Page 160 of Unspoken Truths

Ignacio Reyes manned up today. I can’t wait to see what other surprises he has for us.

CHAPTER30

JARED

We’ve all been off the last month. The only time I feel at peace is when I’m under the water during practice. There’s nothing but silence, the pressure is something I can handle as I swim.

It’s me against the water, which is why I’ve never thought about what it would be like to not be able to swim.

Crushing guilt fills me even though I know it needs to be like this. The guys and I have all been so busy, we haven’t seen much of each other due to practices. It’s pretty typical that this is the time we all buckle down, but I haven’t even had the time to be able to tell them about our updated timetable to finish our bet.

I can’t humanize the little mouse, or I won’t be able to go through with it.

Faced with the truth in that thought, I drive into the parking lot of Carlysle Prep for the first day of junior year. It feels as if I just walked out after my last sophomore year exam, it’s hard to believe that simply isn’t true.

Finding a spot, I slide into it, looking around to see if I can spot my friends. Theo is leaning against his SUV a few spots away, his head dropped back to catch the rays of sun on his face. He’s going to miss it as the days get shorter and fall crawls in.

His mood is always better during the summer. The little mouse is in for a rough last few months of her life.

Grabbing my bag, I turn off the car and push the door open to get out. My head turns on a swivel, finding Elijah moving toward me, but Nacio is nowhere to be seen. Pulling out my phone, I decide to text him to see if he’s running late.

We typically try to touch base and catch up for a few minutes the first day of school, so this is odd.

Me:

Are you running late today?

Headingover to where Theo and Elijah are standing, we chat and begin catching up on the events of the summer. Elijah says his parents were gone for the rest of the summer thankfully, while Theo explains that his dad is on his ass about going to boring meetings with him.

Theo’s dad enjoys showing off his genius son.

Nacio:

My run went longer than expected. I’m pulling in now.

Ignacio does tendto extend his runs when he’s stressed, so that makes sense. Relaxing slightly, I check the time to make certain we won’t be late if we wait for him.

“You seem on edge,” Theo murmurs. “Are you worried because Nacio isn’t here yet?”

“More so I need to tell you all something, and want to be sure we’re all together when I tell you,” I explain. “It always feels weird when we’re all too busy to see each other.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Theo says as Elijah nods in agreement.

“I don’t like when that happens,” Elijah admits. “I’m still not over my parents’ kidnapping.”

He says it so low, no one else can hear. While it’s normal for many of us to have fucked up families, most of us don’t talk about it openly. The four of us are dependent on each other, and keep the other on an even keel when we feel at sea.

I just have to hope killing the little mouse doesn’t destroy us all.

“Hey,” Nacio says, out of breath as he walks up to us.

“About time,” I tease him. “I really shouldn’t do this in the parking lot, but I’m too anxious to hold it in any longer.”

“If you have to shit, just say so,” Elijah teases back, though he sobers quickly. “None of that sounds good, Jared.”

“It’s not,” I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest.

People are beginning to walk into the school, giving us more privacy. I haven’t seen the little mouse or her girl, so I’m going to assume they haven’t arrived yet.

---