Status: Complete
The Secret Keeper
six
I woke up the next morning to something, well, wet.
I peeked up through my almost-closed eyes to see my dog, Andy, on top of me and breathing heavily into my mouth. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“Get off!” I muttered, trying without success to push the 100-pound husky off of my torso.
I heard a deep voice chuckle from somewhere inside the room. Great. Just freakin’ great. I get to wake up on Christmas morning to that.
My head flopped back onto the pillow. “Go away, Bo,” I groaned, covering my face with my hands in an effort to try and shield my face from my dog.
He laughed again. “So is this the closest you’ve come to losing your v-card?”
I rolled my eyes. I really didn’t need this. “One day,” I begged silently, looking at the ceiling. “One. Freaking. Day. Without waking up to this. That’s all I ask!”
I finally managed to get Andy off me, and instead of getting up, I pulled the covers back over my head. “Ha,” I muttered.
But then the weight was back, pinning me to the bed. I groaned. “Andy, will you please just-”
I stopped short, because when I pulled back my covers, I realized that the weight was not my dog, but rather, Bo. He was sitting on top of me, straddling my hips and supporting himself with his hands, which were on either side of my shoulders. His coal black hair hung over one eye, and he was smirking like there was no tomorrow.
I got a horrible feeling of déjà vu.
*flashback*
I was 14, and running like crazy from a younger Boris. We were playing some kind of tag, I think, and I was making damn sure he didn’t catch me.
I was a little annoyed that he hadn’t gone after Holly or Evan, but I ignored it. Instead, I turned sharply into Holly’s bedroom, which was the first door I came to. Holly had suggested playing in her house on account of the snow outside.
I dashed into the room and flung myself on the bed, hiding under the covers. I knew it wasn’t that good of a hiding place, but I was almost positive Bo wouldn’t think to come in the room.
I was wrong, of course.
He barged in, and upon seeing me on the bed, threw himself on top of me. I thrashed and kicked, trying to get him off, but to no avail. Being stronger, bigger, and altogether more experienced at wrestling than me, he had me pinned, straddling my waist, within seconds.
“Gotcha,” he whispered in my ear, his mouth dangerously close to my face.
Somehow, I still found the resolve to be sarcastic. “Good job, Boris. You managed to pin a 100-pound girl to a bed. This is you biggest accomplishment yet, am I right?”
His olive green eyes narrowed at me. “I could do much worse, Evangeline,” he hissed.
“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you-”
Without warning, he leaned down the remaining centimeters to my mouth and covered it with his.
My only reaction at that point was: Ew, ew, ew! Bo is KISSING me!
It wouldn’t have stuck out in my memory, so much, had that not been my firstkiss. Yeah, my first kiss was with my mortal enemy. And I didn’t enjoy it. At all.
But I was having so much fun teasing him. So I kissed back, sliding my tongue over his lip. I had a plan.
I felt him smile against my lips, and he let out a moan of pleasure. It was just as he had let my tongue in and his lips were parted that I put my plan into action.
I bit down on his lip. Hard.
He went around for the next week saying that he had gotten hit with a hockey puck.
*End flashback*
This close to him, I could still see the faint line of tooth marks on his bottom lip. It was all I could do to keep from cracking up.
He seemed to catch on to my reverie. “Ah. Still thinking of that kiss, are we?” he drawled, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
I rolled my eyes. “You wish, Prince Charming. Congratulations, you’ve woken Sleeping Beauty. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some cereal to eat.” I gave him a good hard shove, but it had no visible effect. Damn. It was worth a try.
His smirk quickly turned wicked. “I think you’ll find that I’m better at this than your dog,Eva.”
My eyes widened. No one had called me Eva since… since…
Since I was a baby. Since my mother died.
Tears started streaming freely down my face, and Bo’s face retreated in shock. I don’t think he realized, necessarily, that he’d struck a nerve because I was careful not to let anyone know about my life before my foster parents.
“Get OFF of me, goddamnit!” I snarled, pushing with all my might. Of course, he wouldn’t have moved had he not gotten up himself, but I wasn’t too concerned about that.
“Eve, what-”
“GET OUT!” I roared, cutting him off. I’m pretty sure I saw him hesitate for a moment, and then turned to leave.
I didn’t watch him go. Instead, I was already curled up on the bed, sobbing.
It was an unknown weakness of mine: remembering my real parents. Bo and I had both been separated from our parents at the same time – mine had died and his were, ironically, in prison – but he couldn’t remember his biological parents. I could. And deep down, whenever I was reminded of them, another piece of my heart would shatter.
Suddenly, a pair of strong arms was wrapped around me. I had been almost positive I’d heard the door close, and maybe it had, but obviously Bo was still here.
And instead of being the big bad bully, he was being the protector he was whenever I had the Nightmare. I think he’s known me so long that he knows just how to go along with my mood swings.
“Shhh… It’s ok, Eve,” he soothed, having no effect on me whatsoever. “I’m sorry. Whatever I did, I’m sorry. It’s ok, shhh…”
I hated this. I really did.
It’s not like my foster parents were mean, or anything. Ivy was just as good as any mother I knew, and Arkarian was like the overprotective dad. But they just weren’t myparents.
I had calmed down a little, only because Bo had started singing “Jingle Bells” and believe me; it’s hard to keep a straight face when he’s singing.
I laughed half-heartedly through the tears, pulling back to look at his face. He was smiling shyly, his cheeks slightly pink. It would’ve been the type of moment that, in movies, would’ve led to a kiss.
But this is my life and my mortal enemy we’re talking about.
I cleared my throat and untangled myself from his grip. “Thanks,” I mumbled.
“No problem,” he replied, using the same soothing voice he’d used a minute ago. You know, he’ll have an amazing career as a therapist if he keeps this up. God knows I’ll need one.
I peeked up through my almost-closed eyes to see my dog, Andy, on top of me and breathing heavily into my mouth. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“Get off!” I muttered, trying without success to push the 100-pound husky off of my torso.
I heard a deep voice chuckle from somewhere inside the room. Great. Just freakin’ great. I get to wake up on Christmas morning to that.
My head flopped back onto the pillow. “Go away, Bo,” I groaned, covering my face with my hands in an effort to try and shield my face from my dog.
He laughed again. “So is this the closest you’ve come to losing your v-card?”
I rolled my eyes. I really didn’t need this. “One day,” I begged silently, looking at the ceiling. “One. Freaking. Day. Without waking up to this. That’s all I ask!”
I finally managed to get Andy off me, and instead of getting up, I pulled the covers back over my head. “Ha,” I muttered.
But then the weight was back, pinning me to the bed. I groaned. “Andy, will you please just-”
I stopped short, because when I pulled back my covers, I realized that the weight was not my dog, but rather, Bo. He was sitting on top of me, straddling my hips and supporting himself with his hands, which were on either side of my shoulders. His coal black hair hung over one eye, and he was smirking like there was no tomorrow.
I got a horrible feeling of déjà vu.
*flashback*
I was 14, and running like crazy from a younger Boris. We were playing some kind of tag, I think, and I was making damn sure he didn’t catch me.
I was a little annoyed that he hadn’t gone after Holly or Evan, but I ignored it. Instead, I turned sharply into Holly’s bedroom, which was the first door I came to. Holly had suggested playing in her house on account of the snow outside.
I dashed into the room and flung myself on the bed, hiding under the covers. I knew it wasn’t that good of a hiding place, but I was almost positive Bo wouldn’t think to come in the room.
I was wrong, of course.
He barged in, and upon seeing me on the bed, threw himself on top of me. I thrashed and kicked, trying to get him off, but to no avail. Being stronger, bigger, and altogether more experienced at wrestling than me, he had me pinned, straddling my waist, within seconds.
“Gotcha,” he whispered in my ear, his mouth dangerously close to my face.
Somehow, I still found the resolve to be sarcastic. “Good job, Boris. You managed to pin a 100-pound girl to a bed. This is you biggest accomplishment yet, am I right?”
His olive green eyes narrowed at me. “I could do much worse, Evangeline,” he hissed.
“Oh yeah? I’d like to see you-”
Without warning, he leaned down the remaining centimeters to my mouth and covered it with his.
My only reaction at that point was: Ew, ew, ew! Bo is KISSING me!
It wouldn’t have stuck out in my memory, so much, had that not been my firstkiss. Yeah, my first kiss was with my mortal enemy. And I didn’t enjoy it. At all.
But I was having so much fun teasing him. So I kissed back, sliding my tongue over his lip. I had a plan.
I felt him smile against my lips, and he let out a moan of pleasure. It was just as he had let my tongue in and his lips were parted that I put my plan into action.
I bit down on his lip. Hard.
He went around for the next week saying that he had gotten hit with a hockey puck.
*End flashback*
This close to him, I could still see the faint line of tooth marks on his bottom lip. It was all I could do to keep from cracking up.
He seemed to catch on to my reverie. “Ah. Still thinking of that kiss, are we?” he drawled, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
I rolled my eyes. “You wish, Prince Charming. Congratulations, you’ve woken Sleeping Beauty. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some cereal to eat.” I gave him a good hard shove, but it had no visible effect. Damn. It was worth a try.
His smirk quickly turned wicked. “I think you’ll find that I’m better at this than your dog,Eva.”
My eyes widened. No one had called me Eva since… since…
Since I was a baby. Since my mother died.
Tears started streaming freely down my face, and Bo’s face retreated in shock. I don’t think he realized, necessarily, that he’d struck a nerve because I was careful not to let anyone know about my life before my foster parents.
“Get OFF of me, goddamnit!” I snarled, pushing with all my might. Of course, he wouldn’t have moved had he not gotten up himself, but I wasn’t too concerned about that.
“Eve, what-”
“GET OUT!” I roared, cutting him off. I’m pretty sure I saw him hesitate for a moment, and then turned to leave.
I didn’t watch him go. Instead, I was already curled up on the bed, sobbing.
It was an unknown weakness of mine: remembering my real parents. Bo and I had both been separated from our parents at the same time – mine had died and his were, ironically, in prison – but he couldn’t remember his biological parents. I could. And deep down, whenever I was reminded of them, another piece of my heart would shatter.
Suddenly, a pair of strong arms was wrapped around me. I had been almost positive I’d heard the door close, and maybe it had, but obviously Bo was still here.
And instead of being the big bad bully, he was being the protector he was whenever I had the Nightmare. I think he’s known me so long that he knows just how to go along with my mood swings.
“Shhh… It’s ok, Eve,” he soothed, having no effect on me whatsoever. “I’m sorry. Whatever I did, I’m sorry. It’s ok, shhh…”
I hated this. I really did.
It’s not like my foster parents were mean, or anything. Ivy was just as good as any mother I knew, and Arkarian was like the overprotective dad. But they just weren’t myparents.
I had calmed down a little, only because Bo had started singing “Jingle Bells” and believe me; it’s hard to keep a straight face when he’s singing.
I laughed half-heartedly through the tears, pulling back to look at his face. He was smiling shyly, his cheeks slightly pink. It would’ve been the type of moment that, in movies, would’ve led to a kiss.
But this is my life and my mortal enemy we’re talking about.
I cleared my throat and untangled myself from his grip. “Thanks,” I mumbled.
“No problem,” he replied, using the same soothing voice he’d used a minute ago. You know, he’ll have an amazing career as a therapist if he keeps this up. God knows I’ll need one.