Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (6 page)

“Okay.”
I didn’t want to put any more pressure on him than I already had. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

I
walked up to the house quickly, knowing he wouldn’t drive away until I was
safely inside.

I
turned and waved as he drove away. I wondered who Eli had a crush on and for
how long it had been a crush, but I probably wouldn’t find out until he was
good and ready, if ever.

When
I walked through the door I was surprised to hear mom in the kitchen.

“Hey,
Mom,” I said.

“Hey,
Abby.”

I shuffled into the kitchen, but
my mom wasn’t there.

“Where
are you?” I called.

“In
the dining room, I have a surprise!” She sounded very excited.

I
walked in to see her placing a three-candle centerpiece on a beautiful, cherry
hardwood dining room table. The table was rectangle and big enough for six
people. The chairs were entirely made of wood, except for the thick white
cushions.

“I
hope you don’t mind that I picked it out without you.”

“Are
you kidding? It’s gorgeous!” I exclaimed.

The
table was truly more than I would have expected mom to buy. It was exquisite
and must have cost a fortune. 

“I'm
glad you like it.” She beamed.

“How
come you’re off work so early?” I asked.

“They
didn’t need me this afternoon. My boss was off early for a last minute doctor’s
appointment. I figured I would go buy us a table so we could stop eating at the
breakfast bar for every meal, and I was also thinking we could go out for
dinner to catch up. What do you think?”

“I
would love that,” I answered.

Due
to our hectic and unpredictable schedule, it had been a long time since we had
gone to a sit-down restaurant. It would be really nice to have some time with
my mom. 

We
went to an Italian restaurant that we saw the day we moved in. It looked small
and authentic. The inside was larger than it looked from the outside, and the
environment was just how I’d imagine a restaurant in Italy. We ordered our
usual favorites soon after sitting down. 

“How
is school going?” asked my mom.

“Good
so far, I have tests on Friday in history and math that I’m sort of dreading,”
I shrugged.

“Oh.”
My mom made a face.

“Yeah...”
I said sticking out my tongue. “I've have made a few friends, too. They all
seem nice. I made more friends than I thought I would already. It’s weird. My
first week has been so... productive I guess you could say as far as making
friends goes,” I gushed happily.

“Really?
I’m so glad to hear that, but I sure hope you don’t let it affect your grades.”

“I'm
sure you do,” I said sarcastically with a smirk on my face. “How's work?”

“It’s
alright. I’ve been busier than I expected, but that’s a good thing. I’d rather
be busy than bored, other than the fact that I don’t get to see you as much as
I’d like.” She frowned. “Unfortunately, I think I will have to go in early
almost every morning from now on, so I won’t be able to give you rides to
school in the morning anymore. Sorry kiddo.”

“Oh,
that's alright Mom. I forgot to mention that my friend Eli offered to pick me
up in the mornings and drop me off in the afternoons. I guess it’s on his way
home.”

I
felt my stomach grumble as the waitress came and brought us our salad. It was
huge. It came out in a large bowl, with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, croutons
and Italian dressing already on it. The salad was tasty and I ate almost half
of it on my own, but I wanted to save room for my
alfredo
so I stopped myself from having more.

“Well,
I’m glad you have someone to take you to school. I was a little worried about
you walking every day.”

“You
worry too much, Mom.”

“I
know, I know, I have to though, you know,” she laughed.

A
few minutes after we finished our salads, the main course came. My
alfredo
had Romano cheese on top with garlic bread on the
side. It tasted fabulous!

“How’s
your dinner, mom?” I asked curiously.

“It’s
great. How’s yours?”

“Very
good,” I replied with a full mouth.  I laughed when I looked up and saw
mom giving me a dirty look. People who talked with their mouth full was a huge
pet peeve of hers, so instead of finishing the bite in my mouth discreetly, I
smiled at her with food laced through my teeth. I couldn’t help but laugh when
the look on her face turned from a scowl to a grin that she tried to hide.

“You
are lucky that I love you!” she giggled. 

We
ate the rest of our meal silently. We had been so hungry that it didn’t take us
long to finish eating and pay. The food had been excellent, and as we walked
out we both agreed that we would be back.  We trudged out to the car with
our stomachs feeling as though they might burst. 

“Have
you talked to your dad since Sunday?” asked my mom.

“Yeah,
I talked to him yesterday, but not for long. I planned on calling him and
having a good conversation this weekend.”

“That’s
good to hear, I'm sure he is worried sick.”

“That’s
one thing you guys always had in common, both of you always worry too much!” I
knew instantly I had said too much. The divorce had been bad and hurt them
both, as it should. Sometimes I didn’t stop to think about it being too soon
for me to say things like that.

It
was silent the rest of the way home. I felt bad that I stuck my foot in my
mouth and turned our night around so quickly; it seemed I was always saying the
wrong things. Mom wouldn’t hold it against me, but that thought didn’t make me
feel any better.

I
checked the answering machine when we got home. There were two messages: one
from my dad, and one from Eli. I decided my dad could wait until later. I
couldn’t believe that I missed Eli’s call. Thankfully, he left his number for
me to call him back. I ran upstairs to call, but unfortunately he wasn't home
so I left a message with his mom.

I
was concentrating so hard on my homework that I jumped, startled, when my mom
called towards my room. “Abby, someone is here to see you.”

Who
could be here to see me? I ran downstairs as fast as I could and was happy to
see Eli standing there with my mom.

“I
called you, no wonder you weren’t home.”

My
mom stood behind Eli and made sure she mouthed “he’s cute” before leaving the
room. I tried to hide my giggle.

 “I
see you’ve met my mom,” I observed.

“Yep,”
he smiled.

“Come
on, let’s go in the living room.”

He
followed me and sat down on the couch, and then fiddled with his hands like he
didn’t know quite what to do with them.

“I
came over because I wanted to talk about the double-date you suggested.”

“I
hoped that’s what you wanted to talk about. What do you think?” I asked, trying
to sound lighthearted.

“Well,
there is someone that I am interested in, but I can’t ask her to go out.”

“Why
not?” 

“I
just can’t” His tone was suddenly aggravated.

“Oh,”
I said.

Why
couldn’t he ask her?
I got the feeling that he did not want me to know anything about it, but I
couldn’t help but feel even more curious about the identity of this mystery
girl. For now I had to let it go; I didn’t want to make him mad again by
pushing him to tell me something he clearly didn't want to.

“I
don’t mind going with you but... will you help me get a date?” he looked away
shyly, and any hint of his aggression was gone in the blink of an eye. 

I
hadn’t seen that side of him before. He was always so confident and sure of
himself—or at least he seemed that way. I usually felt like the awkward one, so
it was nice to know that I wasn’t alone.

“I
don’t—” he paused. “Really have much experience with girls.”

He’s
shy?
I couldn't believe
it! He didn’t seem to have a hard time approaching me or being around girls for
that matter. Not to mention he had a great personality and was a blast to be
around. How could he be self-conscious?

 “Of
course I will help you. What do you want me to do?” I asked. I couldn’t think
of how he would want me to help him, but I would do whatever I could. Not just
because of the date, but because he was my friend.

“I
don’t know. I don’t even know where to start,” he said nervously. “Every time I
try to ask a girl out, I end up talking to them about something else and then
we wind up being just friends. I think a lot of it has to do with not knowing
how to bring up that I like them, and then by the time I have broken the ice,
it feels like it’s too late and it would be awkward asking.”

“I’m
not sure what I can teach you, but there’s really not much to it. You take a
deep breath and ask.” I looked at him to make sure he was listening. He was,
more so than I had expected. I almost jumped at the sight of his eyes staring
at me so intently. “Like when Pete asked me out for this weekend, he started by
asking me what I was doing this weekend. Then he suggested going to dinner with
him and maybe a movie,” I said, shrugging. “There’s nothing really to it. It
just takes a little bit of courage.”

He
contemplated quietly for a few minutes. 

“I
don't know if I have the nerve to do that...” he finally admitted.

“I
think you do; you approached me didn't you?”

“Well,
that was different.”

“No
it wasn’t. Approaching a girl you like is exactly the same. You have to just
stop thinking of it as such a daunting task. Maybe you could start with a girl
you may not necessarily like so you can see how easy it can be. This weekend’s
date can be practice. What do you think?”

He
seemed to be thinking really hard. “Who would I ask?”

“I
don’t know.” I thought about it for a minute and then suggested, “How about
Bailey?” 

“Uh,
I guess that could work.”

“So
you’ll double with us?”

“Yeah,
as long as I don’t chicken out tomorrow,” he said faintly.

“It’ll
be fine, you can do it.”

“Whatever
you say.” He didn’t sound convinced. “I should be going. I still have some
homework to get done before I go to bed.”

I
walked him to the door where we said goodbye. I felt bad for Eli; he seemed so
nervous about asking someone out. I wished he had the confidence I saw when he
was around me. If only he could see himself as I see him, then he’d be
set. 

After
Eli left, I went upstairs to finish my homework. I was so happy that Eli agreed
to go on the date with Pete and I, but I decided that I wouldn’t call Pete to
let him know just yet. I wanted to see how things panned out with Eli and
Bailey. I couldn’t say that I did anything to make a difference, so it would
all be on Eli. But I had faith in him.

I
showered and got into bed, but I wasn’t able to fall asleep right away. I
tossed and turned until around 1 a.m. My mind would not stop racing from
thoughts about what Pete and I would look like as a couple, to Eli and Bailey
as a couple, and then to the extreme like if Pete was a murderer or not. My mom
and dad would pop in there every now and again too. I briefly wondered how they
were each doing without each other. Mostly, I worried about dad.

Morning
came far too quickly when I awoke early with a start and a racing heart. I
wished that the nightmare would go away for good—but I also wished for a little
insight as to why I was even having it. Up until six months ago, I’d only had a
few bad dreams throughout my whole life. Now I felt like I’d had enough
nightmares for five lifetimes.

I
was surprisingly excited for school that day. Just four days before I had been
dreading it. It was amazing how things could change so quickly. My expectations
were high when I thought of Eli asking Bailey to double-date with Pete and I. I
truly thought Bailey would love to go on a date with Eli. Who knew, maybe they
would hit it off. After all, Eli was quite a catch and as far as Bailey was
concerned, Eli would be lucky to have her.

It
was no surprise when I got downstairs and my mom had already gone to work. I
was just finishing up the remnants of my breakfast when there was a soft knock
at the door. It was Eli, so I quickly grabbed my backpack and we were out the
door.

On
the way to my first class I found myself searching every face for Bailey’s in
hopes that Eli could ask her, but never found her and Eli didn't linger outside
my classroom door. He seemed jittery and not quite himself. I guessed his
nerves were getting the better of him.

“See
ya
,” he said over his shoulder as he walked out of
sight.

I
waved.

Once
Pete walked into class and sat down, he turned around immediately.