Keeping Secrets

Chapter Three

T h r e e:

F l o r e n c e:

"Hey, Florence?"

"Florence? Hellooo?" Kevin waved a hand in front of my face.

"What? Um, sorry." I snapped out of my daze and looked up from my screen to three pairs of confused eyes.

"Are you okay?" Charlotte asked, her brows knitting together with concern.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. What were you saying?" I replied, putting my phone away then. I knew ignoring Eric was the cowardly thing to do but I just didn't want to have to make up my mind yet. I felt like my head was all over the place but I knew a decision would have to be made sooner rather than later.

"We were just talking about that party on Saturday night." Charlotte replied.

"Oh." My mind was still somewhere else. Focus Florence. Focus please, I chanted.

"So will you come with me?" she asked.

"What about Emma and Kevin?" I wondered.

"I'm going to be busy." Emma replied, however I knew it was a lie. She could be outgoing and strike up a conversation with anyone in the entire world but I knew that this party was not her scene at all; she didn't like any of the people hosting it so she would definitely not go.

"I'd rather not." Kevin replied using a quite bitchy tone. He held his hand up and caused Emma to giggle from his sassy actions. I knew he wasn't fond of Eric or his friends either. Charlotte made a knowing face at me discreetly, silently begging me to say yes.

"Maybe." I finally decided. I didn't want to go but I would think about it because I knew Charlotte wanted to attend and wouldn't if she were to be the only one out of us four to be going.

"C'mon Florence, please." She begged.

"I don't know." I wondered what was holding me back. I never usually go to parties. That's because you're never invited to any, I thought. The idea of me having to pretend I didn't know Eric played on my mind, because he would definitely be there. I knew that for sure. He was the partying type and would not miss the opportunity.

Strangely enough, Charlotte left it there, dropped it altogether, and didn't talk about it all weekend. We ended up going home from the mall and then staying in Emma's house that night, this time for real.

I was having such a good time with everyone that I never got around to replying to Eric. I had only remembered his text message when I was on my way home from Emma's on Sunday morning and saw him jogging down the street in workout gear. Oh s**t, I thought, I really should've texted him back yesterday... hindsight was 20-20 after all.

It was still very early, maybe around seven and the sun had just risen. I left Charlotte, Kevin and Emma still sleeping because I really just felt like going home, I hadn't slept in my own bed all weekend. His tall frame and broad shoulders made me look just a little longer as I passed him in my car before turning into my small driveway and parking. He had reached the sidewalk outside my house by the time I shut my car door. He stopped to catch his breath before speaking.

"Hey." He waved and smiled, flashing his straight pearly whites at me.

"Hey." I said, grabbing my stuff from the passenger side and walked slowly towards my door but I stopped when I heard his voice again.

"Wait." He said, his dark brows knitted in confusion, like he didn't know what he was going to say. His green eyes looked me up and down. He seemed annoyed for a second but then quickly changed his expression again. "Did you get my text?" I was surprised that he asked me about it, I'm sure he found better plans for last night anyway so I tried my best not to feel bad.

"Oh, um, my phone was off I'm sorry." I lied. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Oh no, it's fine. It doesn't matter now." He looked hurt for a moment and quickly tried to hide it again.

"Well, I'll see you." I smiled at him and walked in my front door then. I felt slightly awkward around him, I hadn't felt like there was nothing to say to him since we first met. Usually the conversation flowed smoothly and we could just talk and talk for hours on end but something was different whether it was just me or it was him, it wasn't the same today. Would it be like that whenever I talked to him now because of what was on my mind? I tried to put off thinking about it for another while; it was all too much for my sleep-deprived brain to take. So I went back to bed and forgot all about my thoughts of Eric, at least just for a little while.

The week in school after the weekend ticked by slowly, I really thought it would never end. I usually don't mind school that much; I kept my head down, got on with it and got the good grades I wanted and deserved. Every time I saw Eric in the cafeteria or passed him by in the hall, it was the way it had always been, we ignored each other like we both did at the mall the other day. He texted me on Monday and Wednesday, both days I ignored his messages. I knew I was being a coward and I also knew I wouldn't like it very much if Eric had done the same to me. He never ignored my messages, but I just didn't want to have to deal with thinking about what we had going on between us. I wondered why it wasn't until now that I started to feel like this. It seemed so random, surprising, and without much explanation, only making me feel more confused. Was I making a big deal out of nothing? Was it just a phase? I hoped so anyway... All I wanted was to get back to normal with Eric, to feel normal again about it- well, whatever normal was for us.

By Thursday, I didn't want to admit to myself that I kind of missed him. I was making my way to the library for my free period when a hand covered my mouth and grabbed my waist, spinning me around and putting my back against the row of lockers that lined the empty halls. It took a while longer to sort out my stuff in my locker to bring with me to the library so everyone was already gone to class and the halls were empty. I opened my eyes to find Eric smiling crookedly at me.

"Hey." He spoke softly before kissing me passionately on the lips then trailing kisses down my neck before I pulled him in again and locked my lips on his. "God, I missed you." He smiled into the kiss and rested his forehead on mine. I tried not to act so surprised at his words. He spoke genuinely but he had never really said anything like that to me before. He was never very open about his feelings for so I began to feel he didn't have any. I tried to figure out if he was joking or not when he chuckled lightly at me, our lips still centimeters apart. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked. I felt the vibrations from his chest as he laughed and it made my stomach do a somersault.

"No reason." I lied, smiling back at him then. I played with his messy blonde hair but stopped as soon as he spoke again.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" he asked, I could see the confusion and concern in his eyes and even though I had forgotten all about how awkward our encounter during the weekend had been, I quickly remembered then and took a step back from him, needing some distance.

"I just, I've been thinking..." I trailed off, trying to find the words. He looked at me with hopeful eyes. "It's nothing really. I've just been busy." I knew I was chickening out but I wanted things to go back to normal with Eric, even just for a little while longer. So I decided I would hold off from talking to him about my concerns and being confused about us two.

"Great. I thought there might be something wrong there for a moment. Well then, want to come on a drive with me?"

"Shouldn't you be in class right now, we still have two periods left before school finishes up for the day?"

"Nah, you know me." He brushed it off, making me laugh, he was always skipping classes.

"Not all of us are skippers like you." I joked, causing a wide, boyish grin to fall onto his lips.

"C'mon Flo, just this once be a skipper with me."

"No, no, no." I squeezed my eyes shut and laughed, "I will not be a skipper with you." I shook my head.

"Flo, Flo. Look at me." I opened my eyes and blinked. He batted his eyelashes at me, "How could you say no to this face? Could you really do it?"

"Okay, let's go." I finally spoke. He took my hand and almost ran out the door with me, leading me to his car and opening the door for me on the passenger side of the car. "M'lady." He gestured and I hopped in, giggling at how much of a dork he could be sometimes. Once he closed my door he skipped around to his side and got in.

We drove around for a while and found an iHop a good bit away from our neighborhood. We had pancakes and chatted, Eric seemed to generally be in a good mood that day. Sometimes he could be reserved and sulky but now, he was happy as ever, smiling goofily, laughing and joking with me. He wasn't worrying about who would see us or what they would think, that's when I liked being around him the most, but I knew it wouldn't last for long. It made my stomach knot at the thought of it.

Soon, we would have to go back home and pretend we were strangers again.