My heart felt like it was about to jump right out of my chest. This was the first time hearing my mother's voice in so long. I felt my fingers begin to shake as I held the phone right up to my ear, gripping it tightly in my hands. I looked over at Alvin, who continued to stare at me before I looked away.
I was beginning to feel nauseous, and being in a moving car for the first time in a while didn't help at all.
When there was no reply, I closed my eyes and gripped the phone tighter. "Hello?" I whispered.
"Who's this?" Miss Miller asked carefully on the other end.
I took a deep breath. "M-Mom?" I whispered, almost inaudibly.
I heard Miss Miller gasp clearly from the other end. And then, without a single second being wasted, she automatically broke down in tears - painful, choked out tears. The sound of my mom's sudden cries sent chills down my spine. My heart, if it were possible, was racing at such an inhumane speed, that I almost felt sick.
"Brittany? Brittany, is that you?" Miss Miller sobbed. "Please tell me it's you."
It took my at least 5 seconds to speak up. "I-It's me."
"Oh God, Brittany." Miss Miller cried. I could heard the heartfilled tone in her voice. "Brittany, oh my God..."
"Miss Miller, I-"
"I can't believe it. Where have you been?" Asked Miss Miller.
I gulped. "Mom. I can exp-"
"Are you alright? W-Where are you? Are you hurt? Brittany, answer me. Answer me, Brittany. Where in the world have you been?" Miss Miller sobbed uncontrollably.
I took a deep breath. "Miss Miller, listen to me. I swear, I'm fine. I...I'm on my way home right now. I'll-"
"Home?" Miss Miller cried even harder. "Oh, Brittany, please come home now."
The way Miss Miller was speaking to me right now, I could only imagine the state she is in right now. The tone in her voice is something I can never explain, but if you heard the way she was talking to me right now, if you could only hear the pain in her voice, it would break your heart.
"I am, mom. Alvin and I are coming home right now." I said.
"Alvin? Oh my goodness, please tell me the both of you are alright." Miss Miller cried.
"We are." I took another deep breath. "But Miss Miller, please stop worrying. Alvin and I are completely fine. We're not hurt or anything. But you've got to promise me that you've gotta listen to me."
"Just come home now, please." Cried Miss Miller. "Please, Brittany."
I nodded, even though she couldn't see. "We'll be there soon, mom. And I swear, Alvin and I will explain everything."
I could heard my mother's cries get even worse. "Okay. I-I just can't believe it...Oh, Brittany. We thought you and Alvin had...we thought..."
I closed my eyes. "Trust me, Miss Miller. We'll be home soon, and everything will be just fine."
"Okay." Miss Miller whispered. "But my God, Brittany. Where have you been? Oh honey, I-I...this is too overwhelming right now. I can't even begin to explain how..." She trailed off into tears.
"Mom." I whispered. "I promise, we're fine. Just trust me, please."
"I've missed you so much, Brittany. I've been worrying about you and Alvin for so long." Sobbed Miss Miller.
"I know. But...we'll explain everything later, mom." I said, trying my best to hold back tears.
"Okay." Miss Miller took a deep breath. "Promise me you'll get here safe, alright?"
"I promise, mom." I said. "We'll be home soon."
I heard Miss Miller take a deep breath. "Alright. I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Okay." I answered.
"I love you, Brittany." Miss Miller said, her voice breaking.
"You too, mom." I replied.
"Bye." She whispered, before hanging up.
Once I heard the phone line end, I clutched the phone in my hand and closed my eyes. I couldn't explain how I was feeling right now, I was just feeling too overwhelmed. I opened my eyes to reveal tears, that were now streaking down my face. I took a deep breath and looked at Alvin.
"You okay?" He asked.
I nodded as I passed the phone back to him, and as he passed the phone back to Randy.
"We'll be there in about 20 minutes." Randy answered.
I nodded. "Thank you."
As each minute passed by, I was getting more nervous and scared. I didn't know what to expect once I see Miss Miller and Dave again. I knew they were going to be furious, and I know that our siblings will feel the same. But I do know that Alvin and I have got a lot of explaining to do.
Alvin told Randy the address to my house, so I was assuming that we were nearly there - and I was right. I looked out the car window, seeing the familiar houses and streets, and it didn't take me very long to realize that we were back. Around 2 minutes later, Randy began to slow down as he approached a large, white house - my house.
I closed my eyes for half a second before opening them again. In the driveway was Miss Miller's car, and a dark green car. Alvin and I glanced at each other for a moment, knowing that that car belonged to Dave, meaning that both of our parents were probably waiting for us inside the house right now.
"Here we are." Randy said as he stopped the car.
I didn't move. I stayed seated for a long time, trying to take in what's happening right now. It's been 9 whole days since I've been back home, back in civilization. 9 days, being out in the dark forest, 9 days being away from everyone and everything. It was just too surreal.
I hadn't realized that Alvin had already got out of the car before I saw that he opened my car door for me. I looked at him and sighed as I took his hand before getting out. I looked around me and sighed. Even though it's only been 9 days, it really felt like an eternity.
Alvin looked at me as he let go of my hand. "You ready?" He whispered.
I nodded. "Yeah."
Alvin smiled gently and said, "Remember, no matter how much trouble we get into, I still love you."
I smiled back, wanting to reach up and kiss him, but held myself back, for obvious reasons. "I know. I love you too."
But before anything could happen, Alvin and I turned around at the same time the moment we heard the door open. My heart felt like it had halted for just half a second before I realized that we were staring back at the faces of Dave and Miss Miller, who were standing at the door.
No time was wasted before our parents ran to us and embraced us tightly in their arms.
This moment didn't feel real, yet, it did.
Miss Miller began to sob, hugging me tighter in her arms. "Brittany, oh my God, Brittany, I can't believe it's really you. I can't believe you're home."
She pulled away from me, surprisingly, to pull Alvin in her arms to hug him too, while Dave did the same with me. He was teary eyed as well, but I knew I couldn't blame the both of them. They're our parents, and they've raised us since we were little. Of course they were going to be emotional.
After they let go of us, I looked over at Alvin. He was standing on the right side of Dave while I was standing on the left side of Miss Miller. The fact that there was so much space between us after so long made me want to run over to him and wrap my arms around him, but I knew that for our sake, we had to keep our relationship a secret for now.
Alvin cleared his throat as he looked at us, "Dave, Miss Miller, this is Randy."
Randy, who was still in the drivers seat with his window rolled down, smiled. "Hello."
"He and his family were kind enough to help us get home." Alvin said.
Miss Miller, with tears still running down her face, walked over to him and shook his hand. "Thank you so much for helping them. I can't even begin to explain how grateful we are that you did."
"You're very welcome." Randy answered.
Dave walked over and said, "We appreciate it. Thank you."
"Of course. My family and I were more than happy to have helped." Randy said, before looking towards us. "Now you two better stay out of trouble, alright?"
I laughed and nodded. "We will. Thank you, Randy. And tell Lisa and Hayley that Alvin and I couldn't have found our way out if it weren't for them."
Randy nodded. "I'll tell them."
We said our final goodbyes before Randy drove away. I gulped to myself, knowing what was going to happen next.
Miss Miller sighed and wiped her tear stained face, although tears continued to fall. She looked at me and Alvin and said, "I can't believe you two are finally home. We've been worried to death."
I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.
"You two know that you have a ton of explaining to do." Dave said.
Alvin nodded. "Yeah, we know." He sighed.
"Here, let's go inside." Miss Miller said, still wiping some tears away.
The moment I stepped foot inside my house again was so weird, yet so relieving. I wanted to run upstairs to my bedroom, but it took every ounce of my strength not to. Alvin and I followed Miss Miller and Dave into the living room, where they sat in one couch, and where Alvin and I sat in the couch across from them.
Silence.
"Well." Dave said sternly, looking and me and Alvin. "Who wants to start?"
I gulped.
"Anyone?" Asked Dave.
Miss Miller sighed before looking at us. "Does the word 'party' ring a bell?"
I automatically felt the insides of my body freeze in guilt.
I sighed. "Miss Miller, we-"
"Dave and I know about the party." Miss Miller answered. "Your friends told us."
The party. The party, my party, that I was hosting, the party that I had worked so hard on - the party that Alvin and I snuck outta the house for, the party that we never arrived at.
"Our friends?" I asked.
"Yes. Courtney, Trixie, Vanessa, everyone." Miss Miller snapped. "Brittany, I cannot believe you. You told me you were going to a sleepover with your friends! Why did you lie?"
I didn't know what to say.
"That goes for you too, Alvin." Dave said sternly. "Because of the fact that you two lied to us, look at what happened!"
I looked down. "We're sorry."
"You should be sorry. Both of you!" Miss Miller said, looking and me and Alvin.
"We're both so disappointed in you two. You should have just told us." Dave said. "Sneaking out was not the answer."
"Do you know how worried and scared we were? Even your poor siblings couldn't sleep at night!" Miss Miller exclaimed. "Even the police was involved with this! Do you know what you two have done?"
I felt guilt strike me like a lightning bolt. "We're sorry, Miss Miller." I said.
"But speaking of siblings, where are they?" Asked Alvin.
Dave sighed. "They're at school. Today's Monday."
"And school! Don't even get me started!" Miss Miller said. "You two have missed out on so many classes, and not to mention, your friends at school are worried to death."
Dave sighed deeply. "Tell us everything from the beginning. Please."
Though hesitant at first, Alvin and I explained the entire story, starting with the party, how we both snuck out without telling them, lying to them that we were going somewhere else. To the part where I had spotted something on the road, causing us to roll down the hill, resulting in us ending up in the middle of nowhere.
"YOU TWO COULD HAVE GOTTEN KILLED!" Miss Miller exclaimed.
"But we didn't." I said quietly.
"But what if you did? The entire situation could have been avoided, Brittany!" Miss Miller said.
"I cannot believe you two. Because of your carelessness and recklessness, you almost got hurt! It's a miracle that the two of you are still walking, after what happened." Dave said.
Then we told them how Alvin's car is now broken, and that it's still in the woods (Dave was not pleased when he heard about that), and we told them how we had to survive on what we had to make a fire, to take baths, to eat and everything, for at least 7 days straight.
"Your car is what? Still in the woods?" Dave snapped, looking at Alvin.
"Y-Yeah. But-"
"But what, Alvin? How do you expect us to retrieve your car?" Dave asked furiously.
"Well, I was planning to call a tow truck to get my car back..." Alvin chuckled nervously.
"But are you even aware how expensive that will be?" Dave declared angrily.
"I know, Dave. That's why I'm planning to pay for it myself." Alvin said.
"Fine. But once you get your car back, don't be surprised if you find out that you're walking to school everyday now." Dave fired.
"What? But Dave, I need my car. How do you expect me to get anywhere? The football championship is in a few weeks, and I'm suppose to be driving myself and 2 other players!" Alvin exclaimed.
"I guess you'll just have to find another way to get there." Answered Dave.
"But-"
"Unless you'd like to quit playing football." Dave said.
I looked over at Alvin, feeling bad for him, but he just sighed and retreated back from saying anything else. We tried lightening the story by saying how the two of us got along and worked together, but Dave and Miss Miller's upset and angry mood did not seem to change.
Then we told them how we decided to look for help, which lead us to finding Lisa's house. We told them how Lisa and her daughter Hayley allowed us to stay in their house for 2 days, providing us with a bed, a bathroom and food until Lisa's husband, Randy, came back from his job to help us get back home.
"A bed? You two slept in the same bed?" Miss Miller asked, looking at me and Alvin carefully.
Oh crap...
"No." Alvin said quickly but calmly. "Brittany slept in the bed, while I slept on the couch."
I sighed in relief to myself. Though Alvin and I have learned our lesson about lying to our parents, there were some things that they didn't need to know...
The entire story took us about 30 minutes to explain, mainly due to Dave and Miss Miller interrupting us every 2 seconds, but to be honest, it felt good to get it off our chests, even though Alvin and I both knew we were probably grounded for the rest of our lives.
Dave sighed deeply. He looked stressed. "Well. Anything else you two have got to say?"
Alvin and I said and did nothing.
"Look. We're both so relieved that you two are home safe, finally. But what you guys have done was extremely irresponsible. I can't even begin to explain how much trouble you two have caused for everyone." Miss Miller said.
"We know." Alvin said.
Miss Miller sighed as she looked at Dave, before looking back at us. "Even though we're extremely disappointed in you both, we're still just so glad that you two are back home safe and sound."
I looked at Miss Miller. "So...we're not grounded?"
Miss Miller laughed and scoffed. "You bet you're grounded. Both of you are. Don't think that you two are getting away with this, because it's going to take a long, long time before Dave and I will be able to trust you two again. But we know that getting mad at you guys won't make anything better, but we really hoped you two have gotten something out of this."
We nodded.
"Miss Miller is right. It's going to take a while before we will be able to trust the two of you again. You guys have caused enough problems to last us a lifetime." Dave said.
Alvin and I looked at each other and sighed. We were expecting that, after all.
"That's why I'm taking your car away for at least 2 months, once you get it back, Alvin." Dave said.
"You too, Brittany. Your car is still getting fixed, but don't expect to be driving it soon for a long while." Miss Miller told me.
Dave looked at Alvin. "And you're not allowed to leave the house unless you tell me. Even if it's to go outside for a short while, you have to tell me whenever you're going out."
Alvin groaned. "Are you ser-"
I nudged him in the ribs.
Alvin sighed. "Fine."
"Same applies with you, Brittany. You're not allowed to leave the house unless you ask me, and I'm moving your curfew from 10pm to 7pm." Miss Miller said to me.
"7pm?" I asked. "But-"
Miss Miller gave me a disapproving look.
I slouched in my seat and nodded. "Yes, mom."
"And about your cellphones..." Miss Miller said. "You can still keep it, but only during certain hours. I'll tell you once I decide."
I groaned to myself. "Okay, fine."
"You too, Alvin. Don't assume that I'll be letting you keep your cellphone in your possession." Dave explained.
After Miss Miller and Dave seemed to have calmed down a bit, Miss Miller allowed Alvin to stay here until our siblings return. I can't even begin to explain how much I miss Jeanette and Eleanor. I even miss Simon and Theodore too. I knew that our siblings were not expecting us to be home, so I wasn't sure if I was looking forward to this.
Alvin and I agreed to keep our relationship a secret for now, so we had to try and stay away from each other as much as we could. Alvin, Dave and Miss Miller were all in the kitchen while I resorted upstairs into my bedroom for the first time. I sat on my bed, and looked around.
I know that I should be happy, knowing that I'll be sleeping in the warmth of my own bed tonight, but like I mentioned before, it's going to take me a while before I get use to waking up in bed, alone, without Alvin beside me.
A few gentle knocks suddenly came from my bedroom door. I looked up to see Alvin peering his head inside.
"Can I come in?" He asked.
I smiled and nodded.
He walked in a slowly closed the door behind him. The moment the door was shut, I got up off my bed, walked over to him and kissed him. It's been a rough hour, staying away from him and pretending that we weren't together. He kissed me back gently before pulling away.
"I asked them if I could talk to you." Alvin said, smiling. "They're not suspecting anything yet."
"Good." I said, leaning in to kiss him once more before I sat back down on my bed again. Alvin pulled the chair from my computer desk and sat in it.
"So...that didn't go so bad, did it?" Alvin said.
I rolled my eyes. "I'm just glad that that talk is over."
"Are you glad to be back home?" He asked.
I shrugged. "Not really. I already miss spending time with just you."
He laughed lightly. "Yeah, I know how you feel."
"It's feels so weird, being back home." I said, looking around my bedroom before looking at him. "It's gonna be so weird, going to bed tonight, knowing that I'll be alone in this room."
"We've gotten pretty use to sleeping beside each other, huh." Alvin said.
I laughed and nodded. "Yeah...Anyway, how long are we gonna keep this up?" I asked.
"Keep what up?" Alvin asked me.
"You know, pretending that we're not together." I said.
Alvin sighed. "I know. But let's give it time. I mean, who would have expected us - us of all people - to get together so quickly? No one would have expected it, especially with our type of...rivalry."
I laughed. "I guess you're right, but it's going to be so difficult to hide our relationship. It's going to be hard not being able to hug or kiss you out in public, knowing that we have to wait until we're alone to do so."
He smiled. "I know. But it's better to just give it some time until we tell people."
"Okay. I guess it is pretty fun keeping this from everyone, for now." I said, sighing.
"Yeah. Anyway, I personally think that Miss Miller and Dave handled it quite well downstairs." Alvin said.
I nodded. "I know, right? I expected something even worse, like putting chains and bars on our bedroom windows or something."
"But you know, Britt, that there are still people out there that think we're missing." Alvin said.
"Our friends? We can call them later. It's not like Miss Miller and Dave took our cellphones away." I said to him, thinking back to our group of friends at school, who are still probably extremely worried.
"No, I'm not talking about our friends, Britt." He said.
I looked at him, confused, before I realized who he was actually talking about.
Our siblings.
"Oh." I said. I looked at the clock and said, "Well, they're gonna be home from school in a few hours. I guess the only thing left to do is wait."
Alvin sighed and nodded.
I sighed to myself before getting up off my bed to go sit in his lap. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his shoulder, as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
"I love you, you know." I whispered.
"I know. I love you too, more than I should." He said.
I laughed gently to myself and said, "We should probably go downstairs soon before they actually do start suspecting something. They're gonna start wondering why we're up here, not yelling and arguing with each other."
Alvin laughed and nodded before I got off his lap. But before we reached my bedroom door, he turned me around, leaned in and kissed me. I closed my eyes as I kissed him back. It was moments like these - moments where we can be together as a couple without having to hide - that I'm going to miss the most.
Like Alvin and I said, we're just going to keep our relationship a secret - for now.
But as of right now, all we have to do is to wait for Simon, Theodore, Jeanette and Eleanor to return from school. And as much as Alvin and I miss our own siblings, we both knew that they were going to be as furious as Miss Miller and Dave.
They're finally back home! Poor Dave and Miss Miller must be so relieved!
How do you think Simon, Jeanette, Theodore and Eleanor will react once they see their older siblings again?
And will Alvin and Brittany be able to keep their relationship a secret? :O
Thanks so much for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! :)