Nothing but the Truth

Elias knew everything about me. He knew everything about Miranda. I'm pretty sure he just knew everything.

He was also incredibly subtle. Eli had this way of walking past me and just barely brushing his hand across mine in a way that went unnoticed by our mothers and unforgotten by me. This was just one example of his specialty. And it was a great thing he was so good at it, because if our mothers had any idea about us, they would simultaneously freak.

To us, the age difference was nothing. Elias was such a goof ball and I was so serious; it's arguable that mentally, I was older than him. But it was illegal and my mother hated the idea of dating and his mother, a Hispanic woman, wanted him to date a Latina girl, though she'd never admit it. So instead of Elias and I being open about the fact that we had fallen for each other, we sneaked around, using his subtly. And every single night, without fail, he would come into my room about an hour after our mothers went to bed. It never seemed weird to me.

There were some nights when I needed Eli to chill out and listen to me vent. He always did, no problem, gazing at me intently with those chocolate eyes. Which was how he came to know everything about my sister and I. Elias wasn't just a listener, though. He was a champion talker, the type who could go on for hours and hours. Some nights, he'd just babble on about he and his brother, what he'd thought about that day, or something else frivolous. Other nights, he'd play teacher, telling me everything I knew about astronomy and religion, and making science make sense. So in return, I educated him on literature and music. We both loved to learn, and we both loved to teach. That was probably a big reason why we couldn't stay away from each other.

Then again, though, another reason was probably the frequent making out.

It wasn't every night, mind you. But at least once or twice a week, Elias would come into my room, wearing nothing but whatever shorts he was using as pajamas, and one of us wouldn't be able to keep our hands off the other. Which meant a lot of kissing, and sometimes, even more than kissing. But we never had sex. I knew the trouble he'd get in if we were caught doing that and he knew that it would freak me out, just a little. We knew better.

But after every make out session, I'd fall asleep in his arms, thoroughly exhausted, my head on his chest and one of my hands in his hair.

I wanted to touch his hair now. A year and a half ago, it had been long, but shiny and smooth. Now, thick dreads reached to the middle of his back and I should've hated it but I didn't. He looked older, better, his jawline sharp enough to cut glass. Standing there on the stage, in front of all these kids I didn't know, I found myself with the same problem I had had when I was fourteen: I could not take my eyes off him.

“Elias, are you okay with being Marina's partner?” Abigail asked. She then turned to me. “All the kids have partners, and Elias's dropped out. That's why we had auditions.”

“Fine by me, Abby,” Eli said, glancing from her to me. He wouldn't look at my eyes.

She smiled, not noticing the weird tension between the boy and I. “Splendid! Elias is a great teacher, Marina, you'll pick up on the choreography quickly. How familiar are you with the song Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5?”

“Very.” The song was only on the radio eleven million times a day.

“Perfect, that's one of the songs were doing,” the redheaded girl said. “Oh, and we're also trying to think of an intro, just something less than thirty seconds that someone can sing as everybody else gets on stage. Whoever thinks of it, sings it. So be thinking about that, okay?”

As she said this, all the kids filed up on stage, getting into their places. Elias gestured for me to come over towards him, and I did.

“What brings you back in town?” He asked quietly as Abigail passed out sheet music.

“Mom's working at Russell's.” I didn't look at him, since he wouldn't look at me, but God, was it killing me to not meet his eyes. “So we came back. What got you into the theater?”

I could hear the wry smile in his voice. “A good friend of mine told me I'd be good at it, so I tried out. She was right.”

Of course I was. Elias wasn't the only one who knew a lot. Yet standing there on a stage next to him, not even daring a glance at each other, I got the sinking suspicion that I might not know anything about him anymore.