Free Dark Secrets by A. M. Hudson

crossed his
heart. Emily crossed her fingers, laughing already. Alana and David
waited patiently.
    “ I’m…from Australia.”
Almost closing my eyes, I awaited the onslaught of giggling—but
they just gawked at me.
    “ No way? You’re all
the way from Oz? You’re totally like Dorothy,” Ryan
said.
    “ Yeah, and that makes
David Toto.” Emily laughed.
    “ Yeah, um, Dorothy
was from Kansas,” I said. “If anything, I’d be the Cowardly
Lion.”
    “ No, the Tin Man.
Didn’t that Aussie guy play the Tin Man in that movie?” Emily
looked up at the ceiling as though her answer would be
there.
    “ No way—Tin Man? Ara
has too much heart,” Alana added. “You saw her play the
piano?”
    Mockingly, I tilted my
head and sighed. “Aw, thanks.”
    When Alana ditched a
piece of lettuce at me, David’s hand shot out and caught it—right
in front of my face. My mouth dropped and everyone else burst out
laughing. “Nice catch, David.”
    “ Yeah, he used to
play baseball,” Emily said.
    “ Really?” I turned to
look at him.
    “ It was—” he stood up
and reached across the table to drop the lettuce on Alana’s plate,
“—a long time ago.”
    “ So, all the way from Australia, hey? You don’t sound Australian,” Emily
said.
    “ Actually, I do. Just
not so much anymore.” I smiled softly. “I’ve spent the last month
or so working on my accent, but you can hear it when I get
upset.”
    David shifted in his
chair.
    “ Are you ashamed of
it?” Alana asked.
    “ No.” I shook my
head. “I just didn’t wanna draw any extra attention to
myself.”
    “ So, is it different
over there to, like, how school is here?” Emily held a forkful of
carrot just in front of her mouth.
    “ Yeah. In ways. I
mean, we have our school year from January to December and we break
over summer as well, except it’s over Christmas.”
    “ Christmas in
summer?” Ryan stared into the distance. “Weird. But
cool.”
    “ Actually, it’s not
cool,” I said. “It’s really bloody hot.”
    Emily and Ryan stared
at me blankly.
    Alana stifled a soft
giggle. “Summer is hot, Ryan?” She nudged his arm. “Not
cool?”
    I looked at David, who
shook his head. Emily and Ryan did the same, half
smiling.
    “ Okay, that goes in
the vault as the worst joke of the week.” Ryan pointed at me again
with his ketchup-covered chip.
    I feigned
insult.
    “ But you did sound
very Australian when you said bloody,” Emily added.
    David chuckled beside
me.
    “ Yeah, say it again?”
Ryan leaned forward, turning his ear toward me, making a funnel of
his hand.
    “ She’s not a circus
freak, Ryan.” Emily pushed his hand down.
    “ Thanks,” I mouthed,
and with my belly full, all my pre-rehearsed questions came
flooding back. “So, where do you guys normally sit?”
    “ Well,” Emily chimed
in, “David sits with the giant, incredibly gorgeous guys throwing
food at each other.” She grinned at David. “More like monkeys,
really. And I sit with that group out there by the tree.” She
pointed to the windows covering the back wall of the cafeteria.
Outside, in the sunshine, a large group of cliché-ridden boys and
girls gathered under a big oak tree, laughing and throwing
water.
    David leaned closer
and whispered, “Second in command.”
    I wondered where that
placed me if I hung out with one from each group.
    Emily’s voice trailed
back in suddenly with my attention span. “Ryan hangs out on the
basketball courts, mostly.” She looked at Ryan for confirmation; he
shrugged with a small nod. “And Alana hangs with those guys.” She
pointed to the Music class kids.
    “ Cool.” I nodded.
“Well, thanks for keeping me company today, you guys. I would’ve
felt like a total loser sitting by myself.”
    “ That would never
happen.” Emily tilted her head to the side. “Someone would’ve come
and talked to you. If they could get past David, that is.” She
threw him a mock annoyed stare.
    David grinned and
leaned back in his