Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (11 page)

We
devoured all of the delicious Chinese food before bringing Bailey home. She
thanked us both for the ride and dinner before she went inside.

By
Friday our little foursome was bursting with excitement for the dance. We were
greeted by even more excitement from our other friends, who seemed to be only
able to talk about the dance. The ladies had the lowdown on every girl at our
tables’ dresses, and the guys were discussing who they were bringing and all of
the detailing they planned to do on their cars the next morning.

When
Saturday rolled around, I spent the morning being lazy. I utilized the entire
afternoon getting ready as slowly as I wanted. I accentuated my already curly
hair with a curling iron until the curls cascaded down my shoulders. Then I
pinned my hair halfway up with bobby pins and checked it in the mirror before
spraying it with hairspray. I was having a fantastic hair day. The type where
the first time you pull your hair back it laid exactly how it was supposed to
and looked amazing.

I
did my makeup a little heavier than I normally would have going for an evening
look, and put on a pearl necklace on loan from my mom. She said it would make
the dress. I couldn’t say that I disagreed; it looked stunning in contrast to
my dress.

As
planned, Eli came to pick me up at precisely 6:30,  exactly 30 minutes
until the dance started. Eli looked great in a button-up, red, short-sleeved
shirt and black jeans. The red shirt brought out his eyes brilliantly. His
shoes didn’t stand out much because they weren’t shiny, but they still looked
presentable. Eli didn’t comment on how I looked, but I could tell by the way he
looked at me that he was impressed. It almost seemed like he was embarrassed by
how much he was impressed. My mom was not home to see me off, which I was
grateful for because I didn’t want to explain to her why Eli was driving me.
Not to mention I didn’t want to do the half-hour photo shoot.

We
went into the dance separately. I went inside first and immediately found Pete
standing close to the door waiting for me. He looked striking in dark blue
jeans and a blue collared shirt. He really did have impeccable taste in
clothes. He slid his arm around my waist and it felt so good to be in his arms.

“Wow,
you look gorgeous.” His lips lightly brushed my ear as he spoke, and I felt a
rush flood through my body.

“Thanks,
you look good too.” I blushed.

“Thirsty?”
he asked.

“Not
right now.”

We
headed to the dance floor to dance to a slow song when Eli walked in holding
Bailey’s hand. They came right up next to us and started dancing. I smiled at
them without saying a word. Bailey looked amazing; she had straightened her
hair and left it down. It was a good look for her.

After
dancing to a few more songs, fast and slow, we were sweating and decided to
grab a table and drink some punch to cool off. The four of us chatted for
awhile about nothing in particular, and then Pete asked if I’d like to take a
walk outside and get some fresh air. I agreed and off we went.

Leaning
against the wall outside, I suddenly felt nervous. I thought Pete looked
nervous too. He was looking off into the distance, and then he slowly turned
and kissed me. His tongue pushed my lips open and I let them part. The kiss was
sweet and lasted only a moment, but when he pulled away I could see compassion
in his eyes. It was a passionate and sensual moment between us, and was
definitely towards the top of my list as far as good kisses went. I could feel
my face flushing with color. I looked at the ground, smiling until I felt it
had passed.

Silently,
Pete took my hand and led me back into the crowded room where we were instantly
engulfed by blaring music and strobe lights. I had to blink my eyes to readjust
them, but before that happened, Bailey was grabbing my arm and pulling me in
the direction of the bathroom. She pulled me all the way inside and shut the
door behind us. As soon as we were alone, she began giving me the third degree.

“I
saw you guys kissing!” she squealed.

“
Shh
...Yeah.” I tried to sound nonchalant even though it was
far from no big deal to me—my heart was still racing. I looked in the mirror
and checked my makeup and lip gloss to make it seem more believable that I
didn’t find it too out of the ordinary. 

“Well?”
she said expectantly.

“Well
what?” I asked, casually trying to conceal my grin.

“Are
you kidding? You kiss him for the first time and you aren’t gushing?! I would
be floating on a cloud!”

“Well,
it was nice,” I grinned. “But it wasn’t my first kiss.”

“Wow,
I didn't know you kissed a boy before. I haven’t,” she admitted sadly, looking
at her feet. “But I am hoping Eli will kiss me. Do you think he will?”

“I
am sure he will at some point. Maybe even tonight,” I said encouragingly.

“You
really think so?” she asked, suddenly more enthusiastic. She smiled absently,
and then touched up her lip gloss while I used the restroom. I washed my hands
and we left the bathroom together.

By
the end of the night we had spent the majority of the time dancing. I even
danced with Eli and Bailey with Pete. We were so close that it was just fun
spending time together. Pete and I walked out hand-in-hand when the dance
ended, right next to Eli and Bailey. Eli told me earlier in the night that he
was going to drop off Bailey and then go straight to my house, and would call
me if I wasn’t there yet. It was the first time he was okay with me being alone
with Pete, and I could tell he was extremely nervous. He seemed almost as if he
was second-guessing his decision as we were parting ways. I mouthed “it’s fine”
to him and he seemed to relax a little. As Pete held the door open for me, I
noticed that there was no indication of it being in an accident. I felt
surprisingly at ease when I slid into the passenger seat.

“Well,
do you want to go straight home or would you like to go to the park and walk
around or something?” he asked once he had climbed into the driver’s seat.

I looked
at my watch. It was already 11 p.m., and even though I didn’t have a definite
curfew my mom expected me home before 11:30 unless I called to checked in. I
knew that Eli was expecting me home pretty soon as well. I couldn’t say that it
wasn’t a tempting offer.

“Actually
I am kind of tired. It’s been a long, exciting day. I think I need to go home.
I'm sorry,” I said sounding sad. I really wanted to spend more time alone with
him, but that was against our agreement. I was beginning to get pretty fed up
with the fact that I couldn’t be alone with him for very long, if ever. How was
I ever going to get to know him better if we were never alone?

“Don’t
be sorry—I understand,” he smiled encouragingly, putting his hand on my leg.

I
smiled back and felt the tingle of excitement in my stomach. Such a small
gesture went so far with me, as I suppose it did with a lot of girls.

We
pulled up in front of my house. I could tell that my mom was already in bed,
but she was probably reading while she waited for me to get home. Pete walked
around the car and opened my door for me. What a gentleman he was! Not many
guys still had the class to open doors for ladies anymore. He walked me to the
front door of the house, and we stood there for a few minutes holding each other’s
hands and staring into each other’s eyes. It wasn’t awkward like I would expect
it to be; it was comfortable. Finally he leaned in and kissed me again, and our
tongues tangled as our bodies melted together. When I finally felt myself
coming back to reality it seemed like it had been an eternity. I saw headlights
in the distance before the kiss ended, and when it got close could see Eli's
beauty came into view. He gunned it right before he passed the house.

“I
should go. Tonight was great. Thanks for the second chance.” He leaned in and
hugged me before giving me one last quick kiss. I noticed that he didn’t drive
away until I was safely inside. I closed the door and I watched out the window
as his car drove away, and out of the corner of my eyes I saw another set of
taillights flicker on and a car engine start just before it aggressively sped
away. I knew it had to be Eli. I hadn’t seen him park, and I wasn’t quite sure
why he seemed upset in the way he was driving, but maybe that was just my
imagination. I couldn’t help but wonder if it made him mad that I was getting
so close to Pete. I hadn’t realized until that very moment that I had forgiven
Pete.

CHAPTER Seven

I was
super excited when I woke up the next morning. A great night, followed by a
deep, dreamless sleep was a rarity for me. I threw on my fuzzy white bathrobe
and matching slippers and headed downstairs. A morning spent being lazy and
enjoying some TV on the couch in my PJ’s sounded awesome.

“How
was the dance last night?” Mom asked during breakfast.

“It
was good.”
                                        

“Did
all of your friends go?” she asked.

“Yeah,
but mostly I was with Eli, Bailey and Pete,” I answered. Mom still didn’t know
that Pete was my date. Fortunately, she seemed content for the moment that I
was out doing things with new friends.

“You
guys seem to be close. I am glad you have been able to find good friends so
quickly.”

“Me
too, how was your night?” I quickly changed the subject.

“It
was fun. We played Bunco at one of our co-workers houses and had a few drinks.
It is nice that we both are able to get out with other people so soon after
moving here. I was worried it might be hard to find friends.”

“Yeah
it is.”

There
was an awkward silence that seemed to last longer than usual. It was rare that
anything was awkward between mom and I so I knew something was up. Mom was
radiating tension and I couldn’t understand why.

“Umm...
Abby... I am not sure how to bring this up, so I’m just going to say it. How
would you feel about me dating?”

“Dating?
Dating who?” I had been so caught up with the move and divorce that it hadn’t
even occurred to me that my mom would be ready to date so soon—or that she
would even date at all.

“Someone
at work introduced me to one of their friends. He seems really nice,” she
replied timidly. 

“You’ve
already found someone?” My voice raised several octaves.

“Well,
he asked me out last night. I told him I had to make sure that it was okay with
you before I answered him. I know it’s really soon, but I think it is better to
be out there moving on with my life, rather than sitting around here sulking
because my marriage failed. I really would like to do this Abby, but I need
your support.”

I
didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want her to be dating anyone except my dad.
In fact, I still secretly hoped that they would come to their senses and get
back together. If she started dating someone else and fell in love there would
be no way that that could happen. Or maybe it would make my dad want her more.
It was something to consider. To be honest, what I truly wanted was for my
parents to be happy and if that meant for my mom had to date I guess that would
be okay. It’s not like this person would be around forever; not like dad.

“I
guess if that is what you really want to do I will support you,” I said
grudgingly through gritted teeth.

“Really?”

“Yep.
Whatever makes you happy.” I smiled, trying to seem happy even though I was
totally bummed.

“Great!
I am so glad you are being so mature about this. Do you want to meet him before
we go out?” she asked cautiously.

“No,
I don’t need to. If you really like him and you guys hit it off then I can meet
him… unless you really want me to beforehand.” I hoped she wouldn’t want me to.
It was something I doubted I could take.

“Sounds
like a plan to me. I’m really nervous about it, it’s been like 20 years since I
have dated anyone other than your dad.” She stared off into space for a minute
before she spoke again. She seemed like a giddy teenager, not unlike how Bailey
and I acted only a week before. I had never seen her that way before. “Well,
enough about that. I’ll get this cleaned up and then what do you say we go
shopping?”

“Sounds
good to me!”

There
went my plans of being lazy, but it would be nice to get out of the house and
my mind off the conversation we just had. I hopped up to go shower and get
dressed. By the time I was ready, the kitchen was clean and Mom was ready.

We
shopped for hours before we realized that we’d skipped lunch and it was time
for dinner. Mom suggested we grab dinner at a Mexican food restaurant.

There
was one that we had both wanted to try, so we headed straight there. As soon as
we walked in I spotted Pete with his family. I wanted nothing more than to turn
around and walk out. I wasn’t ready for my mom to meet him; I wasn’t even sure
how to introduce him. He didn't have a clue that I hadn’t yet told my mom we
were dating. Maybe we could get through dinner without him seeing us.

But
that wasn’t in the cards, because the hostess sat us at a table almost directly
across from his. He spotted us almost immediately, and hopped up from his seat
to come say hello.

“Hey
Abby!” he said cheerfully as he gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. I
held my breath to make sure my mom hadn’t seen, and was relieved when I saw she
was speaking to the waiter. He slid his arm around my waist and I quickly
pushed it off of me. I whispered in Pete’s ear that I didn’t want my mom to
know we were dating just yet, but I didn’t have time to explain why before she
was finished talking to the waiter.

“Well
hello,” she said greeting Pete.

“Hi,”
he replied, reaching his hand out to politely shake hers.

“Mom,
this is Pete, one of my friends I was telling you about.”

“Oh,
it’s nice to finally meet you. Abby was telling me how nice it’s been having
such welcoming friends.” She smiled warmly.

He
looked at me slightly confused, but played along. “It’s been nice having her
here,” he commented back and smiled at me. “I should get back to my parents. It
was nice meeting you and I’ll see you tomorrow Abby.”

He
turned around, still looking confused as he walked back to his table.

“Wow,
he is cute Abby,” she said encouragingly. “You should go out with him!”

I
couldn’t help but laugh knowing I was already technically dating him. The rest
of our meal went on without another interruption, including when Pete left. A
small wave to say goodbye was our only exchange, and Mom didn’t even see.

We
walked out of the restaurant feeling as if our stomachs would burst an hour and
a half after sitting down. Later that night when our stomachs had recovered
from the tremendous amount of Mexican food, we made hot fudge sundaes heaping
with whipped cream for dessert before bed.

My
mom never brought up Pete again. I could only guess how excited she would be to
learn that we were in fact dating. On the other hand, I knew she would be
shocked if she ever learned of the questionable events that had already taken
place with him. She would definitely not approve of any of it. She probably
would have me committed for insanity for choosing to be so reckless, but it
didn’t stop me. 

Monday
morning came much too quickly; the night before I dreamt happy dreams about my
night at the dance with Pete. That was a dream I wouldn’t mind have repeatedly.
It had been such an amazing night.

The
dream started with us walking into the dance, though it seemed different in my
dream, almost like we were alone. We danced, drank punch, and finally we were
kissing. That’s when I awoke, of course—during the best part in the dream! It
took longer to get going than it normal would have after that letdown. My mind
was running the dream on repeat; I wanted to feel his lips on mine again.

I
dragged myself out the door when I heard Eli honk. He was running late and
instead of making it to school on time we ended up having to go to Sweep. I
wasn’t upset to be there, I didn’t feel like going to math that day even though
I was missing out on my opportunity to see Pete. At least I would see him at
lunch. I ended up falling asleep and was surprised when I woke up to Eli
shaking my shoulder.  The bell had rung and almost everyone had already
cleared out of the large cafeteria except us. Oops.

We
made it through the next two classes and I was excited to see Pete, but when we
got to the cafeteria he wasn’t waiting for us like usual. He didn’t show up the
entire lunch period, and I began to wonder where he was. I knew something had
to have happened or he was sick, otherwise he would have been there. The night
before he had told me that he would see me at school the next day. I felt a
prick of sadness that I wouldn’t get to see him. 

I
didn’t get to speak to Pete until the next day, even though I had tried to call
him. His excuse was that he was sick, but he seemed fine. And why didn’t he
call me back? I thought it was a bit weird. I decided to express my concerns with
Eli but when I did he didn’t seem concerned. I felt like I must have been
reading too much into it. 

Since
the ice was broken so to speak, we felt free to kiss each other every chance we
had. I could tell that Eli and Bailey hadn’t gotten to that point yet because
they sat in silence. We unsuccessfully tried to hide our stolen kisses, as we
didn’t want to make them uncomfortable. We would laugh together when we were
caught making it our own inside joke. As Eli, Pete and I were walking to my
fourth hour class, I told them my dad was coming to town the next week. I
couldn’t contain my excitement any longer. I didn’t want to introduce Pete to
him as my boyfriend, even though I knew it would be hard to conceal at this
point. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining my decision to Pete, and I was
actually surprised he hadn’t yet asked about being introduced to my mom as only
a friend. How could I delicately bring it up to him? Eli, I knew, wouldn’t
object to me introducing him as only a friend, even though surprisingly he
didn’t seem to be as concerned about Pete as he had been in the beginning.

I
went through the rest of the day effortlessly, and was relieved when I got to
P.E. We were playing volleyball. For the first day, we were paired with
partners to get down basic hitting of the ball. Thankfully, Bailey was my
partner and I didn’t have to embarrass myself in front of someone I didn’t know
very well. Bailey and I were equally matched in our ability, which meant we
both sucked.

When
class was over Bailey informed me that she was coming with Eli and I after
school. They had plans to study together after they dropped me off at my house.
I couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous since I couldn’t have the same
easy-going relationship with Pete that Eli and Bailey had. I always had to have
a ‘babysitter’. I tried my hardest not to let it show that I felt left out; I
knew they needed alone time but I wanted in on it too. Instead, I was going
home to an empty house to do homework and make dinner. Maybe I had been wrong
to even give Pete a chance. Would we ever be a normal couple?

My
mood was destroyed further when I listened to the message waiting on the
answering machine at home. It was my mom. She wasn’t going to be home until
late that night, she guessed around 9 p.m. I would be alone for dinner as well.
I really needed a little companionship, and there was nobody to give it.

Doing
my homework took longer than expected. I was lonely and it made it harder to
concentrate. I was still working on it after I ate dinner later that night. I
guess it gave me something to help take my mind off of things, but I’d sooner
be done with it all together.

After
two hours of working I was finally so focused that I jumped when my cell phone
rang. It was Eli, and I couldn’t help but sigh, remembering that he was
probably still with Bailey. When I answered I tried to sound cheerful.

“Hello.”

“Hey
Abby,” he said. “What you up to?”

“Homework,
you?”

“Talking
to you.”

“I
thought you would still be with Bailey,” I said sarcastically. I heard myself
say it and immediately felt bad. I was not trying to sound sarcastic, but my
comment definitely came off that way. Luckily he didn’t seem to notice. Why was
I acting jealous? Eli wasn’t mine and I had never even considered him in that
way.

“No,
she had to go home to eat dinner like an hour ago. What are you doing
tomorrow?” he asked.

“Nothing
so far, why?”

“I
was thinking we could go look for jobs like we talked about. What do you
think?”

Job
hunting was something that would be a great distraction for me. Between things
with Pete being rocky and not ‘normal’ combined the anticipation of my dad
coming, I could use any distraction I could get. 

“Okay,
we can go right after school. Make a list of the places you want to check out,
and I will make a list of mine and we can compare them tomorrow.”

“Okay,
talk to you tomorrow.”

I
hung up the phone smiling, feeling my mood lift a bit. I was excited about
trying to find a job. It would be something fun to share with Eli, and I would
also have something great to share with my dad when he came to visit the
following week—that is if I found one. With much relief, I finally finished my
homework and started on the list of places I would like to look for a job.

Suddenly,
I heard to knock at the front door. I was surprised to have heard it from way
upstairs and I wasn’t expecting anyone. Mom wouldn’t have knocked so I was more
than curious and scared to find out who it could be. After all, I was home
alone, and that didn’t bode well for unexpected visitors. I slowly padded down
the stairs and made my way to the front door as quietly as I could. When I
peeked through the peephole, I saw it was Pete. What could I do?