Please Don't Tell (26 page)

             
             
             
             
Chapter Twenty-four

             
On Monday we headed home from school. He shifted in his seat. “All right, what’ll it be?”

             
“Any one of those if fine,” I smiled, starting the engine. Then he looked over at me and asked, “If you had one song that reminded you of me what would it be?”

             
“Well, is that your question of the day?” I asked, teasingly.

             
He nodded.

             
I thought for a minute, ransacking my brain for anything to come to me. “I actually need to pass on this one, but not because I don’t want to answer. I do. I just don’t really have an answer.” I shrugged, “I never really thought of that.“Why?” I asked, turning. “Now that you have me a little curious. Do you have a song that makes you think of me?” I said, waving my hand at him. “And, before you ask, yes it’s my question,” I said, briefly smiling at him.

             
He grinned. “I do. But, you may not understand it or even ever heard of it.”

             
“Hit me with it.” I told him as I turned the radio down. I was now dying to know what song he was thinking of. God, I hope it’s something sweet and romantic.

             
He leaned back resting his head against the back of the seat. “It’s called Sex and Candy by Marcy’s Playground.”

             
I swear as he said it my mouth fell into my lap. “Sex and Candy are you serious? That sounds awful. Why would you think of me when listening to that?”

             
He laughed out loud. “Well, when I first saw you at the island, that’s the song that popped into my head.” He paused and shot up his eyebrows. “That bathing suit left very little to the imagination.” He shrugged, It’s kind of just stayed with me.”

             
“Please tell me you have this so I can listen to it?”

             
“Not on me, but back at the house I do. Trust me, it’s not as bad as you think. You should actually take it as a compliment,” he said, eyeing me up and down.

             
Now, of course, as he held my hand the only thing I wanted to do was go home and find that damn song. All these different images were swirling around inside of my head. What the hell did sex and candy mean? How were they even related to one another? Did he want to eat candy while having sex with me? Was I supposed to be the candy?

             
Pulling slowly into my driveway, I stepped out of my car. I lingered by the car door waiting for him, when he came over and dropped his bag. His arms went around me, pressing me up against my car and kissed me one final time before we’d have to enter the house.  Austin already knew, and my mom would probably still be at work, so I kissed him deeper, placing my hands into the back pockets of his jeans.

             
As he pulled back slightly I glanced over to the house, noticing the blinds drawing down.

             
“Shit, my Mom,” I said holding on to the handle of my door. “Oh, God, I think she just saw us.”

             
He gently pulled them back in front of me. “Relax, Sophie. Your mum is pretty cool, she might be all right with it.” He said, casually intertwining our fingers.

             
Oh.My.God! What am I going to say to her? I thought to myself.

             
I started toward the house, Ethan trailed behind with the bags. I turned looking at him. “Well, I guess I’m about to find out.”

             
He nodded and looked unsure about it just as much as I did.

             
I turned the knob to open the door, and expected to see her standing there tapping her feet on the wooden floor, but she wasn’t. Phew!
             
Shrugging off my coat, I hung it up on the peg.  I flinched when she yelled out, “Sophie, could you please come upstairs?”

             
I shrugged at Ethan. “Here goes nothing.”

             
Taking my time walking up the stairs, panic started to sink in with each step. What if she refused to allow this? What if she sent him home early? What if? Her door was wide open when I approached. With her phone in her hand she paced back and forth.

             
She waved me in, then one minute later dropped the phone down on her blue quilt. Then as started to walk back to the hall, she asked,“Sophie, do you want to explain what I just saw outside?” She peered out the door glancing from side to side. As I started to make my way onto the edge of the edge bed, she shut the door.

             
“Uh, that depends.What did you see?” I asked.

             
“Don’t play dumb with me, Sophie.” She walked over to her vanity chair and pulled it out. She didn’t sit, she just rocked it back and forth waiting for an answer. When I said nothing, she chimed in,“You and I have a very open relationship about these things. I expect an honest answer. How long?”

             
I couldn’t look at her. I was petrified of what was going to happen next. She’d always been open to the subject of boys and talked to me endlessly about being a teenage girl today, but never about one living in the same house.“Not real long, ever since my knee injury it kind of started into something.”

             
We both looked over as the tapping sound came from the hallway.

             
My mom turned facing the door. “Austin, I’ll be down in a minute.” She said, calmly.

             
“Actually, it’s Ethan. Austin’s not home, yet,” he said, through the closed door.

             
She stood up and crossed the room and opened the door. “Well, since this involves you too, you might as well.” She gestured for him to sit down, pointing to the bed. He grabbed my hand as he sat down next to me. “Mrs. Gerrard, I mean Charlotte. I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” he pauses and squeezed my hand. “But, I just have to say that I’m glad you did.”

             
She glared at him. “I’m happy that you think so, Ethan. However I wish I’d been informed of this earlier.”

             
“Mom,” I cried out.

             
She held her hand up to stop me from going further. “Sophie, please.” She looked back at Ethan. “How am I supposed to handle this? And your mother, what I am supposed to say to her?”

             
“I just want you to understand...” he started.

             
“Understand what? That I’ve treated you like a son from the start. If I had any idea that this,” she said, pointing to both of us. “Was going on, I wouldn’t have allowed it.” She sat down and dropped her head into her hands. She looked up at the both of us and said, “Or, at least I would have had set some ground rules that you two needed to abide by.”

             
I stood up and crossed the room to meet her. I squatted down in front of her and rested my hands on her knees. “Mom, nothing has changed. I promise.” I wiped away the tear that started to fall with my other hand. “I... I mean Ethan and I are serious. I love him.”

             
She brushed my hand aside. “Sophie, please you’re only seventeen, you have no idea what love is.”

             
“I do. And, don’t tell me I can’t because you and Daddy split up. You were only nineteen when you two fell in love and started a family.”

             
“So what, you’re ready to start a family at seventeen? Is that what you’re saying?”

             
“If I could...” Ethan interjected, but we both cut him off with a wave of the hand. And he backed off.

             
“No, mom. I have no intentions of that and you know it. It’s a relationship pure and simple. We’re not having sex.”

             
I turned just in time to see Ethan flop back down onto the bed. “Charlotte, please? Sophie means a lot more to me than that. I really need you to understand this.”

             
She glanced at me, then back to Ethan. “Ethan, could you please leave us for a moment?”

             
He exhaled loudly as he walked over to the door, and shrugged. “I’m sorry,” he told her, before leaving us alone.

             
“Sophie Anne as you know I’ve always been up front with you. Now you need to explain everything and I mean everything, young lady.”

             
I heaved a deep sigh and leaned back onto the bed. Tucking my hands behind my head I stared at the ceiling fan trying to decide what to say.

             
At least a full hour had gone by of going back and forth before she finally stood up and said, “Okay, I get it. I love Anna and her sister, but I’m not so sure how I feel about this, Sophie.” She said, crossing her arms and walking toward the door. “There will need to be some ground rules for the rest of his visit. You do understand this?”

             
Nodding, I said, “Of course. But, can I ask you something?”

             
Her hand had already been wrapped around the knob of her door. She paused and waited.

             
“Do you think this can work out? I mean the two of us...the long distance thingy?”

             
She walked back to the bed and sat down next to me. “It’ll be hard. I’m not going to lie to you. You know why we moved here all those years ago. I knew if I stayed behind with you... I just didn’t think monthly visits would help our relationship. No matter how strong it had been at the time,” she said, as she brushed my hair back with her finger.

             
“Yeah, I know. That’s what I was afraid of.”

             
“Sophie, I’m not saying it can’t work if you both really want it, but you’re both young and things change so fast. He may be out one night and meet someone at the pub or you may meet someone later at school or when you’re off to college.”

             
“What if I went over there next year? Maybe I could do an exchange program and live with Aunt Anna and Peter.”

             
“Well, that could be possible, but that’s only six months. What happens when you come home and he’s still in London?”

             
“I haven’t thought that far ahead, yet. I haven’t even mentioned it to Ethan.”

             
She leaned over and kissed my forehead. “Let’s just see what happens.” She pulled back, tilting my chin up. “Okay?”

             
I smiled. “Okay.”

             
This was the one part where my parents differentiated. My mom had always been the level headed, hear everything through until she makes her final decision. My father was more of a short-tempered- this-will-never happen kinda guy. He never was too keen on a seventeen year old boy living with us, but accepted it because my mom assured him no funny business was going to happen. I couldn’t help but cringe having that thought. What was he going to say when he found out? He hated being so far away from all of us for reasons such as this. He wanted to be in the loop, but the problem was he could never handle his little girl growing up.

             
As she crossed the room, I followed her out and into Ethan’s room. He was lying on his bed, his one arm behind his neck, his other holding a book in his hand. How could he read at a time like this?

             
My mom said, “Ethan.”

             
He looked at her and then looked at me, tucking a bookmark into his book before placing it next to him. “Yes?”

             
“I’m so sorry about what you’ve been through with your father and I am glad my daughter was able to see you through it all, but there will be some ground rules. I expect both of you to follow while under this roof.”

             
We both said, “Of course.”

             
She paced for several seconds as she moved around the room. She stopped and turned. “First, when I travel, I expect the two of you to behave and not take advantage of the situation. There is a young boy in this house. Second, certain displays of affection are not permitted in front of Austin. Hand holding, a kiss here or there...is fine, but nothing more. And third, please be careful. I’m not a stupid woman. I know what goes on between teenagers.”

             
I bit down on my lip lightly. “Are you going to tell Dad?”

             
Her eyes shifted from Ethan to me. “No. You are. If you’re big enough to have an adult relationship, you’re big enough to handle your father,” She said. “Are we both clear?”

             
Ethan stood up, crossed the room and hugged my mom. “Crystal.”