My Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Seven

“I can’t believe this, when did you get here?”

“Yesterday, I was in the office all day though.”

“It’s been two years.”

He smiled, “I know. We were sophomores when I last saw you.”

Micah was old friend of mine. At one point, we were more than just friends but it didn’t really work out. We were pretty close considering we knew each other since 5th grade. He has blonde hair and the most striking blue eyes. He moved when we were sophomores because his dad was a business man and so they traveled a lot. My dad was one also, except we didn’t have to tag along with him because he’d be right back.

I stopped in the hallway and so did he; I pulled him into an unexpected hug, and said “I missed you.”

He froze for a moment before wrapping his arms around me also, “I missed you too, Elena.”

~*~

“He’s back?” David and Bree asked in unison.

“Yup,” I said smiling.

My happy mood was once again restored.

“I’m going to hang out with him tomorrow, anyone want to tag along?”

Bree raised her hand and so did David.

“Great,” I said.

“You know, Dimitri you should tag along.” Bree said.

I stared at him expectantly, “Um, sure.” He finally said getting uncomfortable by our stares.

I got up from the table just as the bell rung, “See you guys.” I said before skipping off.

After school I walked outside and saw Dimitri waiting for me by his car, I jogged over to him, “Hey, let’s go.”

He looked down at me, “Give me a sec.” He said before walking over to… Will.

It didn’t hit me before but then it did. A wave of an uneasy feeling washed over me and I groaned clutching my stomach.

I watched as they talked trying to read their lips, but that obviously wasn’t working, so I tuned into Dimitri’s head which was surprisingly open.

“Do me a favor,” He stated, “Leave her alone.”
Will raised his eyebrows, “did she tell you to tell me that, or is that an order?”
“It’s an order.”
He turned on his heel but before he got the chance to walk away, Will said, “I don’t take orders.”
“Well from now on, you will. If I see you talking to her-“
“Are you guys dating? Because if that’s the case, I can assure you, she’s cute, but I’m not trying anything.”
He hesitated for a moment before sighing, “No, we’re not dating. But-“
“But you have feelings for her.”
He pursed his lips angrily, “Whether or not I have feelings for her doesn’t matter, you need too-“
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Shut.Up.” He said through clenched teeth. “Look, just… Just stay away from her.”
“Yeah, sure.”

I snapped out of his head and looked up to see him coming towards me, He unlocked his car door and climbed in without a word, I followed suit.

Awhile later, the feeling disappeared and I sighed, leaning back into the seat.

Even though I tried to keep my mind from wandering back to the conversation Dimitri had with will, it wouldn’t work.

And the only reason I was, was because of the fact that my mind insisted he liked me.

He didn’t exactly say he did, but he didn’t exactly say he didn’t.

That’s what made me so confused.

~*~

“So what’s this new thing you discovered?” I asked as he opened his door.

I sat down on his plush, leather couch.

“What?” He asked curiously.

“You said you discovered something… In the hall.”

“Oh yeah,” His lips twisted to the side, “About that, I lied.”

My head snapped in his direction, “What?”

“I lied,” He mumbled. “It was the only way I’d get you to come over.”

“Why do you want me to come over so badly?”

He closed his eyes, “I just wanted to hang out.”

I groaned in frustration, “You know; if you said that before, I would’ve agreed anyway. Remember first period I was practically begging anyway.”

His eyes opened, “Oh.”

I sighed, “So, you just planned on hanging here the whole time?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what’d you have in mind?”

“How about the movies?”

“No.”

“What about the park.”

I sat up, “Sounds good to me.”

~*~

“I don’t know much about you, Dimitri.” I said while trying to casually sit on one of the swing sets.

“You know more than you should.”

I smiled, “How long, exactly, have you been around?”

He looked at me while pursing his lips, the he finally said, “About five years.”

I nodded slowly, “So you’re… five years older than me?”

He nodded, “Yeah.”

“So, how did it happen?”

“How did what happen?”

“You know… How did you… Change,”

He chuckled, “I died. Just like you, and any other shadow-kissed survivor.”

“No, I mean… How did it happen; Details included.”

He sighed and sat down on the set beside me, “I got shot.”

I watched him, wondering if he’d continue, “That’s it?”

He shook his head, “Of course not, but that’s all you’re going to find out.”

I frowned, “You know my story, it’s only fair that I know yours too.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me your story. Bree did.”

“How exactly did she tell you?”

“We had to write something personal in our journal entry for the day. She asked me what I was writing about, and then told me what she was writing about.” He paused and ran a hand through his hair, “I have to admit, I was a bit shocked. I didn’t expect you to be shadow kissed for that reason, you know?”

I shrugged, “It’s hard to believe sometimes.”

“What is?”

“The fact that I’m dead.”

“You’re not dead, Elena.”

“I am. I’m not the same anymore. This whole mind reading plus seeing auras is a bit… unbelievable.”

“Well what do you expect?”

I stared straight across and said nothing.

“Elena, I have something I need to tell you.”

My head snapped in his direction, “What?”

He looked unsure, but at the same time, he looked like he had something on his chest that he was just dying to let someone know about.

“I-“

My phone began to ring loudly in my pocket.

I groaned and put up one finger to excuse myself, “Hello?”

“Elena?”

“No, this is Santa Clause.”

My mom laughed, “I just wanted to let you know that I got home early today, so if you’re not busy you can come on down and we can finally hang out.”

I closed my eyes in frustration and stayed quiet for a moment, “Alright mom,” I finally said, “I’ll see you soon.”

Then I hung up.

“My mom wants to hang out, but I can stay with you for a little while longer.”

He shook his head, “No, that won’t be right. Go on.”

“But we just got here-“

“Elena, its fine.”

“What about what you had to tell me?”

“I’ll tell you another time.”

“No, I want to know now.”

“You have somewhere to be.”

“That can wait.”

“It’s a long story,” something told me he was lying; but his mind was blocked off so I couldn’t
tell.

“Fine,” I stated stand up, “I’ll see you later.”

“Do you need a ride?”

“I’ll walk.”

“No, if you need a ride-“

“I want to walk.”

He nodded slowly and waved.

~*~

“So I realize I haven’t been the best mom ever,” My mom started, “But I was thinking, I can take some days off and we can go on family vacation when your dad gets back.”
I smiled, “Really?”

She nodded, “Of course. So tell me, is there a crush I should know about?”

I cleared my throat and tapped my nails gently on the table, “Not really…”

“What do you mean ‘not really’?”

“I mean, I like someone but it hasn’t really fully developed into a crush yet.”

“Should I be worried?”

I grinned; my mom was asking me if she should be worried, “No,” I shook my head, “Not at all.”

“What’s his name?”

“… Dimitri.”

She lifted her cup to take a sip but stopped halfway, “The one I met?”

I nodded.

“He seems… nice.” She said in approval.

“Yeah, I guess he is.”

She shifted in her seat and changed the subject, “Your birthday is next week. You’ll be eighteen.”

My lips twisted to the side, “Definitely not excited about that.”

“Well why not?”

“I’m getting older.”

“Yeah, that’s the whole point of life.”

I waved it off, “how was your meeting?”

She smiled, “Work isn’t something we should base a conversation on.”

“Well it seems like something interesting went down.”

She shook her head, “Nothing interesting at all.”

~*~

“Micah,” I called while jogging over to him.

He turned around and smiled, “It feels so weird seeing you again.”

I stopped in front of him and nodded, “Yeah, I know.”

“So what’s up?”

“Oh, um, I wanted to know if we were still on for today.”

“Of course.”

“And, well, is it okay if David, Bree, and Dimitri tag along.”

“Um, sure. But who’s Dimitri?”

I raised my eye brows; I had almost forgotten that they didn’t know each other, “I’ll introduce you two at lunch. We sit in the far corner on the right.”

“Alright,” He said before flashing another one of his best smiles.

I turned on my heel and began to walk away before the feeling came back. I frowned and sighed, by now I learned to ignore the feeling.

“Hey,”

I turned and saw Will walking over to me, completely oblivious to how he’s making me feel.

“Hey,” I replied awkwardly waving at him.

“I was wondering; would you mind if I sat with you at lunch today?”

“How about tomorrow,” I said, “I’m breaking a new student in and I think it’d be a full table.”

“It’s no problem. I don’t mind. I can help, actually.”

I sighed quietly, “Alright, sure. See you then.”

I quickly scurried off.

Bree would be more than ecstatic to know he’s sitting with us, but Dimitri and I couldn’t be more horrified.

~*~

“Dimitri, Micah. Micah, Dimitri.”

“Nice to meet you,” They said doing the manly handshake, “She’s said much about you.”

My head snapped into Micah’s direction, “What!?”

“Relax,” He said letting go of Dimitri’s hand and sitting beside me, “It was a joke.”

I let out a breath of relief, “Right.”

“So,” Dimitri pitched in, “What’s the plan?”

“The plan for what?”

“I think he means what we are doing later.” Bree guessed.

“Oh,” I turned to Micah, “What are we doing?”

He shrugged, “I figured you guys would have planned something.”

I scoffed, “It was basically your idea.”

He shrugged again, “I still thought you guys would’ve taken over that part.”

I rolled my eyes and turned to face them, “Any ideas on what we should do?”

David sat up straighter in his chair and said, “We should check out the fair tonight.”

“Yeah,” Bree and I exclaimed at the same time.

“Actually,” Dimitri started, “I was hoping it would be an activity during the day. I’m busy during the night time.”

“Bummer,” Bree mumbled.

“You guys can go without me.”

I was automatically against that plan, I turned my head to look at him and object but he gave me a look that told me not to say anything.

I frowned and put my chin on my palm, “Fine, we’ll go without Dimitri.”

I saw a small smirk form on his lips and I couldn’t help but imagine how I sounded when I said that.

“Alright,” Micah said with a clap of his hands, “Its settle. We’re going to the fair, and without Dimitri.”

I opened my mouth to reply but I saw from the corner of my eye a chair being pulled out.

“I’m Will,” He said as soon as he sat down, “I’ve met a few of you…” He mumbled almost to
himself.

I gestured towards David, “David,” Then I gestured towards Micah, “Micah.”

He waved, “Nice to meet you two.”

Bree flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled, “So, My friends and I are going to the-“

“Are you going to eat your apple?” I asked interrupting her. There was no way he was coming along with us.

He smiled at me awkwardly but passed it to me anyway.

I took a bite out of it ignoring the stares I got.

Only Dimitri seemed to understand.

“Anyway,” Bree began again, “So my friends and I are going to the-“

“Bree,” I interrupted once more.

She shot me an annoyed look, “What?”

“Would you mind joining me to the lunch line?”

“I’m sort of busy.”

I eyed her down, “Bree, would you please join me in the lunch line.”

“I’m-“

“I need to talk to you!”

She finally got up and took long strides with me to the lunch line.

“What. Is. Your. Problem?!” She growled.

I shrugged, “Look, It’s just suppose to be us.”

“Dimitri was going to come.”

“He’s a different story.”

“Yeah, of course. Just because you like him!”

“What?”

“You can’t deny it, you like him and he likes you. End of story.”

I looked at her, not exactly fuming with anger but I was really close to it, “Look, whether that’s actually true or not doesn’t matter. What matter’s is that I don’t want him to come.”

“And when since was it all about you?”

I stared at her in disbelief as she continued, “I’m sure David wouldn’t mind because he knows how much I like him, but you, you just don’t care do you? So what if you don’t want him to come, I’m sure Micah wouldn’t care either. It-“

“Shut up, Bree. I don’t know when you got so snappy but you’re taking everything the wrong way-“

“I’m not snappy! I’m learning how to defend myself for people like you who think they own anyone and everyone they bump into.”

I tuned into her aura and yes she was dead serious.

Who does she think she is, she thought, this is unbelievable? I don’t care what she has to say or think. Never have, never will.

I slipped out of her mind and just shook my head, “We’re done here.”

“And now you want to order me around? You know what? It’s done, when I say it’s done for a change.”

“No, I mean we’re done, as in this conversation, and friendship is over. If you feel that way about me, so strongly, then obviously you’re not too fond of me. So we’re done. I’m just surprised I never realized it sooner.”

And I was.

I was surprised it never crossed her thoughts before. Was I loosing my touch?

To my surprise she pushed her index finger into my chest causing me to stumble a bit, “I’m way too good of an actor for you to realize something like this, but next time, my word of advice would be-“

“I don’t care,” I said shoving her away from me, her eyes widened a bit.

Instead of saying anything else I stormed back over to the table.

I grabbed my backpack from under the table and slung it over my shoulder, meeting everyone’s worried eyes at the table, Especially Dimitri’s.

He began to get up, but I shook my head, letting the tear fall down as I ran out of the cafeteria.