The Secret He Keeps

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

Modern Revenge Scheming

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It all started without being plane. I had already seen photos on Instagram stories and it caught my attention, but I didn't have any information about her or where she studied, I only knew her name. The first day of second term classes, I was talking with my friends and a classmate told me:

— Samuel, there goes Eva, your future girlfriend.

I turn and see her, but not very well, she was entering the school and I was outside. It was my turn to study in the morning and her turn in the afternoon. I decided to go back to school to see her. I never believed in love at first sight. However, everything was different and unique. She was walking and I was behind her. At one point, he stopped walking, turned around, saw me and said:

—Are you chasing me?

For the first time, I saw her from the front. I could say that she was the prettiest girl in the entire school. He had an enviable smile; his hair was long and dark brown. Just like his eyes and his skin was light. He said that and I was speechless. My mind was processing how he turned. The sun hit her eyes and they looked honey—colored. She had a frown, small freckles on her nose, her lips were pretty, and her eyebrows were unique, as were her eyelashes. While I watched her, she was waiting for a response and I could only say:

—No, I'm not following you

Eva smiled, looked at me and walked away. I spent a few days thinking about what happened. That girl was driving me crazy and now I wanted to see her for as long as possible.

Day after day, I saw her and stayed at school in the afternoon even though I wasn't supposed to be there at that time. However, I just wanted to see her. In addition, i saw her hair move, her gestures. The color of her eyes, perfect when she smiled, her way of walking, everything about her was unmatched. I wanted that girl to be for me.

He was in love that was obvious. I started talking to Fatima, a classmate who knew Eva, she told me:

—She seems to be a little interested in you, but you must understand that she is beautiful and there are many behind her. You have a reputation as a womanizer and the most likely and safe thing is that they will say those things to her and she will lose attraction. Likewise, I'm going to talk to Eva and tell her that it has to take a while to get to know you and that you are also interested in getting to know her.

That same day Fatima gave me Eva's phone number and I wrote to her.

I admit that at first I thought that he was not going to answer me, most likely they had already told him that I had a bad reputation and that it was best that he not try anything with me, but after half an hour, he answered me:

—Hello

I didn't know who he was because he didn't have my number.

—Hello, it's Samuel.

Moreover, after that message she didn't respond to me again, the truth is I was getting desperate, I wanted to talk to her, get to know her. Something was different; I decided to approach her the next day if I saw her at school.

The day came when we were going to have a conversation; I was waiting for him to come. Her mother took her and looked for her. After almost half an hour, she came in and sat with her friends. He saw that he was walking in his direction, got up and walked to the bathroom. I understood what he meant by his action. She knew I was going to talk to her and she didn't want to. So I decided to follow her, I grabbed her arm and turned her towards me, at first she looked surprised and confused, then she said.

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