Secrets

Alicia giggled as she took Jared's hands in her own. "Your hands are so soft," she said, practically bubbling. "You don't look like someone whose hands would be so soft."

Jared sighed and pulled his hands away from Alicia and scratched the back of his head. He didn't like to talk about his hands. They were a weak point for him, so he tended to keep them in his pockets as much as possible. He was a big guy, both tall and powerful. A lot of people were intimidated by him, and he generally preferred it that way. His voice was low and rough to match his appearance. Most people didn't know what he did for a living, or even for a hobby, and he heard lots of rumors that he was a fighter of some kind, or some other rough and tumble thing. He never bothered correcting them.

Alicia pouted as Jared pulled his hands away. She was of a fairly average height and build, and very openly girly. She kept her light brown hair and curls, and was often seen bouncing around, excited about whatever new thing or rumor caught her ear. She wasn't shy of the kind of person she was, even though she was often teased about it. She loved to wear skirts and colorful tops, and her nails almost always had cute little polish designs on them. "You're my new friend," she stated, matter of factly. "And you're going to tell me why your hands are so soft."

Jared shoved his hands deep into his pockets and looked away from the girl. "Who says I'm your friend?" he asked, skirting the question.

"I do. And there's nothing you can do about it."

Jared stammered, taken aback by her statement. They had only just met, at least officially, and she was so brash. He wasn't used to that. A part of him wished she had just tried to stay out of his way like so many others had before her. "I just... I spend a lot of time with my hands in water, ok? It's not a big deal."

"If it wasn't a big deal," Alicia countered, "you wouldn't be hiding them. Why are they in water all the time?"

"If I tell you, you're just going to go around telling people," Jared said accusingly.

"How could you?" Alicia responded, clearly hurt. "I would never go and tell my friend's secrets. Just because I enjoy gossip doesn't mean I can't keep a secret when it's important."

"I'm pretty sure that's exactly what it means."

"I only spread gossip that I can't confirm as being true."

Jared stared at her. He couldn't deny that that would mean she could keep true secrets, but he wasn't sure that what she was saying was really any better. After a moment, he sighed and nodded. "Fine," he said. "I'll tell you. But you can't tell anyone, you understand?"

Alicia giggled and bounced up and down, nodding her head. "I promise, I swear!" she replied excitedly.

Jared sighed and slowly lifted his hands out of his pockets. "My mom's a silversmith," he explained. "I help her out. I really enjoy making the stones she places in her jewelry. So I spend most of my time outside of school and exercise shaping and polishing stones."

Alicia stared at him, wide eyed. He couldn't tell if she believed him or not. "That's so cool!" she exploded, making him jump back in surprise. "Can you show me?"