Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) (7 page)

“Hey,
did you talk to your mom about this weekend?”

Wow,
he didn’t waste any time. He completely put me on the spot. I was glad I
rehearsed what I would say. “I did, but she didn’t give me an answer. She told
me she would let me know this morning, but she had to go into work early again.
I will call her later to get her answer, but I don’t know if I'll get one
today.”

“Oh,
alright.”

He
turned back around to face the front of the classroom and didn’t speak to me
the rest of class. I wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to pay attention
or if he was upset with me in some way, but I hoped it wasn’t the latter.

We
were checking our homework, and lo and behold mine was fairly good. I had
gotten most of the answers correct.

Pete
walked me to second period and it was definitely more quiet than usual. I
couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of me or if there was something else
eating at him. He certainly didn’t seem like his usual self.

“I'll
see you at lunch?” he questioned.

“Yep,
see you there.” I walked over to where Eli stood waiting for me. He looked happy.

“Have
you seen Bailey yet?” I asked Eli.

“Yep!”
he beamed. “I asked and she said yes!”

“Wow,
that's great!” Now I just needed to convince Pete that a double-date with Eli
and Bailey would be fun, which might be harder. He didn’t seem so keen on Eli.

“I
know, isn’t it? Thanks so much for your help! It was as easy as you said it
would be! Although, I’m not sure if it would have been so easy if she had said
no,” he confessed.

It
felt so good knowing that I helped him. Maybe all he needed was a confidence
boost because I didn’t do much more than that.

“Glad
to hear it. Thank you for being willing to go with Pete and I.”

“Sure,”
he said as his face turned from happy to serious. “I wasn’t thrilled about the
idea in the first place, and I am not thrilled with it still—but I feel better
about it now knowing that I will be with you.”

He
was so protective. I had never known a guy that was so protective of me other
than my dad. It was nice and made me feel safe. I wanted to give him a big bear
hug, but I refrained. I figured he might think it was weird.

In
third hour, Bailey seemed even more full of energy than usual. I could tell she
couldn’t wait to tell me the news.

“Eli
asked me out!” she squealed in my ear as I walked in the room.

“I
heard! That’s awesome!” I responded, relishing her excitement.

“I
can’t believe Eli asked me out!” she gushed.

Eli
went to talk to Mr. Lang before class, and I could only assume it was to give
us the opportunity to talk about it. I was sure he knew how much girls liked to
gossip about guys. That was half of the fun, chatting about it with your best
friends.

“I
know, isn’t it great? You guys are going to double-date with me and Pete!”

“It’s
even better that you will be there too. I have never been on a date before,”
she confessed.

I
wondered if she truly liked Eli. If they were dating, then it would make things
easier if Pete wanted to continue to date me. We would always have double-date
partners. Now I knew I was getting ahead of myself. We hadn’t even had our
first date yet—but it couldn’t hurt to dream, could it?

I
couldn’t wait to tell Pete the good news. Ironically, the one thing I did
forget was to actually talk to my mom. She was going to think it was a group
outing, and it wasn’t completely a lie. I was being extra cautious about her
knowing all of the details on Pete. The last thing I wanted was for her to get
invested into someone I wasn’t.

Bailey,
Eli and I walked to the cafeteria. Pete, looking amazing as usual, stood there
waiting for us. His face lit up when he saw us coming. He seemed to be out of
the funk he was in earlier in the day. Gosh, he seemed to be moody earlier.

“I
have good news!” I said to Pete as I walked up to him.

“She
said yes?” he asked.

“Yep!”

“Great.”

“I
had an idea,” I whispered as I pulled him aside from Eli and Bailey. He towered
over me, and I had to stand on my tip-toes to be as quiet as I could. “What do
you think about making it a double-date?”

“A
double-date? With who?”

“Eli
and Bailey.”

“I
didn't even know they were dating,” he said.

“They
aren’t, yet. Eli just asked her out today.”

“Oh I see. Sure, why not,” he
replied with a shrug.

“Great!”
I said, reaching up to give him a big hug. I wasn’t sure what came over me to be
so bold, but I went with it and it made Pete chuckle.

During
lunch nobody paid much attention to Pete and I, which gave us ample time to
chat amongst ourselves.

“So
what time do you want me to pick you up Saturday?” Pete asked.

“Well,
I was going to ask Bailey to come over Saturday and there is no reason you guys
would need to come pick us both up. You and Eli could come over and we can all
drive together. What do you think?”

“Sure,
I suppose we can drive together, it’s good for the environment to car pool,
don't you know?” he said sarcastically and laughed.

As
far as I could tell, he was so easy-going when it came to just about anything.
That fact made it even harder to grasp the thought that he might be trouble. He
didn’t even seem like he had an angry bone in his body.

“Great!
I am really looking forward to it,” I blurted out. As soon as I said it, I was
questioning whether I had said too much, and I blushed and refused to make eye
contact. I didn’t want to sound desperate or too eager. Pete could easily have
any girl in the room, so I didn't want to scare him off.

He
reached over and squeezed my hand. “Me too,” he said, giving me a flirty smile.

Pete
and Eli walked me to fourth hour in silence. It was beginning to feel
comfortable that way, but I chose to break the quiet.

“Eli,
we’re all going to meet up at my house before the date and drive together. Does
that sound okay?”

“Sure,”
he said.

Pete
stayed quiet. I wrote my number down and gave it to Pete before we all split up
to go to class.

For
once, I was actually able to pay attention in the last few classes of the day.
We received our copies of
To Kill a Mockingbird.
And in history, we
we’re given the opportunity to work on our study guide outlines for the test
the following day. I already completed mine, so I used the time to study, which
I definitely needed after not paying attention all week. We were still in the
swimming section of our P.E. curriculum, and I was looking forward to the end
of it.

Once
school was over I was looking forward to going home, especially since I didn’t
have any homework to focus on.

Eli
didn’t hang around after he dropped me off, because he said he had some
homework and studying to do. That was fine with me; I planned on relaxing and
wasn’t in the mood for entertaining. I made some popcorn and put in a movie,
and for the first time that week I felt like I was truly at ease.  I
thought about how it was mom’s night to cook dinner, but since I had extra time
on my hands I considered cooking it and having it ready when she got home to
surprise her. That would be a nice treat for her.

Half-way
into the movie the phone rang. It was Pete. I didn’t expect to hear from him.

“Hey
Abby, how's it going?”

I
cleared my throat. “Hey, good, you?”

“Pretty
good. I was just calling to see if you were free tonight. I thought that maybe
we could study together for the math quiz.”

“I’m
sorry, Pete. I was planning on spending some time with my mom tonight. Thanks
for the offer though,” I regretfully told him.

“I
totally get that, don’t be sorry.”

“Maybe
next time,” I suggested.

“Yeah.
Well, I guess I will see you at school tomorrow.”

For
the next several minutes I couldn’t stop thinking about Pete. He seemed so
genuine and caring; qualities I thought were great when it came to a boyfriend.
Maybe I was blinded by his charm, because I couldn’t see any of the bad things
that Eli had told me. Maybe that was why he was so worried about me. I didn’t
feel blindsided, but I guess that’s why it’s called that: you don’t see what’s
happening right in front of your face.

It
was getting late in the afternoon and I needed to get dinner started if I
wanted it ready when mom got home. I checked the cabinets and decided to make
homemade macaroni and cheese, with Parmesan-crusted tilapia. Mom loved fish and
always talked about how good it was for you, or good for your heart or
something. 

Once
dinner was in the oven it had 30 minutes to cook, so I went upstairs to put my
backpack in my bedroom and decided to check my e-mail for the first time that
week. I smiled when I saw that I had one from Kelly.

Abby,

           
I was so happy to read your email
today. I will write you back a good long email soon. I hope you don’t think I’m
ignoring you. Things are so crazy right now with school just starting up. I
already have two essays to write, a book to start, and two tests tomorrow,
yikes! I am sure that you are just as busy. I will talk to you soon! Hope
things are still going well.

                       
Kelly

It
was nice to hear from Kelly. I missed my friends in California. Even so, I was
having a lot of fun in Arizona. I would love for Kelly to come visit me and
meet my new friends. I wondered what she might think of them, or what they
would think of her.

I
heard my timer going off; Kelly would have to wait. Mom would be home in about
five minutes, and I had just enough time to get everything out of the oven,
dished up onto plates, and to the table. I had just finished setting the table
when my mom walked through the door.

I
was sitting down at the table waiting when mom walked into the room. Her face
lit up.

“What’s
all this?” she asked, surprised and happy.

“I
thought I would surprise you with dinner. Plus we haven’t had a whole lot of
time to spend together this week so I thought I would give us extra time.”

“You’re
right; we haven’t,” she smiled. “Thanks honey, this is so sweet. I had quite a
rough day and this is the best thing for me to come home to.”

I
was glad she appreciated it—but she always did anyways. To her, if you thought
ahead and did something special for her, it melted her heart.

“I
made your favorite, tilapia.”

“Even
better! Yum!”

“Oh,
before I forget to tell you, I made plans to go with some friends on Saturday night
and I was thinking about having my friend Bailey over during the day. Is that
okay?”

“Of
course! Actually, I was hoping that you would make plans. I was invited to go
out to dinner with some co-workers, and some of the girls are going shopping
beforehand and I wanted to go. That should give you girls some alone time.”

“Thanks
mom.”

“So
who are you going out with?” she asked.

“Me,
Bailey, Pete and Eli. We eat lunch together every day.”

“That
sounds fun.”

 It
was the first time I wasn’t feeling grumpy towards my mom about the move. I
hadn’t realized how much I was actually enjoying my time there—that in itself
was a huge turning point for me. No longer would I give my mom a hard time
about moving, at least for now. She seemed to have enough on her plate as it
was, and I was sure I hadn’t been helping with all of my stubbornness and
complaints.

“Well,
since you made dinner I will do the dishes,” she said, standing up with an
empty plate in hand.

“Okay,”
I agreed. I grabbed my plate and glass to bring into the kitchen. “I was
thinking that we could sit down and watch a movie or TV together.”

I
flipped through the channels while I waited in the living room for my mom to
finish up in the kitchen. We sat down and watched a chick flick we both loved
together. By the end of the movie, as always, mom was crying. We both sat
there watching the credits for a few minutes, absorbing the movie, lost in our
own thoughts.

As
I stood up to turn off the movie, I tripped on the leg of the coffee table,
banging my shin as I fell. Even though pain shot through my leg, I couldn’t
help but laugh. It was something so typical of my klutzy self. Even so, Mom
immediately jumped up, showing concern.

“Are
you okay?” She grabbed my arm frantically to help me up.

“I'm fine! Just being my usual
self I suppose.”

“You’re
bleeding!” she exclaimed, looking at my head.

“I
am?” I reached up and touched my forehead. It came off with a smidge of blood.
I must have bumped my head on the coffee table, too.