Page 26 of The Confidant
It took months to get used to my new routines. But now, whenever I did perfectly normal things that The Fold had special rules against, the feelings of guilt came less and less because I was learning that I could actually trust myself.
“Here’s your sandwich,” Kiara said as she set my scrambled-egg sandwich with green chilies, onion, tomatoes, and mixed greens on the table.
“Thanks,” I said, scooting my computer to the side to make room.
“Working on your column again, I see,” she said, her gaze going to my laptop.
“As always.” I glanced around the small coffee shop to make sure no one I knew was in here before adding, “You still haven’t told anyone about my secret yet, have you?”
I might have been a little too careless when I was here two weeks ago and accidentally left the dashboard forThe Confidant’s website up on my screen at the exact moment she had come to offer me a refill on my latte.
If she’d never heard ofThe Confidant’scolumn, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But sinceThe Confidanthad over three hundred thousand subscribers at that point, it had been wishful thinking to hope that a high school senior from the very town thatThe Confidantclaimed to reside in wouldn’t know about it.
Even if Kiara went to Sherman High instead of Eden Falls Academy, it was a mystery a lot of teens in the area wanted to figure out now that the mystery of where Bailee Vanderbilt had disappeared to last year had been solved.
Bailee was a girl who went missing without a trace last year, and my roommate Asher was suspected of being involved in her disappearance until her whereabouts were discovered.
“I haven’t breathed a word,” she said, pulling a few napkins from her apron and setting them next to my sandwich.
“Thank you,” I said, my shoulders relaxing a little.
“Though I’m still waiting for you to answer my email.”
“You emailedThe Confidant?” I asked, surprised.
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“What was your email about?” I asked, curious what Kiara would want advice about.
“If I wanted you to know which question was mine, I would have just asked you when you came in here,” she said with a half-smile.
“I guess that makes sense,” I said. “Though now I feel bad that I didn’t help my favorite barista out when she’s been so good at feeding my chai latte addiction and keeping my secret.”
“Well…” She laughed lightly. “Maybe I’ll have to send my question in again sometime.”
“You should,” I said. “This time though, maybe add a part that says something about me promising to answer your question so I don’t miss it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said with a wink before walking to a table a couple of spaces over and clearing the dishes a previous customer had left behind.
The next hour and a half passed quickly as I worked through more of the emails that had come through this week and typed up a few replies fromThe Confidant.
Since the column I was working on today would be posted next Sunday—the day before Valentine's Day—I decided to focus on questions that related to the topic of love and relationships.
The first email I answered was from a guy who wanted advice on how to build up his self-image after getting dumped by his girlfriend for a taller, more classically attractive guy. The next came from someone who wanted to know how to fix his reputation after getting caught stringing girls along for a bet he’d had going with his friends. And the third was from a girl who wrote:
Dear Confidant,
I’m starting to like a guy I rejected a few months ago. I didn’t know him well back then and was interested in someone from back home. Is it reasonable to hope he might give me a second chance? How would you go about this?
Thanks in advance,
I Changed My Mind
I skimmed through the response I’d brainstormed Monday evening when Scarlett had caught me emailing myself in the library. I always liked to get some of my initial thoughts written down so they could simmer for a bit before I typed them into my word document. Usually, my gut-instincts were pretty solid though, so I didn’t need to change a ton. After reading through my initial ideas, I ended up with:
Dear I Changed My Mind,
I think a big part of whether you’ll get your second chance or not depends on how you rejected him in the first place. Were you rude about it? Or were you able to let him down gently and remain on good terms? If it’s the former, you may have an uphill battle. But if not, I’d suggest just opening up communication with him again.
