Chapter 22 | Arabella's big secret

~Arabella's POV~

For the most part, the Valentines Day party was uneventful... that is, except for the couple of times more than one of our customers tried to sneak some extra snacks for themselves and Sakura bumping into me "accidentally" (or so she claims). Other than that, it was pretty normal.

Of course, our customers tried to look their best and several if not all of them flirted with the hosts shamelessly. Even my customers flirted with me a bit.

It didn't mean anything though, just harmless flirting. However, when Hikaru learned of this, he scolded me on how my "boyfriend", Kaoru, would feel if I were "seeing other men". When he said this, I rolled my eyes and sweetly told him to buzz off.

What really made me so annoyed that I wanted to choke myself though was when I witnessed Sakura flirting up a storm with Tamaki; she was twirling her hair around and around her finger and batting her eyelashes nonstop. To me it honestly looked like she had something stuck in her eye or something.

Tamaki didn't seem to notice her flirting, but if he did he completely ignored it.

Sakura even tried asking him out, but he seemed to have an excuse up and running because he said he was busy. He clearly WASN'T interested.

Sakura didn't seem to notice, and if she did she didn't CARE; she just kept flirting and giggling with him to the point where I had to turn away to avoid barfing.

Hikaru and Kaoru noticed this too and rolled their eyes. "Won't she just stop? Milord is clearly NOT interested in her." they said together.

I shrugged. After I turned away I had pretty much stopped paying attention to anything around me; I had decided to use my spare time to write in my diary. And, I made sure no one saw it.

I closed my diary and sighed. "She either doesn't notice or she notices and just doesn't CARE." I said.

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "What ever way you put it..."

"... it's still pretty pathetic." Kaoru finished.

I nodded. "Agreed."

Haruhi came over to where we were. "Hey, guys. How's it goin'?" she said.

"Alright. My customers are busy pigging out on the food and I guess Hikaru and Kaoru's customers gave them a break." I said.

Haruhi nodded. "Okay. I'm taking a break too. The real reason I came over here, though, was to get away from THAT." She pointed at Tamaki's hosting table where Sakura was still flirting with him.

This time I rolled my eyes. "She's still going at it? She doesn't know when to quit, does she?"

"Apparently NOT." Hikaru and Kaoru mumbled in agreement.

Haruhi rolled her eyes this time. "It's ridiculous; Sakura flirting with Tamaki... He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's not THAT STUPID; he probably sees right through her fakeness. Why doesn't she just stop?"

Hikaru and Kaoru smirked. "Oooh~! Sounds like someone's JEALOUS~!" they sang.

I chuckled.

Haruhi's cheeks tinted pink. "I-I'm NOT jealous... I'm just pointing out how annoying it is... That's all...!" she said.

I smiled at her. "It's okay to be jealous, Haruhi, it's natural. It's not like it's some new thing." I pointed out.

"Yeah, listen to Arabella! No one has more experience with being jealous than her! I mean, did you SEE her glaring at that one girl who tried flirting with Kaoru? Can somebody say jealous~?" Hikaru said with a smirk.

I probably blushed an embarrassing shade of red. "I am NOT jealous...!!! Quit implying I am!" I snapped.

"Yeah, Hikaru, QUIT IT." Kaoru snapped.

Hikaru put his hands up in defense. "Jeez... no need to get riled up... I'm just stating the truth..." he said innocently.

Kaoru and I glared at him.

"Hikaru, leave them alone. Quit bugging them for something they've repeated numerous times: they don't like each other that way." Haruhi said.

I sent her a grateful smile.

Suddenly, Tamaki approached us. "Hey, guys." he said as he sat down next to us.

"Break?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked.

"Yeah. I couldn't wait to get away from there! Sakura was driving me CRAZY." Tamaki said.

"Yeah, we saw." Haruhi said.

"Uh huh. Besides, who doesn't she drive crazy???" I said.

"Good point," Tamaki said. He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm just glad I was able to get away from her for at least a couple of minutes."

"That won't last long." Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"Don't remind me." Tamaki grumbled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank goodness that's finally over... I don't think I could take Sakura any longer..." Tamaki said as we cleaned up after the Valentines Day party had ended.

"I think the Valentines Day party was pretty fun. More fun than I expected." I said.

"I actually agree with that. We should hold events like this more often." Haruhi said.

"I'm considering us doing something on White Day." Kyoya said.

"Awesome, Kyo-chan! Hopefully that event will have more cakes than this one. I'm not saying this event wasn't super fun, but I think the cake ratio to other snack ratio was a bit low..." Honey said. I chuckled.

When we finished cleaning up, we packed up our things and got ready to go home.

I stuffed all my pencils and things into my book bag and looked around for the last item I needed to put in; my diary.

I went over to the table where I set it down.

But it wasn't there.

I frowned in confusion. I'm sure I didn't move it. And I'm positive I put it right here.

I looked in the seats of the table, all around the table, and under the table.

"Uh, guys?" I said, getting a bit worried.

The Host Club looked at me.

"Have any of you seen my diary? Maybe picked it up by accident?" I asked.

They all looked in their bags.

"It's not in ours." Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"It's not in mine either." Tamaki said.

"Ditto." Haruhi said.

"Sorry, Ara-chan, it's not in mine or Takashi's." Honey said. Mori nodded.

"It's not in mine." Kyoya said.

Oh no...

I began searching the entire room. "I've gotta find it... What if someone else picked up? I can't risk them looking through it and reading all my secrets...! I just CAN'T...!" I panicked.

The Host Club helped me search for my diary when I described what it looked like to them; a light green book with a cursive, light blue A stamped on the front. Unfortunately, it had no lock, so someone could get into it easily.

We searched the entire music room, but we never found it.

By now, I was freaking out. WHAT IF SOMEONE WAS READING IT RIGHT NOW?!?!?

"Arabella, are you sure you put it on this table?" Kyoya asked as he stood by the exact table I put it on.

I nodded. "Yes, I'm positive I did." I replied surely.

Tamaki's eyes widened. "Then that only means one thing... SOMEONE STOLE IT!" he said.

My eyes widened.

"Let's not jump to conclusions--" Kyoya started.

"No! Someone stole it!" Tamaki said.

"Why would someone steal my diary?" I asked.

"It's obvious; to get into it and read all the juicy secrets it has in it!" Hikaru and Kaoru said.

Now I was really panicking.

Who could've taken my diary???

There's no way I could risk all those secrets getting out; Mom and Daniel would FREAK OUT.

I grabbed my book bag and slung it over my shoulder. "You guys can stop looking now and go home, but I'm gonna stay here for awhile and keep looking. Thanks for you guys' help, I really appreciate it." I said before I walked out of Music Room 3 and into the hallway.

"Good luck, Ara-chan!" Honey called after me.

After I called my mom and told her I'd be staying after school for a bit because of "club activities", it took me awhile to realize I wasn't alone.

I turned to see Kaoru by my side.

"Kaoru? What are you still doing here?" I asked.

"I'm here to help you look. Hikaru went home without me." Kaoru explained.

"That's okay, Kaoru, you don't have to look with me." I said.

"No, I want to look with you," Kaoru said. "Plus, now we can spend time together without people constantly saying 'Oh, they're so cute together!!!' or something like that."

I turned away so he couldn't see me blush.

Kaoru then cleared his throat awkwardly. "So... if you don't mind me asking, what kind of secrets did you put in that diary?"

"Uh... Just, you know, secrets... secrets that I would rather KEEP SECRETS..." I said.

Kaoru nodded. "Oh, I get it. No one wants their secrets getting out, huh?" he said.

I nodded.

Kaoru clapped his hands together. "So! When should we start interrogating people?" he said as he looked around the hallway.

I giggled. "Woah, slow down, Captain Kaoru... We don't need to go that far... Not yet, anyway...," I said. "I just hope we find it before someone else had the chance to read it..."

Kaoru smiled and put one hand on my shoulder. "Relax. It's gonna be okay, we'll find it." he said reassuringly.

I smiled back. "I sure hope so."

"Don't worry, we will." Kaoru said.

So, Kaoru and I searched the entire school building, hoping to find my diary.

An hour later, we were just about to give up and go home, when suddenly...

"Well, look what we have here!"

Kaoru and I turned to see Sakura standing behind us along with her two friends.

"What do you want, Sakura? We're kinda busy right now." I said.

Sakura laughed. "Oh, I know you are!" she said before she took something out from behind her back. "You looking for this?"

My eyes widened as I realized that Sakura Yamaguchi was holding my diary in her hand.

Kaoru and I gasped.

"Where did you get that?" I demanded, although we all knew the answer.

"Where do you think? Music Room 3, of course! When I noticed you writing in it and I saw the A on the front, I immediately knew what it was. And, when you stupidly put it down and left completely alone on that table, I had my chance and I took it. Didn't I tell you that you should've followed my first warning or something would happen? Goodness, you people never learn..." Sakura said.

"Sakura, give it back. It's private and it's mine. You had no right to take it." I said.

Sakura laughed again. "You really think I'm just gonna give it to you? Ha! Fat chance! This is the bad thing I was talking about! And it's about to happen to you! You had your chance, and you blew it."

Kaoru glared at her menacingly before he took a step toward her. "Give it back, I'm NOT going to say it again." he said seriously.

"Aw~! That's cute! Arabella's little boy-toy is standing up for her~! Adorable!" Sakura said.

I frowned. "Boy-toy?" I repeated, utterly confused.

"I'm not her boy-toy or whatever the hell you just called me. And, what's that supposed to mean anyway?" Kaoru snapped at her.

"What? You didn't know? Oh my God! Then, let me tell you." Sakura said before she opened up my diary and flipped it to a random page.

Oh no... she must've READ IT already!!!

She's the WORST PERSON to have found my diary! I rather would have Hikaru find it!!!

Sakura cleared her throat before she began reading aloud. "'September 5th, 2015. I can't believe I'm being forced into some club! All I did was break some vase and somehow that got me a one-way ticket to hell? And don't get me started on the club's annoying club members! And how they keep practically forcing their friendship on me? Seriously, their only redeeming qualites are their looks. They're so annoying; I can't count how many times I've just wanted to tell all of them to buzz the hell off!' Shall I continue?"

Kaoru looked at me, he looked hurt.

I wanted to cry. "Kaoru, listen to me, that was a long time ago...! Way back in September! I don't feel that way anymore, I promise! I'm glad I have you guys! I wouldn't trade our friendship for anything in the world!" I said honestly.

Kaoru just looked down at his feet.

Sakura chuckled. "Oh, and that's not all!" Then she flipped backwards to another random page. "'December 30th, 2013. I can't take it anymore! This is probably the last entry I'll ever write in this diary. I just can't stay here anymore! I thought I was strong enough, but I'm not. Everyone would probably be better off without me anyway. Mom would have one less kid to worry about, and since I'm the one that always got punished, maybe Robert won't see any reason to punish Danny. Everyone will be safer with me gone. I wish I didn't have to do this, but I'm not strong enough to stay any longer. I wish things could've turned turned out better, but they didn't. It just goes to show you can't trust anyone. For the very last time, -Arabella Hashimoto' Oh, would you look at that! What an attention whore. It's not a big surprise, though! Wait until I have this published in the Ouran Academy school newspaper! I guarantee it'll be the talk of the week!" Sakura and her friends laughed together.

Tears slowly trailed down my cheeks.

My secret, the one I desperately tried to keep hidden, is out.

Kaoru slowly looked from Sakura to me. "Arabella, what's that supposed to mean?" he asked in a shaky voice.

I didn't answer him, I just looked away.

Kaoru gasped. "You didn't--did you? Oh my God... Arabella... did you...? Oh my God, say you didn't...!"

I couldn't find anything to say. It was too late, no going back now.

"She's just making that up! Right? Right?! God damn it, Arabella, tell me she's just making that up!!! TELL ME!" Kaoru shouted.

I stayed silent.

I looked up to see that Kaoru's eyes started welling over with tears. "I can't believe it..." he whispered.

I just cried harder.

Sakura chuckled. "Oh, let's make this even more fun, shall we?" she said before one of her friends opened up a closet door. Then, Sakura held up my diary. "A little birdy told me that someone isn't a big fan of dark, closed up spaces! Guess who~!"

I met Sakura's burning gaze. "Please... don't publish my secrets for the entire school to read... Please..." I begged.

"Hm... I would consider your plea... BUT, it would be much more satisfying to watch you suffer!" Sakura said before she snapped her fingers and her friends pushed me inside the closet.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Let her out!" Kaoru shouted.

Sakura glared at him. "Fine! I see how it is! I'll just send YOU in there too!" she said before she gave Kaoru a hard shove and sent him falling into the closet.

Then, Sakura snickered before she gripped the closet door. "Have fun in there, you two!" she said before she slammed the door closed.

I heard something being proped against it from the outside.

The second we were enclosed in the darkness, I immediately panicked.

I pounded on the door with my fists. "LET US OUT!!!" I shouted desperately.

No answer.

I began shaking. Then, I just completely lost it and curled up on the closet floor, letting the tears flow softly down my cheeks.

I suddenly felt someone's hands grip me, obviously Kaoru's. He pulled me up from the floor and sat me next to him. "Arabella! What's wrong???"

"I-I'm claustrophobic... Like, really badly..." I muttered as I freaked out.

Eventually, my eyes got adjusted to the darkness which made me able to see how closed up it really was.

"Arabella, look at me." Kaoru whispered.

I looked at him.

"Listen, everything is gonna be just fine. Now, I forgot my phone at home; how about you get yours out and call for help?" Kaoru said calmly.

"I can't. My phone died two hours ago." I mumbled.

Kaoru sighed. "Of course it did...," Then, he said, "I know what could possibly get your mind off of this."

"I-I'm listening..." I said.

"Tell me a story. Your story. I want to hear everything about your past. That is, if you feel comfortable telling me." Kaoru said.

My eyes widened before I stopped crying. I sniffed. "Y-You wanna know about my past...?" I whispered.

Kaoru nodded. "Yes. Everything. And I want to know if what Sakura said back there was true."

I looked away. "It was true, Kaoru. I'm sorry, but it was true..."

Kaoru's tears streamed down his cheeks. "Why? Why would you do that? What happened?" he muttered meekly.

I sighed and sniffed some more. "I'll tell you everything. You deserve to know. I should have told you earlier. So, now I'm going to make up for that."

Kaoru leaned in toward me, listening intently. "If you get too uncomfortable talking about it, feel free to stop. You don't have to tell me everything just because I want to know." he whispered.

"No. I want to tell you." I said, determined.

I took a deep breath; it's been a long time since I told anyone my story.

I sighed. "Okay, Kaoru, here it is," I said. "It all started right after my father died."

Then, I told him everything.