Please Don't Tell (27 page)

             
She pulled back, looking surprised but content. “Perfect. Now that that is settled, what should we do for dinner?”

             
This is what I loved about my mother. My friends for the last several years had always said she was the coolest mom around.  I knew she could be, but this one proved everyone right in my eyes. She accepted it and was ready to move on to the next subject. Ethan and I were officially allowed to be a couple.

             
             
             
             
Chapter Twenty-five

             
The entire week following her discovery of our relationship was weird. Every time that she came within a two foot radius I crumbled. If we were holding hands, I dropped his. If he’d been sitting super close to me on the sofa when she walked in, I scooted over two feet. I was so nervous that when Ethan went upstairs to bed, I stayed down in the living room for a good hour after he went up. Sometimes, I would even stay in my mother’s room and watch television with her. All her evening drama shows that I never liked or watched, but did now.

             
It was the first week of May and Ethan had only one month left of his visit. We had spent most of our time together going to the movies, or shopping at the mall. Hanging on my desk was the picture we had taken of ourselves at a little kiosk one Saturday. The kind with three pictures stacked on top of one another. I stared at all three. The first was us staring into each others eyes, the second was him kissing me, and the third was his face buried in the crook of my neck, grinning. I smiled remembering that day as I got ready.  He had insisted on two shots; one for me and one for him to take home. He sat me down on his lap, his face and mine scrunched up together, smiling as the camera clicked away.

             
I pulled it down from the cork and got lost staring at it.

             
“What are you thinking about?” Ethan asked from the hallway.

             
I turned and held up the picture. “You and when we took this.”

             
He smiled. “Ah, that was a good day. Your mum is gone. So can I come in?” Ethan asked.

             
I stood up and crossed the room. He leaned down as I got on my tippy toes  as he kissed me and then pulled away too soon. “Val’s downstairs.”

             
“Oh, shoot. I forgot we made plans to go look for a dress today.”

             
“You’re buying a dress? For what?”

             
“She’s looking for a dress for the prom. I told her I’d help her.”

             
His fingers ran to his chin and he scratched it like he was thinking. “Prom? The dance that everyone is talking about? Is this something you might want to go to?” He asked.

             
My eyes widened. “Umm, well, it would be fun. I didn’t want to say anything.”

             
He smiled. “All right, Sophie. Question of the day...do you want to go to prom with me?”

My arms stretched over his neck and I hugged him tightly.

             
“I’ll take that as a yes.”

             
I kissed every inch of his face, murmuring, “Yes, yes, yes.”

             
Just like that I was going to prom. With Ethan.

             
I turned and grabbed my bag off the corner of my chair. “I’ll see you later. This could take a while,” I said, as I blew him a kiss.

             
“Have fun,” he yelled out as I made my way down the stairs.

             
Val was waiting in the foyer wearing her bright pink tracksuit.

             
I smiled. “Val, I have to tell you something.”

             
“What? You better not be bailing,” She huffed.

             
“Remember at your house and we said no more lies...?”

             
She nodded, suspiciously.

             
“I hate pink on you. There I said it,” I exhaled.

             
She looked down at herself and walked over to the mirror. “Really? I love this color.”

             
“Then wear it and love it, but I just needed to tell you.”

             
She shrugged and smiled at herself in the mirror. “Ready?”

             
“I am,” I said as I opened the door wide. “Guess who’s going to prom?”

             
She squealed before jumping up and down. “Yay! It’s about time. What the hell was he waiting for?”

             
“Me. I think.”

             
The one said thing about our town was the lack of shopping. We had a decent mall and two boutiques to search for the perfect dress. The problem with our mall was that the only real decent store for prom dresses was Lord and Taylor. Hours and hours of scouring, Val found a pale shade of her signature color dress, which actually looked great on her. I couldn’t find anything there, so we headed to the boutique in town. I found a fitted dress with a huge slit up the side in the most beautiful shade of emerald green that I put on hold.

             
When Val dropped me home, I realized I still hadn’t told my father about Ethan. Tonight would have to be the night because I needed to come up with two hundred and fifty dollars for the perfect dress. I knew my mother was good for at least one hundred and I had fifty stuffed in desk drawer, but I needed another hundred to make it work. Which I knew he wouldn’t deny me. At least I hoped.

             
Walking into the kitchen, a note was placed on the table saying they all had gone out for dinner. I paced the room, holding the phone in one hand and chewed on my thumbnail with the other. Reaching into the drawer, I pulled out our address book and dialed his work number.

             
“Hi Daddy,” I said, excitedly.

             
He said, “Sophie, honey. How have you been?”

             
“Great. How are you?” I asked as I fumbled for something to eat in the refrigerator.

             
“I’d be better if you’d come out with your little brother once in a while for a visit. Once a year is just not enough, Soph.”

             
“I know Dad,” I said as I uncovered the leftovers from the night prior.

I plopped the dish into the microwave. “Listen, I umm... I was invited to the prom and I was wondering...”

             
“How much do you need?” He asked, before I could finish.

             
“Like, maybe a hundred or so. I found the perfect dress and I put it on hold.”

             
“Who’s the lucky fella? That Jason kid?” He asked.

             
“Umm, no...Jason and I kind of broke up. I’m actually going with umm... Ethan.”

             
There was silence for a brief minute. I cleared my throat.

             
“Ethan? Not the same Ethan that’s staying with you, right?”

             
Oh, crap. This is not going to go well.

             
“Yeah, actually it is. Ethan and I are kinda dating, sort of like you know...together.”

             
He yelled, “Sophie Anne, what are you thinking? Does your mother know about this? Why am I the last one to find out everything?” He spewed out in one long breath.

             
“Daddy, really it’s not that a big a deal. Mom knows and is totally cool with it,” I said, trying to pin the cool card on mom, hoping he would take the bait.

             
“Your mother knows? Of course, she knows. Of all the blasted bullshit she lets go on, she can’t be serious? I mean really what is she thinking? I knew a seventeen-year old boy was not a good idea even if it is Ann’s nephew.

             
I huffed and then exhaled, “Dad, you’re being a little ridiculous. Don’t you think?”

             
“This is exactly why I hate living three thousand miles away from you.”

             
“Well, whose choice was that?” I said, bitterly.

             
“Sophie,” he said. “I didn’t have a choice and you know that. Listen, honey, just have your mom call me when she gets in. And, I want to talk to Ethan all right?”

             
I rolled my eyes. “Sure. They should be back soon. What about the dress?”

             
“Tell your mother to buy it since she’s the one that’s fine with the two of you.”

             
“Daddy,” I cried out.

             
There was another brief moment of silence. “Fine. Tell your mom to pay for it and I’ll send a check later.” He breathed out heavily into the phone. “I love you, Sophie. You do know that?”

             
“Love you too, daddy. Gotta go, I have some homework to catch up on,” I said, hanging up the phone.

             
I danced and hummed my way out into the foyer and climbed the stairs to my room. I grabbed the picture of Ethan from my desk and gently kissed the image staring back at me. Everything would work out. It just had to.

             
             
             
             
Chapter Twenty-six

             
The night before prom I couldn’t sleep a wink. I was desperate to look my best. I glanced over to my closet at the perfect dress that had been had been pressed and hung from my door. I smiled as I walked over, caressing the silky fabric between my fingers.

             
I pulled the silver heels from the box tucked in the back of my closet and placed them in front of my bed. Peeking into the hallway, I could hear laughter below. Austin and Ethan had been playing Xbox for the last two hours. Two hours of fun Ethan was having, while I paced around looking for the perfect shade of lipstick and eyeshadow for tomorrow night. I needed to look perfect.

             
Finally after I felt I had everything perfectly nailed down, he popped his head into my room. “You’re still awake. I though maybe you’d fallen asleep when you didn’t come down.”

             
“Not likely.” I turned glancing toward my bed. “So did Austin kick your ass again?”

             
He shook his head, laughing. “That kid can play a mean game.”

             
I laughed, knowing everyone had a hard time beating Austin.

             
“So are you all ready for our big date tomorrow?” He asked, pulling me closer to him.

             
I bit down on my lip. “I think so.”

             
“Well, then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. Try to get some sleep.” He bent over, kissing me tenderly, but I wanted more every time I felt his lips, so I deepened the kiss. He pulled back. “Tomorrow,” he winked before stepping out of my room. I watched until he made the ten steps to the foyer and closed my door thinking about the possibilities of tomorrow.

             
Sunlight flooded into my room pulling me out from what felt like a mere couple of hours of sleep. I yawned and stretched my arms over my head. My eyes immediately flickered toward my dress still hanging meticulously on my closet door.

             
Since Ethan had made plans with my mother to go pick up his tuxedo, I made plans with John Hughes and Valerie for a mini marathon of his movies. I must have watched every single one a zillion times, but I never got tired of any of them.

             
Once Val left, well after Ethan got home, I made my way into the kitchen to eat something to calm my nerves. Pulling out a box of frozen pizza, I placed it in the oven and paced back and forth. Val had gone to her mothers salon to get ready, but I was never that fussy about how I looked. So, I decided to take on the challenge of making myself presentable all by myself. After I woofed down two slices, I ran upstairs and into the bathroom and cranked on the shower. I’d have two full hours to accomplish this task, which now as I looked at the small circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep would be difficult. I wasn’t even sure concealer could fix these bags.

             
After washing and conditioning my hair, I’d let the hot water run over me for several minutes before I heard the tapping at the door.

             
“Other people have a hot date tonight too, you know?” Ethan yelled out.

             
I turned the knob, shutting off the water. “Be right out.” I wrapped myself loosely in the fluffy towel and stepped out showing more skin than I normally would. Wet hair dangled in my face, soaking my bare shoulders.

             
Ethan was still standing there with a huge grin on his face when I opened the door. He shook his head, studying me. “Not playing fair, Gerrard.”

             
I smiled. “Don’t look if you can’t handle it, Chapman,” I teased walking away.

             
I heard him groan and shut the door which left a huge smile on my face. I didn’t mean to torment him the way I did, but sometimes it was just plain fun.

             
Slipping into the emerald green dress after my hair and make-up were applied, I studied myself in the long mirror hanging on my door. “Not bad if I do say myself,” I said out loud.

             
Walking downstairs my nerves started to get the best of me. Every night I wondered would this be it? Would he want to? Would I be able to go through with it if he did? Yes, I would. I knew I was ready and the only person that I wanted to share this with was Ethan.

             
Once downstairs, I heard muffled voices coming from the kitchen. I saw him when I stepped around the corner. He looked even more perfect than I expected him to. I loved the way he looked in his jeans and sweaters, hell even those board shorts from our vacation. But, seeing him standing there in his black tux caught me off guard. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I was mesmerized by his clean shaven face, his perfectly coiffed hair, his emerald green eyes that matched my dress as he stared back at me. My mother cleared her throat, pulling me from my gaze. I turned my eyes toward her then quickly back to Ethan. He had a huge smile on his face and looked like he was mesmerized as well.

             
“Sophie, wow you look stunning,” she exclaimed.

             
“I couldn’t have said it better.” Ethan walked over to me and leaned over, kissing my cheek. “Beautiful,” he whispered.

             
We decided to go alone. No limo rides with Val and the other girls. I wanted him to myself, so I made up some lame excuse about the cost.

             
After a night filled with dancing and kissing, we all met at the local Denny’s for a late night snack. It was well past two in the morning when we’d pulled into the driveway. All the lights were out inside, except the small one in the foyer. I twisted my body to face his and then eyed the backseat. “You up for it?”

             
He raised his eyebrows and looked into the back as well. “What did you have in mind?”

             
I let a small smile form. “Follow me and see.” I crawled over the console and sprawled out on the backseat. I watched him as he studied my face before he quickly did the same. He fell on top of me, reaching under me he cupped my body into his. “Well, this is comfortable.” His lips fell onto mine. Our bodies wrapped together as he tried to unzip my dress. I shivered suddenly at the touch of his fingers.

             
My hands ran over his jacket pushing it off of him and then I let them wander down to his waist. Every feeling I’d ever had for him consumed me as I felt his lips brush against my collarbone. He pulled me in tighter if that were even possible as he kissed every bare part of me. My dress fell down below my chest exposing the lavender bra I’d bought special for tonight. He pushed up on his hands, staring at my face then let his eyes flicker down to my chest.

             
He abruptly pushed himself off of me. “Sophie, shite I want this. I do, but not like this. Not in the backseat of your bloody car.”

             
I sat up abruptly allowing my dress to dangle lower.. “Why? I want to.”

             
He grabbed my face into his hands. “Trust me, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but no. I can’t. It’s not that I don’t want to, I just really want this to be special. It’s your first time for Christ sakes. It can’t happen like this,” he muttered, as he ran his fingers through his hair.

             
I yanked my dress up feeling disappointed and hurt at him turning me down, but loved him for thinking of me and not himself. I kissed him quickly. “It’s okay. Let’s just go inside.”

             
So we did. I kicked off my heels and placed them down in the foyer then I watched as he took off his shoes too. The house was quiet as we worked our way softly up the steps. My mother’s door was shut.  I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward my bedroom. “Shh, she’s asleep. Come with me?” I asked him.

             
He groaned softly, but followed and shut the door behind him.

             
He sat down on my bed as I walked over to him. “Could you unzip me?” I asked.

             
Once unzipped, I turned to face him and let my dress fall to the floor. Leaving me standing in front of him in my bra and panties. One heartbeat later, he pulled me down onto the bed with him. Once his mouth was on mine, I knew there was no turning back. I slowly undid the buttons to his shirt exposing his amazing chest. I ran my fingers down and around his back, feeling every inch of muscle that he had.

             
He moaned softly at my touch and then his hands explored my body just as tenderly as I had his. Lying there with him was everything I’d expected it to be. Perfect. My hands nervously ran down to his back when he whispered in my ear, “You’re perfect. I could stay like this forever with you.”

             
That just about did it for me. That’s all I needed to hear to keep going. I pushed my nerves aside and slipped off his pants. Then the bed squeaked and we both stopped, panting hard. My breathing and his started to pick up as he moved me to the floor. He was on top of me now, staring into my eyes.  His hands moved slowly down to my waist pulling me in closer.  I felt his lips kissing my neck, then I felt them move slowly down to my collarbone, then he pulled my leg around his waist.

             
His lips moved from my collarbone back toward my neck and then found my mouth. We kissed like this forever before he pulled away. The moon was providing the most perfect light from my window. He leaned over quickly, reaching down into his pants pocket on the floor and pulled out his wallet. He held the condom up slightly. “You’re sure?”

             
“Never so sure about anything. Actually, you are my everything, so yes,” I said in a low voice.

             
He smiled, caressing my shoulder with one hand and then with the other, he placed it in his mouth and ripped it open. I couldn’t believe all of this was happening. What’s more, I couldn’t believe my mother was sleeping in the next room while her precious daughter was about to lose her virginity. Knowing that he was leaving soon, too soon, was the only thing keeping me going. I loved him and he loved me and I just went with my heart full force, not looking back.

Sex was something I’d obviously never done before and now I hardly had the words to express how I felt. A million thoughts lingered in my head as I rested my head against his chest.

             
“I love you, Sophie, more than anything in this world,” he whispered into my ear.

             
“And, I love you, but...” My eyes suddenly glanced at the clock on my side table. It read three-thirty. “As much as I want you to stay...”

             
He kissed my forehead and winked. “Got it. See you in the morning.”

             
I watched him as he rose from the floor and gathered his clothes. He put on his boxers. He leaned down one more time, kissing me softly on my lips. “Good night.”

             
“Good night,” I whispered back. And then he was gone.

             
I had slept the rest of the night and well into the morning. The only thing that brought me to tears once more was the realization that we only had two weeks left together.

             
I brushed my eyes with the back of my hand, pulling out my pajamas and put them on. Heading downstairs made me nervous. Not because I’d be facing Ethan for the first time since we finally did it, but because I was scared my mother would be able to read my mind. I knew she didn’t have this power, but I felt different somehow. I felt like anything I did or said would clearly give away our private evening romp while she slept three doors down.

             
Relief swarmed me when I finally made it to the kitchen and it was empty. I peered into the garage taking note that her car was gone. Phew! I gingerly made my way back, making a pot of coffee. Once done, I situated myself in front of the television and waited for Ethan to wake.

             
He came down one hour later all dressed and ready to go for the day. He walked in, smiling. He glanced behind him quickly. “We alone?”

             
I smiled back. “Yep.”

             
He took three huge steps toward me and pulled me off the couch. His lips found mine instantly and stayed there for several minutes. A laugh burst out from me.

             
He pulled back. “What?”

             
“Nothing.”

             
“I have to say that was not only the best night of my life, but I never slept better.”

             
I smiled. “Me too.”

             
             
             
             
             
             
***

             
The next two weeks flew by. We had very little privacy due to the fact my mother had no planned meetings out of town. She insisted on eating together every night after school before his departure. Once in a while she would even mention the fact while eating dinner that she would love to move back to England. Which excited the hell out of me because I’d go in a heartbeat. But, I knew this wasn’t possible because of Austin and my Dad. He would never allow us to be that far. The only reassurance that I had was that I had only one year left of school and then I could be on my own. Thoughts of moving there for college excited me, although I’d never mentioned it to either one of them. Since I was born in England, this wasn’t going to be difficult. The difficult part would be convincing my parents. I was sure my mother would love me to, but my Dad was a whole other ballgame.