Secret Seeing
I know my overly-protective mother is fallowing me. I knew I knocked something over when I left the house. Maybe a vase? I don't know. All I know now, as I run through the forest to me and Maximus's secret meeting place my mother I fallowing. She may be quick and light on her feet; but I am much quicker and lighter. Plus I'm not six months pregnant with my soon-to-be brother.
Maximus and his family should have arrived today. But we won't be seeing each other till tomorrow so we're meeting up tonight. Under the stars just like the first time we saw each other.
I dash through bushes and run past the all too familiar trees. Until I reach the place we see each other. I know it was also the place my mother and Maximus's father used to meat. I hope mother doesn't mind.
I finally crash into the little clearing overlooking 12. I almost run right into Maximus. As it is he catches me up in a hug.
"Good god Emery. Run much faster and you'll be running at the speed of light." He whispers into my ear. I giggle. Which is something I don't do often. But he always makes me so giddy inside!
I pull away. "It's so good to see you too! Hey!" I take my hand and measure our foreheads. "You're taller than me! Wait, you were before weren't you?" Maximus laughs.
"I will always be taller than you!" he scoops me up bridal-like and swings me around. I laugh.
"Well, this visit will be short 'cause I'm almost positive that my mother is fallowing me." I sigh. Maximus's smile melts right off his face.
"Ya, my dad's doing the same thing. Parents are so paranoid!" he sets me down. I laugh by his exudation of 'paranoid'. His smile returns again. As bright as the moon.
We hear a rustling next to us but we share a moment of understanding with each other. Both our parents are stalking us; we need to play a prank on them.
"When should be break the news?" I ask suggestively. I hold my hand up with his and he catches my joke. He smiles.
"Well I doubt they would approve." He twirls me around.
"And then there's…"I trail off and Maximus places his hand on my stomach, very suggestively. Meaning he wants them to think I'm pregnant. I giggle. "Don't tickle me!" I wail as I fall to the ground in fits of laughter while Maximus tickles me. "stop! Stop!" I pant through ragged breathes. Finally he does stop and lays down next to me. I remember what they told us in school about pregnant women not being able to sleep on their backs so I roll over with a grunt.
"I hope it doesn't hurt." Maximus has the perfect look of worry on his face. It's all I can do to keep me act together. I shrug.
"no, not normally. I just hope I won't end up as fat as mom is right now." We both laugh.
"I am not fat!" we look up to see mother standing above us looking peeved. Then Gale stands up.
"Ah, good of you to join us." Maximus muses. "It doesn't suite you two to be hiding in the bushes. What were you two doing eh?" he asks highly suggestively. Both Gale and Mother go beet red. "Or were you two just spying?"
"Yes we fallowed you two. Only because we care about you two." Mother admits.
"well, fine job you're doing." I snort. "You do realize this is about the 100th time I've snuck out to see him right?"
I stand up. We won't be telling them that all this is made up yet. We'll let them figure that out on their own.
"Now, I'm going home. I will see you tomorrow Maximus. Good bye Gale." I kiss Maximus lightly on the cheek. I stalk out of the clearing and run back to our house leaving everyone wondering.
When I get home I run up to my room and collapse on my bed.
What the hell have I just done?
The next morning I wake with mother and father standing in front of me looking down on me. Well, actually mother is straining to look over her swollen womb.
"Ah, good morning." I say in a cheery voice. Both Mother and Father look deeply upset and I wonder what it is. Until I remember the joke Maximus and I played on them last night. "What are you two unset about, eh?" I ask.
"Let's see your punishment." My father says.
"What! What did I do?" I sit up, totally out raged.
"Let's see," my father continues as if nothing ever happened. "You don't get to see him. You don't get dinner, and we're taking away your weapons, oh! And no hunting for a week." With that they stride out of my room. Closing the door behind them. I hear the faint click as it locks.
Brilliant.
Just a joke! I immediately pick up my phone and try to call Maximus. He picks up.
"Are you punished like I am?" He sighs in the speaker. "I don't get to go hunting, I get no dinner and I have to stay in my room."
"I get no hunting, no dinner, and I can't see you. Although that's a bit obvious." I look at my window. I few years ago I was always sneaking out of my window and going places. So father bolted it closed.
"I'm under house arrest too. I just want them to know it was a prank. But if we tell them now they'll say I'm making it up." He sighs. Even over the phone he sounds dejected.
"Mine will do the same. It's not fair. It was just a prank!" I all but yell it into the speaker. "But you made the point." I sigh. Then I think of the most brilliant idea in the world. "Hey, wait. We could work this out!"
"You mean talk to our parents? Because if so that's a terrible idea."
"No! I mean work this to our advantage! Have some fun with it! Deepen the prank so that it looks twice as bad when it all comes crashing down on our parents." I say excitedly.
"Hmm, I could see this working. But I could also see it failing. Oh well, lets try. So what are you going to do?" Maximus asks.
"I'll just pretend to be pregnant. Do something to your parents too. I don't know what though. Just scare them a lot!" I say. There is a crash from the other side of the phone.
"My parents are trying to get into my room. Gotta go." Maximus hangs up and I put the receiver down. This is going to be sooooo fun.
"Emery! Come to breakfast." My father calls from down stairs. I get all giddy and skip down the stairs with a smile on my face. My father looks up from the pancakes he was making and frowns. My mother sits at the table and doesn't even look up.
"Goooood morning!" I sing. I want to peeve them off as much as I can. This time mother does look up and furrows he brow as she inspects me. Then looks down at her own bulge and frowns. Now her face is all scrunched up in the middle and she looks like she's just eaten something sour. I almost laugh.
"We need to talk." Father says. Well duh? How long did it take them to figure that out?
"Your only 15!" my mother wails! "Why would you do this?" she wails again. I just sit myself down at a chair and get bored already. "You're pregnant?" she comes around and crushes me in a hug. It I was pregnant than I'm sure that wouldn't be good for the baby.
Father just sighs. He looks disappointed. It almost makes me want to tell them that I'm not really pregnant. Almost. He's going to have to do a lot more than just guilt me into this. Maybe I can guilt him into taking the bars off my windows so I can sneak out again.
When mother pulls away I take in a gulp of air. Maybe I can do something with hormones? Mood swings? I know mother does that.
"Well, you were the one spying last night!" I say. Sounding irritated.
"Well yes. But… but… you shouldn't have to do this. I had to be in love with your father at six teen!" mother argues.
"Well I know what I'm doing!" I almost yell. "You can't protect me forever." I say in a smaller voice. I stand up. I still want pancakes. I go over to the stove and put three in a bag. I run up to my room with my parents still watching me closely. I squint my eyes for fake tears.
I eat feverishly as I kick at the window bars. My hands have blisters all over them by the time my phone starts wringing.
"Hello?" I say into the receiver. Maximus's voice comes out ragged with laughter on the other side.
"I definitely did something." He busts out laughing.
"Well?" I ask. "What did you do?"
"I snuck out of the window and went to the store and bought condoms." I don't see how this is so funny yet. "I hid them in my bag in my hotel room. When my parents went snooping in my room like I thought they would they found them and were soooo peeved! I was just sitting in the kitchen waiting for them to be done and they came out with them in their hands and shoved them at me demanding an explanation!" I burst out laughing with him this time. That's a lot more than I did I just did mood swings.
"I don't know what I should do." I say truthfully.
"good I thought of one for you." He whispers into my ear and I laugh.
"Why didn't I think of that?" I demand. I say good bye and go back to work on the bars. I'll need to be able to get out if this will work.