Dangerous Secrets (Dangerous Series: Book 1)

Chapter 20 - The confession

For the first time in weeks it was a grey and rainy day in Alvik, but the air was still warm and the wind kind. Luckily, Stella's new wardrobe included both a raincoat and rain boots which came in handy during her morning walk with Winston.

She met up with Tristan and they shared a breakfast sandwich in his car. Their short meetings were both her part of the day. He made all her troubles go away and her cheeks were often sore from smiling when it was time to say goodbye. Winston also loved being with Tristan, both because Tristan always sneaked him some of his food but also because he scratched Winston behind the ear exactly the way he liked it.

When Stella came home she started preparing for her tutoring lesson with Jasper. She jumped in the shower and put on her usual outfit - jeans-shorts and a tank top. Nowadays her daily routine also included putting on some moisturising face cream, SPF and lip balm.

When Stella was combing her hair she could hear the front door open and shut. She looked at her watch and noticed that it was still fifteen minutes until Jasper was supposed to pick her up. They usually had their tutoring lessons at Ed's house, but this time he wanted to show her the school where he worked. She assumed he was early and went down to say hello.

When Stella came down the stairs she saw Tessa sitting at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee in her hands. She looked anxious, which made Stella nervous. She immediately regretting going down, but it was too late to turn around.

"I'm not here for you," Tessa hissed.

"Good morning to you too," Stella answered.

"Where is Ben?"

"I guess he's either in his room or at work." Stella poured up a cup of coffee to herself and sat down next to Tessa.

"Have you noticed anything weird lately? I mean, do you think Ben has been acting strange?"

She knew why Ben was acting strange towards Tessa, it was because he was going to break up with her to be with Stella. Her heart rate fastened and her palms got sweaty.

"Maybe a little bit. I don't know. I mean, it's not that strange considering everything that is going on with Max."

"You're right." Tessa seemed to calm down a bit and even gave Stella a smile. "Sorry about earlier, I was just a bit nervous. Ben hasn't been himself lately and I was afraid it had to do with me or something, but now I realise how ridiculous that sounds."

Stella heard Ben's footsteps in the stairs and turned around. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at them with a serious and somber expression on his face. Shit, he is really going to do it.

The mood in the room was awkward and tense, but Tessa still jumped up from her chair and ran up to Ben and kissed him. He quickly ended the kiss, gave her a half-hearted smile and tapped her friendly on the shoulder. His intentions were clear. Stella did not want to be there when he gave Tessa the bad news, so without saying a word she sneaked out to wait for Jasper on the terrace.

When Jasper finally came and picked up Stella the strange atmosphere continued. She tried talking to him, but his mind was occupied with something else.

"Before we go in," Stella said when they arrived at the school, "you need to tell me what's wrong."

"Is it that obvious?" Jasper sighed.

"Yes, what is it?"

Jasper turned off the radio and looked out the window with a dead look in his eyes.

"Do you remember when I warned you about Ben?"

"Yeah?" Stella got a bad feeling in her stomach.