Secrets in the Shadows (Secrets 2)

"Oh. What will we have to eat?"

"I don't know. Let's go look in the kitchen," I

said, and we headed out and to the house.

We entered through the rear and I took him

down the hallway, past my bedroom. The door was

opened, so I paused.

"That's where I sleep," I said, nodding at the

doorway.

He approached it and looked in, but he didn't go

in. He leaned over to peer into it.

"It's a nice-size room."

"We added some things since I came and will

be spending the next school year here. My aunt wants

me to think about doing something with the walls,

paint, wallpaper, making it brighter, happier." He nodded. "Be easy to paint it."

"Would you help me do that?"

His eyes widened. "Paint your bedroom?" "You just said it would be easy to do it, didn't

you?"

"Yeah, but . . . it's your bedroom."

"So? I can't have anyone else work on it? That's

stupid."

He looked in again, still keeping himself out of

the room, even leaning more awkwardly to look to the

right or left.

"You can go in if you want to and look around."

"Now, I've seen enough," he said. He looked a little

frightened.

"You think going into a girl's bedroom will

somehow corrupt you?"

He spun on me as if I had slapped him. "You