Page 3 of My Favorite Secret
I got in trouble earlier today. It happened in the gardens of Mr. Blackwood’s Hamptons beach house and I’ve never felt more embarrassed. Mom caught me playing a game with Felix and Tyler that she didn’t like.
Catch and kiss.
I told her it’s only an innocent peck. She said I’m too young to play the game, and that even if I weren’t, I shouldn’t be playing it with Felix and Tyler because we’re family. I apologized with my head hanging low and promised it wouldn’t happen again.
There are other things I shouldn’t be doing with Tyler and Felix that my parents don’t know about. We hold hands a lot, never in front of anyone because we know it’s weird. The habit started one year ago when we all got matching scars on our hands.
Sometimes Tyler and Felix say things they shouldn’t. They tell me my hands belong in theirs, with our scars touching. Felix is always on my right. Tyler goes on my left.
Another time, after I’d given a ballet recital at school, I overheard a group of boys saying I looked pretty on stage. Tyler and Felix heard too and got angry at them.
“Harper is ours.”
I smiled so much when I heard the two Blackwoods say those three words to the other boys. I smiled again when Tyler told me I looked like a princess while dancing. He even started calling me Princess instead of Harper.
My tutu from the performance went missing. Two days later, Felix told me he stole the tutu because he wanted a constant reminder of how pretty I look while dancing. I smiled even more.
I think I’m in love with Tyler and Felix, but that will stay my secret forever. I’d get in trouble if my parents ever found out. Maybe they’d stop me from seeing the brothers. I can’t risk losing them.
The sun is hot today. Perfect for the beach. Once the embarrassment of Mom discovering our chasing game wears off, I enjoy the rest of my day in the water. It’s always fun at the Blackwood beach house and feels like a second home away from our apartment in Manhattan. We’re here for the weekend. Mr. Blackwood lets our family visit as often as we like since my parents take his four boys off his hands so much.
Whenever we visit, Tyler, Felix, and I have a never-ending list of fun activities to do. We spend our days in the pool, at the beach, playing cards in the library, even playing tennis. Sometimes we play with Dan and Killian, but they’re only seven and eight and spend most of their time with my parents.
Mr. Blackwood always remains in the city, which is probably a good thing. Mom doesn’t like him much. In private, she says he’s still grieving the death of his wife anddoesn’t pay enough attention to his boys. She tells him to stop hiring nannies to take care of his children. He uses rude words, advising her to stay out of his business. Of course, I don’t like that the boys have a broken home. But I like that they spend so much time with me and my parents.
Mom cooks us meatloaf for dinner tonight. Afterward, my parents let me stay up late because it’s Saturday night. While everyone else is in bed, I’m wedged between Tyler and Felix on a fold-out couch in the movie room. The two of them choose a superhero movie for us to watch. I’m so bored I don’t notice myself drifting off to sleep.
When I wake, it’s still dark outside. The movie has finished and the credits are rolling up the screen.
Someone is hugging me from behind.
I glance over my shoulder, realizing it’s Tyler, fast asleep. My chest tightens with panic, knowing Mom and Dad wouldn’t like this.
I’m not sure why I leave Tyler’s arm in place.
Or why I smile.
I don’t want to get in trouble again but there’s no harm done if no one finds out about the hug.
“If he gets to hug you while you sleep, I get to hold your hand.”
I jolt at the sound of Felix’s voice, only now noticing him lying on the other side of me, propped on his forearm and watching me with his snake eyes.
“Tyler is asleep,” I whisper, a little scared by the intensity of his gaze, feeling gooseflesh rise over my skin. “I’m sure the hug is an accident. Also… I don’t think we should hold hands anymore. My parents wouldn’t like it. We’ll get in a lot of trouble if they find out. I should return to my room.”
“You still upset over how we got in trouble today?”
“Yes.” Unlike Felix who always gets into trouble and doesn’t care, it upsets me when I disappoint my parents.
“We’ll play catch and kiss in the maze tomorrow. No one will know.”
Chills run down my back. There’s an abandoned hedge maze in the gardens of the beach house that my parents say is out of bounds. I’ve been in there once before and understand why. The hedges haven’t been pruned in years, ever since Mrs. Blackwood passed away. Barely any light gets through the overgrown branches above. Not only that, the maze is big and confusing and if anyone lost their way inside, it would take hours to find them.
“We’re not allowed in the maze,” I whisper.
“It will be our secret.”
“What if I get lost?”
