My Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Twenty

It’s the end of the week; thank goodness, and the last day of school and exams.

I think I did a good job at ignoring Dimitri this past four days, and did I mention that I’ve also been skipping work?

My mom picked up her briefcase and walked over to kiss my forehead, “The trip is tomorrow,” she said with a grin.

I smiled, I was excited, and I couldn’t deny that.

She continued, “We leave tomorrow morning at eight, make sure you tell Dimitri to be here before eight because the airport is about two to three hours away, we have to catch the flight for twelve.”She rambled on and on and on.

“Alright mom,” I said cutting her off, “I’ll tell to him.”

“Good,” she noted before turning around and walking out, “See you tonight, make sure your packed.”

And she left.

~*~

I dressed casual, even though it was the last day of school.

“Elena,” Bree exclaimed as I walked in the double doors, she was in a group with Micah, David, and Dimitri. They were all standing by the lockers engaged in conversation, “Can you believe it’s the last day of school,” She said, her voice shaky, “We’re seniors, this is so… amazing.”

“What colleges are you guys going to?” I asked them.

“I applied for Johns Hopkins University and got in, I’m leaving next month,” David said.

I raised my eyebrows, “Impressive,”

“I’m going to Utrecht University when summer ends,” Micah pitched in.

“Isn’t that in Netherlands?” Dimitri asked thoughtfully.

I miss hearing his voice.

“Yeah, I’m trying to get as far away as I can from my mom and dad,”

I grinned, “They aren’t that bad,”

“I applied for Duke University and the University of Munich; they both accepted me so I guess we’ll see which one I’ll be going too. I have to leave by the end of summer too though.” Bree said impatiently.

“What about you, El?”

I looked at Micah, surprised. No one called me El in a long, long time.

“I’m-“

“We all know where she’s going,” David tease with a roll of his eyes, “The University of Rome La Sapienza, duh.”

“Right, you’ve wanted to go there since you were a kid.”

Bree laughed, “When we were younger, I used to pretend to be the one interviewing her for the college, those were the days.”

I chuckled, recalling the memories. “I remember,” I said sadly.

“What about you Dimitri?” Micah asked.

Dimitri looked up sort of surprised like eh wasn’t paying attention, “Huh?”

“What college did you get accepted into?”

He shot me a quick glance, “The University of Rome La Sapienza.”

They all looked between us and they smiled, “Oh,” Bree finally said, “I see,”

“We leave after summer,” I said.

“It seems we’re all leaving after summer, except for David.” Bree said.

“Johns University starts earlier than most colleges,” He said, “But you’ll be back from your trip to Hawaii to say goodbye… right?”

“Oh yeah,” Bree exclaimed, “You’ve got that vacation thing tomorrow,”

“Almost forgot,” Micah muttered.

I bumped my hip against his and he looked up, I gave him a small smile, “We’re all going to keep in contact guys, I mean, unless you change your cell phone plan. But now that I know what colleges you guys are going too, it shouldn’t be that hard to locate you guys.”

“We’re practically family,” Bree pitched in, “There’s no getting rid of us.”

We laughed, “I’ll miss you guys,” David started, “Even you Dimitri, our newest member of the pack,”

He smiled, “Likewise,”

“Will be back in two weeks for the graduation ceremony?” Micah asked.

I nodded, “Yeah, I’ll only be out for a week.”

“Good.”

Bree sighed when the warning bell rung, “We should probably get going now; the exams start in three minutes.”

“You’re probably right,” Micah said looking at his watch.

“See you when you get back,” David said, giving me a tight hug.

Followed by Bree, and Micah.

When they left, I turned to Dimitri; his hands were shoved in his pockets, he was leaning against the locker, his head down.

“We leave at eight tomorrow morning,”

He looked up, his green eyes piercing into mines, “I’m still coming?”

“Um, of course.”

“I just thought… I mean you said…”

“I said not to talk to me until you get yourself together, I think you’ve managed to do that,” I said taking a step closer.

“So I’m still coming on the trip?”

I nodded, “Be by my house before eight in the morning,”

He gave me a small smile, “I’m sorry, Elena. I really missed you.”

He pulled me to him and I made contact with his chest, I breathed in that scent I love so much. I really missed him. I savored it; he pulled back slightly to kiss my forehead.

“Wait, you haven’t talked to me in four days and that’s all I get.”

So without a moment’s hesitation, he brought his lips to mine.

It automatically bought me the familiar feeling of pleasure and relief, I missed the feeling.

Four days was too long.

~*~

I was surprised to see myself driving to work.

And once I arrived and walked in, Cris’s head snapped up immediately.

“I thought you quit,” He muttered, and unreadable expression on his face.

“No, obviously I didn’t.” I said gesturing to myself, “I’m here,”

He sighed and rubbed his eyes, “You leave tomorrow, don’t you?”

“For college? No. For my vacation trip, yes.”

“Oh, well… you wasted your time coming here. Business is kind of slow today.”

I nodded slowly, “I never finished filing those last few-“

“I did it for you,” He said getting up, “You can leave.”

I sighed watching as he ran a hand through his hand, I hadn’t realized at first but my eyes widened as I took in his appearance.

He had a bruise on his right cheek and a bandage over his nose, “Oh my gosh,” I muttered walking over to him, “Cris did Dimitri…. Dimitri did this to you?”

He shrugged one shoulder, “Sure,”

I took a deep breath and said, “I’m so sorry, I told him not to but he didn’t listen. I tried to stop him, I really did-“

“It doesn’t matter, Elena.”

“It does!” I said, my voice raising one vocal, “You’re hurt and it’s basically my fault!”

“You didn’t force him to do what he did,”

“but-“

“Besides, if you didn’t tell him what I said, none of this would’ve happened. It slipped.”

“I didn’t tell him-“

Oh yeah, Dimitri read Cris’s mind.

“Right,” I said instead, “I’m sorry, it sort of slipped too.”

He looked into my eyes for a longer time than I would’ve liked before adverting his gaze to the floor.

I rested my hand on his bruised cheek and he winced, but stayed put, “It looks pretty bad,”

He pursed his lips and took my hand in his, dragging it from his face before letting go, “It’s not that bad, trust me,”

I bit my lip, “Your nose, is it broken?”

He shook his head, “It’s bruised also, and it won’t stop bleeding. But I’m sure it’s stopped by now,”

A pang of guilt spread over me before the door opened and the familiar feeling of nausea rolled over me.

Will stood there frozen, I came to my senses and noticed how close I was to Cris, it was almost as if we were about to kiss.

“Elena?” He said slowly.

“What’re you doing here?” I asked him.

“I came to get my car fixed; they said I pay the bill here.”

I backed up from Cris putting a good distance between us.

“I thought you and Dimitri were-“

“We are!” I snapped, “Nothing was going on here,”

“I’m sure of it,” He said, and as much as I wish I could tune into his aura, I couldn’t. The only thing I saw was that same swirl of darkness.

He looked at Cris, and walked over to hand him a check, “Got jumped?” He guessed. I knew it was an innocent gesture, but I snapped.

“No, he didn’t get jumped!”

“Her boyfriend beat the crap out of me,” Cris muttered, and saw amusement glitter in Will’s eyes.

“Is that so,” He murmured to himself.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” I asked, feeling annoyed.

“Eh, not really. But I do have to meet Bree in about ten minutes.” He said before winking at me.

He knows I hate him, and he knows that I don’t like the fact that he’s with Bree, and I think he knows that I know about him because before he walked over to the door, he gave me a knowing glance.

“It was a nice couple of months at Aubrey high, I must admit.” He said his hand on the knob of the door.

Just leave, I thought.

“I certainly hope to see you again,”

“Don’t count on it.”

“Bree didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?!” I said, I was getting tired of this.

“We’re going to the same college,” He let his hand slid off the knob, “We’re just so madly in love with each other that we couldn’t bare to be apart,” I noted a small hint of sarcasm, but other than that, I knew he was being serious.

“You really piss me off,” I finally uttered.

“Hey,” he put his hand up in surrender, “I’m just saying. Have you opened my gift yet?”

I stared at him; it was such a small box that I probably lost it.

“No, I haven’t opened your gift yet.”

“Hm, I hope you haven’t lost it.”

“Actually, I did.”

“That’s a shame,” He smirked, “You were going to need it.”

And he left.

I turned to face Cris, he had a confused expression on his face, “Don’t worry about that,” I said aloud.

His head snapped to mine, “What?”

“I said not to worry about that; we just don’t really get along,”

“I’ve noticed.”

I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my hair.

He walked over to me and picked up the strand I just put behind my ear, “Your highlights are gone,” He mumbled.

“I took them out two days ago,”

“I really liked them,” He said before tucking it back behind my ear.

He was too close, “Yeah, I did too. But I like my natural hair color.”

It was silent, I let my eyes slip shut, and when I opened them back up, it was too late.

Cris’s lips had already found mine.

And as much as I hate to admit it, I liked the feeling.

It wasn’t electrical or warm like Dimitri’s; it didn’t give me relief or pleasure. It didn’t feel amazing, like I couldn’t live without it. But it was more like Micah’s kiss, it was comfortable, except I felt an emotion somewhere deep inside of the kiss.

His hand flew to my neck and he pressed close against my body.

I finally came to my senses and pushed him away, “What the hell was that?”

“You kissed back,” He pointed out quickly.

I shook my head; I felt like a dirty, cheater, “You’re the one who kissed me to begin with.”

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I messed up again didn’t I? Dang it.”

I took a deep breath, “Its fine,”

“What?”

“I said its fine, I don’t care. “

“Really?”

“I didn’t feel anything anyway,” I lied. But I really didn’t, it was more of a friendly thing, except that unreadable emotion hidden below the surface.

He small smile disappeared and his face went blank, “You sure?”

I nodded slowly, “Nothing at all,”

He scratched the back of his head, “I’ll see you when you get back,” He muttered before leaving me there in the middle of the office.

~*~

I burst through the doors.

I ran up to my room and automatically began to pack; I couldn’t wait for the trip. But there was so much on my mind.

Cris and Will.

Will!

I need to find that gift.

I looked everywhere in the house, even my mom’s room, but I couldn’t find it. “Crap,” I said running a hand through my hair.

He said I needed it, and now I was determined to find out what it was.

I went back to packing for tomorrow morning, my vacation trip with Dimitri.