Free No One Needs to Know by Amanda Grace

favor, making Carolyn happy.
    “Sure,” I say, going along with the farce.
    “If you want to test it out,” Olivia says, glancing back at Carolyn again, “we can use the big patio along the water. It’s private for the residents.”
    “YES!” Carolyn says, bouncing up and down, kicking my seat. “Awesome.”
    Twenty minutes later, after Olivia goes into a storage unit somewhere in the labyrinth of their parking garage, Carolyn has her new bike.
    Olivia and I sit on the stone ledge of a huge flower planter as Carolyn wobbles back and forth on the bike, gliding past us like a girl out of practice.
    “Thank you,” I say quietly, once she’s out of earshot.
    Olivia smiles at me, and when I look into her eyes, it’s not pity or charity or anything like that. It’s simply kindness.
    “Sure. Any time.” She watches Carolyn make another pass, and then adds quietly, “And thank you, too.”
    “For what?”
    “For ensuring I didn’t spend my birthday alone.”
    “It’s not a big deal,” I say.
    “It is. You’re the only one who cared. And I’m not even sure why. I haven’t been very nice to you.”
    “I don’t know. It just didn’t seem fair. For you to be alone on your birthday, you know?”
    “Yeah. Well, thanks.”
    “Sure.”
    “Do you want to work on our project once she gets tired of this?” Olivia asks, nodding toward Carolyn. “We can use my dad’s office and she can watch movies on our big-screen in the den. We’ve got Netflix and cable and everything.”
    “That sounds great,” I say. “My backpack’s in the car. I made some notes earlier for what I want to cover.”
    “Cool. I’ll watch your sister, if you want to go get them.”
    It’s not until I walk away that I realize it’s the first time anyone else has offered to watch Carolyn—the first time I’ve ever been able to walk away and know that she’s safe.

OLIVIA
    “I think your sister likes the surround-sound,” I say as I step into the office space, where Zoey is already spreading out her notes.
    “Oh yeah?” She doesn’t looks up from her notes, just chews on her lips and says nothing else.
    “Her eyes got big as saucers when the movie started.” I grin. “We have a really cool popcorn maker, too. I flipped it on for her. Hope that’s okay.”
    I still can’t believe Zoey showed up today. Can’t understand why she chose to rescue me from the downward spiral of my thoughts. Maybe she’s not who I thought she was. Maybe there’s more to her than the hard looks and the quasi-punk rock style.
    “Oh, uh, yeah. Sure.” She glances at me briefly, and it seems like something in her eyes has shifted. Like I’ve said the wrong thing.
    “Something wrong?” I ask, pulling out a chair across the table from her.
    “No. It’s fine.”
    I narrow my eyes. “So then why do you sound so ann-
oyed?”
    Moments tick past, and neither of us speaks. I can just barely hear the low hum when the bass from Carolyn’s movie hits. If I closed the door, we’d be sitting in silence.
    “It’s nothing,” Zoey says. “Let’s just work on our assignment.”
    “ Okaaaay ,” I say, trying to figure out what’s up with her mood flip. She seemed pretty happy twenty minutes ago, on the patio. “Um, let me see your notes.”
    “Why? They’re not about a wealthy person,” she says. “You probably can’t relate.”
    I stare at her. “Jeez, what’s your deal all of a sudden? Do I need to call off our BFFdom?”
    Zoey slumps in her chair. “I’m sorry. I’m just in a mood. Seeing Carolyn here … how excited she was when she saw that big screen … you have no idea how much you have at your fingertips. How many things are just handed to you. If I didn’t have to work at Burgerville all the time, if I didn’t have to help with rent and utilities and think about a thousand things … ”
    Oh. That’s what this is? “Look, I know we come from two different … backgrounds,” I say. “But I can’t change