I sat by myself at lunch on Thursday; it was Dean's fault. He jinxed me with his All-couples-don't-have-a-happy-ending speech at the park on Sunday.

Tyler and Melaney glared at me from opposing corners of the cafeteria.

I stared out the windows at the pouring rain and debated which storm would be the safest, the one raging outside or the one inside. Lightning bolts lit up the cloudy sky, and seconds later, loud booms rattled the glass panes.

Glancing at Melaney's enraged expression, I seriously considered going outside and braving the elements. I'd never seen her so mad before. All because I'd asked her to cover for me during our Friday night sleep over while I snuck out to meet Tyler, for a few hours. She'd adamantly refused, and I might have called her "such a prude sometimes" under my breath. In my defense, she wasn't supposed to hear it. But like everything else about Melaney, her hearing was perfect.

I took my frustration out on Melaney because, for once in my life, I'd attempted to be honest with The Rents. Tyler wanted to take me out on Friday night, and I'd foolishly asked for their permission, but they still wouldn't allow me to date, unless it was a group activity with adults supervising. No amount of pleading or whining would change their minds. I even tried yelling and demanding, which I won't ever do again. Somehow I escaped from getting grounded. So much for honesty being the best policy.

I stole a peek in Tyler's direction. He looked more disappointed than angry. He'd wanted me to sit with him at lunch. I explained I'd have to be dead to sit at the same table as Mimi and her minions and suggested he sit at my table instead, but he insisted on bringing Todd who insisted on bringing Heather, which led back to the original dilemma of me having to be dead first.

I took a bite of my shiny red apple and immediately spit it out. It was rotten on the inside. Like me.

Melaney had always stood by my side, no matter what. She'd earned the right to say no to me occasionally. I'd reacted childishly to her refusal. I got up and threw all my food in the trash. Right now, I needed to eat crow not chicken.

I walked over to where Melaney and Emily sat at Shawn and Chad's table. Prepared to grovel, I stood beside Melaney,"I'm sorry."

"I know you are, but I'm still angry." Her bitter tone matched her sour expression. "We'll talk later, at the beginning of club period." She looked down at her tray as if she was disgusted by the sight of me.

I really couldn't blame her. I deserved her scorn. So I went back and sat at our table. Alone.

My stomach churned for the rest of lunch and during the next few classes before club period. I struggled to stay in my seat and not run to the bathroom and vomit. I made a big mess this time and didn't know if I could clean it up. I needed to tell Tyler that our date was canceled, unless we could devise another plan that didn't involve Melaney lying for me.

As soon as I walked in the school store, I located Tyler. "I can't go out with you on Friday. Melaney doesn't want to cover for me, and she shouldn't have to." Melaney entered the room. I spoke a bit louder, so she could hear me, "I decided to spend the night at Melaney's for our monthly sleep over, if I'm still invited." I turned to Melaney to ask, "Am I?"

Melaney hesitated before she replied, "I guess." Her tone seemed annoyed, but not as angry. She handed Tyler some papers. "Here's September's report for you to review and initial."

He skimmed the pages, wrote TJP at the tops, and returned them to her.

"Did you still want me to lead the club meeting?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, since I have to leave early. I have a meeting with Coach Chapel at three. Jasmine, we'll talk more at my house later?"

"Okay," I agreed, eagerly anticipating the half an hour before our Thursday night research session with his father. I hadn't been alone with Tyler since the charity ball. I wondered if his next kiss would be as knee buckling as the last one.

Unsurprisingly, I didn't hear a word of the FBLA monthly report, and I had to walk home, by myself, in the rain. Melaney and Emily had left school without waiting for me and got a ride from Shawn and Chad. Melaney must still be mad. She never abandoned me before.

I ran home, debating whether or not I should confront Tyler about his mother. Like Melaney, I didn't want to lie anymore, but most of my attempts at honesty had backfired. Would Tyler help me once he knew the truth?

Drenched to the skin, I entered the kitchen, hung my jacket on the coat tree to drip dry, and went to my room to change out of my wet clothes into dry jeans and a warm sweater. I opened my closet doors to find my favorite fluffy sweater and noticed my jewelry box on top of my sweaters and not in its normal hiding place under them.

I took the box off the shelf and opened the lid. The contents had been shuffled, and the articles about the car accident were on top. I was certain I had locked it. Only two people would dare to open my jewelry box without permission: Mother and Dean.

I raced downstairs to find my mother. She sat on the couch folding laundry while Hannah matched the socks for her.

"Did you wash any sweaters today?" I asked.

"No. I'm sorry. I didn't. There weren't any in your basket," she explained. "Do you need something washed?"

"Not really. Did you rearrange the clothes on my closet shelf?" I asked.

"No. Hannah and I were gone most of the day on errands."

I examined her expression for guilt and saw none.

If they weren't home, Dean could've sneaked in and picked open my jewelry box. He'd done it before.

I could tell Dean suspected I wasn't telling him the whole truth on Sunday, so he went searching for answers in my journal and found some in the newspaper articles, but he couldn't know for sure unless he saw my wish in the wish box. I had to remove it before he found it.

"Mom, can I please go to Melaney's house?"I begged, shamelessly. "We had a fight today, and I need to apologize to her. I feel awful about something I said. She's really mad at me."

"Okay, you can go to her house, but I will be calling Mrs. Miller to make sure you're there."

"Thanks, Mom." I ran to the kitchen and threw on my jacket.

I raced to Melaney's house in the pouring rain. My cold, wet jeans stuck to my legs and made me shiver.

Dean's motorcycle was parked in the driveway. Was I too late?

I opened the front door without knocking and rushed up the steps to Melaney's bedroom. Dean stood beside her, holding the wishing box in his hands.

"What are you doing?" I shouted.

"Looking for something," he casually replied.

I had to stop him. "You can't open that."

"Watch me." He started to open the lid.

I lunged for the box and batted it out of his hands. It fell to the floor with a clatter, and the wishes flew out. I tried to reach them before Dean, but he grabbed one first. From the triumphant expression on his face, I could tell that he had the one he was looking for. Mine. He unfolded it and read my secret.

I opened the one in my hand and saw Melaney's perfect handwriting: I wish Dean loved me and not Jasmine. Was this some kind of sick joke? I studied Melaney's face. Her cheeks turned red, and she would not look me in the eye. She inspected her shoes, probably wishing she could run away.

I glared at Dean. He stared back at me. His silver blue eyes held my gaze, steady, unblinking, challenging me. Did he know what Melaney wrote? I concluded that, yes, he did. He knew Melaney still loved him. But she thought he was in love with me?!

"Why didn't you tell me?" I willed Melaney to look up at me.

She did for a second. "Dean asked me not to."

"More secrets. I guess it's only fair. You have your secrets, and I have mine." I glared at Dean again. "You will keep mine?"

"No. I won't. Not unless you stop using Tyler. I thought you actually cared about him." He held up the slip of paper with my wish written on it. I wish Tyler would help me tell the whole world the truth about his mother.

"I do care for Tyler. I've loved him for as long as I can remember."

Dean shook his head. "You don't love him. You only want revenge."

"I want justice!" I stomped my foot and water from my jacket sprayed everywhere.

"If you really loved Tyler, you would forget about justice and start forgiving."

"I'm not like Melaney. I can't just forgive and forget the people who hurt me."

"You can. Tell Tyler goodbye, or ptell him the real reason you're so obsessed with him. If you don't, I will," he threatened.

"I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend, and I don't want to see you get hurt. You can't win a fight against the Price family."

"You sound just like my mother, always trying to protect me from myself. But I don't need your protection or your help anymore." I stood on my tiptoes and poked Dean in the chest with my fingertip. "Listen, little brother. If Tyler loves me, he will help me, and if you love me, you won't stand in my way."

Dean grabbed my hand and pressed it flat on his chest, keeping his hand on top of mine. I could feel his heart beating. "I do love you, Jasmine, but not as a brother." His blue eyes clouded over with gray. He had the same glazed look before he kissed me the first time. He bent his head to kiss me again.

A sob burst from Melaney, and she ran from the room.

I wrenched my hand out of Dean's grasp. "I remember your advice at the park, and you were right. I should choose Melaney over you."

I chased her down the steps and out the door. Luckily, the rain slowed down to a drizzle, because she didn't have a coat.

"Melaney, please stop. We need to talk," I shouted to her back.

She kept running down the sidewalk, splashing her feet in the puddles.

"You know I can outrun you. I'll tackle you if I have to."

She stopped and waited for me to catch up to her.

"What are you doing? Running away is my M.O. Yours is to forgive and forget."

She scowled at me. Her eyes brimmed with tears and anger.

"Please, Melaney," I pleaded. "I had no clue how Dean felt."

Her shoulders slumped. "He's in love with you."

I shook my head in denial. "Foster brothers should not be in love with their foster sisters."

"Heathcliffe loved Catherine," she stated as if novels were real and not fiction.

"I know my last name is Austine, but I'm not a big fan of Wuthering Heights."

"Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights."

"You think you're so smart," I teased.

"I am smart," she insisted, lifting her chin and flinging her damp hair back over her shoulders.

I grimaced, shaking my head again. "The whole idea of Dean being in love with me is insane and incestuous."

"He's not your blood brother."

"No. I could never prick my finger and touch someone else's blood." I pretended to shudder.

"Jasmine, be serious."

"Why? I'm not in love with Dean."

"You almost kissed him in my bedroom!"

"No. He almost kissed me. I'm in love with Tyler," I insisted.

"Dean said you wanted revenge. Revenge for what?"

"It's complicated. I don't really want revenge. Dean has no right to tell Tyler lies about me. If he does, I will hate him for the rest of my life."

She snorted. "Dean pushed you down a water slide and gave you a concussion. You still talked to him ten minutes later."

"He did that so I could meet Tyler."

"He would do anything to make you happy. Even set you up with another guy. He's not going to say anything to Tyler. He could never intentionally hurt you."

I frowned. "He sounded very determined to ruin my life earlier."

"He's bluffing," she tried to reassure me.

But I wasn't so sure. "Even if Dean is in love with me, it doesn't matter, because I'll never be in love with him. He needs to wise up and see that you're the one he should love, not me." I was a fool for thinking Melaney rejected Dean. "I'm sorry I called you a prude earlier. I would never do anything to hurt you on purpose. You know that, right?" I prayed she would forgive me.

"I know that." She gave me a slight smile.

I smiled back and asked earnestly, "Best friends forever?" I held out my hand.

She reached out, took my hand, and pulled me towards her for a quick hug. "Best friends for infinity!"

"I have to go meet Tyler. Can you stall our other best friend for a while?" I begged. "Give me time to talk to Tyler before he tries to interfere?"

"I'll try to knock some sense into him," she promised.

I laughed, imagining Melaney punching Dean. "I hope you can. I'll call you later if I'm allowed. I better run before I'm too late."

I waved goodbye and ran to my house to get the research for my term paper, praying that Melaney could keep Dean occupied while I decided what to tell Tyler. Would the truth really set me free? Or should I keep my secrets safely locked up in my box and throw away the key forever?

A/N: Video above is supposed to be Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns. I don't know why it's blocked.

"Every tear I've cried,

You hold in Your hands.

You've never left my side.

And though my heart is torn,

I will praise You in this storm."

Anyone have another song for this chapter?

Dean finally admits his feelings for Jasmine. Did you ever hide your feelings from someone you liked?Let me know in the comments.

Forever Remember to Live, Laugh, and LOVE! - 3L