The Secrets We Keep

Chapter 4

Erika

It had been a week since we found those abandoned buildings and we actually started fitting in pretty well. I had been making it to cheer regularly and even managed to convince my sister to try it out. Danny and Sylvie were friendly enough with Alana but I still worried about her being too close to them. They didn't seem like bad people, but I was a very over-protective sister and Alana was always gullible. Both of them had older brothers that were in line for some type of family business. Which was impressive, of course, but their whole reason for sharing that info was just to make the point that they came from a family with money.

I was learning how to let things roll off my shoulders and move on with life, but for some reason, as much as I was over the fight with my dad, I was still bugged by what he said after our fight with Uriah. I didn't understand why he'd started to be harder on us than normal. Not that he had ever been soft on us. I was brought out of thought by Danny waving in my face.

"Hello! Earth to Ricky!" I blinked and rolled my eyes at her. Alana managed to spill the stupid nickname that I hated so much, but everyone else seemed to love it.

"Sorry, daydreaming I guess ha." I tried to shake myself back to reality.

"Okay, what is going on? You've been totally not focused..... on anything. Are you OK?"

"Yeah ha, still trying to adjust, I guess." I said, unsure if she heard my lie come through in my voice.

"Ricky!" I heard my coach call me to place me for our tumble sequence run through. "I need you to go all out for this, okay?"

I nodded and waited for us to start. I stood keeping count until I was up. I was up and went all out for my pass. I went straight into a front tuck, round off, double back handspring into a double full for a solid landing.

Alana looked at me and smirked.

"Show off." She said as I went to my spot next to her on the mats.

"Show me up then." I told her, knowing she would try. And without a second to spare, my little sister tried her hardest to throw the exact same tumble pass as me, but it came out short, a back handspring, and a rotation on her full. I looked at her and couldn't help but smile at her short coming.

"I let you win." She said in a bitter tone.

"Sure you did sissy." I said as I patted her on the shoulder. I walked over to my coach to hear what she had to say this time. My pass was flawless in my opinion. And I expected praise for it, of course.

"So?" I asked her

"So, you were half a count late and your second rotation was slow, you almost didn't make it to stick your landing."

"My landing was solid!" I got defensive over the last part.

"No, your transitions were solid but your rotation and landing weren't."

I huffed as I walked away. Alana, Sylvie and Danny trailed after me.

"Ricky come on! Stop getting so mad over this. You can't be the best at everything you do." Alana scolded.

"Yeah girl chill, it's one thing you don't kick ass at 100%." Danny said happily. I guess they're right. Sylvie just smiled in support of their words.

"Come on, practice is over. Let's go eat. We have a guest who has been wanting a day to hit the town, and what better way than going with us and our girls for a fun night out?" Danny's excitement rolled off her. She couldn't contain it.

"Fine, who is your guest dork?" I was curious.

"Well, he isn't from here, but his dad does business with daddy. He is 19 and is the most beautiful gift on this earth." She sounded like she was going to melt as she reached for her bag.

"Ew Danny put the sick love puppy eyes away. I thought your dad didn't like you to hang out with the losers of school?" I said sarcastically.

She snapped her head at me, "umm excuse me b***h! I don't always listen to my father."

We all started laughing at her trying to be tough. She was the biggest daddy's girl I've ever met. We walked out of the locker room and made our way to the next class. I had Spanish today and AP chemistry. I liked to keep to myself for the most part, so Spanish was a breeze to get by in. Chemistry was my favorite subject, so I really didn't mind shinning in that class. It was the only class that Uriah was able to take on the high school campus. The kid was smart, so I always looked forward to this class, until today. I took my seat at the lab table with Uriah when the bell rang. I couldn't wait to tell him about practice.

Once we got started on our projects for today, me and Uriah joked about times we made a mini firework with a few household items. Before we had a chance to really get to the good part of our project, the door opened and in he walked and I felt my face flush.

"Oooo what was that?" Uriah laughed and nudged me, making me drop one of the test tubes. It seemed to be extra loud and it caught everyone's attention. I felt everyone's eyes fall on me and hurried to clean it up and tried to ignore the laughs that came with it.

"Can I help?" I heard his soothing voice ask. I looked up and saw those beautiful teal eyes. He hadn't been in class since the second day of school, when I embarrassed myself.

"Umm no I uh..... I'm okay, thank you." I felt so dumb because of how I sounded. But this guy got down and helped me, not caring about what I just said.

"I don't mind. I'd rather help than look like an ass and laugh like all these jerks." He reached his hand out as if expecting me to hand him something. I looked at him confused and wasn't sure what to say.

"I can take that." He pointed at the glass pieces in my hand and had a smile I'd die to see again.

"Thank you." I managed to say quietly. He smiled as he got up and made his way to the trash and threw the glass away. I stood up and looked at Uriah, who had the biggest smirk and wiggled his eyebrows at me. It made me blush but I rolled my eyes at him and laughed.

I didn't pay anything to Uriah and his constant teasing the rest of class. I wasn't ready to actually hang out with Danny and Syl outside of school but I knew if I bailed on them they'd never let it go.

After the bell rang to release us for the day, I waited for class to clear out before me and Uriah grabbed our stuff to leave. I walked out of class and saw Syl talking to someone and I realized it was him. I can't lie my feelings were a little hurt about it. Not that I had any reason to be, but they were. Just as I was about to start down the hall, Danny turned the corner and walked right past Syl, pulling her by her back away from... whatever his name was.

"Walk away b***h, I don't wanna hear you crying later about your bullshit." She didn't care that Sylvie was mid conversation or flirting. She walked towards me, pulling Sylvie along the way. She smiled and gestured to the door and stared at my brother.

"What's your name cuteness?" Danny asked in a flirtatious tone.

"Ur...umm.u... Uriah," he stuttered.

"Well, Uriah. Stay away from this one," she pointed at Syl as she was talking to him, "she's more drama than she's worth."

All Uriah could do was nod awkwardly with his mouth open. I laughed and gently picked his jaw back up to his mouth as we walked to the front where Danny and Sylvie were usually picked up. And It was like clockwork, a black suv pulled for Danny and Sylvie. I told them to text me when they wanted to meet in town, gave them hugs, then me and Alana went to my car to head home.

Alana was quiet the whole way home.

" What's wrong with you?" I asked her in silence.

"Do you think hanging out with them outside of school is a good idea?" She sighed after asking.

"Why don't you?"

"I'm not sure honestly. At school is one thing. Out and about..... it'll be just us and them." I didn't think about it that way. Zeric was too busy listening to his music to care about what was being said. We pulled up to our house and I grabbed my perfume before we got out and went inside. I opened the door and saw my mother standing in the kitchen looking at her phone.

"Mom, why are you home?" I asked her. If I'm being honest, I was still irritated with her. My mother wiped her eyes and put her phone away.

"I'm sorry my babies. I didn't realize that school had ended already. Are you all hungry? What would you like?"

"Mom, why are you crying?" Uriah asked her.

"It's nothing, my sweet boy. I'm fine." She smiled at him. I heard the lie break through her voice, and she knew I did. She turned around to start preparing food when I decided to let her know that I was meeting friends for dinner and taking Alana with me.

She looked at me surprised.

"You made friends? I'm so happy for you Erika!" Erika? My mother never calls me by my full name. It was a tell that something was actually wrong. I decided to try and see if chatting with her would get something else out of her as to why she was upset.

"Yeah, their names are Danae and Sylvie." She stopped cutting the chicken she was preparing to cook and looked at me.

"Erika, you had better be careful, " she warned, and again there was my full name.

"What am I supposed to do, mom, try and avoid these girls who are trying to make us feel welcome?"

"You know what? I don't care! You want to play with fire. You get burned. Don't say I didn't warn you!" She yelled at me. I rolled my eyes at her, and left to get changed out of my sweaty practice clothes, then get ready for this evening. I had no idea what she was getting so worked up over. I checked my phone again only to notice my calls and texts to Anthony were again left unanswered. I grunted in frustration and threw my phone onto my bed. I was so confused about why she made it seem like making friends was a good thing and then suddenly I was playing with fire.

After a long, much needed relaxing shower, I checked my phone.

- Hey girl we will be there around 630 to pick you 2 up.

I checked the time. It was already 6. "s**t! Alana! You have 30 minutes to be ready!"

"You mean YOU have 30 minutes to be ready," I heard her laughing in my doorway.

"Ugh! Whatever, get out of here!"

"Danny said wear something green so your eyes could pop. Apparently she's bringing some extra company with her and The Gift To Earth." She said through her gut-busting laugh.

"What do you mean extra company?"

"Hmm, what could I mean? Boys! Duh!" She said sarcastically. I felt my face pale. I don't feel comfortable with that yet.

"Have you told Danny about your birthday yet?" my sister tried changing the subject so I could calm down.

"No. I don't think that would be a smart idea, considering I doubt they would care."

"Why do you look like you realized you made a mistake?"

"Because I think I did....... I may have mentioned your birthday to them..."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" I yelled at her.

"I didn't mean any harm by it! No one told me they didn't want anyone to know. I wanted to surprise you!" She hung her head in defeat. "I wanted you to have at least 1 birthday that didn't suck. I thought you deserved at least one." My heart swelled with appreciation that my sister cared. I sighed at the harsh words I attacked my sister with. I walked to her and embraced her.

"Thank you Sissy!" I said just loud enough for her to hear. She looked at me surprised. I didn't mean to get defensive. I just worry when it comes to us getting close to anyone outside our family. Alana doesn't understand it 100% yet but she's getting there slowly. I had to remember that she was always making it her job to be a good sister to us even when we weren't good to her.

My phone went off as it lit up.

"That would be Danny." I told her.

"What will we do about your birthday?"

"Dont worry about that. There's nothing we can do about it now." I reassured her with a smile. We heard a honk from the front of our house and saw the same black SUV that usually picked them up from school. Me and Alana did another last-minute perfume spray and headed down stairs and out the door. The second we walked out the door, it hit me like a hurricane against the shore. A strong smell that was familiar and I couldn't tell where it was coming from or how I even smelt it. As we got closer to the SUV, it got stronger. When Alana opened the door and paused, standing frozen looking into the car.

"Lana, this is Nick," I heard Sylvie's high-pitched voice start, "he is here with his uncle and father on business." My gaze was met by a familiar face that was just as confused as I was. Then I heard it, the voice that brought me comfort and security for 2 years before I came to this place.

"Erika?" Alana turned to the voice she was familiar with, just as slowly as I did. I fought the tears building in my eyes, as I looked at the tall figure that stood before me. My heart stopped and I hoped that this was it. I hoped that he was here for me, but then reality sank in, and I realized it. He wasn't there for me. He was the guy Danny had been talking about for the past two days, and I got what felt like a sharp knife through my heart.

"Wait, how do you know Ricky?" Danny's voice broke through the tension that was building.

"Ha Ricky." He chuckled. "I knew her before she moved here. She went to school with me for years. But she wasn't to me."

"Why are you here?" I finally managed to ask him, my voice cracking as the words escaped my mouth.

"My father has business with her's. I thought I had seen you when I first arrived here. But I didn't think it was possible," he said in a slightly disgusted tone. I felt myself trying to disappear from the person who once loved me.

"Get in." He commanded in a demanding tone. I didn't have to obey, but I did so to avoid the argument that would come if I didn't. "I must return to the compound." He said to Danny in a softer voice than he had just used with me. That's when I noticed how he was looking at her, and my heart broke. She was the one, she was the one he explained would happen at some point. I had always thought he was joking about it, but by the way he looked and sounded, I realized he had finally found who he was meant to be with. I felt a massive hand placed on my shoulder, and realized it was Nick. I looked at him, and saw the pity he felt in his eyes. As we were driving back to the compound, I realized it was in the clearing tucked away in the woods.

"Stop the car." I said quietly. Anthony glanced at me through the mirror, but continued on as if he didn't hear me. "Stop the car." I repeated more audibly this time. It stopped at the borderline and he glanced at me through the rear-view mirror.

"Ricky are you okay?" I heard Danny's concern in her voice.

"Yes, we just need to go. I don't want us to ruin yours and Sylvie's chance at being with these guys." I said with as much sincerity as I could.

"Okay, well, we can take you back if you really want. I mean you don't have to --"

"Its fine Danny, I promise," I interrupted her before she had the chance to finish," You go and have fun. You were excited for today with them." I finished. Before anyone had the chance to object. Alana and I got out of the SUV and started off down the road. Alana kept up with my pace, even though she didn't have an easy time doing it. I was so stupid, I thought I was meant for him. I didn't think that it was possible for him to replace me so easily, but he did.

"Ricky, slow down!" My sister said winded.

"Erika Nicole! I said slow down!" She tried to use the only thing she could. The same tone she would use to make Uriah snap out of his anger to focus on her. Anger filled my veins hearing her try to talk to me like that. I turned around and walked to her.

"You are not my boss, Alana! You will not try to talk to me the way you did with Uriah!" As I started close in on her standing in front of me, I felt a hard kick to my jaw. I realized it came from her, by the way she was standing.

"And I am not afraid of you!" She yelled at me. "You might be angry, but I'm focused and I'm not the one you are mad at, so don't take it out on me!"

I turned around and started home once again. I glanced back to make sure she was walking home behind me, and that's when I hit straight into someone's chest. I went back and almost fell, but was caught by both arms before I hit the ground.

"Whoa!" I heard as I almost hit the ground, "are you okay?" He asked.

I shook his hands off my arms. "I'm fine!"

I looked up to see who saved me from looking like a loser by falling flat on my back. A tall, mildly tan, guy with brown hair and teal eyes stared at me with a bright smile. When I realized it was him, all of it disappeared. All of the anger I felt was gone, and I felt all the blood in my face rush to my cheeks. I paused for a minute, before finally forming words.

"You, I, school, " I cleared my throat and tried again, "I'm sorry that was rude..... umm yeah I'm okay." Alana finally walked up and gestured for us to keep walking and pulled my arm. I hesitated at first but cooperated after almost falling back.

"I'm Mathias, and yeah we have met a few times at school, but you always seem to be avoiding me when I try to introduce myself. So, why are you two walking out here alone?" He asked, sounding curious, "You don't look like your dressed for a walk like this."

"We were just heading home from hanging out with some friends," Alana said.

"Friends, from the ranch property up here? Would you like a ride? I live just up the road here. I could take you back to wherever you live." Mathias said with a polite smile.

"No," Alana said without hesitation, "we can walk."

"Okay," he chuckled, "what are your names?" I looked at this beautiful young man and it was like I forgot how to speak.

"Erika." I said softly finally. "I'm Erika, this is my sister Alana."

"And now we have to go." I felt my sister tug on my arm. And we started back down the road home. I smiled at how sweet he was, and I lost myself in thought. His beautiful eyes were etched into my memory and I couldn't help it but feel happy that the hurt from earlier was gone.

"Why are you smiling you i***t?" Alana's voice had never been so annoying, and just like that, she brought my anger back to light.

"Stop talking."

"And we're back to being pissed, typical Erika!"