Keeping Secrets

O n e: F l o r e n c e: I turned over and opened my eyes slowly. Panic shot through me the second I saw the deep blue tones and dark wood, I realized that I wasn't in my own room, but in Eric's instead. Oh god, I was really supposed to leave last night, I thought. I must have drifted off to sleep without even noticing. I had broke one of the number one rules yet again. Eric and I have been hooking up in secret for the past couple of months now. In the beginning I was really disappointed that he never wanted an actual relationship with me but after a while, I came to accept it and decided to jump right in. I liked us the way we are now, although some aspects could be altered... like maybe not having rules about leaving before falling asleep afterwards. Eric had commitment issues, I could tell this from the very start. And although I had never actually said this directly to him, it was something I was very sure of. His parents divorced about two years ago and he kind of hated them for a while afterward because of it. He would sometimes open up to me about how his feelings from the divorce and I would help him out as best a shoulder to cry on could. I understood him and I came to know not only the cocky, overconfident side of him, but also the more affectionate and softer side- when and only when we were alone, of course. We only spent time together alone after all, never in public. Even my closest of friends didn't know what we were both doing. The same went for Eric's friends too. Eric was the outgoing and arrogant popular kid that everyone knew- at school, in the neighborhood, hell- even in the surrounding towns to us. While I , on the other hand, was the quiet wallflower a grade below him. We were complete opposites. But for some reason, I really don't know why, Eric and I began talking and secretly hanging out. I wouldn't say he was a playboy, but he was no angel either. Most of the girls in school wanted a piece of him but I didn't see what the big deal was. Sure, he was good-looking and confident but I would never pine over him like others had done. I was a pretty chill girl, if you asked me. Maybe that was what drew him to me, miraculously, maybe it was because he wanted something different? I often wondered what it was about me that made him so intrigued, however I would never ask him that, for fear of what the real answer might be. "Shit." I muttered as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I tried desperately to get out of Eric's tight grip he had on my waist. I really should not have stayed last night. I liked sleeping over and waking up with him there next to me. I liked how he would look bare, his hair a mess and his eyes filled with sleep, but I knew that he didn't want to wake up beside me and that was what always made me follow the rule- well with the odd exceptions like this morning. He didn't feel the same way and I needed to understand that although whenever I felt I had come to terms with this fact, my heart would lurch and I'd begin to feel disappointment again just like I had at the beginning of our fling. I think he might be a bit weirded out by finding me here beside him this morning. But actually, now that I thought about it, maybe he wouldn't find it that weird anymore. In the beginning we made it clear that we would never stay the night or cross boundaries the other did not want to be crossed but gradually we became more lenient with the rules we had made. I slapped his face gently in an attempt to make him open his eyes and wake up. "What?" His voice was groggy, his tone full of sleep. I noticed its huskiness and his funny bed head. I tried to conceal my smile. His dirty blonde hair was sticking out in all directions and he only had one eye open. He released his arms from around me and turned on his side so our fronts were facing. His head was propped up on one arm as he grinned widely at me now. "Where are you going so early?" I glanced at the digital alarm clock that was always on his bedside table, it read 09.36am. I furrowed my brows at him, why isn't he acting kind of freaked out by now that I stayed last night? If I knew he would react like that I would've stayed for longer and got more sleep in, but I was awake and alert now and there was no going back. He yawned and stretched his arms out as I sat at the edge of his bed and put my jeans on. He grabbed me from behind and playfully pinned me to the bed. "Answer me now Flo." He joked as he tried to plant kisses on my neck and lips. I scrunched my face up in mock disgust and moved it away from his tactfully, avoiding him every time he moved closer to my face. "Ew, you weirdo. Get off of me." I squealed. "You weren't saying that last night." He winked at me, continuing to go in for yet another kiss until we both burst into laughter. "Eric, your friends are downstairs!" Eric's mom knocked on the door and made our laughter stop abruptly. He put his hand over my mouth and glanced at the door. We both looked at each other in silence, our eyes slightly widened. Then we briskly jumped up and began to get dressed at the same time, running around the room like a pair of crazy people. "I completely forgot." He muttered under his breath as he threw on any old shirt he set his eyes on first lying around his room. "Tell them I'll be down in a second mom. Please..." He called out, never stopping what he was doing once. "Forgot what?" I whisper-yelled, trying to find my shoes and socks. I have to say, I was kind of freaking out right then. My heart was racing at the thought of getting caught by his friends, but why? Wasn't he the one that was adamant they not find out and not me? So why was I panicking too? Like I said, I was a pretty chill girl but not right now...If Eric's friends found out what we were doing, I didn't know what would happen between us. "We planned to go suit shopping today with Mick." He replied quickly. Oh there they are, I thought to myself as I picked up my socks from under his bed. "But prom isn't for another couple of months Eric? It's only January." I laughed but inside I was freaking out. I only had a few more months left with him until he left for college. He had told me about his plans to move out of our small town right after school finished to go to school in Farebrooke, which was only a few minutes' drive away from where I lived now. I didn't want to think about us separating, even if we weren't really an actual couple. Because I knew as soon as he left for college, I would be kicked to the curb and forgotten. There were too many college girls out there for Eric to even think about keeping me close. I didn't even pretend to myself that there was a chance of us keeping this... whatever we had going once he left for college. "You know how Mick is Flo." He called from his en suite before he began brushing his teeth. Actually, I didn't really know how Mick was; I never talked to him before in my life. I didn't know much about him, I only had an idea of what he was like because of how people talked about him in my grade. Along with that, I only knew as much as Eric had told me about him too- which wasn't a lot. He was even more cocky and arrogant than Eric, which was hard to believe but true, or so I've been told. He always had to look the best; an example of this was going out suit shopping in mid-January for a prom that wasn't until the end of May. It was kind of funny actually. Mick was always serious about how he looked but never serious about anything that was actually important. I heard he was failing almost every class this year but I wasn't sure whether that could really be true or not. "Could you hand me over my watch please?" Eric asked from across the room. I was so lost in my thoughts I hadn't noticed he was finished in the bathroom and was ready to go. "Here." I grabbed it from the desk and threw it to him. I tied my shoe lace and stood up, looking at him with a slight smile on my face. His hazel eyes skimmed over my body as he pursed his lips together before smirking at me. We stood silently at opposite sides of the room, sharing a moment together before he said we should probably go. He snuck me down the stairs and past the living-room where we could hear his friends. Once we made it to the backdoor at the end of the kitchen we both sighed with relief. "I'll see you later." He whispered and kissed me quickly. We both heard footsteps and the sound of his friends calling him from the hallway. A look of panic appeared on his face before he opened the door and practically pushed me out saying a short "bye" and closed the door in my face. I sighed quietly and heard Eric's voice from inside. "I was just feeding the cat." He said. "But you don't have a cat Eric?" his friend laughed at him. I stifled a giggle at Eric's panicked voice; he could be so dumb sometimes. On my walk to my house that was only a few blocks away, the morning sun beamed down on my back. It was a bright Saturday morning. Our neighborhood was kind of like one of those white picket fenced ones you seen on TV. There were always those gossiping housewives, children out playing on the street and business men husbands. I reached my pastel yellow house, it was a lot smaller than Eric's but it was still nice and quaint. His Mom and Dad were both big-shot lawyers while my father owned the small hardware store in town. We lived a comfortable life and I always had a good relationship with my father. This was probably because it's always just been just the two of us. I unlocked my door and was surprised to see my Dad sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast and reading the paper. The radio was on low and as soon as I shut the door, my father looked up from his scrambled eggs and the sports section of the paper at me. I knew by his expression I was in trouble. "Florence, glad to see you've finally arrived home. Take a seat." He glanced at me again then back down at his paper, continuing to read the paper. I tried not to laugh at his attempt to be stern. I pulled out a chair across from him and sat down. "Yes father." I joked. "How was Emma's?" he asked. Nothing unusual Florence, he's just asking you about your sleepover you said you were having at your friends house except you really didn't stay there and you lied to him, I thought. Although I hated lying to my dad I really couldn't tell him I stayed at Eric's could I? Sure he wasn't strict about boyfriends but how could I ever explain to him the situation between us? I wouldn't know where to begin. "Good." I stated, trying to avoid eye contact. His eyes were burning holes into my forehead as I waited for him to reply. "How is Emma? Did you enjoy your night?" he smiled at me, making me think he actually believed me. "She's um, fine dad. Her mother was asking for you." I tried to distract myself by getting up and cleaning around the kitchen but he turned around in his chair to look at me. "Oh I know." His grin began to get wider and wider as he spoke. "Emma told me last night when her and Kevin knocked over to ask you to go to the movies with them." I stopped what I was doing, my eyes widening. "They said they hadn't hung out with you in a while but I told Emma you were staying at her house, staying the night just like you told me. It's actually funny though, how they really didn't have any clue what I was talking about." I was caught out now. The situation would actually be quite funny, if you weren't me. I covered my face with my hands to hide my embarrassment; I knew now, he had an idea of where I was. "Where were you Florence?" He said, a little more serious than he had been throughout this conversation. I knew I was going to have to lie again to him. "I was out." I said , trying to buy myself some time to think of something. "Where?" "I can't tell you." "Why not?" "It's complicated dad." I groaned loudly. "I went out on a date." I blurted out. Whoa Florence, where did that come from? I thought to myself. I looked atthe ground, I felt a bit guilty for lying again to him. "A date huh?" he gave me a quizzical look. "That still doesn't explain where you stayed last night?" he raised an eyebrow at me. "I stayed in Charlotte's afterward. I didn't want to tell anyone yet because its only early stages. Nothing serious you know?" I tried to play it cool. Now I needed to ask my other friend, Charlotte to back me up if I ever needed it about this. "I'm sorry Dad." This was something I really meant, I hated lying to him. "It's okay hunny, just don't let it happen again." his expression softened now. "I wont." I tried to fake a smile for him. My guess was that he was still suspicious but he didn't question me anymore. I'd have to deal with my lie about my made up date later. Now, I had to get ready for whatever crazy plans my friends would make for us today, note the sarcasm. I walked upstairs to my room and as soon as I closed my door I jumped on my bed and turned my phone on again, it had been off since last night. I rolled my eyes as all of my missed calls and messages came through from Kevin and Emma. How was I going to get myself out of this hole? My two best friends could be so nosey and demanding sometimes, always looking for gossip and "scandalous" news. Emma: Where were you last night? We're both dying to know, you better spill;):) Sometimes this secret thing was more hassle than it was worth, I hated keeping things from my friends. What was I supposed to do now? I really needed to talk to Eric about all of this.