Hidden Deception: A Shelby Nichols Adventure Read online

  I arrived a good ten minutes early but decided to go in anyway. That would give me more time to do a thorough job and read everyone’s mind. Go me. I opened the outer main entrance doors to find the inner doors in front of me locked, with a sign pointing toward another door that opened into the office.

  Inside, a long counter with a built-in desk separated me from the rest of the office. Behind that, a door led into the faculty and principal’s offices. Glancing into the school, I found the entire office enclosed by a glass partition with only one door that led into the school hall. That door had a green release button beside it which allowed it to open.

  The woman sitting behind the counter greeted me with a smile. “Hello. What can we do for you?”

  “Hi, I’m Shelby Nichols. I’m here to eat lunch with Miguel… Manetto.” Crap. I didn’t know if Miguel went by Uncle Joey’s last name or not, and I sure as heck didn’t know what his other name was.

  She typed my name into her computer to verify the appointment and glanced back at me. “Yes. I have you listed here as Miguel’s cousin for eleven-thirty.” She picked up a clip-board holding a bunch of papers, and handed it to me. “I just need you to fill out these forms and sign the paper there at the bottom. After you’re done, I’ll need to see your ID, and then I’ll call Miguel to come to the office.”

  “Okay, thanks.” I glanced at the form, surprised to find a place for my name, address, phone number and the reason for the visit, along with the contact information of the person who set up the appointment. Good grief, this was worse than filling out a credit card application.

  “You can have a seat and bring it back when you’re done.” She pointed to a nice space to my right with a coffee table and leather wingback chairs. “There’s a coffee machine in the corner if you’d like to help yourself.”

  I nodded, then ambled over to a chair, knowing this would take a while. With everything they wanted, I was almost surprised they didn’t ask for my social security number. At least they had complimentary coffee, but where was the diet soda? I let out a sigh and began.

  Fifteen minutes later, I took the form back to the secretary and fished out my driver’s license. She took them both and made a photocopy of my license before handing it back. “It looks like everything’s in order. Put this lanyard with the visitor badge around your neck and keep it visible at all times.” She handed the visitor badge to me and then she continued. “Have a seat and I’ll send for Miguel. He should be here shortly.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  I took my seat and let out a breath, grateful that ordeal was over. With all the glass partitions, there was no way I could listen to anyone, but since there were no other adults in sight, it didn’t really matter. I decided that if I couldn’t get anything useful out of Miguel, I’d have to see about talking to one of his teachers on the sly, since I was almost certain they weren’t allowed to discuss their students with anyone other than the student’s parents.

  I kept my gaze on the hallway and watched for Miguel, silently counting the minutes. Suddenly, a shrill bell rang, causing me to jump a little. All at once, the hall filled with students exiting their classrooms.

  They all wore identical school uniforms and, with their loud talking and all the shouting they did, they seemed like most normal teenagers, if a little better dressed and coifed. This group didn’t seem to have any facial piercings, or tattoos and brightly colored hair, but they still fit the bill.

  A lone figure detached from the crowd and turned toward the office. His dark, wavy hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, but his brown eyes made him instantly recognizable as the boy I’d met nearly a year ago. Still, a lot had changed since I’d last seen him.

  Tall and lanky, he’d grown at least a foot, and his face had lost that rounded look, replaced with a shadow of dark facial hair. His strong jaw and prominent brow immediately brought Uncle Joey to mind, and I had no doubt that Miguel was his flesh and blood.

  Uncle Joey had said that Miguel had grown a few inches, but this was a lot more dramatic than that. He also seemed to have a nice set of muscles through his shoulders and arms. Whoa, when had that happened?

  Just then, he glanced toward the office and our gazes met. A shy smile curved his lips, and I sent him a little wave. He acknowledged me with a lift of his chin and pulled the door open. “Hey Shelby,” he said, his voice lower than I expected. “It’s nice to see you again. It’s been a while.”

  “You too. Wow, you’ve grown up. Uncle Joey said you’d grown an inch or two, but I didn’t expect such a change. You even look like him. He didn’t tell me that part.”

  Miguel smiled, pleased that I thought he looked like his father. But also a little disappointed that I hadn’t been to see him before now. He’d been taught that family was everything. As an only child, he’d wished for more of a connection to his American relatives, of which I seemed to be the only one.

  I had no idea. Guilt that I’d let him down without even knowing it washed over me. “I’m glad to be here,” I said, hoping to make it up to him. “Uncle Joey’s kept you all to himself, so it was nice of him to set this up so we could get to know each other better.”

  Miguel’s brow lifted with a cynical twist. He didn’t quite believe me, and he wondered what my real reason was for visiting him. Did his father put me up to it? He also didn’t relish the thought of taking me to the cafeteria to eat, but it wasn’t like he had much of a choice.

  “The cafeteria’s this way,” he said, holding the door open so I could pass through ahead of him. He stepped beside me and motioned down the hall. “It’s all the way at the end.”

  “Great.” I tried to think of something to say that would make him feel better about sharing his lunch time with me, then decided against it. He was right, neither one of us had much of a choice in the matter, so I might as well make good use of our time and start listening to his thoughts along with those of the other students.

  Hmm… why did that sound so wrong all of a sudden? I didn’t mind using my power for determining someone’s guilt, but this seemed like an invasion of privacy. Of course, if it helped Miguel, it was okay, right?

  He walked beside me with his head held high and no embarrassment that I could pick up, so that helped me feel better. The few students we passed hardly glanced my way, and most were so self-absorbed that they could have cared less about me and what I was doing there.

  We entered the cafeteria, and Miguel turned to me. “Uh… there’s four different stations. One in each corner with different food.” He pointed them out. “There’s American, Italian, Asian, and Mexican. And they all have vegetarian substitutes, if that’s what you like.”

  “Cool,” I said. “What’s good?”

  “It’s all pretty good. What do you want?” I picked up that he liked the Mexican food the best but would eat whatever.

  “I like Mexican, if that’s okay with you.”

  “Sure.” He shrugged. “Let’s get in line.”

  It wasn’t long before we made it through the line with our trays of food and looked for a place to sit. Miguel seemed content to let me lead the way, so I found a table close by and sat, not wanting to risk getting tripped and flinging food all over the place. Funny how being in this setting brought up that long-ago fear of making a fool of myself.

  It also brought back all the awkward times of hoping to find someone friendly to sit by, since all of my friends had second lunch, and I had first by myself. Wow! I hadn’t thought of that in years, yet here I was reliving those old high school anxieties.

  After we got settled and had eaten a few bites, it was time to talk. “So what’s your favorite class?” I asked him.

  He shrugged. “I like most subjects.” He was thinking that he’d had to work hard to cram everything in since he’d come to the states. They didn’t exactly teach the same things back home, and it was a real adjustment, but he’d managed. Of course after he met Haley, she’d helped him a lot, and she was the main reason he’d worked
so hard.

  I gathered that Haley held more of an interest to him than that of a friend, but I wasn’t real sure they were boyfriend, girlfriend. At least not yet. After what Miguel had been through, he had a hard time trusting people and letting anyone get too close.

  “Hey Mickey. Who’s your friend?”

  I glanced at the young man addressing us, who studied me with a sneer on his face that turned into a leering grin. He was thinking that I was too young to be his mom, and with my blond hair and blue eyes, I couldn’t be his sister, so who was I? Then it came to him… I must be Miguel’s stepmom. His grin widened just thinking that Miguel probably hated me.

  Miguel glanced at the boy and frowned. “She’s my cousin.” But he was thinking beat it you fat-head.

  “Nice to meet you,” the kid said, seemingly oblivious to Miguel’s dark gaze. “I’m one of Mickey’s best friends.” He glanced at Miguel, daring him to deny it.

  “And you are?” I asked, raising my brow.

  “Jayden, and this is Caleb.” He motioned to the kid standing behind him, who narrowed his eyes at Miguel in a threatening way, and clearly hated wasting his precious time talking to us. “Well, nice to meet you… cousin. See you around Mickey.”

  With a satisfied smirk, he moved toward a large table full of the popular crowd and sat down. I picked up that he hated Miguel, mostly because he was jealous that everyone liked him so much. Especially Haley. She’d dropped Jayden and most of their friends to be with ‘loser’ Miguel and his kind, humiliating him in front of everyone. Anger burned deep inside of him over it, just itching to get out.

  Maybe someday, he’d get the chance to beat the crap out of Miguel. Jayden was sure it would make him feel better, and with Caleb helping him, he couldn’t lose. Figuring out when it could ever happen was the problem. But he swore if the opportunity ever came up, he’d take it in a heartbeat.

  Whoa. Would he really do something like that?

  “Don’t worry about them, Shelby,” Miguel said, his concerned gaze catching mine. “Jayden’s just full of hot air.”

  “I don’t know. From here it looked like he wanted to hit you… or maybe beat you up.”

  Miguel laughed. “I’m sure he would, but he’ll never get the chance.”

  Before I could voice my doubt about that, a couple of girls and another boy came to our table.

  “Hey Miguel, do you mind if we join you?” This came from the cute mocha-skinned girl, whose friendly smile brought a brush of warmth from Miguel.

  “Sure,” he said, pleased that his friends weren’t afraid to join us with me there. “Hey everyone, this is my cousin, Shelby.”

  “Hi,” I said, while they sat down.

  As Miguel introduced them, I picked up that most of them thought it was a little strange that I’d come to school to see Miguel. Couldn’t I just see him at family gatherings, like most relatives? Then they thought I was pretty old to be his cousin. Most of their cousins were around their age, not old like me.

  In fact, I was probably old enough to be his mom, right? That came from the girl that sat next to Miguel. She had long red hair, pale skin with lots of freckles, and her name was Alexis. I sucked in my breath and tried not to be offended, mostly because I could tell that she had a huge crush on Miguel.

  “It’s so nice to meet all of you,” I said. “This is great. Now you can tell me all about Miguel, because, you know, he doesn’t like to talk much about himself. So what’s he involved in here at school? Does he play sports? Is he on a team?”

  “He’s a great soccer player,” the boy named Owen said. “He’s a star forward on the team.”

  “He’s also got a great voice,” Alexis said.

  The other girl, Lily, agreed. “Yeah, he’s got the lead in our school play. You should come and see it.”

  “Really? That’s awesome! What play is it?”

  “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Lily answered. “We’re all in the play, too. Along with Haley. She’s not here today, but she’s the narrator.”

  “I’d love to come. That’s one of my favorites!” I glanced at Miguel. Even though he smiled, panic chewed a hole in his stomach. He’d been keeping that part of his life a secret from his father. Mostly because he didn’t think Joey “The Knife” Manetto would approve.

  Singing was Miguel’s passion, and he was really good at it, but he knew he was supposed to take over the business, and he could never let his father down. Not after everything Uncle Joey had done for him and his mom.

  But when the opportunity came to try out for the play, he couldn’t pass it up. Mostly because it was probably the only time he’d ever get to do the one thing he loved, before his real life settled like a heavy burden over his shoulders.

  Chapter 3

  “So you’re Joseph?” I asked Miguel. At his reluctant nod I added, “That’s so awesome. What about the rest of you? What parts do you play?” As they filled me in, it was easy to get caught up in their excitement and enthusiasm.

  “Our director actually worked on Broadway before coming here, so everything he does is really cool,” Lily said. “He’s pulling out all the stops to make our play just like the professionals.” She glanced at the others. “Isn’t he inviting some of his friends from New York to come and see it?”

  “Yeah,” Alexis agreed. “But I think it’s mostly to see Miguel. He’s amazing… just like Joseph should be. You know, in the play.” Her thoughts went to the last practice. With Miguel’s hair unbound, and without his shirt on, showing his great muscles, his presence took over the stage. Just like a rock star. Then when he sang… she sighed. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen or heard.

  “That’s not true,” Miguel said, jumping in. “Everyone in the cast is great. Mr. Sanderson just wants his friends to come and see what he’s done with a bunch of high school amateurs. He probably wants to show off, since everyone in the play’s so good because of him.”

  The others nodded in agreement, but inside they all knew it was because of Miguel, and not them. He was the star, and the reason Mr. Sanderson had gotten involved in the first place… but whatever.

  “Then I’d better get my tickets today. When is it?”

  “This weekend,” Lily answered. “Our last two dress rehearsals are tonight and tomorrow, then the first show is Thursday night. The next two shows are Friday and Saturday, with an encore performance the following Monday.”

  “I think Thursday night is sold out,” Owen added. “But it’s more like a dress rehearsal anyway. Saturday’s when the people from New York are coming.”

  “Okay. I’ll see if I can the get tickets for Saturday.”

  Miguel lowered his head and took a deep breath. This was not supposed to be happening. No way did he want his dad to know anything about it, and now here I was, ready to buy tickets and spill the beans. He had to figure out a way to make me promise not to say anything. His dad couldn’t know anything about it. He’d be so disappointed.

  At that moment, the bell rang, and everyone hurried to finish up and clear out of there. “I’ll walk you out,” Miguel said to me, knowing that was his best chance to tell me what he wanted.

  “Okay.” I turned to his friends. “It was great to meet all of you. I can’t wait to see you all on stage.”

  They murmured their thanks and hustled off while I took care of my tray and gathered my things. I followed Miguel out the doors and down the long hallway. He took his time, trying to figure out what he could say to convince me to keep this whole thing a secret, and I knew he’d be disappointed to find out that I couldn’t do it.

  “Uh… you might think this is crazy,” he began. “But I haven’t told my father about the play yet because I want to… uh… surprise him. I’ve already got the tickets for him and Jackie, but Jackie thought it would be a fun surprise, so don’t say anything about this to him, okay?”

  He was lying through his teeth. Jackie had no idea, and neither did anyone else, but he figured it was the only way
he could make me keep my mouth shut.

  “Does your mom know?”

  “Uh… of course. She’s bringing Jack with her on Saturday. That’s why I’ve got tickets for Jackie and my dad on Monday. It wouldn’t be good for them to run into each other.” He was lying again. He hadn’t told his mom either, mostly because he didn’t want her to tell his father and ruin everything.

  My heart broke a little. This was just so sad, and so wrong that Miguel was the star of the show, and he didn’t want his parents to know. I could understand his reasoning, but I didn’t think Uncle Joey would be that upset. If I were him, I’d be proud to have a son like Miguel.

  On the other hand, I knew how much Uncle Joey looked forward to bringing Miguel into the business. If Miguel was as good as it sounded, this might change everything. Still, I didn’t think it should be kept from Uncle Joey, just so Miguel could fulfill his familial duty.

  “So will you do it?” Miguel asked. “Can I count on you to keep it a secret?” If I couldn’t do that, he might have to quit the play, and he sure didn’t want to do that. But he would if it meant choosing between it and his father. He owed him too much to do anything less.

  I caught his earnest gaze, knowing I had to lie. If I told the truth, I’d risk the chance that he’d drop out of the play all together. Which would be a tragedy indeed. “Sure.” I shrugged. “Is it okay if I get my tickets now for Saturday?”

  “Yeah, that’s great.” The tension left his shoulders, and his happy smile kind of melted my heart. It also sent of spike of guilt through my chest.

  “Well, then, I’ll see you Saturday.”

  We reached the office door and I pushed it open, then sent a wave goodbye. Through the glass, I watched Miguel walk away with a spring to his step and shook my head. What was I going to do now? With a sigh, I hurried to the counter where the secretary greeted me.