Guarding Secrets
()
About this ebook
Everyone has secrets in high school. But no one has a secret quite like Camila Hernandez's.
For as long as Camila can remember, her mother has been in prison. And Camila has tried to make sure no one finds out. She avoids all friendships. She keeps to herself. Because if people get too close to her, they might find out the truth. And once they know, they will see her only as a criminal's daughter.
Sure, some of Camila's classmates also have parents doing time. But her mother isn't any ordinary criminal. Her mother is on death row.
Patrick Jones
Patrick Jones lives in Minneapolis and is the author of many novels including the Support and Defend series. A former librarian, Jones received lifetime achievement awards from the American Library Association and the Catholic Library Association.
Read more from Patrick Jones
Calculus: 1001 Practice Problems For Dummies (+ Free Online Practice) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTeen Incarceration: From Cell Bars to Ankle Bracelets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cheated Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nailed Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Calculus: 1,001 Practice Problems For Dummies (+ Free Online Practice) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pass It Forward Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSide Control Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDrift: Nissan Skyline Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOutburst Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clicked Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDrift: Nissan Skyline Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTarget Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHead Kick Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDoing Right Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBarrier Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBridge Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Franchise Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreedom Flight Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Returning to Normal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaking Sides Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSlammed: Honda Civic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRaising Heaven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsControlled Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCollateral Damage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSlammed: Honda Civic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlways Faithful Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Guarding Secrets
Related ebooks
The Mage: Liminality, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFiesta of Fear Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAliens & Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fade to Black Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outside The Law Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFix Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Homebodies: Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Starlite Ballroom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMagnolia Run Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNight Stalker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSixteen Brides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Almost Dark: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Black Cane: The Dowager Diaries, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAurora: A Novella Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMildred & The Federal Holiday Abductor Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSing Me to Sleep Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDownstream: Claudia and the Science Club Book One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Lady of Variety Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDressed to Kill Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unbreakable Code Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of a Stranger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCatch Me: A Southern Belle Civil War Romance Short Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThat's Not What I Asked For Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLookaway, Lookaway: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Willow Spring Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHer Texas Ex Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Telling Lies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Treehouse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Redletter Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
YA Coming of Age For You
Ever the Hunted Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Missing of Clairdelune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Weight of Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poet X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Winter's Promise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Black Cake: by Charmaine Wilkerson - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Memory of Babel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Were Kings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5With the Fire on High Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Storm of Echoes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last of the Firedrakes: The Avalonia Chronicles, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Black Kids Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Miseducation of Cameron Post Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stolen Kingdom: An Aladdin Retelling: The Stolen Kingdom Series, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Real Name is Hanna Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autoboyography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radio Silence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inexplicable Logic of My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chaos of Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What If It's Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Things I'd Rather Do Than Die Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summary of Lord of the Flies: by William Golding - A Comprehensive Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWintersmith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hello Girls Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5American Street Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Rise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost and Found Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unplugged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Six Months to Live: The Dawn Rochelle Series, Book One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Guarding Secrets
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Guarding Secrets - Patrick Jones
years.
1
SEPTEMBER 18 / FRIDAY AFTERNOON / GARDENWALK MALL / ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA
Do you want to know a secret?
Someone was whispering behind Camila. She took her eyes off the row of long black dresses in front of her to dart a glance at the two girls behind her. She recognized both of them. She prayed they didn’t recognize her.
They were from her current school, juniors like her. Lisa Guevara or Herrera, and Angela, or Angelina, or something like that. Camila got the sense that they were both divas. Too much makeup, perfume, and attitude. They probably didn’t know Camila’s name, let alone her secret.
I heard Ricky likes ….
And with that, Camila tuned out the girls’ voices. Rattling on about stupid crushes, acting like each break-up and hook-up was a matter of life or death. If they only knew.
In the corner of the store, a young black security guard stared at Camila like she was a cockroach on a white rug. The watchful store clerks were giving her the same look.
She started shuffling through the marked-down dresses faster, until she found one in her size. She checked the tag: still pricey, even on discount. This was why she shopped so rarely, and almost never at the mall. Like all the relatives she’d lived with over the past decade, Camila’s aunt Maria worked hard but never had extra money to buy nice clothes.
Behind her, she heard one of the girls—Lisa—ask, Hey, don’t you go to Anaheim High?
Camila didn’t turn around, not even when the girl tapped her on the back, sending a shock through her system. You deaf or something?
Lisa demanded.
Camila pulled in a deep breath, tugged down on the long sleeves of her oversized black hoodie, and pivoted. Eyes down, she stared at the girls’ identical black four-inch heels.
I know you,
Lisa said. We’re in advisory together. Camila Hernandez, right?
A nod served as Camila’s only answer.
What’s the dress for?
asked the other girl. Camila didn’t respond. Instead she looked past the girls at the security guard.
Lisa snapped her gum. That’s way too boring for homecoming.
Camila fought an urge to laugh. Her, go to the school homecoming dance—right. This dress was for—well, it was for a homecoming of sorts, her mom’s after so many years away.
Without a word to the girls, Camila headed for a dressing room. Inside the stall, she ripped the price tag and sensor strip from the dress, then stuffed it under her hoodie.
A few minutes later she walked casually toward the store’s exit, past the two girls—who were still watching her—past the other customers, past the security guard. No alarm went off. No shouts followed her. If Lisa and what’s-her-face had guessed her game, they hadn’t bothered to tell the guard. At least not fast enough. In another moment Camila had blended into the crowd of passing shoppers.
As she made her way toward the mall exit near the bus stop, she couldn’t stop thinking about all the answers she could’ve given those girls. Did they want to know a secret? Well, Camila had one she’d kept most of her life, walking around with it like a sharp stone in her black high-tops.
She boarded the bus with the question still on her mind. What’s the dress for? Her answer was simple and sad. It was for her mother’s funeral.
2
SEPTEMBER 18 / FRIDAY EVENING / LINCOLN APARTMENTS / ANAHEIM
Where have you been?
Aunt Maria asked as soon as Camila walked in the door.
Out,
Camila muttered as she made her way toward her bedroom. The apartment was tiny. As she moved from relative to relative, it seemed her world got smaller.
Her aunt followed her. Out where?
Just at the mall.
She could’ve lied to her aunt, since not telling the truth ran in her