We Keep Ourselves A Secret

The dim yellow sun was just peaking up over the horizon, as the dark street surrounding me started to mix with light. I glanced at the small alarm clock sitting on my dresser, it was 7 am. I hadn't slept much that night; I was too deep in thought to get more than an hour or so. I kept replaying the day's events over and over again in my head, trying to figure out who had left that note. Of course I had a big feeling it was gorgeous boy, but I couldn't be to sure. He seemed confident in himself, but that could always just be an act. And how could he, or anyone else for that matter, have managed to slip the post-it into my notebook without my mother noticing?

I rolled over onto my side, sighing. I brushed away the thoughts and instead tried my hardest to get a little more sleep. My mother was planning on taking me out shopping later that day. If I didn't get more sleep, I'd never make it through. By the time I had comfortably settled in beneath my covers, there was a small knock on my door. From out in the hall my mother spoke just loud enough for me to hear.

"Hon, wake up. We have to get an early start if we want to get everything you need."

I sighed and yelled a quick "I'm up.", before she had the chance to knock again. I pushed the covers off my head and made my way out of the bed. Opening my drawers, I searched through my clothes, trying to decide what to wear. Not caring as much as I should have, I pulled out a bright pink "Barbie" shirt my best friend had bought me for Christmas last year, and pulled it over my head. Then, I grabbed the tight black pants I had thrown on the floor from last night, and pulled them on. I glanced quickly at my reflection, and gave my hair a quick fix before making my way into the kitchen where my mom was cooking breakfast.

The smell of bacon and pancake batter was strong and almost overwhelming, but I smiled as I took a seat at the small pink and white kitchen table, and she placed a plate full of food in front of me. I was hardly hungry, in fact, my stomach was full of nerves, making me feel nauseas, but I took a few small bites just to please her.

"You don't have to eat it all, don't worry. I just wanted to cook you a nice breakfast for the first time." She smiled as she took a seat across from me and took a sip of her steaming coffee. "Didn't know what you liked most, so I cooked it all." She laughed.

I gave her a smile between a mouthful of food. "Thanks mom, it's really good." I took a few more bites, finishing half of it.

She gave me a small smile before setting her cup down on the table. "I'll go finishing getting ready, just gotta throw on some clothes." She glanced down at herself, showing me that she was wearing pajamas and a batter stained robe.

I nodded my head as I cleaned off the table and put away the remains from breakfast. I called a taxi then and told the guy to pick us up in 10 minutes. Hopefully that was enough to time for her to finish, girls didn't take that long, did they?

Apparently, they didn't. Five minutes later my mom was dressed in sleek black pants, and a white knit top. Her make-up was done up nicely, making her blue eyes pop out.

"You look nice, mom." I smiled. "Ready?"

She looked down at herself, again, and smiled. "Really? Thanks, hon. Now let me just get a cup of coffee to go and call the taxi-"

"Done and done." I smiled handing her the coffee I had poured seconds before. "And I already called the taxi they should be here any minute now."

"Was I blessed with a perfect son, or what?" She laughed, taking the cup out of my hand and peaking out the window.

"Yep, aren't you lucky?" I joked as I took a seat on the couch.

"He's here." She announced, just as I had started to doze again. I opened my eyes and hoped off the couch, following her out of the house and into the dim light outside. It was snowing slightly, and I noticed that there wasn't a car left on the street. No one was outside either. It almost looked like a scene from Silent Hill. My mom didn't seem to notice though, or maybe she was just used to it. Either way, with a smile she hopped into the back of the taxi, greeting the driver with another smile. I followed her cautiously, a little freaked out by the scenery. She must have noticed how I was feeling because a few seconds after the driver pulled away, she asked what was wrong.

"Ever see silent Hill?" I asked instead of answering.

She shook her head no with a confused expression playing across her face.

"Well, were buying that today then." I told her. "Our street looks like a scene right out of that movie."

It wasn't that I was afraid or anything. But come on, who wouldn't be even a little uneasy at the thought of living on a Silent Hill lookalike street.

After a 10 minute drive through town, we pulled up the huge Berkeley Mall and stepped out of the yellow cab. My mom paid the driver as I looked around at the scene in front of me. Even though I had been to Berkeley before with friends, I had never been to the mall. It was huge, bigger than any mall I'd ever come across before. It looked almost out of place, sitting on a huge acre of paved land, just in the middle of nowhere. There were other buildings placed here and there, but after that, it was just highway. It was pretty though. The huge building that went on with different curves and sections was made a different colored stone, giving it an old century look from far away. As we made our way into the heated food court, I noticed a big map placed in the far right corner. I knew it was my mothers first time here as well, so we both walked over without question. I looked around the map, searching for my favorite stores, and trying to memorize how to get to each of them, as my mother waited patiently.

Once I was sure that I definitely knew how to get to Hot Topic, (cliché much? Who cares, they have awesome clothes) my mother and I started to make our way there. It was a long way, up a flight of stairs, down the right side of the mall and through a door that led to the front side, but when we got there, I knew it was worth it. The Hot Topic was huge, almost as big as my house. The inside was brightly lit with about 50 small ceiling lights showing off the different racks of clothes, music, and accessories. I was amazed as I walked in and headed to the first section I noticed; Batman. Unlike most parents, my mother looked as if she fell in love at first site too. She mumbled something to me about checking out the back, and disappeared from view. I didn't mind though. I was already stacking my arms with different Batman shirts and heading for the aisle of brightly colored shirts. I picked out every shirt that caught my attention; a gray shirt with a green and blue dinosaur, a blue shirt with headphones and music notes on the side, another gray shirt with a red heart on the front, and just about 10 other similar shirts I had fallen in love with. Of course I didn't expect my mother to pay for all of this, that’s why I had brought with me the 500 dollars I had managed to save with the jobs I had gotten over summer. I knew by the time I had left this mall, there would be nothing left of it.

As I looked around, I noticed the most amazing pair of pants I had ever laid eyes on. They were purple and black checkered tight skinny leg pants. I knew right away, that I had to have them. In my child like excitement, I rushed over readying myself to grab them, just as another guy that looked around my age pulled the last pair of the hook.

"Come on, man. Do you seriously need those?" I asked pissed that he had grabbed them before I could.

He looked from me, to the pile of clothes I held in my arm and back to me again before he laughed. "Do you seriously need them? Looks like you've bought half the store already."

I rolled my eyes and mumbled whatever before walking away. I'd just have to get them another time.

The guy must have felt bad, because a few seconds later he was by my side, pulling on my arm to get my attention. "I'm sorry, look you can have them. I have enough pants anyway." He took the pants and placed them over my clothe covered arm then gave me a friendly smile. "They'd look better on you then me anyway."

I looked at him for a minute, confused as to why he was being so nice, but decided not to put any thought into it. Some people were just like that out of nature. He was wrong though, I thought, as I looked him up and down. There was no way those pants would look better on me then they would on him. He had messy blonde hair that was pushed to side so it didn't block his line of vision. He was wearing blue skinny leg jeans, with a faded red checkered shirt covering his torso. His eyes were a deep brown, which twinkled slightly when he smiled. He was definitely good looking.

"You seriously don't want them?" I asked, tearing away my gaze.

He nodded his head, "Yeah, take them. I'm positive."

I gave him a small smile as I pushed the hair out of my eyes with a shake of my head. "Thanks man."

I didn't know what to say other then that so I searched for the counter and made my way towards it. He didn't seem like he thought the conversation was over though, because he followed close behind me the whole way there. When I reached the empty counter, I set the pile of clothes on top it, and waited to see what he wanted. Instead of saying another word, he stepped behind the counter, and with an amused smile, started to ring the clothes up.

"You work here?" I questioned, a little embarrassed now at the attitude I had given him. I wouldn't have been so rude if I hadn't of missed his damn nametag.

He laughed. "Wouldn't have given you the pants if I didn't, I can always order myself a pair, you on the other hand, can't."

I laughed just slightly, feeling a bit awkward now. I searched around for my mom, but she was nowhere in site. It didn't matter much though; I'd just pay for this load with my own money. I reached in my back pocket and pulled out a couple hundred dollar bills, as I waited for him to finish bagging everything.

He was quick with his movements, shoving clothes in the black and red Hot Topic bags, and already ringing up more. As he did this in a very organized manner, he started to talk. "So, I've never seen you around before." He stated obviously.
I nodded my head, but realizing he wasn't looking at me, I said "Yeah, I just moved in with my mom so I haven't been to this mall before."

He took in a breath and nodded. "Ahh, I see. What school you going to?"

I looked at him for a minute before answering. "I' m registering for Berkeley High Monday."

He stopped ringing and banging for a second to look at me. "Seriously? I go there! What grade are you in?"

"11th, you?" I questioned, as he finished ringing up the last shirt.

"Same," He answered as he placed the shirt into the bag, handing me the 2 filled bags over the counter. "I could definitely show you around before you start if you want. My dad works there so I have a key to the school."

I nodded my head with a bright smile. "That would definitely be helpful, but uh, why are you being so nice?" I was definitely confused with this kid. He didn't even know me and yet he was offering to show me around school?

Just as he was about to answer, my mom showed up. With all the time she was taking, I was surprised to see she hadn't picked out everything in the store.

"How'd you pay for all that?" She questioned, peeking inside the filled bags. "I would have gotten it."

"I saved up money, and its fine. Let's just go." I gave the guy a quick look as my mom mumbled a confused alright and we started to head out of the store. Before I got far, the guy was behind me again, this time handing me a small receipt with his name and number scribbled across it. He smiled at me, and I smiled back before placing it in my back pocket and following my mom out of the store.

So Evan was definitely really cute.