Daring Hearts: Fearless Fourteen Boxed Set

by Box Set

  “I feel fine, Ellie. It’s you that seems to have a problem with things.”

  “Yes, I do. And you’re lucky to have a friend who is willing to stand up for you. Your family, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Everyone is so regulated. Level. They’re hiding something, I know it.”

  This wasn’t new; Ellie was always looking for trouble in paradise. “Just because our lives aren’t full of chaos like yours doesn’t mean something is off. Seriously. Maybe we’ve just figured it out.”

  Ellie huffed and held her hand out. “Give me that locket and cross, please.” She was taking control, like she always did. Kate reached into her pocket and pulled the two articles out, handing them to Ellie. Ellie set the cross down on the carpeted floor and focused on the locket. She fumbled with opening it. Kate set her sandwich down to help her. “It catches right here.” She pointed to a little piece of jutting metal and then flicked the locket open. Ellie stared at the picture, pulling it close and then letting it fall away to look Kate over. She bit her lip.

  “Do you care if I take it out?”

  “What? The picture?”

  She gave Kate a duh look and then began to pry the picture out with her fingernail.

  “Be careful, Ellie.” Kate reached out for the locket.

  Ellie turned away, blocking her and continuing to work on the picture. Kate stopped eating. “If you ruin that picture, I’m going to be so super mad.”

  “I won’t. I’m a professional, remember?” She turned back, picture in one hand and the locket in the other. She turned it over in her hand. “Hey check this out!” She held the photograph out to Kate. On the back of the heart-shaped paper, Constanzie was written in cursive in black pen. “Constanzie?” Kate questioned, eyes fixed on the word. Ellie handed the picture to her and typed the word into a search engine on her phone. It was obvious from the results that it was a name. An Italian name meaning constancy in English.

  “So—the woman’s name is Constance? And she’s from Italy? How did a locket from Italy get into my attic?” Kate leaned back into the lockers.

  “Well, it could be the baby’s name. And there are a lot of countries that speak Italian. But we are definitely going to find out how it got in your attic, and I’m betting it’s got something to do with you.”

  Ellie had that look in her eye. The look that told Kate she was thrilled beyond words at the challenge of uncovering something. “Can I hold onto these?” She held up the two necklaces.

  Kate reached back and massaged her neck, her mouth going dry. “I was hoping to put them back tonight. What if my mom discovers they’re gone?”

  “She won’t. I know how you feel and no worries. I’ve got this. I know how to take care of precious things.”

  “What exactly are you going to do with them?”

  “I’m going to investigate. Find out everything I can about them. And you’re going to help me.”

  Kate raised an eyebrow at her. “I am?”

  “Yep.” Ellie grinned. “I know it’s hard to think that your parents might be lying to you, but you’re going to face that because you’re a very brave person, and more than anything in the whole world—you want the truth.”

  Kate stared at the locket in her hand. For some reason it was almost physically painful to think of handing it over to Ellie. But her friend was right—she did want the truth, more than anything.

  “Fine. And here,” she handed over the locket and cross, then dug in her pocket for the receipt she’d found. “That receipt I found. Maybe it can tell us something.” Something niggled at her, but she ignored it. They sat back down and continued to eat again.

  “You are one brave soul.” She gave Kate a meaningful look. “You are braver than Maria was when her best friend outed her.”

  Nine times out of ten, Ellie used some connection to the reality shows she watched to make her points. Maria was on a reality TV show about dating. Kate didn’t watch those shows unless she was with Ellie, but Ellie kept Kate up to speed, filling her in to what was happening on her favorites every day. And it wasn’t only Ellie who was enamored. Her whole family lived to watch those shows. They went to great lengths to find out everything about the various players. They even worked with a publicist who sent in application after application for their family to get on a reality show. They planned their vacations around reality TV filming schedules.

  “Well that’s a huge compliment.” Kate raised her eyebrows and shook her head. “You’re obsessed.”

  Ellie slugged her with her petite fist. Kate laughed. Ellie scowled. “I didn’t see you complaining about my obsession when you were on the beach with me last year.” Ellie’s family planned all their vacations around the reality stars, hoping for any chance to see or mingle with them. And lucky her, Kate always got to go with them. Last year they went to California to stay near the filming location of Getting Your Beach Body. They’d seen eight of the ten stars on that show and talked to one. They considered that more than amazing.

  “You know I like those shows, I just don’t have the energy or time to focus on them like you guys do. And I loved the beach. Where are we going this year?” It wasn’t like Kate was assuming too much. She’d vacationed with them for the last six years.

  “Well, it’s not set in stone yet.” Ellie’s eyes sparkled and she looked about as if telling Kate a secret she wanted no one else to hear. Her brown hair waved over her shoulders. “And it probably won’t happen, but Max Trenton and Sally Foster are starting a new reality show and our publicist thinks we have a real shot at making it on.”

  Kate had no idea who those two people were, but figured they were TV producers of some sort. “What? When?” A mix of excitement and dread filled her.

  “It’s scheduled to start shooting right after school lets out. But how many times has our publicist told us we were shoo-ins for something and it never happened?” She grimaced. “My parents are betting on this one, though.”

  “I’m crossing my fingers for you. You are finally going to be on TV!” This had to have been in the works for a long time. Why hadn’t she brought it up before now? Kate had a sinking feeling.

  “Yeah. The bad part is that if we do get on, it’s a minimum year-long gig, and that means no vacation this year.” She tapped her fingers on the table and cleared her throat.

  “It sounds amazing, except for the whole, no vacation with your best friend thing. So why are you so nervous? What’s the show about?”

  She swallowed hard. “It’s not in the U.S.”

  Kate’s head jerked back. “What?”

  “It’s in Italy.” Ellie’s eyes lit up with excitement that was obviously shadowed only by what she thought Kate’s reaction would be.

  Kate let that sink in. No wonder Ellie had kept it from her. She wanted to be excited for Ellie, but how could she be? “Italy?”

  Ellie nodded and reached out for Kate’s hands. Kate pulled them onto her lap. “Don’t be upset,” Ellie said.

  Kate looked at her hands. This was not good. “Don’t be upset? How long have you known about this?” Kate’s eyes flashed.

  “A while, but like I said, it’s not a sure thing. I didn’t want to worry you about it yet.”

  “You’re going to leave me for a whole year? Our senior year?” Kate bit her lip.

  “It wouldn’t be forever, and I’m sure we’ll be able to write it into the script somewhere that you could come for a visit. Italy, Kate. Seriously.” Her eyes brightened again and her smile—she was over the moon about it.

  Kate’s stomach soured. What would she do without Ellie? “You don’t think I could go with you the whole time? We could pretend to be fraternal twins or something.” Kate clutched at her necklace.

  Ellie shook her head. “The show chronicles families moving to foreign countries and the struggles associated with that. Colby and I would play the son and daughter who hate their parents for moving them away from the only life they’d known. It’s a great angle actually. I’m sure you’ll be able to
come at some point.” She leaned closer to Kate and exhaled while looking up. “It will be hard, Kate, but I need you on my side. I need you to be happy for me.”

  Kate couldn’t handle all the feelings roiling inside her. She needed to get out of there. She stood up. The bell rang and she ran down the hall.

  She spent her last class of the day embroiled in a battle with herself. She wanted to be happy for Ellie. This was what her family had been working on for at least the last ten years. It was about time for their publicist to get them a show. But what about Kate? She would be alone. Sure, she had Braxton and other friends, but none were like Ellie. If Kate were to be honest with herself, she’d have to admit that it wasn’t Italy that was the issue. It was the fact that Ellie had purposefully kept it from Kate. She told Ellie everything. She was her best friend. She brought fun and excitement into Kate’s life. Without Ellie, she would be left to live a very normal and predictable life, and that suddenly wasn’t okay. She knew on some level that she was being selfish, but she didn’t care. Maybe if Ellie had told her the second her family knew it was a real possibility she would have had time to accept it.

  As it was, one minute she was willing to give Ellie the benefit of the doubt and accept that she was trying to protect her and the next, her stubborn side took over, and anger and betrayal filled her. The final bell rang. The moment she was dreading had arrived. Should she underline her disapproval of Ellie’s late admission by not going on the shopping trip? If she went she most likely wouldn’t have a good time. But if she went home she would definitely not have a good time. At least at the mall Kate would be with a whole group. And Braxton would probably show up at some point. It would be the ride to the mall that would be awful. She stood, still not knowing what her choice was going to be.

  4

  Kate stood outside the school doors, staring at the line of busses waiting to take kids home. In fifty feet she could be on her way home on one of those busses and show Ellie just how upset she was. Her stomach ached. She didn’t want to be mad at Ellie.

  “Kate!” She turned toward the voice. Amber, one of her good friends, ran down the school stairs and right up to her. “Ellie just texted me. She’s waiting for us.”

  “Oh!” Kate said. “You’re riding with us?” Ellie must’ve wanted some interference.

  “Yeah. Melissa went home sick. Come on. Jessie and Stockton already left.” Amber started down the steps.

  Kate bit her lip. She’d hang back and let Amber sit shotgun. That would give her a good separation from Ellie and give Kate more time to figure out what she wanted to say to her. She texted Braxton, asking him if he was going to be able to come to the mall. He didn’t answer so she figured he had baseball practice.

  Amber must have anticipated that Kate would want to sit in the front, like always, because she sat in the back seat. Kate almost followed her, but at the last second wondered if Ellie would ever forgive her for that. Kate didn’t want an all-out war.

  Kate yanked the passenger side door open and sat with a huff. Ellie raised her eyebrow and offered a questioning gaze. Kate turned and stared out the front window, letting out a heavy breath.

  “Are you two fighting or what?” Amber asked. “What happened?”

  Neither of them responded. Ellie turned up the music for the five minute drive, the music relaxing some of the tension that abounded. And all Kate could think about was that she’d given Ellie the two necklaces. How could she have been so careless?

  They lucked out with a close parking spot near the food court entrance. The three climbed out of the car and Kate rushed forward, glancing back to see Amber give Ellie a concerned look. They met up with the others in the food court waiting in line to get shakes. Ellie held back, her hands twisting together as she rocked side to side on her feet. Kate forced herself not to go to her. Instead, she sidled up to Jessie near the front of the line. “What flavor are you going to get?”

  They both ordered and went to find a table where they could all sit.

  Colby, Ellie’s older brother, showed up, making it easier for Kate to avoid Ellie. Colby was a senior, and Kate had had a crush on him since before she hit puberty. Ellie and he loved to hang out, so Kate spent a lot of time with him. He was a forward on the school soccer team and had enough charisma and good looks to make people stare without doing a darn thing. And while her knees went a bit wobbly and her mind a bit numb every time she saw him, in the end, a sweet big brother comfort swept over her by the time they left each other.

  Awkwardness and dread vanished as Colby met them while waiting for their shakes to be prepared in the food court. Kate ran to him and gave him a huge hug. Colby swung her around.

  “I thought you had soccer practice today.” Kate caught a quick breath as he let her down.

  “The field’s too wet to play on and other teams are using the gyms, so we got a day off.”

  “Nice.” She nodded at him. Would the baseball team be practicing in the gym?

  “You getting a shake?” He motioned with his head toward the shake shop.

  “Yep. Chocolate mint.” She bounced on her toes.

  “Typical. You really should branch out.” His eyes flicked to Ellie, who was sullen. And while there was a twinge of regret, Kate thought that was as it should be—and then immediately felt bad for thinking that. Colby gave Kate a questioning look. He lowered his voice. “And you two?” He motioned toward Ellie. “It must’ve been bad, you two haven’t squabbled for months.”

  “She told me about Italy at lunch today, for the first time.” She growled.

  “Oh!” His lips rounded and then pressed together. “I thought she was waiting until we knew for sure to tell you.”

  Kate pushed him back. “Thanks a lot. Maybe I should be pissed with you, too?”

  “No. And you shouldn’t be mad at Ellie, either. She wanted to tell you, but she didn’t want you to react badly.”

  “I wouldn’t have reacted badly if she had been open with me.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “You mean like you’re acting now?” He shifted his weight to one side and raised his eyebrows.

  Kate hung her head, her hands falling to her sides. “She should have told me before now. You could be leaving in less than two months.”

  “All the more reason to enjoy every moment until then.” He smiled that perfect white smile.

  Kate huffed.

  “Right?”

  “Right,” she admitted. “But I want to be mad a little longer.”

  “Of course you do.” He mussed up her hair.

  “Hey!”

  He pointed to the counter. “Your shake is ready.”

  Kate retrieved it. He motioned with his head toward Ellie. “Make up. You may as well do it now so that this trip is fun. I hate to see her all sad and dejected.”

  “Not yet,” Kate said, shaking her head.

  “Look. I’m going to go order and by the time I get my shake, I want you sitting with Ellie. No excuses.” He broke away from Kate.

  Kate looked at Ellie. Not yet. She couldn’t forgive her yet. Maybe at the end of the shopping trip she’d feel differently, but not now. Kate never wanted Ellie to repeat this mistake. It hurt too much. She sat next to Amber.

  “Man, that looks good, Kate. Trade?” Amber said, eyeing Kate’s shake.

  They each took a bite of each other’s shakes. Amber’s was cookie dough. It was good, but not great. Ellie’s eyes flicked to Kate’s, sorrow lining them. It took all of Kate’s strength not to forgive her right then and there, but she told herself she had to in order to protect herself from future pain.

  Colby sat next to Ellie and raised a brow, shaking his head.

  Shame rushed through Kate, but she buried it deep. She would forgive Ellie, just not yet.

  She got a text message from Braxton saying he would meet them in ten minutes at the information booth. Relief shot through her. Braxton would take her mind off Ellie and give her something else to think about.

  As
they passed the information booth, Kate couldn’t help but notice the five grand pianos circling it. A piano dealer had brought the pianos in to sell them, but no one was even giving them a second look. She felt bad for the sales person and for herself and how badly things were going with Ellie. She needed her fix of peace, and one of those pianos would give it to her. It wasn’t often that she got to play on such a beautiful instrument.

  She hated playing in public, but she took a deep breath and headed over to the nicest one. She knew it would ease the sadness she felt. She’d do a quick number and then go. No one would even notice. And no one was forcing her to do it. It was her choice. While the group went into Buckle, she sat down to play. She let herself get lost in the music, her tension and feelings of betrayal melting away. When she reached the end of the Piano Concerto by Grieg, she opened her eyes. All six of her friends were standing around the piano and the piano guy finally had customers. Several people clapped. She stood in a quick burst and wanted nothing more than to get out of there fast.

  Ellie said, “Look, you’re famous.”

  “Seriously epic, Katiebug,” Braxton said. “I have the most amazing girlfriend ever.”

  “Okay. Moving on,” Kate said. The piano salesman smiled and winked at her, unwilling to leave the customers she’d helped to attract. Why couldn’t she love playing to an audience? Why?

  “I seriously don’t get why you don’t give concerts. They’d sell out.” Maria said.

  Kate’s gut twisted. She had a very good reason for not playing for people, but she never talked about it to anyone. “I’m not that good. I’m much better at math, and it’s by far the more useful of the two.” It was her pat answer, and she’d said it so many times, it flew out of her mouth automatically.

  “Whatever,” Maria said. “Seems that’s more useful with all the stress people have these days than being able to work out a math problem.”

  “Ah, but using perfect equations to build buildings and roads and bridges, now that is useful.” Kate smiled and looked sheepishly at Ellie who stood a bit behind everyone else, staring at her feet. Kate moved over to her. Ellie looked up. Kate shrugged, looked at Ellie and then hugged her. With all her stress gone, Kate was able to let go of the pain and hurt and forgive Ellie. Ellie melted into her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered into Kate’s hair. “I should have told you sooner.”