Please Don't Tell (5 page)

             
Mrs. Watson huffed softly. “Peter prefers the upscale life versus slumming it these days.” She shot an it’s her fault look at Claire.

             
I pulled out the chair and grabbed a bottle of water out of a bowl that was placed in the center of the table. “Oh, I thought we were staying the night?” I dreaded the thought of spending another week sandwiched between the three of them. I wanted to swim and have fun like the rest of them, but wanted to do it poolside sipping fruity virgin drinks with cute little umbrellas dangling from them, without watching Peter and Claire play tonsil hockey.

             
The screech of the chair pushing back on the tiled floor forced me to look up and in the direction of Ethan. My mother stood up as well. “Soph, if they go we go. I only get to see Anna once or twice a year.”

             
I twisted the cap of the bottle and tossed it into the waste basket. Slam dunk! “That’s fine with me. I want to go back.”

             
What’s another week watching Peter and Claire going to hurt, right? If it wasn’t here it would be at the hotel. I would just try my best to avoid all three of them, hang with my mom and her friends. If I had to, I’d just stay in the room all day and watch movies...whatever it took, I would make this vacation work.

             
             
             
             
             
Chapter 5

             
Everyone had been loaded onto the speedboat except me. Nervously, I’d paced back and forth on the dock biting my fingernails as the driver waved me on. This was going to be easier said than done. My foot reached over the ledge of the boat as I pushed off forcing myself on it. Glancing to the rear, my mother had already taken her spot in between Anna and Colleen. Ethan, Peter and Claire had been sitting in the front. Claire had her arm draped across Peter’s shoulder, his hand noticeably high on her thigh. Which quite frankly was beginning to infuriate me how he hadn’t felt the need to explain anything to me yet. Ethan flashed me one his cute little grins and patted the seat next to him.

             
“C’mon, Sophie come sit up front with us?” He said, more like an order versus a question. My mother babbled on about her job and how she had to travel a lot this year and wouldn’t be home as much as in the past. I wanted to slither in between Peter and Claire, but in the end, I grabbed the seat next to her. Claire felt like she needed to chat with me the whole way. She went on and on about how she’d never been to the states before and how she had met Peter. My Peter. I smiled and pretended to enjoy the conversation, not wanting Peter to ever know how much he’d crushed me.

             
As I glanced over to Ethan, his eyebrows shot up at my choice of seats, but I was not about to sit next to him. Babbling my secrets to Ethan made me nervous and I desperately wanted to talk to my best friend. So, I made a mental note to phone Val from the room phone when we got back. My poor cell phone was probably in the belly of some fish at this point or rotting away at the bottom of the ocean. I sighed heavily and dropped my head into my hands, wishing for the time to go faster.

             
As we sped ahead I stretched my legs forward attempting to listen to the conversation my mother seemed so interested in. Unfortunately, the roar of the engine diluted everything and I was unable to make it out. Ethan and Peter arguing over some football match, which bored the heck out of me. So, instead I chose to focus on my mother and her friends. My hair blew all over the place, my shirt lifting from the sheer force of the wind. I held it down with one hand and my other held my hair into a messy bun for the rest of the ride wondering what my mother had been talking about.

             
We finally reached St. Thomas just shy of two hours after we departed from our island adventure and we were all exhausted. I couldn’t wait to get back to my room and take a warm bath, call Val, and smother my lips with Chapstick. I had been on the verge of a break down when my call to Val went straight to her voicemail. I had to call her three times to get the entire message across since her machine kept cutting me off. So, I left a detailed message of everything that went down.

             
Over the next forty-eight hours I’d managed to avoid certain people like planned. I went into town and did some light shopping with my Mom and her friends. We even rented motor scooters and rode up and down the shoreline. Once we even stopped at a little clam shack and ate dinner. I even started having a little fun hanging out with just the girls. Of course, Claire declined not wanting to leave Peter alone; which is why I probably started having fun in the first place.

             
A few days later, as I walked I found the sweetest spot on the beach. A huge palm tree had been leaning over with its trunk so big you could perch on top of it. Coconuts hung from its green leaves. The other perfect part was that I’d be all alone. The sand that sifted through my toes was warm as a made my way over. The other guests were sprawled out by the pool or on lounge chairs a good fifty feet away from me.  My hand ran over the tree feeling the rough spiky texture, as I continued walking away from the hustle and bustle of the other guests and placed my towel onto the sand. Flipping over onto my stomach, and listening to my iPod, I started to tap my fingers along side of me. Music blasted into my ears just how I liked it. My eyes closed instantly. My fingers played with the sand, letting it trickle through my fingers. I was just starting to drift off when a rush of cold water jolted me.

             
I shrieked and squinted up at him. “What the hell?”

             
Ethan stood over me, the sun shone down on his face as he held a plastic cup tipped over in his hand. He flashed a quick devious smile. “Are you avoiding me?”

             
Grabbing my towel, I stood up and shook off the sand in his direction hoping to get some in his eye, but his height played to my advantage. “Are you kidding? What are you five-years-old soaking me like that?”

             
Ethan sank into the sand right next to where I had been lying and yanked on my towel, pulling it out of my hands.

             
“I’m not going to tell any of your silly secrets, Sophie. Relax.” His feet wedged further into the sand as he leaned back and tucked my towel under his head and grinned.

             
With one hand on my hip, I stood and took a step forward, glaring. “In case you didn’t get the message, I was trying to be alone for a little while.”

             
He tilted his sunglasses up exposing his heavily lashed eyes. “You don’t like me do you?” I wanted to say that he’d been correct since I’ve despised him my whole life, but the truth was that I didn’t hate him anymore. There was a little part of me that wanted to open up to him. He’d changed. Sure he could still get under my skin like before, but it was different this time. And what bothered me most was that I couldn’t quite place my finger on why.

             
“It’s not that. I just...” I took a breath. “I just thought this trip was going to be different this year.”

             
He sat up. “It is different. I’m here. That’s different. Our little escapade the other day-- that was certainly different.” Then he scratched his chin and laughed. “Or, are we talking about Peter different?”

             
“Why do you keep bringing up Peter?”

             
He rubbed the scruff on his chin. “Ah, I’m guessing you weren’t expecting Claire or me for that matter? You know Pete and Claire have been together for only six months or so, maybe if you do some more bending over in front of him you could still persuade him.”

             
“God, you’re still such a jerk!” I yelled, and stormed off down the beach.

             
“A jerk.” He yelled out. “Is that what I get for saving your life? You might want to get used to me...I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other real soon.”

             
I didn’t turn around. I didn’t stop until I was back at the pool. The nerve of him, like I could persuade Peter. Could I? No, No, No, I would not do that.  Peter was too good in my eyes, too good for me to cause him any pain. If he liked Claire so be it. He could have her. Vacation was over in a few days and I’d hoped to never see Ethan again. If and when we visited London, I would avoid him at all costs.

             
My mother and her friends were all huddled at a table by the pool with drinks in their hands. The fruity kind with little umbrellas that adorned cherries and pineapples. I was glad to see my mother having a good time with her friends. She seemed to miss Anna more than she missed my father; something that I’d grown accustom to. I strolled over and pulled out a seat to sit down beside them.

             
“So, what are we talking about?”

             
Aunt Anna snapped her fingers at the waitress when she came into a view a second later. “Sophie order something frilly and fruity, will you?”

             
I stared out to the pool briefly and watched Peter and Claire. He had her backed up into the corner of the pool, arms around her and whispering something that made her laugh. I quickly looked away. “I’ll have what they’re having.”

             
My mother chimed in, “Another round and make hers a virgin please.”

             
The waitress nodded and turned away.

             
“Gee, thanks, Mom.”

             
“Sophie stop being so ridiculous. You’re only sixteen.”

             
“Almost seventeen,” I murmured.

             
Mrs. Chapman placed her empty glass down. “Well, I really can’t thank you enough Charlotte, it’s all Ethan can talk about. He’s wanted to do this for some time now, and it’s just a brilliant idea.”

             
I was only half listening to their conversation. I tried desperately not to stare at Peter in the pool, but my eyes kept getting the best of me. What? Why was she thanking my mother? I shook my head trying to get the last image out of my head. Peter and Claire thought it apparently was okay to give everyone a little show in the pool.

             
I leaned my elbow on the table and turned to my mother. “Mom, what is Mrs. Chapman talking about?”

As she pulled her lips away from her straw she looked over to Anna and then back to me. “Honey, it’s really nothing,” Mom said, as she pushed a plate of fruit toward me. “I was going to talk to you about it later.”

             
“Mom, if it’s nothing let’s talk about it now,” I demanded.

             
“Ethan was looking into a semester abroad and in the interest of killing two birds with one stone, I offered our house.” She plucked a grape off the plate and popped into her mouth.

             
She did not just say what I think she said? Did she?

             
“You can’t be serious?”

             
“Well, you know I have a ton of traveling to do with work this year and instead of getting someone to help all the time...well Ethan would be able to help.” She paused and then added, “If it’s all right with you, that is?” Ah, no it’s not all right I wanted to scream. I just wanted to go back to my normal life.

             
I glanced away. Above the bar I noticed a huge stuffed marlin I tired to focus on. “Well, it sounds like it’s already a done deal. Were you going to even ask me how I feel about a boy living with us?”

             
Mrs. Chapman cleared her throat and grabbed her drink off the waitress’s tray. “Of course, Sophie if you don’t feel comfortable with my son we could figure something else out.”

             
I can’t believe this is happening? Ethan in my house. Ethan at my school. Ethan sharing a bathroom. Ethan who knows everything about me.

             
“I thought maybe Val and I could hang out when you’re gone. Or what about Grandma?”

             
“Honey, Valerie cannot sleepover that much. It’s not fair to ask her to, and Grandma will be there when I can’t, but you know how she is. She isn’t getting around that great these days.”

             
“Val doesn’t mind and her parents don’t either.”

             
Aunt Anna glanced back and forth from her sister to my mother and then to me. “This is a fabulous opportunity for Ethan, Sophie. It would just be so much easier than finding a place that suits him. He loves to ski, maybe you could take him with you and do fun things together. You’ll have a ball with him. He’s utterly delightful and a very well behaved boy.”

             
Well behaved my ass.

             
I looked at my mother. “When did this happen?” I had so many questions I wanted to ask. Why the hell would Ethan want to come stay with us? Why New York? Why me?

             
“Oh, Sophie stop being so dramatic. We discussed it the other day in Yost.” She started to suck on her straw then pulled her mouth away. “Besides, this is really not that big of a deal. It could be fun for you. You could show him around and help him through school. Have him meet some of your friends. They’d love him.”

             
I quickly shot her a look. “I really don’t think they’ll have anything in common.”

             
“Are you serious? You really don’t want to help out an old friend?”

             
“It’s your old friend, not mine,” I huffed, as I shifted in my chair.

             
“No need for the attitude.”

             
Mrs. Chapman grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her. “Sophie, this would mean the world to me and Ethan. Could you please consider it? It really is a win-win situation. He’s had a lot to deal with lately. He really needs this.”

             
Apparently I wasn’t going to have a say or win this war.

             
I dropped her hand and stood up. “Like what? What happened?” All three pairs of eyes glanced at each other before my mother told me to sit back down. “Ethan lost his father. He was in a car accident and is having a very difficult time with it. It’s been a little over a year, but we’re all a little worried about him,” Ethan’s mother said.