Page 1 of The Secret Of Us

1

IZZY

“You’re proposing?!”

“Can you both be quiet?” Isaac hisses, stepping out into the busy corridor as if Violet will appear out of thin air. Even if she were near my room, she definitely wouldn’t be able to hear us over the sound of hundreds of students moving in for the year.

“You’re proposing to Violet?” Luke yells in the loudest whisper I’ve ever heard. I don’t know how Isaac has put up with him for all these years, but their friendship means he’s become a permanent fixture in my life, too.

“Who else would I be proposing to, idiot?” Isaac says, raising his hands in exasperation.

“I might have misheard you!”

I watch them going back and forth, bickering like brothers. Isaac rolls his eyes at everything Luke says, already getting carried away with plans for parties. He grabs onto Isaac’s shoulders, shaking him until Isaac finally puts him in a headlock. All I can see is the top of Luke’s sandy hair, but the noises he’s making tell me I should probably try and break this up.

I pull on Isaac’s arms so he’ll let go of Luke, and the two straighten up once they remember they’re meant to be older and more responsible than me. I force us to get back to the pressing matter of my brother telling us he’s going to propose to the love of his life.

“Are you serious?” I try to hide the glee in my voice, but it’s been a long time coming. I know Violet’s been waiting for this moment, and honestly, so have I. She’s already like a sister to me, but I can’t wait for us to really become a family.

“I spoke to her mum about it a few days ago,” Isaac says as he reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a small black box, opening it to reveal a ring. “She gave this to me.”

Luke and I both bend our heads closer to look at it. It’s a simple gold band with a small diamond embedded in the middle. It must mean a lot to Violet and her mum for her to give it to Isaac.

“When are you going to do it?” Luke asks, and I look up at Isaac for his response.

He suddenly seems so much older than twenty-one, so much older than the brother I’ve grown up with for the past seventeen years.

He’s had a tougher time than I have, especially after everything that happened with our parents. But he’s shielded me from so much of it, allowing me to grow up without the same worries he had to deal with.

Isaac had to mature faster, taking on the role of a guardian so that he could look after me. The guilt I’ve been feeling for the past few years starts pressing in again, resurfacing whenever I feel a slight bit of happiness or optimism.

“As soon as I can. I need to finish the video I’m making for her first, though,” he says as he pockets the ring, patting it once it’s secured again.

Over the summer, Isaac graduated from university, studying animation. He always makes short videos for Violet of his favourite scenes from her books. They’ve been sharing their art with each other for years, working on projects whenever they have a spare moment.

“I’m so happy for you, Isaac,” I tell him, forcing down the lump in my throat and hoping he doesn’t see the tears forming in my eyes.

“Me too,” Luke adds, pulling Isaac into a hug and firmly clapping him on the back. “If you don’t let me be your best man, I will ruin the wedding.”

“Oh my god,” Isaac says as he shoves Luke away.

“Just something for you to think about,” Luke says, backing away from Isaac and turning toward the door. “I’m going to go and help your future wife with those last boxes.”

The scowl on Isaac’s face is replaced with a wide grin. He runs his hand over his face, as if he can do the impossible task of wiping the smile off it. He’s so happy and it’s everything I’ve ever wanted for him.

Luke exits the room, leaving us alone. I step closer to him, wrapping my arms around his middle to hug him. He rests his chin on my head, squeezing me tightly.

We haven’t always been this close. A few years ago, I probably would have shuddered at the idea of hugging him like this. But we’ve both worked hard to strengthen our relationship, knowing that we need to be there for each other.

“You okay?” he asks, pulling back to look at me, his hands moving to rest on my shoulders as we take a step back from each other.

“Yeah, just feels weird this is my last year.” I shrug.

“I felt the same way. Try to enjoy it as much as you can. You won’t even realise how fast it goes by.”

I try to keep my expression fixed so Isaac doesn’t realise that he’s voiced my biggest worry. Once the school year ends, I don’t know what I’m doing. Isaac has been passionate about animation for as long as I can remember. But I don’t have anything like that. The idea of going to school for another three years to study something I don’t care about sounds like the worst thing ever.

But I know I need to figure it out soon. I can’t live with Isaac and Violet for the rest of my life, especially now that he’s just told me they’re going to get married.

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