Page 23 of The Secret Of Us

I check the time on my phone, and when I see that it’s been an hour since class ended, I leave my room. I make my way slowly to the sports building, not wanting to seem too eager.

When I enter the small gym, Izzy’s already there. She’s walking on one of the treadmills that lines the wall, headphones perched on her ears as she moves her head from side to side. She hasn’t realised I’m here, and I watch her for a few moments, that strange feeling happening in my stomach again.

I rub at my chest, willing my rapidly beating heart to calm down as I step onto the machine next to her, but don’t turn it on. She turns her head once she realises I’m there, her eyes going wide and a smile breaking out on her face. Izzy takes her headphones off, curling them around the back of her neck.

“You came,” she says as she comes to a stop.

“Figured it would be more fun than staying alone in my room,” I admit.

I give her that little bit of openness, hoping it’ll help her realise that I appreciate what she’s been doing for me. She’s given me no reason to be short with her, and even though a voice in my head tells me not to get close, a different part of me wants to.

“Definitely,” she says, green eyes bright. “What are you working today?”

“I should probably do legs,” I tell her, as we both step off the treadmills.

“Me too,” she says, pointing toward the leg press machine. “Do you want to start with that?”

I nod, following after her as she goes to the machine. Together, we load it up with two plates on either side. I settle into the seat, completing the first set easily, and then swap places with Izzy. I stand next to her, spotting her in case the weight might be too much, but she does it without even breaking a sweat.

“One more?” I ask her as she stands up.

“Sure,” she says as she adds another plate to her side of the bar, and I do the same.

I take the seat again, completing another set before she does the same. We go back and forth like this with different exercises for a while, and her strength is impressive. She easily matches my sets, and we have fun motivating each other when we try for heavier weights. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had at the gym.

When we finish up and leave, my face is red, my hair sticking to my forehead. Izzy, meanwhile, still looks so put together. Her blonde hair is tied back into a long ponytail, and there’s barely a lock out of place. The only red on her face sits on her cheeks, making her look like she’s blushing. I don’t know how she still looks so pretty.

“See you tomorrow, Noah,” she says as we reach the split to the dorms.

“Thanks for letting me join you,” I tell her.

I never expected her to extend an invitation like that to me, considering it was outside school hours, but I’m so grateful she did.

“Of course, any time,” Izzy says before turning away and entering her building.

I go back to my room, putting my phone on charge before filling up my water bottle and chugging it. I scroll through my messages for a bit, ignoring the unopened ones from my parents.

I’ve kept my conversations with them short, replying with one-word answers whenever they check in on me. I ran away to Korea to avoid conversations with them, and I’ve run away to Coates to do the same thing. I’m still struggling to speak to them when I feel like I’m to blame for the breakdown of their relationship.

They won’t admit it, but I know it’s true. After what happened at my old school, Appa started being more distant before he eventually moved out. Eomma kept telling us that he just needed space, and he would be back, but it’s months later and he’s still living in the apartment he’s renting.

I put my phone down, stepping into my bathroom to take a shower before I get changed into comfortable clothes. Right as I sit back down at my desk, my phone rings, a picture of Eomma staring up at me.

I want to silence it, ignore her completely, but I haven’t heard her voice since move in day. I know she must be worrying about me, so I set my own anxieties aside and answer it.

“Eomma.”

She smiles at me, small wrinkles in the corner of her eyes and I get hit with a wave of guilt.

“How have you been?” she asks softly. I have to clear my throat to get rid of the lump in it.

Terrible. I miss you. I hate what’s happened. I don’t want to regret what I did, but sometimes I do. I want us to be a family again. People here are starting to talk about me. I thought football would help, but they don’t like me either. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get through this year.

“Good,” I tell her, hoping she believes me. The crease of her brow tells me she doesn’t.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I just got back from the gym so I’m a little tired,” I say.

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