Please Don't Tell (2 page)

             
“I thought that they lived in Australia?” I was absolutely positive they lived there, why the hell were they here? I hadn’t seen Ethan since his family stopped meeting us for our vacations years ago. Aunt Anna and her sister had some falling out was all I’d been told.  I can honestly say I’d hoped to never see him again. The last several times I did, he teased me relentlessly. Even came up with a clever nickname for me. Or, at least he thought it was clever. Of course, Peter would always tell him to bug off and leave me alone.

             
“She did. They moved to London last year to be closer to the family. Didn’t Peter tell you?”  I wanted to scream NO, Peter seems to leave a lot out these days. Like Ethan, or the redhead he can’t seem to stop gushing over.
             

             
Realizing that my chances with Peter had come to a grinding halt, I forced a smile. I wanted to look my best for him. I bought several new outfits, a new suit and I even tanned before I came. I know, I know, tanning beds are bad for you, but what’s a girl to do? I had been desperate trying to figure out why he’d been so distant on the phone. And I was desperate for another kiss. So, here I am left hanging out with Ethan, Peter and his newfound love.

             
Ethan, I sighed to myself. I remembered him.  If memory served me well, he was the obnoxious little boy who would trip me in the park when I was little.  He was the boy who thought it would be funny to hide an inchworm in my sandwich and laugh when it dangled from my mouth. He was the boy who thought it would be hysterical to give me a whitewash on a ski vacation. My face was cold and red for an hour after he’d done it. I can still remember Peter pulling him off of me, and shoving Ethan’s face down into the snow. Then he looked back to me and smiled, giving me a reassuring wink. I think that’s when I truly fell in love with Peter. Ethan also came up with a little nickname and starting calling me So-So. He told me it was short for Sophie, but also because I was only so-so good looking.  Did I remember Ethan?

             
Hell, yes! How could I forget him?

             
I hadn’t seen Ethan since I’d been around thirteen-years-old and visiting London with my parents. We had all gone to Scotland for a few days to go skiing. The day before our trip ended, we’d all been back in London hanging out in the park. It had been sunny one minute and then it rained down on us the next. I ran through the wet grass with my shoes off and Ethan fell a step behind before catching up to me. Once he did, he had twirled me around causing me to lose my balance and I fell. I had turned on my back when he landed on top of me, both of us panting; we were out of breath. His eyes grew serious for a moment when I suddenly thought he would lean down and kiss me, but instead he pushed off and stood. He reached for my hand, but I had just pushed it away. He avoided me the rest of that day.  That was the last time I saw him and had hoped to never lay eyes on Ethan Chapman again.

             
As we approached them lounging poolside, I stared down at the three of them.  In that one quick moment I knew I had two options. I could go with plan A or think of a plan B. I knew I would be sinking to a whole new low by continuing with plan A, since he’d brought someone. I could do a Plan B if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to be stuck hanging out with Ethan...heck, I didn’t even want to look at Ethan.  I wanted Peter.  It also didn’t escape my attention that Peter was not wearing his glasses. The glasses that I’d loved so much. Yes, Ethan had grown into someone surprisingly as adorable as Peter, but different. Not different in a bad way--just not  my Peter.

             
In fact, Ethan was the complete opposite. His light blonde locks had gotten darker since the last time that I saw him, with a few sun-kissed streaks running throughout.  A very noticeable scar that ran through his left eyebrow that made him somehow more sexy. I quickly studied his physique, obvious long legs that hung down from the lounge chair which meant he grew. Grew a lot since I’d seen him last and he definitely looked like he belonged to a gym. There was no way you could get a body like that without putting in some serious hours. I couldn’t help but wonder if he remembered our last time together.

             
I watched as Peter placed his drink down, then stood up. “Sophie, you’re finally here,” he smiled. He grabbed me by the waist, pulling me into his arms. My feet dangled as he held me. I snuggled up as close as I could, my face lingering at his neck. The embrace didn’t last as long as I hoped. He placed me back down. “I have someone I want you to meet.” Was he serious? The last person on the planet I wanted to meet was someone who he’d been shacking up with. Every hope and dream I’d ever had was being crushed right in front of me. How could he not care? How could he look at me and not realize how much he was hurting me by bringing her.

             
I could have stood there all day with his arms wrapped around me. Would people notice if I hadn’t let go of him? I’m sure the redheaded-bikini-wearing model type lying in front of me would notice.

             
“Sophie...Claire. Claire...Sophie.”

             
She jumped right out of the blue lounge chair, grabbing a hold of me pecking each one of my cheeks. “Sophie, it’s so good to finally meet you. Peter and Anna have told me all about you and your mother. Peter says you’re like the sister he never had.” Did she just say Anna? Hmm, I guess she’s on a first name basis. Whatever happened to respecting your elders? Wait, back up...did she just say sister? Yeah, if kissing your sister on the beach is normal.  This trip had disaster written all over it with a capital D.

             
I felt Peter’s hand grab mine. “It’s been awhile, but you remember Ethan right, Soph?”

             
I nodded as I looked over in Ethan’s direction. His eyes roamed my body in a way that made me extremely uncomfortable. He had a funny grin on his face like he was picturing me naked or something. Which made me nervous and caused me to shift needlessly. Was he happy to see me? Was he nervous? Was he actually picturing me naked? I couldn’t tell. I forced another fake smile as Ethan stood, towering over both of us. “Hi, Ethan. It’s good to see you.” I lied.

             
He grinned and winked. “It’s really good to see you too, So-So.”

             
And there it was.

             
And, why did he emphasize the really part?

             
He clearly remembers how he tortured me by calling me that and did he seriously just wink at me like we’ve been friends all along? I studied him as he plopped back down, resting his arms behind his head. “Brilliant, she’s here so we can finally head off tomorrow to Yost?”

             
I looked back at Peter who didn’t seem the least bit bothered that I was standing in front of him and like nothing happened last year. The whole year I prepared for my next kiss with Peter, obviously he hadn’t been preparing for the same thing.

             
I threw my bag onto the lounge chair. “Where are your glasses, Peter?”

             
He smiled his sweet little smile. “Contacts, and Ethan is referring to the island, Yost Van Dyke. It’s a little island over by Tortola. We all went over there last week for a day trip.”

             
I couldn’t believe he was wearing contacts. He’d adored those glasses as much as I had. Claire had been my only guess as to why the sudden change.

             
Even though my heart was breaking inside I refused to let Peter see me tormented. I was determined to not let him see me break. After a long day poolside and dinner with everyone, I excused myself and spent the first night alone--crying on the beach. Suddenly, my version of paradise had taken a depressing turn for the worse.

             
             
             
             
             
Chapter 2

Two days later, after I’d eyed up Peter every heart wrenching chance I had, we’d all made our way via Ferry to Yost Van Dyke. Once we arrived, our Moms went ahead to secure two bungalows for the day.  This was a small island. A very small island. The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the boat, were beach bars along the shoreline. One right after the other. The one place that stood out, only because it was packed with swaying patrons to the beat of some reggae, was a bar called Foxy’s. I glanced around, Peter and Claire had already started walking off, hand-in-hand. Fabulous! Ethan started ahead, but turned, like I was an afterthought. “You coming?”

             
“I’ll catch up in a minute,” I yelled out. He turned, hoisting his bag even farther up his arm. Once it rested on his shoulder, he moved forward this time without looking back. Flopping onto the beach, I kicked my flip flops off and let the sand filter through my toes. The last two days hadn’t been complete torture. I managed to avoid Ethan, since he spent most of his time on the beach with a six pack of Red Stripe both days, and I conveniently spent mine poolside with my iPod. Listening to everything except what I had downloaded for Peter.

             
The problem with being on such a small island was that there was nowhere to hide. There was no chlorine filled pool with splashing kids and little umbrella drinks being delivered. There was an ocean--a huge ocean and that was it. Not that I was complaining. The water had been impeccably clear, so clear I saw little Nemos swimming everywhere. The problem with this so-called island is that I could’t get away from Peter and Claire. Ethan hadn’t paid me any mind, thank God. Other than the occasional stare and nod gestures. But, I truly thought I’d get sick if I had to watch the lovebirds flaunt themselves any longer. 

             
I’d been sitting in the sand, staring at the ocean when I felt someone watching me. I leaned back casually, placing my hands behind me and wedged them into the sand. With one quick glance over my shoulder my eyes met his. Ethan was staring at me from a white plastic chair sitting at the edge of the bar floor. He had on these God awful bright orange board shorts and tipped the beer in his hand in my direction. My breath hitched momentarily and then I forced my eyes down the beach and stared at Peter and Claire curled up on a blanket together. I was so lost in watching the two of them that I didn’t notice Ethan had moved until he was suddenly behind me.

             
As he plopped on the ground next to me. He nudged my shoulder. “Hey, So-So feel like going for a ride?”

             
I rolled my eyes and scooped up some sand, letting it sift through my fingers. “Not if you’re going to keep calling me that.”

             
“Fair enough,” Ethan said. “I just thought maybe I’d give you a break.” He nodded his head toward the happy couple. “I rented a small boat for a few hours.” Ethan pushed himself up and held out his hand. “I have something I want to show you.”

             
Glancing back down the beach I realized he had had a point. No sense in staying here. I might as well try to have a good time so, I hoisted myself onto my feet. “Sounds great.” I dusted off the sand, grabbing a hold of his hand and let Ethan lead me to the dock.

             
“This is going to be the best trip ever.”  I must have said this sentence quietly and sarcastically to myself a thousand times as I stared into the water that surrounded the creaky little dock we stood on.

             
I hopped into the little boat that Ethan rented for the day. He already sat in the back revving up what sounded like a pathetic engine; if you could even call it an engine. We began our trip to the Amex Island that I apparently had to see or my life wouldn’t be complete. The sky was a crazy shade of blue and the water matched the same crystal-like hue. When I glanced back at Ethan I’d adjusted my wrap a little tighter over my bathing suit. He had been apparently enjoying the view. And, when I say view...I didn’t mean the ocean. He quickly glanced away and shifted the boat to full throttle. I could swear as he turned his head, I saw his mouth curl up into a smug grin. I glanced toward the ocean taking in as much as I could. I had never been over to this remote section of the British Virgin Islands before and had to admit Ethan had been right. It was amazing.

             
“So what’s so great about this island we’re going to?”

             
Ethan smiled at me and I had to admit, it was one hell of a smile that he flashed before he spoke again. “I can’t believe you’ve been coming here all these years with Pete and you haven’t seen The American Express Island. You have to see it, it’s so beautiful,” he paused, looking back at the dock we’d just pulled away from. “Besides, I thought it might give you a break from all the senseless flirting you’re doing with Pete.” Ethan paused then added, “I thought Claire was going to kill you when you started rubbing lotion on his back.” He laughed out loud.

             
It’s true. Yesterday, he’d been lying on the lounge chair and Claire had been God knows where. He looked like he was starting to burn and I was not about to be responsible for him getting sun poisoning. Then, Claire rounded the corner, shot me dagger eyes and jumped into the pool. Peter just looked at me wordlessly and shrugged following her into the pool.

             
“I am not flirting with Peter. Why would you even say that?” I demanded. 

             
“Well, do you normally take a walk on the beach all dolled up? And, please, what about all the bending over to pick up the sunblock, or your drink, or your iPod. You get the picture,” he teased, smiling again.

             
I turned, hugging my arms around myself. “I’m not going there. And, what’s with the beer? I know you’re not eighteen.”

             
“Well, eighteen is the legal drinking age in England and it’s right around the corner.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “So, why not?”

             
I looked back out into the water and decided it was none of my business if he wanted to drink himself into a stupor. “So... American Express owns an island?”

             
He laughed. “No. They call it that because they filmed an advertisement there.”

             
I kept repeating over and over in my head the words my mother said to me one week ago. This is going to be the best trip ever. Yeah, right. I was sitting on a crappy dinghy with the wrong guy. God how I wanted to be sitting here with Peter instead of his know-it-all cousin Ethan.

             
As we moved further along he revved up the engine a little more. I counted at least ten boats not too far away. In fact, the water teemed with speedboats, huge yachts slowly moving their way to wherever they had been going.  I secretly wished I was on one of those instead of trapped out here with him. The sun beat down on us, so I whipped out my sunblock and slathered it all over. I held out my hand. “Do you want some?”

             
He shook his head. “Already lubed up.” He hesitated, then grinned. “Unless you want to do my back for me too?”

             
I rolled my eyes. “Wow! You’re so funny, I almost forgot to laugh. I knew he was making fun of the day before. I refused to let him get to me.

             
We had been out for a good half hour when I glanced down. “Hey, I can see the bottom,” I warned. “You need to go out more.”

             
He revved up the motor and pulled us farther from the shoreline. “No problem.”

             
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a speedboat heading toward us. “Umm, I think we need to get out of the way.” After realizing that they weren’t slowing down or turning, I yelled, “You need to look out.”
             

             
“We’re fine, Sophie...they’ll see us and move,” he spoke calmly.

             
He was right. They did see us, however it didn’t matter. They’d blown by so fast, they didn’t bother taking notice of what had happened. Within seconds the waves started to flow toward us; which didn’t help the rocking and teetering of the crappy little boat we were sitting in. I was about to be sea sick for the first time ever. I hunched over holding my stomach trying to keep everything in and trying not to make a complete fool of myself. Oh, god why did I drink two cups of coffee with goat milk this morning? I thought. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Ethan cupping water into his hands and throwing it overboard. I hadn’t even realized that my feet had been sitting in several inches of water. The waves crashed into the dinghy that I swore up and down was a death trap to begin with. And, boy was I about to let Ethan have it for putting me on this piece of shit boat. But, I didn’t have time. Because it all happened so fast. The little boat we rented from Abe, who by the way, owned everything on this little crap island--was now sinking.

             
And, then I heard the scream come out of my own mouth as the water rushed past my knees, as I watched my own body lift out of the boat, our little dinghy started to make its descent to the bottom of the Caribbean Ocean.

             
Oh, God. Oh, God, NO. Okay, don’t panic, Sophie. Oh, God!

             
We’re sinking. Oh.My.God.

             
I looked back over at Ethan who was grabbing the only life vest and oar floating next to him. I could feel his arms touch me and I heard his voice, but at that point I couldn’t understand what he was saying or doing.

             
My heart pounded in my chest. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t do anything. My legs started fluttering underneath me as fast as they could because the only thing I could think of was sharks and fish....and more sharks. I felt his arms grip me as his feet nipped at mine every few seconds.

             
“Stop. Bloody Hell! Stop flopping about. You’ll attract certain things that trust me, you don’t want to attract,” he said in a stern voice.  I suddenly felt his hand touch my waist, then my thigh. Sinking beneath the waters surface he disappeared below me. I felt his hands run down my thighs, then lower and then his hand grazed my ankle. What the hell was he doing? What was he thinking? This was so not the time for foreplay.

             
“What are you doing?” I yelled out, smacking him as he rose in front of me. His face was so close that I thought he looked as if he was going to kiss me. Just my luck. The wrong face was staring back at me.  His eyes held mine for a second then looked back down.

             
He pulled his hand out of the water, smiling. “Sorry, but we needed this off your ankle. Major fish attractor. They’ll see this sparkling down there from a mile away.” Ethan winked at me like it was no big deal. This guy had some serious issues.

             
I looked down into his hands and saw my gold ankle bracelet wrapped between his fingers.

             
“Just hold on to the vest and swim slowly.”

My eyes searched for the beach, but the only thing I could see were rocks and more rocks.

             
“Where the hell are we supposed to swim to?” I asked, panicking in between breaths.

He smiled and pointed to the exact spot I desperately hoped he wouldn’t suggest.

             
“Are you insane? It’s a cliff of rocks and there are pelicans diving all over the place,” I yelled out.

             
His hands gripped the front of the orange life vest pulling me with him.

             
“There’s a little bit of sand mixed in. Come on. I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me.”

             
How could I not trust him? Something inside of me told me Ethan Chapman had finally grown up. This was an Ethan Chapman I could see myself becoming friends with. I oddly didn’t mind being alone with him for the first time ever. My life was in his hands.

             
“Okay. I trust you.”