Secrets

Chapter 1

Miranda's POV

I woke up screaming and dripping with sweat. I looked around the room and I had no idea where I was, which made me panic even more. Some people rushed into the room. I felt a few sets of hands holding me down. There was a sharp prick in my upper right arm. Someone kept rubbing my head telling me everything was going to be okay and that the medication would kick in soon.

“Miranda, look at me. I need you to take some deep breaths for me. In through your nose and out through your mouth.” She did it with me. I looked at her with wide eyes but did what she said. In through the nose and out through the mouth. After doing this a few times combined with the medicine kicking in, I had finally calmed down. “There you go sweetheart. You’re safe here. Did you have another nightmare?” I nodded. I laid back on the bed, that was propped up, and looked around the room. I was still in the hospital. I sigh in relief and relaxed a little more. At least I wasn’t there anymore. Anywhere was better than there.

The next morning, the same lady stopped in my room to check on me. She was my nurse, Emily, and she had been here with me since the time I arrived. I don’t remember how long I’ve been here exactly. She had brought me in some breakfast and my pills. They were mostly anxiety medication and some pain killers. I sat up in bed and smiled at her. She looked me up and down and smiled at me. “You look a little better today. How are you feeling sweet heart?” She smiled at me and waited for an answer. I shrugged my shoulders. I haven’t spoken since I’ve gotten here. I guess I’ve been too afraid. I know that if I actually talk about it, it would be real. “Well, the police are coming back today sweetie. You’re going to have to talk to them eventually. The sooner you talk about it and tell them what happened, the sooner they can catch this guy. I know you’re scared, but you are safe here.” She patted my leg and smiled at me. “I’ll be back to check on you later.”

I grabbed one of the books I had sitting on the table and settled myself into read. I couldn’t focus. My head was hurting, and I ached all over. My arms and legs were covered in scrapes and bruises. My wrists had bruised from the roped that was once around them. My right leg was broken, so it was in a cast. All I kept thinking about was that day and how stupid I had been. I can’t believe everything had started with one message…

2 Years Earlier…

“Miranda,” called my sister and best friend, Leena. I turned around and smiled at her. We were walking home from the coffee shop and she ran back since she forgot her purse. It was freezing out and she told me to keep going. “Have you heard of the new app called ‘Secrets?’” I looked at her in confusion. She laughed at me and pulled out her phone to pull it up. “I’ve been meaning to tell you about this. One of the girls at work showed it to me. So, this is basically supposed to be a spot to post all your thoughts, secrets and feelings anonymously. You can like other users’ posts and comment on and even follow them. You make your own user name and you can message with other users! You can check out secrets that are local to your area.” She squealed in excitement. We kept walking and made our way down the street to our apartment.

“That sounds pretty cool. I’ll check it out.” I pulled out my phone and went to the app store. I downloaded it and opened it up. I had to come up with a user name. This was going to be hard. I liked writing, but I never could come up with creative usernames. I closed the app for now and decided to think on it for a while. “Lee, hurry up! Its freezing!” I was shivering while she fumbled with the keys. She finally got the door open and I smiled as Leena made her way up the steps. She was really my only family. We met in high school. I was a foster kid who had just moved into a new home, and it was hers. We got along great, and a few months later, her family decided to adopt me. After high school, we didn’t want to separate quite yet, so we got an apartment together.

“What’s your username going to be, Randa?” She pulled her phone up and was typing away.

“I don’t know. I can’t really think of anything.” I pulled my phone back out and tried to think of something creative. When I finally got an idea, I laughed as I typed.

“What you’d pick?” She looked over to me with her head c****d.

“I can’t tell you Leena, then I wouldn’t be anonymous.” I teased her.

“Oh, come on. You can tell me anything.” She pleaded with her big brown eyes.

I sighed in defeat. “Fine. I just used ‘OhMyRanda,’” I tried to ignore her face as she laughed.

“You know, for a writer, you aren’t that creative.” She snickered as she walked into her bed room.

I followed her lead and went to my own. I finally had a day off and I planned on doing absolutely nothing. I had a new app to explore, and that’s what I was going to do. I clicked on the ‘local’ section to see what was being posted around me. I liked a few posts and I continued scrolling for a little while before I decided to post something of my own.

OhMyRanda: “If it’s meant to be, you can’t f**k it up.”

I hit the post button and continued scrolling around the local section. My phone buzzed, I had a new follower and a new message from my post.

Catastrophicchaos: Inspiration I needed to get through today. Thanks!

OhMyRanda: Glad to help! That quote’s gotten me through a lot.

I sat my phone down on my bed and decided to go make myself a snack. I grabbed a bag of popcorn from the drawer and threw it in the microwave. While it was popping, I grabbed a bottle of water and looked out the window. We were supposed to get a bunch of snow and it had just started flurrying. The microwave beeped and brought me back from my day dream. I grabbed the popcorn out of the microwave and poured it into a bowl. I walked back to my room, plopping on my bed with my popcorn and water. I picked up my phone and saw I had two new message notifications. I opened the app and saw they were both from the person I was messaging earlier.

Catastrophicchaos: what are you doing? Prepared for the snow storm?

Catastrophicchoas: Sorry, you probably are busy

OhMyRanda: No sorry. I was making some popcorn. Yea, I’m ready for the snow. How about yourself?

I set my phone down to grab the book I’ve been reading. Just as I opened it to the page I left off, my phone buzzed again.

Catastrophicchaos: Popcorn is bomb. I hate the snow.

OhMyRanda: How could you hate the snow?

Catastrophicchoas: It’s cold and wet lol what’s to like?

For the rest of the evening, me and this ‘catastrophincchaos’ were exchanging messages. It all seemed quite innocent. We were talking about our likes and dislikes and basic stuff like that. I learned that we were both in the same area. He didn’t live that far from me. He told me his name was Noah and that he was 27. I told him my name was Miranda and that my 21st birthday was in a few weeks. I told him my sister wanted to take me out, but I was hesitant. He asked where we were going, and I told him we hadn’t decided yet. We made some small talk, complained about our jobs, told each other secrets. I felt like I had a real connection. I should had seen it coming, but I was so blind.