Page 1 of My Favorite Secret
CHAPTER ONE
HARPER
Age: 10
The first time I notice something strange about my friendship with the two oldest Blackwood brothers is when a tiny piece of glass gets stuck in my palm. Tyler uses his mouth to suck the glass out even though I’m bleeding, and Felix asks him what the blood tastes like.
Both Tyler and I stare at Felix, confused by his question. Felix isn’t joking. He almost looks… jealous.
Why would Felix be jealous his younger brother had to use such gross methods to clean the glass from my wound?
Why do I secretly think it’s not gross at all?
The thought is weird and I won’t dare speak it aloud.
Tyler doesn’t answer the question, wiping his mouth clean while focusing on my hands. “I think I removed all the glass. I’m sorry again for bumping into you, Harp. We shouldn’t have been playing ball inside the apartment.”
“It’s okay.” I hold on to my tears, not wanting to cry in front of the boys.
I don’t want Tyler and Felix feeling guilty over thisaccident, not when it was my fault. I’d been holding a vase of flowers I planned to give Mom for her birthday. When Tyler bumped into me, the vase slipped and shattered all over the marble floor in the living room of my apartment. Fearing the boys would get in trouble, I tried to hide the mess by quickly cleaning up broken glass with my bare hands, slicing each palm in the process.
Blood starts to pool in my hands again. Tyler pulls his shirt over his head and wraps my two hands in it. He sits me on the couch, careful not to get blood on the white cushions, and kneels in front of me.
“This should stop the bleeding,” Tyler says while swiping his dark hair back from his face. “How bad is the pain? Should I get your mom?”
“No,” I say quickly.
My hands are throbbing. Mom would take care of me and make the pain go away, but then she would be upset with Tyler and Felix for being rough inside the apartment. Their father is letting them stay with us for the summer. They’re mine for three months and I can’t risk them being sent home for bad behavior. I’ll miss them too much. I’m lonely every time they leave after visiting.
Our mothers were best friends until Mrs. Blackwood passed away six years ago giving birth to Tyler and Felix’s youngest brother, Dan. Mom always says it’s our job to take care of the four Blackwood boys. She says we need to love them like they’re our family, and I do. I may be an only child, but Felix, Tyler, Killian, and Dan are my brothers. Mom always tells me how lucky I am to fit right in the middle. She says I have two younger brothers to take care of and two older brothers who will always take care of me.
“Hey, you’re going to be okay.” Tyler wipes a tear frommy cheek. He grins up at me, and I can see in the warmth of his brown eyes that he means every word.
All the while, Felix stands back, watching us in silence with his dark green eyes that I always imagine belong on a snake. With his blond hair and pale skin, he looks ghostly. The girls at school always get scared off any time he looks at them.
Not me.
Whenever Felix looks at me, it makes my stomach flip but in a way that I like. I’ve decided snakes are my favorite animals.
Felix is a year older than me and Tyler and has his own friends that he plays with at school. He’s angry a lot, never with me and his brothers but teachers and his dad. He doesn’t like to be told what to do. One time, a boy at school teased me for having red hair. Felix punched him and I’ve never been teased by anyone since. He always protects me like I imagine a big brother would. He says red is his favorite color because of my hair.
Tyler is different from his older brother. Gentle and friendly. We’re in the same class at school and play together during every lunch break. He’s my best friend. Tyler says I’m his best friend too, but I don’t think that’s true, not when I see how close he and Felix are.
Sometimes… a lot of the time… I get sad that I’m not a Blackwood. If I were truly their sister, they’d love me best. We’d live together and see each other all the time. They could both be my prince and I could be their princess, like in all the ballets Mom takes me to watch. Maybe the three of us could get married one day.
A while ago, I told all of this to my parents. They responded with a strange smile I’d never seen from them. They seemed worried instead of happy about my plan. Ididn’t understand why, but the look in their eyes made me realize I’d said something wrong. I made sure to never say anything like that to them again.
“Are my hands going to scar?” Even though I try to be brave, my chin trembles and tears fall down my cheeks.
Tyler removes the shirt from my hands, checking my palms. “The cuts don’t look bad.”
“Don’t lie to her.” Felix’s words are blunt. It’s the first thing he’s said since asking about the taste of my blood. “Her hands will scar, for sure.”
“Stop being mean. You’re scaring her.”
“I’m only speaking the truth.”
My eyes widen with panic. The tears fall faster and it’s hard to breathe. “I don’t want scars. Ballerinas are supposed to be pretty and dainty?—”
