The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep by Laurie Stolarz (summer reads txt) 📕

and red. I move closer, scooching across the deck, able to see what it is: a garden gnome, dressed in a green and white suit, exactly like William, the troll-like character from the water-well book.

Wait, Logic says. Don’t jump to conclusions. Rule number nine: Never guess. Always be sure.

Am I sure? Is this a dream? Pinch, pinch, pinch.

The gnome is wearing bright red boots that curl up at the toes, different from William’s shiny black shoes. This gnome also has a pale pink face, rather than an orange one. Its hat is different too: tall and red rather than black and rounded.

But still …

It has a long white beard just like William’s, and similar enlarged eyes that take up most of its scrunched-up face. Its perma-smile chills me even more than the rainwater. If Aunt Dessa were home, I’d ask her where it came from, but for now I leave it here on the deck table and go back inside the house, locking the door behind me.

NOW

30

The following day, when I log on to Jane, I search the chat feed for Peyton’s name. Her message pops up just a few seconds later: Do you want to talk? I click the private room link.

Paylee22: Hey.

Paylee22: I hope you’re not still upset with me.

NightTerra: Honestly, I think I’m more upset with myself.

Paylee22: You’re more upset with yourself because I lied???

NightTerra: I’m more upset with myself because I trusted you were being honest with me. And, like you said, why would you be? This is an online chat site. How naive can I be?

Paylee22: Please don’t be like that. I’m glad you trusted me.

NightTerra: Trust is for people who haven’t been burned.

NightTerra: I trusted my parents would always be with me. I trusted my aunt would believe my story. I trusted the people in my life would stick by my side.

NightTerra: I trusted you, because we’d both been through something similar and because maybe you knew how I felt …

Paylee22: I do know. You can trust me. I was just trying to protect myself.

NightTerra: I know and I can’t blame you for that, not at all.

NightTerra: But now I need to protect myself.

Paylee22: So, what does that mean for us?

Paylee22: Please, Terra, you have to believe me when I say that your friendship has been the one thing that’s kept me going these past couple of months.

Paylee22: Will you still confide in me?

Paylee22:???

NightTerra: I’m still going to chat with you.

Paylee22: I’m really sorry I hurt you.

Paylee22: You have no idea how much.

NightTerra: Don’t be sorry. You were just being smart, following all the rules. I should’ve done the same.

Paylee22: Please, Terra. I really need you.

NightTerra: I’m right here. I’m chatting with you, aren’t I?

Paylee22: But it’s not going to be the same. I can already tell.

Paylee22: Please, don’t give up on me. You’re like the sister I never had.

NightTerra: Let’s talk about something else, ok? Like the book that was in your captivity quarters …

NightTerra: The one about the family that lived in the woods, in tiny shacks, off the grid … You said the setting was the woods, right? And that you were in the woods too, rather than a cornfield…?

Paylee22: I’m really sorry, Terra. I really need you.

Paylee22: There are things I want to tell you …

Paylee22: Like that my family is from Maine, from a small coastal town that’s known for having one of the oldest lighthouses.

Paylee22: And that the hike I went on the day I was abducted to look for the abandoned school … the trail was just behind the community college, where I was taking classes.

Paylee22: I worked at the yacht club across the street from the college. I was working on the morning that I was taken.

NightTerra: Wait, why are you telling me all this?

Paylee22: Because I really care about you. You really matter to me, Terra. And I want you to trust me.

Paylee22: He’s coming back for me.

NightTerra: Or so you think.

NightTerra: Have you told anybody yet?

Paylee22: Would you even believe me if I said yes? Or have I completely lost your trust?

NightTerra: If you haven’t already told someone about the book page in your mailbox, you really should.

Paylee22: I’m so sorry, Terra.

NightTerra: Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself right now. Ok?

NightTerra: Why don’t we talk later?

Paylee22: You have to go already?

NightTerra: You should too. You need to show your parents the message you found.

Paylee22: Ok.

Paylee22: Bye, Terra. Love you.

She logs out, before I can say goodbye. Part of me feels bad if it seems I’m erecting a wall between us. But I guess that’s how I felt too, when she told me she’d lied. So, maybe that makes us even.

Or maybe it just makes us hurt.

NOW

31

My aunt knocks on my open bedroom door. “Terra?”

I look up from my laptop.

Aunt Dessa is standing in the doorway, dressed in the pale green hospital scrubs that make me squirm. Her arms are folded. Her mouth forms a straight, tense line. “Care to explain where you were today?”

Where I was …

“Is that a difficult question?”

“I was here,” I tell her. “Catching up on homework.” I nod toward the calculus book on my desk as if it contains any relevant answers.

“And the reason you missed your appointment today?”

Appointment?

“You were supposed to meet with Dr. Bridges.”

Who? “I was?”

“I told you…” Her jaw clenches. “Cecelia Bridges, the woman who does hypnotherapy.”

Oh, right. I remember: Dr. Bridges, the specialty in false memories, the agreement I made to go for an appointment …

But did we actually make one?

“I pulled some major strings to get you in today,” Aunt Dessa says. “How do you think it looks for me when you don’t show up?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know about an appointment.”

“I told you. This morning. Cecelia texted me late last night. Remember?”

I really don’t. My aunt and I passed in the hallway this morning. She mentioned coffee and something about fruit, but I don’t recall anything else. I’d been so tired, not having gotten much sleep. I grab my phone and check the screen, but I have