Secret
1148 Words
Jasmine was sitting in class, playing with her pencil and watching the clock. She was waiting for the lunch hour to start, and she had been nervous all morning. Today was the day she was going to share her secret with Joseph. She trusted him and wanted him to know everything about her.
Right on cue, the lunch bell rang, and she headed for the cafeteria. She felt that there was magic between her and Joseph, and she knew he felt it too. She saw Joseph walking towards the cafeteria and happily ran up to him. When she got closer, she slowed down and decided to sneak up on him. As she got close to him, he turned to her quickly. Jasmine stopped in her tracks and sheepishly grinned. He smiled at her.
"Hi Jassy,” he said with a grin, and she looked at him in confusion.
"How did you know?" she asked, and Joseph chuckled.
"I think you already know the answer to that, my dear!" he said.
She bit her lip and grabbed his hand.
"Come on,” she said, excitedly.
He let her lead the way as she led him out into the forest, away from the school. She didn't want anyone to see them.
"Where are we going?" Joseph asked, as he laughed.
Suddenly, Jasmine stopped and looked around. She made sure that they were deep enough in the forest where no one would see them, and then Jasmine looked at Joseph.
"There is something about me, something that my family only knows about me, and I wanted to share it with you. Please don't freak out!" Jasmine finally said, and Joseph smiled at her.
"Okay, I won't freak out,” he said, gently, and she looked at him.
"Really?" she asked, hopefully, and he nodded.
"Yes, really,” he said, and his voice calmed her nerves a little.
Nervously, Jasmine took a deep breath and started to levitate. Joseph watched patiently as she disappeared before his eyes, and then she reappeared as she looked at him, waiting for his reaction. He looked at her in surprise. She descended slowly to the ground and searched his eyes.
"What are you?" He asked in confusion.
Jasmine touched his arm and shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. That's why I need to go on this trip. I have to find this creature. I'm hoping I can get some answers,” said Jasmine, as she looked at the ground, and Joseph lifted her chin with his fingers.
"How do you know where to go?" he asked, and she searched his eyes.
Surprisingly, he wasn't freaked out at all. He was interested in what she had to say and that made her feel that he truly did love her.
"I was looking through some old boxes up in the loft. I was looking for something I could use for our history project and I found my mom's old journal. It explains that my family is a descendant of a creature only found in Guatemala. There is a map with the direct location of where we need to go,” explained Jasmine, as she stepped back from him, and he looked at her.
"What's wrong?" he asked in concern.
He didn't like the fact that she had stepped away from him, and she had a sad look on her face. Joseph felt like he had done something to upset her.
"The journal talks about how these men had taken these animals and created a serum with their blood. The serum gave humans abilities, like me. These men were greedy and destroyed the whole city,” said Jasmine, sadly.
Joseph thought about Leonard's story that he told about how project A and T sought out his original monster and destroyed her. He claimed that creature to be their mother, but if there was another, then he lied to the entire community. The stories were different, but the ending was the same. He looked at her seriously.
"Do you remember the names of these men?" he asked, and Jasmine looked at him oddly for a moment.
Why would he want to know the names of the men? she wondered.
To her, the names of the men didn't matter, but she decided to tell him, anyway. Jasmine thought for a moment. There were two names written in the journal. What were they? she thought.
An image of the journal page flashed in her mind and she saw the names, and then she looked up at Joseph.
"Leonard and Alexander Maverick,” she said, affirmatively, and Joseph searched her eyes and then he looked down at the ground, frustrated.
Joseph sighed as he realized his gut instinct about Leonard was right. He wasn't what or who he said he was. Leonard was a fraud and a liar, and he now had to figure out how to expose him in front of the whole community. He shook his head in disbelief. Jasmine put her hand on his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned, as she took a step closer to him, and Joseph looked at her.
"Just some things I have to deal with at home,” he stated, not thinking before he spoke.
What did he mean by that? Jasmine wondered.
She decided to dismiss it for now.
"You know, when I was going through the boxes, I found some pictures of my mom when she was a kid. She had her arm around a bald-headed kid in one of the photos. I thought it was my daddy at first, but it had Anna and Xander written on the back,” she said, as she played with a strand of hair that had escaped Joseph's messy bun, and Joseph looked at her.
"Who's Xander?" he asked, as he took her hand in his, and Jasmine shrugged her shoulders.
"Someone from my mom's past, I guess,” she said.
Suddenly, they heard the bell ring, and Jasmine scoffed.
"Time to head back,” he said, as he intertwined his fingers with hers.
She nodded, and they walked towards the school.
"Oh, Joey?" she asked, as they walked.
"Yeah, Jassy."
"Please don't tell anyone about me,” she said, as they reached the school.
He stopped walking and looked at her with love in his eyes.
"You know they aren't going to treat you any differently,” he said, softly, as he kissed her fingertips.
Jasmine stared at him for a moment, and then she looked at him with pleading eyes.
"Please?" she pleaded, as she looked at him with wide sad eyes, and Joseph chuckled, as he dropped their hands.
"Of course, your secret is safe with me."
She grinned at him. She had no reason not to trust him. Joseph knew how she felt, and he never wanted to do anything to break her heart. He loved her with his whole being.
- Writer
