"Who is it?" yelled Lars, rushing to the door. "It's me, Carson". He unlocked the door and invited her inside. "You're early!" he exclaimed. "Is that a bad thing?" she asked, with a puzzled expression. "No, no! Not at all! I just didn't have much time to clean the place up" he explained. She quickly scanned the room, barely turning her head. There was a pair of socks on the sofa, a coffee mug and plate on the table, and a few places that hadn't been dusted. "Are you kidding? It's fine! I'm used to walking into my little brother's room and seeing red hand prints on the ceiling" she replied. He laughed, flashing his glistening teeth. "But really, why are you here an hour early?" he inquired. "I just couldn't wait to see you!" she said. "As flattered as I am to hear that you and I both know you've never been early to anything" he replied. "Not true! I was early to my first recital" she corrected. "Okay, you have me there. But seriously, what's wrong?" he said. "Nothing, I just want to see you!" she exclaimed. "Really?" he asked. "No" she said. She walked over to his plush beige chair and slowly sat down. He followed her and took a seat on the sofa diagonal to it, taking her hands in his. "You can tell me anything, you know that, don't you?" he said, searching her face for the answer. "Of course I know that" she replied. "Well what's wrong babe? he asked. He waited patiently for her response, while she built up courage to speak. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we didn't have to hide us?" she asked. "Well sure I have! It would be great if it didn't have to be a secret, but there's no other way" he replied. "We don't have to keep it a secret" she said. "Yeah we don't have to, only if we don't want our lives turned completely upside down" he exclaimed. "Well maybe people would understand" she replied hopefully. "Or maybe people would start talking and make things out to be even worse" he said. "People will talk whether there's anything to talk about or not" she reminded him. "All the more reason not to give them something to talk about" he said. They sat there in silence for a moment, both slightly uneasy. "You haven't told anyone about us, have you?" he inquired. Carson broke his gaze. "Carson?". He was getting worried. "Carson! Who did you tell?" he asked. "Sophie" she said in almost a whisper. "Sophie? Sophie Duvall? My student!" he replied, practically shouting. "Shh, keep your voice down. The neighbors will hear" she warned. "It doesn't matter, soon everyone will hear" he exclaimed. "Trust me, she won't tell anyone" she said, trying to ease his worries. "Oh yeah sure" he quipped. "No really!" she exclaimed. "Give my one good reason to believe she won't tell everyone" he demanded. "When I was eleven she was over at my house one day. We were in my living room making up a dance. I lost my balance and I knocked my mom's teacup off of the coffee table, breaking it. Sophie never told anyone that I was the one that broke it. From that point on she's always kept any secret I've told her, always". Lars took her hands once again. "If you trust her, I trust her. What choice do I have?" he said. "I'm so glad to hear you say that" she exclaimed. They embraced for a moment, and then Lars pulled away to face her. "She 's the only one that knows about us right?" he asked. "Yeah, of course!" she replied. He pulled her back in, stroking her hair softly.
As soon as Carson uttered those words she felt her heart sink. She just could not bring herself to tell him about Natalie. It was one thing to tell him about that she had told a friend about them, it was another to tell him that someone found out about them.
She knew what she had to do now. She wasn't thrilled about it to say the least, but it needed to be done.
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"Hey lilac fairy!". Carson searched for the voice as she walked in the studio. "Hey Sophie!" she replied. She was relieved that it was just Sophie. "So you still excited?" Sophie questioned. "Sorta" Carson replied. "Sorta? Last night you were overjoyed" Sophie said, perplexed. "Can we talk? In private?" Carson asked. "Sure! Come on" said Sophie. They walked to the student room to put their bags down. Then they headed to the bathroom, Carson locking the door behind them. "Lars know you know" Carson blurted out. "Um what did he say?" Sophie asked, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Well he was pretty upset, but I assured him that you were trust-worthy" Carson said. "That's good" Sophie encouraged. "But that's not at all" Carson admitted. "What else is there?" Sophie inquired. "Last night Natalie saw me and Lars in the studio and she threatened to tell everyone unless I give the role of the lilac fairy" Carson informed her. "What did you do?" Sophie questioned. "I told her that she couldn't scare me into anything" Carson told her. "But what are you going to do?" Sophie asked. "I'm going to do what I have to do, I'm going to give up the role of the lilac fairy" Carson replied. "You're really going to give this up? Are you sure you want to do that? You can't go back on it" Sophie said. "I know that! But I don't have any other choice" Carson stated. "Well you could have tried to be more careful! I mean that pretty careless of the both of you" advised Sophie. "I know that too, yet it's not going to change anything" said Carson. "Well I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if you ended this thing with Mr.Lars" Sophie replied. "Whoa! Who's side are you on here?" Carson exclaimed. "Of course I'm on your side! But this can not end well" Sophie reminded her. "According to you! You're just bitter because Brian cheated on you" snapped Carson. Now Carson had gone too far. "I don't need this, you can find someone else to keep your secrets" Sophie said. Sophie unlocked the bathroom door and started to walk out. "Sophie! Wait!" Carson yelled out. Sophie turned back, facing Carson. "You won't tell anyone, right?" Carson asked. "Sure thing, teacup" Sophie replied as she walked away.
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It was a couple hours later, classes had just ended. Sophie was making her way to her car when she suddenly realized she had forgotten her phone. She turned around and rushed to the sidewalk. She pulled open the door. "Mrs.Emma? You still here? It's Sophie". No one answered. She must be in the teacher's room looking for a costume or something Sophie thought. She continued to the student room. She looked in her cubby for her phone. It wasn't there. Then she remembered she had left it in the studio. She walked to the studio. She opened the door and popped her head in. It was empty. She glanced down at the foot of the mirrors and spotted her phone. She walked over to pick it up and suddenly all the lights went out. "Hello? Mrs.Emma?". She tried to feel her way around. She flipped open her phone trying to use it for light. Then someone ran past her and knocked it out of her hands. She screamed. She got down on the floor and started searching for her phone, and then the lights flashed on. She looked around the room, but didn't see anyone. Then her gaze became fixated on the mirror. On the mirror, in bold letters it said,"Can you keep a secret Sophie?". She ran to the back door, ran out the door and got in her car and drove away. Never looking back.
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