Everyone has secrets. Something no one else needs to know. Something that is just theirs. My name is Adele, and this is where my story begins. It was a fall day in September. The air smelled of fallen leaves and fresh grass. I was on my way to school like I would do on any ordinary Monday morning. My boots scuffed the sidewalk as I pulled my jacket around me to keep warm. It was only mid September and it was already starting to feel like winter. Suddenly a sharp pain erupted in my temple. I screamed as I fell down to the sidewalk, clutching my head. It felt like I was lying on the damp sidewalk for hours until I felt hands hoist me up onto a gurney. Everything around me was fuzzy, I heard people trying to talk to me but my mouth wouldn’t open to respond. Black dots danced in front of my eyes as I tried to stay awake, but eventually it was too much and I drifted into darkness.

I awoke to a dull pain in my temple. I took in my surroundings. I was lying on white sheets with a paper nightgown on. An IV hooked me up to a machine that read my heart beat. I was in a hospital.
“Adele!”
Arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a hug. My mom.
“Mom,” I said, my voice as scratchy as sand paper.
Her arms tightened around me as she used one hand to stroke my hair. “We were so worried,” she said, with tears streaming down her face.
Finally she let go of me and sat in a chair by my bed.
“What happened?” I asked.
She shook her head before meeting my eyes. “The doctors looked in your head to see if there was anything we’ve never noticed, but nothing, there’s nothing wrong.” Her lips were pressed in a straight line as she looked ahead.
“So when can I go home?” I asked changing the subject.
She looked shocked at this question. “You can’t come home, not yet, and you’re not fully recovered yet.”
I was about to answer when a nurse in blue scrubs came into my room and turned towards my mom.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but you have to leave, your visiting time is up,” she said.
“But she’s my daughter,” my mom protested.
The nurse shook her head. “Doctors orders, not mine.”
Mom sighed and turned towards me. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
That was the last thing she said before heading out the door.

The days slowly passed with no visits from my mom. I didn’t know if she was intentionally not coming, or if she still wasn’t allowed in the room. Doctors and nurses occasionally came in to check on me or bring me food, which was usually soup or pudding. On the fourth day of no visit from my mom, a nurse came in with a tray balanced on one hand. She set the tray down on my bedside table but not before she said something.
“Have to hurry and get home.”
I raised my eyebrows and looked at her. “Did you say something?”
She looked at me strangely and shook her head, before hurrying out of the room, leaving me more confused than I was.

The next day I was propped up in bed and watching TV when the door opened and my mom walked in. I smiled and turned off the TV, turning towards my mom.
“Where have you been?” I asked while hugging her.
She wiped a piece of my hair off my forehead and smiled. “I tried to come, I really did. But they just wouldn’t let me in until now.”
“But why?” I asked confused.
Ignoring my question, she got up and started pacing the room. Finally she turned and looked at me. “The doctors have decided to let you come home,” she announced.
A grin stretched across my face, but faded when I saw my mom frowning. “You don’t want me to come home?” I asked, hurt evident in my voice.
My mom shakes her head but doesn’t answer.
“She’s a freak, this is not my daughter.”
I look at my mom, hurt crossing my face. She turns to me one last time.
“I don’t need you in my house,” she spats, and then leaves.

My dad is contacted and comes to take me to his house. He seems anxious to tell me something as he bounces his knee on the car ride to his house.
“Dad, what is it?” I ask.
He looks at me with sympathy and pity, like he knows something that I don’t.
Shaking his head he turns his back on me. “It’s nothing.”
The car pulls into the driveway. Without waiting for the car to stop fully, I jump out and run to my room. I usually only come to my dad’s house on weekends so my room is fairly bare. I set my duffle bag of belongings on the floor and fall onto my bed. What’s wrong with me? My mom throws me out and my dad acts like he barley knows me. Everything adds up. The pain in the head, hearing things that no one else says. I can read peoples minds.

On the next day I don’t hesitate about going to school. I can’t stand my dads looks of pity and disappointment. I stand in front of my mirror and flatten down my frizzy brown hair. I have decided not to tell anyone, no need to make people hate me any more. Besides, mind reading, who would believe that? I bound down the steps and grab my backpack, which I brought from my mom’s house. My dad stands at the counter with his head in his hands, looking more frustrated than I have ever seen him.
“How can I tell her?”
Dad’s thoughts floated around my head.
“No one can know.”
He noticed me looking at him and frowned. He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something.
“I already know,” I interrupted.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “And you don’t care?”
I shake my head. “I do, but I guess I will just have to adjust.”
Everyone has secrets.
Something nobody needs to know.
Some secrets can’t be hidden forever.