Summer of Secrets by Cathy Cole

know?
    She slammed her laptop shut and rested her head on her desk. If Mac had wanted to pique her curiosity, he had succeeded. She hated him for it. Why had she emailed him at all?
    The harder she tried not to think about Ruth, the more memories of her sister came pouring into her mind. Messing around at bathtime. Swingball in the garden. Holidays by the sea. Rhi couldn’t prevent the images swirling through her mind. Ruth, smiling that maddening smile of hers, laughing and teasing and challenging.
    â€œDon’t swing too high!”
    â€œI’ll swing as high as I like.”
    â€œMum will get mad!”
    â€œI don’t care. I’m flying, Rhi. Fly with me.”
    Rhi could feel a smile creeping across her face as she remembered Ruth flying on that swing. It felt strange to smile, but nice too.
    She picked up her guitar and brushed the strings with her fingers. She needed to channel this emotion that she was feeling because it was the first good feeling she’d had in a while. There was no guilt, no terrible sadness. Hesitantly, she plucked out a little tune, hoping that it wouldn’t vanish into thin air like her morning’s attempt at music-making.
    â€œFly with me,” she began. “To the blue air beyond … I’m not far, I’m so near, I can see you so clear; you are safe, you are free, fly with me…”
    Her fingers steadied on the strings as the music coursed through her. It felt as if Ruth was with her, encouraging her. Making her feel safe, just as the words and the music made her feel safe. She grabbed a pencil, scrawling the lyrics on the first piece of paper she could reach. Fly with me… She wanted to fly, she wanted it so badly… Ruth wouldn’t let her fall.
    â€œStay with me, in a world full of light … keep the darkness at bay and take flight, I’m not far, I’m so near, I can see you so clear, as I hold out my arms, just to keep you from harm as you fly … fly with me…”
    She rested her forehead on the neck of her guitar as the last chords died away. She felt better, as if Ruth was there with her again.

TEN
    Rhi sat very still and watched the clock on the wall as it ticked endlessly towards midday. Heads were bent over desks all around her, the sound of scribbling pens filling the classroom. She stared at the page and a half of writing that she had put down on the paper in front of her. It wasn’t enough. Her mother was right: she hadn’t studied properly.
    I don’t need to wait for the result , she thought. I know I’ve failed. But she couldn’t seem to make herself care.
    After the exam, Rhi stayed quiet as her friends gathered in a relieved circle outside the hall.
    â€œThat was a shocker,” Lila declared. “Even with all the work I put in with Josh, there’s no way I’ve passed that.”
    Eve smirked. “Something tells me there was more kissing than revision with you two,” she said.
    â€œWe did revise,” Lila insisted, half laughing. “But OK – there was kissing too.”
    â€œDon’t be so hard on yourself,” said Polly encouragingly. “You probably did better than you think.”
    â€œI can’t believe it’s only Monday,” Eve sighed. “We have four more days of this.”
    â€œAnyone want to come back to mine for a study session?” Polly offered. “Mum’s back late tonight so we’ll have the house to ourselves. I always revise better in company. Everyone has their notes for tomorrow’s exams, right?”
    It wasn’t far to Polly’s. Feeling relieved that she wouldn’t have to go home yet, Rhi was happy to let Lila drag her out into the sunshine, and let the others chatter as she walked beside them. She wasn’t in the mood for conversation.
    â€œYou’re very quiet,” Lila remarked as they turned into Polly’s road. “Did your exam go OK?”
    â€œI