Chapter Eight: Sneaking Around Is More Fun

Alex

"I talked to my parents and they said I could stay one more night if it was okay with you," I said to Ellie's mom that afternoon.

"That's fine dear. I'm sure you can fit into some of Ellie's pajamas."

Of course I was lying to her. I'd only talked to Craig, and he told me my parents insisted I come home. They couldn't come get me since they didn't know where Ellie lived, and I knew they wouldn't look her up because they knew I was safe. I told Craig to make sure Ashley left before tomorrow.

"You ready?" Ellie asked me as she walked into the living room.

"Where are you girls off to in such a hurry?" Ms. Nash asked.

"To the mall," Ellie told her. "And then we'll probably get lunch at my torturous workplace since it's the only good place to eat in Toronto that we can afford."

"Well, have fun," she smiled. "I'll see you two later."

"Bye," we said together before hurrying out of the house.

"Do you think she bought it?" Ellie asked as we got into her car.

"Yeah. But how long do people normally go to the mall for? I never shop for fun unless it's to buy presents for people," I told her.

"Same here, so I'm not really sure. We'll get our lunch, go eat it, spend some time at the park, and then stop by the mall and buy some random shirts or something," she shrugged.

Ellie and I were really going on our second date. She planned it; a picnic at the park with takeout from The Dot. We couldn't actually tell her mom that's what we were doing, so the mall was our excuse. I wanted to really get to know Ellie; it was something I hadn't done before rushing into my relationship with Ashley. Everything was so new back then that I wanted to experience it all as fast as I could.

But it was different with Ellie. I already felt really close to her because of the night before. I think it might be that way for everyone when someone they like sees them go through an emotional experience like that. I was a wreck; I couldn't stop crying and Ellie just listened to me complain. She let me cry all over her shirt and then she talked to me until I fell asleep. Because of that one night, I felt closer to her than I had ever been to Ashley.

"I'll be right back," Ellie said, pulling me out of my thoughts. We were already at The Dot, and she went inside to get our food.

"Hey!" I jumped nearly five feet in the air.

"You scared the crap out of me Spin!" I said, turning to look out my open window.

"What are you two up to?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"We're just hanging out," I lied.

"Has she told you she's bi yet?" he asked, leaning in to whisper it in my ear.

"Yes," I said, grinning.

"So is this a date or something?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that," I told him. "What happened to spending the weekend at your ex's house?"

"I still am. I'm picking up our lunch."

"Who is your ex anyway?" I asked. I was definitely curious since Spinner never mentioned his name.

"He doesn't exactly want people to know that he was ever with a guy, so I can't tell you that," he explained.

"Fair enough. Are you having all that sex you planned on?" I joked.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that," he said, smirking.

"That means you're not getting any, doesn't it. Guys always brag when they get sex. Even gay ones!" He stuck his tongue out at me

"Hey Spinner," Ellie said as she got back to the car. She handed me the food and I put it in my lap. "Are you trying to kiss my date?" she asked him. I looked at her, surprised that she said that out loud to someone other than me.

"Ha, yeah right," he laughed. "You two have fun. But not too much fun if it's only the first date."

"Actually, it's the second," Ellie said proudly.

"Well then forget what I said; you can do whatever you want!" he joked.

"Goodbye Spinner," I said, waving as we pulled out of the parking lot. He gave us a thumbs up before we drove off.

Ellie spread out the blanket that she had in her trunk and we sat down. She started pulling the containers out of her bag. She handed me mine and grinned.

"It's a burger, medium-well with fries," she said. "I figured you liked it since it's what you ordered when I first met you."

"You remembered?" I asked. That was so cute, but I didn't say it out loud. I felt honored that she remembered what I ordered, especially since it was a week ago.

"Of course I did. I got the same thing, it's my favorite," she said.

"Me too."

As we ate, we started finding out things about each other.

"What's your favorite color?" I asked her.

"That's a tough one. I guess I'll have to say black. I don't wear it all the time; I'm not some depressive goth girl, but I just like black."

"That's not even a color," I pointed out.

"I know! What's your favorite color then?" she asked.

"Black," I replied, grinning. She nudged me with her elbow and playfully rolled her eyes.

"Okay, my turn. What's your favorite band?"

"I don't really have one. Everyone always give me crap for it. 'How can you not have a favorite band?' It's easy—I just like to listen to a bunch of bands and I don't really favor one over the other," I explained.

"That's so weird. I don't have one either."

"Two points for you then," I said.

"And how many points do I have to earn for a kiss?" she asked. I grinned and leaned forward.

"Just two," I said. I made sure she didn't see what my hand was doing, and when we were only centimeters apart, I brought my hand up and stuffed a French fry in her mouth.

"But you'll have to catch me first!" I yelled, jumping up and running away from her.

So maybe it was completely lame and childish, but we had a lot of fun. Ellie chased me around the park for a minute until I ran into the woods and hid behind a tree. I lost sight of her and she somehow snuck up behind me, grabbing my shoulders and spinning me around.

"You scared the shit out of me!" I said.

"Sorry but that was to get you back for burning my mouth with that fry," she said.

"I can always make that feel better."

I lightly pressed my lips to hers and we kissed for a few minutes behind the tree. It felt so good to be with someone new, and at the same time, it seemed as though I'd known Ellie all my life.

"Okay, we should probably slow down a bit," Ellie said, catching her breath.

"That's fine with me," I said. I definitely didn't want to scare her away. "Should we go to the mall now?"

"Sure," she said, linking her arm through mine and dragging me back to the blanket. We cleaned up our trash and stuffed the blanket back in the trunk before heading to the mall.

We didn't do much shopping at the mall; we actually ended up playing a bunch of games at the arcade and trying out new lotions and perfumes. I made a note to remember Ellie's favorites so I could get them for her for Christmas.

"I need a job," I said as we were walking out of a store I'd never heard of before.

"Well, I could get you one at The Dot, but you'd have to bus tables. They don't hire waiters or waitresses under sixteen," she told me.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to work together," I said, grinning. "I wouldn't be able to concentrate at all."

"Hmmm, you could always work at the food counter for the movie theater. This girl Paige works there."

"That sounds pretty good," I said, shrugging.

"Why don't you get an application while we're here," she suggested.

We made our way to the movie theater and I saw a blonde girl working behind the counter. She was cute, but not as much as Ellie.

"Is that Paige?" I asked.

"Yep. Hey Paige," Ellie said as we walked up. Paige immediately looked down at the counter instead of making eye contact with us.

"Don't worry, Manny's not with us," I said. She raised her head and smiled at me. "I'm Alex," I said, extending my hand.

"I've seen you around," she said, shaking it.

"Well, I'm looking for a job. Do you have any applications?"

"Sure." As she walked away to find one, I turned to Ellie.

"Manny must make her life hell," I commented.

"She's not so bad once you get to know her," Ellie said.

"Who, Paige or Manny?" I asked.

"Manny. I know she can be a real bitch sometimes, but she hasn't always been that way. I'm a little worried about her."

"Oh…" I wasn't sure what else to say, but thankfully Paige came back with the application.

"You can fill it out now and I'll make sure to get it to my boss," she told me.

"Thanks."

I filled out the application as quickly as I could and gave it back to Paige. Then Ellie and I decided to go back to her house.

"You didn't buy anything?" her mom asked when we walked in the door.

"Nope. But we did find a lot of good ideas for Christmas presents," I told her. It wasn't exactly a lie; I knew what I was getting Ellie already.

"Well that's good. I ordered a pizza for dinner. It should be here in a little while," she told us.

As soon as we were finished with dinner, Ellie and I rushed back to her room for a little privacy. We listened to some music and flipped through different television shows, but we eventually got bored and moved onto more fun activities.

I was lying on my back and Ellie was straddling me, kissing my cheekbone and down my jaw line when her mom knocked on the door. She jumped onto the floor and ran to her closet before her mom got the door open.

"It's getting late," she said. "You should probably be going to bed soon."

"We are. I'm just getting Alex some pajamas," Ellie said. She walked back to the bed and dropped pink pants and a white tank top onto it.

"Okay then. Goodnight girls."

"Goodnight," we said at the same time.

Once her mom was gone, we both sighed with relief.

"We should definitely take it slow," I said, referring to what Ellie had said that afternoon.

"Definitely," she agreed.

Craig

Alex came home on Sunday morning with a huge grin on her face. She plopped down at the kitchen table like she'd never been gone. We all looked at her like she was crazy, but she didn't stop smiling.

"I take it you had a good weekend," I said, nudging her.

"Alexandra!" my mom snapped. "You had us worried. Why would you sneak off to Ellie's house like that? You know we would have let you go."

"No, you probably wouldn't have, since I'm into girls and so is she. Remember, you said I couldn't have sleepovers if they were gonna be like that," she said, rolling her eyes.

"And Craig can't have sleepovers with girls for the same reason," my dad said. "You still need to explain yourself. "You're grounded for a month," he added.

"That's not fair!" she shrieked. "How can you ground me when you don't even know what happened?"

I felt bad for her, but I wasn't about to blurt out my part in her leaving. I did not need to be grounded for another month. I still had about a month to go.

"Why don't you just tell us what happened then?" my dad suggested.

"You want to know what happened? I felt bad for fighting with Craig and Ashley, so I went to apologize to them Friday night. And when I walked into his room," she said, pointing at me. "He was making out with my ex girlfriend with no pants on. And she was jerking him off!" she yelled.

"I think we've heard enough," my dad said, holding his hand up. "You're not grounded Alex. But you!"

Great, here we go. I'm probably going to end up stuck in my room until I'm forty.

"I think we should let Alex decide his punishment," my mom interjected.

"Wonderful," I muttered.

"That's enough out of you," Dad said. "And I think that's a good idea."

"I think that Craig should have his door taken off his bedroom again. And he should have to help me plan activities for Equality Club. And no allowance for a month," she added.

"Gee, thanks Alex."

"Just think, if I'd walked in any later, you probably would've been fucking her! And I thought Dad had 'the talk' with you. Apparently you weren't listening that day."

"Oh like you haven't had sex before!" I shot back.

"Alex, watch your mouth or you will be grounded!" my mom yelled. I smirked at Alex but Mom caught me. "And Craig, your door will be coming off after breakfast. And you'll be having another talk with your father after that," she said.

My second sex talk with my dad was just about as fun as the first. I was told that I'm too young to have sex, blah, blah, blah, and I should wait. I have all my life, etc, etc, and what would I do if I got a girl pregnant or got an STD? I nodded my head and agreed with everything he said.

When he started talking about STDs though, I actually listened and was reminded of my issue that wasn't quite resolved. Even though I felt fine, I was still nervous about it. Maybe I should go to the clinic.

My mom told me that if either of us snuck out of the house like Alex did, we'd be grounded for three months without allowance.

Speaking of Alex, she still won't talk to me. I actually have a lot of things that I want to talk to her about, but she isn't in a very forgiving mood.

Monday was my last day of suspension, so I got to sleep in. I was lying in bed when I heard the door open and close. Great, Mom or Dad probably came home early to make sure I was sitting in my stupid room that didn't have a door anymore.

"What happened here?" I heard a voice. Definitely not Mom or Dad. I rolled over to see Emma standing in my doorway in her pajamas.

"It's a long story. But what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm sick," she faked a cough into her hand and smiled. "I had to stay home. I would have done it earlier but I thought my parents would catch on if I was suddenly sick on your first day of suspension."

"You're a smart one Emma Nelson," I said. "Why don't you join me?" I suggested, sitting up.

She walked over and sat down on the bed next to me. We sat in silence for a minute and then she was on me, kissing my neck.

"Emma?"

"Yeah?" she asked, looking into my eyes.

"Do you like me?" I asked. I felt stupid asking it, but I needed to.

"Of course I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here right now."

"I just don't understand why you only want to kiss me or sleep with me. You haven't really tried to get to know me at all," I said. She frowned and got off of my legs.

"I thought it was what you wanted. All guys want sex; it's all they ever think about. And I figured I should give it to you or you wouldn't like me," she confessed. I felt so bad for her right then and I wanted to kiss her and make her feel better but I couldn't.

"No Emma, you don't have to give me anything. I like you, but I don't want to rush into anything. We can take our time, especially because of what happened to you," I told her.

"What happened to me? What are you talking about?"

"You know, when you were twelve…" she cut me off and jumped off the bed.

"Who told you about that?" she nearly yelled. I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"That night I went over your house…I talked to Jay when…"

"He had no right!" she screamed. "And it's none of your business, Craig!" Tears were pouring down her cheeks. I tried to get up and wipe them away but she flinched when I touched her cheek. "Don't touch me!"

She turned and ran and I didn't stop her. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, so I just stood there like an idiot and watched her run down the stairs.

At school on Tuesday, Alex still wouldn't talk to me and Emma wouldn't either. I tried to track down Jay to ask for his help, but I didn't see him at all. During lunch I was sitting by myself, feeling like a freak, when Sean sat down with me.

"Good to be back?" he asked.

"Not really. I screwed things up with Emma and my sister," I told him. "Why are you talking to me? Wouldn't it ruin your reputation or something?"

"Nah, I figure I'll just tell everyone you're gay and you were trying to experiment with Ashley, no big deal," he said. My face got hot with anger and I almost yelled at him, but remembered where I was.

"That's not funny," I spat, narrowing my eyes.

"Chill, it was just a joke. I just don't really care much what people think anymore. My girlfriend's a slut, I get it. The way I see it, me not having sex with her is a good thing. And I don't really care if people know that," he explained.

"Do you love her?" I blurted out. He gave me a look like I was crazy so I explained why I was asking. "I mean, you must really love her if you stay with her, even when you know she's slept with all the guys at the ravine."

"Yeah, I guess I do. We've been together for awhile now and sex didn't matter to her before. When it did start to matter, and I didn't want to do it, she got mad at me and slept with this one kid, thinking it would get me to screw her. When that didn't work, she just kept sleeping around and now here we are."

"Why don't you just break up with her?"

"I don't really know. I guess I don't want to lose what we have. When we're together, she doesn't even mention sex anymore. We have fun like we used to. But enough about that. We better start talking about something manly or I'm gonna hurl. You like cars?"

"Not really," I laughed. "I mean, I don't know much about them."

"Maybe I'll teach you some time. If you want to be friends, that is," he added."

"Sure, why not."

I wasn't sure why I agreed to be friends with Sean. I guess I didn't really have anything against him, but it was strange to be friends with the kid whose girlfriend I had sex with. Things were just getting weirder by the minute.

A/N: Just to let everyone know, in chapter ten I'm going to start putting other people's POVs in besides the same old Craig and Alex ones. I just wanted to develop their characters a little before I added anyone else.