand-up guy, someone she could rely on.

Yesterday evening, Margot texted Sebastian. He’d replied right away, and they decided to meet tonight for dinner. Glancing at the time on her watch, she realized she’d have little time to freshen up if she didn’t return home soon. She began pedaling faster, slowing when a car driving in the opposite direction swerved, its headlights blinding her as it bounded her way. Margot slowed to a stop, realizing her mistake when the car showed no signs of reducing speed.

In a split-second, Margot had collided with the car, and she found herself hurtling through the air, her bike going one way as she went the other. So many things went through her mind in that moment as she thought about her life and how much she didn’t want to die.

There would be no meetup with Sebastian.

Not tonight, or any other night.

CHAPTER 2

---