Merry Christmas!

My present to you is a quick, friendly reminder:

You're letting your guard down, slipping up too much. Be careful. Or your secret might just be broadcasted on the evening news.

Watch yourself.

-Secret Keeper

I collapsed onto my bed.

I was curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth, mascara running. "Bad" by Lennon Stella seared through my mind as I swayed to the beat, humming the lyrics that I had committed by memory.

"I probably should've known better,

I probably should've known better,

Every word you said was sweet but you was lying,

Everything you covered up, making up just to keep me from crying."

 I stared at the red card in my hand. The swirly golden letters were definitely Secret Keeper's. And I had never seen this one before. He was going to send it today.

And the note came from Tyler's pocket.

That means Tyler is Secret Keeper.

"I wish that you would've treated me bad,

Truth is you couldn't have loved me better,

Now I'm left feeling twice as sad,

I wish you would've treated me bad, bad, bad."

But that's not possible. Tyler couldn't be Secret Keeper. He would never blackmail me and Jordan. He would never try to hurt us. He would never force Jordan into jail. He would never let me live with the false guilt of killing Jason. He wasn't a bad person. He cared about us. I know he did. He had to. There must be a perfectly acceptable explanation as to why he had a newly written Secret Keeper letter in his pocket...

Stop it, Vera. You're in denial. You're just making excuses.

I immediately wanted to slap myself. I was running again. Why was I so weak? Why couldn't I face the fact that Tyler was Secret Keeper? Why couldn't I make myself do anything about it?

No. I needed to take action. I couldn't let Tyler get away with lying to all of us. But I wasn't strong enough to do it myself. So I called the one person who was.

Alyssa lifted up on the third ring.

"Seriously, Vera. I swear to god, it's two in the morning. This better be important-"

"I think Tyler is Secret Keeper."

The line went silent for a few seconds before she said, "I'll be over in ten."

I sighed and dropped the phone on my bed and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. I thought back to the race when he had looked so happy, so calm. I thought back to the diner, when he had listened to my words, when he was there for me and still looked at me the same even when I was weakest. I thought back to the way he had picked up my broken pieces and handed them to me. He let me mend myself back together again, let me make myself stronger than before. He always knew exactly what to do.

"I wasn't catching on to you,

Blinded by your lips so smooth,

Excusing all of your gotta goes,

Leaving me to be all alone..."

I thought back to the way we had danced at the ball and only one heart-shattering question arose through my mind: Was any of it true?

"...Then you took my heart just the same."

It wasn't long before I heard Alyssa opening the front door with the keys hidden under the welcome mat and tiptoe up the stairs to my room. The door opened and shut as she paused, taking in my broken form.

"You didn't even change yet?" Alyssa asked referring to the blue dress that still spilled down my curled up body and cascaded onto the bed.

I didn't respond. Just looked back up at her.

Alyssa sighed and flung open my closet and rifled through it. "You can't let some stupid guy acting like an asshole stop you from being a queen. Now get your shit together and put this on."

She threw a jacket and jeans at me and I held it in my hands. Alyssa was right. I couldn't let Tyler's actions bring me down. I spent too long crying these past few days.

Get your shit together.

My hands tightened around the clothes in my hands and I lifted myself off the bed and into the bathroom.

Alyssa and I waited in front of the door. I wrapped my hands around my body, trying to guard myself from the chilly night wind. I was wearing a zipped up baby pink jacket and maroon jeans (an outfit chosen by Alyssa) but it still wasn't enough to fight the cold.

Alyssa, on the other hand, looked completely unaffected. Her arms were bare, stomach exposed, in her Tommy Hilfiger crop-top and black leggings. The black leather Miu Miu boots heightened her already tall frame. Her hair hung down in long golden waves, black eyeliner accentuating her rage filled eyes, bright red lipstick making her look confident and powerful. The calculating look in her eyes, combined with the sheer confidence she radiated was enough to make anyone, including me, want to crawl back in bed. She was going to drag Tyler to the ground until he begged for her mercy. And I would gladly join her.

Finally, the front door opened.

"Nice of you to finally open the door for us," Alyssa remarked.

Jordan ran hand down his face. "I was sleeping. You should be too-"

He was cut off by Alyssa pushing past him. I followed.

"Please," Jordan said sarcastically. "Make yourself at home."

Then Jordan's eyes landed on me. Alyssa took a couple minutes to touch up face with makeup to make it look less broken, but there still must've been something frail in my eyes because as soon as Jordan looked at me he softened, his expression transforming from annoyance to worry.

Alyssa headed up the stairs where Julia was waiting, already dressed and ready to go.

"What are we going to do?" Julia asked as Alyssa neared her. Alyssa had called Julia on the way and told her what had happened. Obviously, Julia hadn't told Jordan yet, probably because Tyler was closest to him.

"You said you wanted to confront him head on, not by manipulating him into catching him red-handed," Alyssa said.

Julia nodded. "We owe it to our years of friendship to let him tell his side of the story."

"I don't like it," Alyssa admitted. "But if you think so, then that's what we'll do."

"Um..." Jordan said, looking between the three of us. "Does anyone want to fill me in?"

"Tyler's Secret Keeper," Alyssa replied, offhanded.

Jordan blinked. We looked at him. He took a step back. He blinked again.

"What?!"

Alyssa sighed and waved her hand in a non-committal gesture. "Get dressed. We'll explain everything in the car."

Julia looked ready to investigate. Jordan was ready to kill. Alyssa was ready to slay everyone in her path. I was ready to cry.

But still, I mirrored Alyssa's posture and straightened my back, holding my head high.

I had told Jordan what happened in the car and he listened in silence, only offering a "That son of a bitch" when I had finished. Now he had stuffed his hands in his pockets, black jacket swaying a little in the light breeze. I looked up and realized that I couldn't see the stars, they were completely covered by big purple clouds.

Storm clouds, I realized with a start. A storm is coming.

We reached the front door and Julia rung the doorbell. As we waited, she turned back to Alyssa and Jordan.

"Tyler might be Secret Keeper," she said. "But first and foremost he was our friend. Please don't do anything rough or violent."

"So no foot to the balls?" Alyssa questioned.

"No."

Alyssa pouted. "You're no fun."

Julia sighed. "Alyssa..."

"Fine," Alyssa surrendered. "I'll play nice."

Julia turned to her brother. "You too, Jordan."

Jordan turned to Julia, green eyes set into an icy-blank stare. "When have I not played nice?"

The door swung open to reveal a sleepy looking Tyler. "It's late, guys. My parents are already asleep. What are you doi-"

Tyler stopped talking. Probably because his mouth was full.

With Jordan's fist.

Tyler staggered backward, eyes filled with shock as he brought his hand up to his bleeding nose.

Julia threw her hands in the air, exasperate. "Jordan!"

Alyssa blew a strand of hair out of her face as she sighed, "Boys."

Jordan surged forward and pushed Tyler against the wall, grabbing the front of his shirt in his fist and leaning in, their faces only inches apart, allowing Tyler to see the pure rage in his eyes as he spat, "We need to talk."

We were all in his bedroom, standing around a very uncomfortable looking Tyler as he sat on his bed. Jordan had dragged him upstairs and shoved him onto the bed, nose bleeding. It was a sight to behold the great illegal street racer and high school troublemaker, Tyler Turnpike, in Lightning McQueen pajamas and tissues stuffed up his nose. Finally, Julia convinced Jordan to let him go change without supervision.

"I can explain," Tyler spoke. He was now sitting on the bed with black jeans and his basketball jacket thrown over the white shirt. Dark brown hair was disheveled, eyes flicking between the four of us. The sight was so familiarly comforting that it stung. Why did it have to be him?

"Explain what?" Jordan snapped back. He had turned his poker face on as he inspected Tyler, the man he used to call his best friend. "That you had lied to all of us and tried to black mail us and even let Vera believe that she killed Jason?"

"I didn't even know that she thought she killed Jason until she told me."

"Don't lie. You already knew. You sent her the letters."

Tyler gave a confused look. "Hold up. You think I am Secret Keeper?"

Jordan stared back at him.

"That's insane."

"Is it?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you have a red card? And with a message none of us have seen before?!"

"Because I've been receiving them too!"

"Bullshit."

"The only thing that's bullshit is the fact that you don't trust me enough to even consider that I might not be Secret Keeper."

"You think I didn't try?!" Jordan's face was suddenly filled with rage and desperation as he stood up. "You think I didn't try to give the benefit of the doubt?! I tried Tyler! But I couldn't ignore the evidence right in front of me."

"Please. The only reason you didn't ignore the evidence was because of who you thought I hurt."

The boys were now facing each other, standing mere inches apart, both fuming, faces red, eyes locked in challenging stares. The tension in the room had increased ten fold as silence hung in the air. I counted to ten. Confusion filled me as I stared at the two. I didn't know what they were talking about. At least, this side of me didn't. Another side seemed to know exactly what was going on and I didn't like it.

Alyssa's eyes flicked to mine. Julia stared at the boys intently. They were still staring at each other, neither backing down. It felt like hours, but it was only a few seconds. I twirled my hair, feeling uncomfortable.

"Okay, boys," Alyssa cut her hands between the two like scissors and pushed them apart. "Take a deep breath. We're all friends here. Sort of. Maybe. It depends. Some of us may want to kick the other in the baby maker, but we're still civilized, yes?"

The boys were still staring, neither speaking a word.

"Yes?"

They both gave a terse nod and slowly backed to their original spots.

"Good," Alyssa turned to Tyler. "Now, why would you get a letter from Secret Keeper?"

"Because I know the truth about what really happened that day."

Alyssa's eyes flickered with confusion and something else, an expression I couldn't recognize. "What are you talking about, Ty?"

"That day, the day that Jason died. I know what really went down."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "We know what happened. Jordan accidentally pushed him and he died."

"No," Tyler said. "Jordan didn't push Jason to his death. I-"

"What are you talking about?" Jordan said. "I killed him. It was my fault. There's no denying that."

"No. It's not possible. You didn't kill him. I-"

"I swear to god, if you say you killed him-" Jordan started, glaring.

"No, I didn't kill him. I couldn't kill him," Tyler said quickly. He eyed us before sighing and saying the three words that started our chaotic downfall into the depths of hell.

"He's not dead."

Author: End of Part 2.

Only Part 3 left (which is only 3 chapters). Get ready.