Chapter 2

As we broke apart, my head swam with thoughts of repercussions. It was too forward, too fast. Her teacher, Miss Hawthorne's words echoed inside her skull. A young lady should always be modest and demure. I cursed myself for not ever listening to what that woman had to say. I could feel the blood rising in my cheeks from embarrassment when Nathan Hockley tilted my chin and kissed me back, harder still.

When you're little, you dwell on the day that you meet your handsome prince that will spirit you away from all the wretchedness the world has to offer. What no one bothers to tell you is that princes aren't found in gilded carriages or far off lands. They're found right in the most ordinary places if one only takes the time to look beneath the surface.

"Well, I hate to break it to you but I'm no harlot. If you want to keep kissing me like this we're going to need to come to some understanding." I told him, in a voice so overtly serious he started laughing.

When Jackie found me we were both gripped in fits of laughter, sewn to each other like two ragdolls in a permanent embrace.

I felt him tap my shoulder and when I looked around he seemed a little startled. His eyes darted from Nathan to me and back again before would say anything.

"Who is he?" He asked warily.

"My new friend." I answered with a smile. "What do you want?"

"He looks like a-" Before he could say anything more I grabbed hold of his arm and tugged him away from Nathan, into a dense mass of shiny sequins.

"What's going on?" I asked him tersely. I could see Nathan standing alone a few feet away looking confused.

"I talked to the twins for a long time. I mentioned Mama's name and neither of them knew who she was." Though one of them said you look familiar…"

"So we don't know why Mama's so afraid of the Hockleys. Maybe she was just being overly cautious. Mothers can be that way sometimes." I said, looking over his shoulder at Nathan whose eyes were searching the crowd. Jack looked at me crossed.

"Yeah, mothers, not Mama. She always wants us to have fun." He said fiercely. "There's something strange going on here and don't say there isn't. Eliza? I had caught Nathan's eye through the sheen of glimmering woman and was shooting him funny looks to make him laugh and wonder what in the world we were talking about.

"Eliza, are you all right. You're acting a little…odd?"

"No, Jack, I'm not alright. I wonderful, amazing. I've never felt so alright in my life." I beamed at him and squeezed his shoulders. I wanted him to feel the thrill that buzzed inside my chest.

"Well, you won't be so amazing. Not when Mama and Dad find out we snuck out."

"What time is it?" I asked him, the feeling of exhaustion finally weighing on my shoulders.

"Almost midnight." He said with such flat reserve you'd think it was almost twelve in the afternoon. My eyes widened in horror. Mamma would have gone to bed by now. She would have come into their room to say good night and …I felt the panic rush through me, the panic I'm sure Mama felt as found their beds empty and called their names throughout their little apartment without answer.

"We have to leave! Now!" I took him by the crook of his elbow and dashed for the door, but just then I remembered and looked over my shoulder at the spot where Nate had been, laughing and pondering at her queer expressions. He was gone.

My mind was torn between fear of retribution and the fear I would never see Nathan Hockley again. My first real kiss and I had little chance of ever seeing its bestower again. I was crestfallen, and even more so because our objective had not been fulfilled. We had never discovered why the Hockleys were so frightening to mother.

"Are you ready?" I said, gathering up all the calm and resignation I had within me. We had reached the apartment door. All was still outside but that didn't guarantee inside would be the same.

"No." He said, and he reached out and turned the knob and together we walked in bracing ourselves for Mother's brisk scolding, but it never came. The foyer was empty.

"Where are they?" Jack whispered, his murky green eyes shifting warily.

"Come on." I answered softly, gripping the sleeve of his shirt and guiding him through the dark living room, cautiously dodging the furniture, making sure he did the same. Mother's ears were honed from years of whimpering babies and mischievous toddlers. If there was any chance that our parents did not discover we had escaped, than it was vital that we make it to our rooms without a sound.

But as we came to the kitchen door, there it was; the familiar sense of foreboding that preceded castigation. Someone was waiting behind that door.

I put my fingers to Jack's lips which were opened, just about to inquire why we had stopped. I shook my head and placed my hand gently against the door to try and indicate to him there was behind it but he did not comprehend as most boys don't. I pushed on the door gently, seeing the outline of the stove and the counter tops, all draped in shadows. I thought we were okay. Until the door swung open all the way.

Mother and Dad were at the table, their eyes fixed on their clenched hands, their faces lit by a flickering oil lamp at the center of the table. They looked up at me. I cringed. On the way back I had thought up so many spiels on how we had to go to that party for one reason or another but there was only one sentence I could find the words to say.

"I'm sorry." I whimpered. Mother looked about ready to explode but before she could say anything, daddy beat her to it.

"Come here, Elizabeth." He said firmly. He used his nickname for me which meant he was angry. I ran up to him and threw my arms around his neck.

"I'm so sorry daddy; I really didn't want to go, honest but..." Out of the corner of my eye I saw mother's face go rigid. I remembered what she had said. "Don't tell your father about any of this".

"But I just wanted to see that house. You should have seen it, Daddy. It was more like a castle than a mansion" I said quickly before I could second guess myself. I looked at mother; she sighed and her faced reased. He sat me on his lap like he always did when he wanted my full attention and he beckoned for Jack to come forward who was half hidden behind the door, cowering, and waiting for me to test the waters.

It was never strange for me to sit on my father's lap, even now at the age of fourteen, nor was it uncommon for him to swing me up in his arms after hours and hours apart. It had always been this way; I would always be his little girl. I didn't know soon this would not be so.

" Lizzy, you scared us half to death. If you'd just asked us again when I got home we coulda sat down and talked about it." I had half the mind to tell him that it was all Jack's idea, that he convinced me to sneak out with him, but somewhere deep down I knew blaming my actions on someone else would just loose me more of his trust.

"Again, I'm really sorry, Daddy. It'll never happen again. I promise." Years of feigning innocence had made me a good liar. After a while, it almost seems like the truth.

"I believe you. You're such a good girl, you know that? Very smart and talented. You just gotta put those smarts to better use, right?" I laughed and hugged him; Jack did the same wrapping his wiry arms around father's broad shoulders.

"Come along, Eliza, let's go up stairs." She said taking my hand away, realizing that her husband was quickly becoming favorite over her.

Once we were upstairs in my room, she closed the door behind her, slumping against it slightly, breathing deeply. She looked at me with cold, piercing eyes as if trying to read my thoughts.

"I don't know anything." I told her bitterly before she could inquire. "I never had the chance to ask." Her gaze softened a little, but I could tell she was furious.

"Did you see him." She said, there was a small trace of fear in her question.

"Who?" I asked, my interest rising. "Who were you worried I'd meet?"

"No one." She said, as if she'd forgotten her previous question. I frowned.

"I met the children. Those two vapid little girls thought my hair wasn't real!" I said meaning for a laugh, but her face remained blank. I thought better of mentioning Nathan to her.

"Promise me you won't pursue this." She said. "Promise me you'll leave this alone."

"Why won't you tell me why you're so scared of these people? What'd they do to you?" I demanded loudly, which caused her to press her body more heavily against the door frame, fingers curling around the door knob.

"Because it's best to leave the past alone, Eliza." She said, turning to leave.

"What past? You and dad got married and had me when you were seventeen! What could have happened before that?" I implored, trying to stare her down.

"A lot." she said, somberly, before flicking the lights off and walking away, leaving me alone in the dark.

Time seemed to go so slowly after that night, I'd go to school and I'd come home from school each day without even a glimpse of Nathan Hockley, who seemed to have evaporated into thin air since the night I met him. It was only when I thought I'd die if I didn't see those blue eyes one last time, that I expressed my grievances to my younger brother.

"Jack, do you remember that boy I was dancing with at the twin's party?" I asked him as we walked home, he was upset because three of his friends had become ill and could no longer play soccer with him after school. He kicked at the sidewalk gravel and stuck out his bottom lip as most little boys did when they were angry. That's what I loved about Jack, he was completely oblivious to how classically adorable he was.

"Yeah." He grumbled, sending a stray stone skipping across the curb with a scuff of his shoe.

"Well, he just so happens to be the twins older brother and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind-"

"You like him, don't you." He said flatly. "You want to see him again because you like him. In a Mama and Dad sort of way, right?" I blushed. It was hard for me to admit I liked someone in front of my little brother, especially when that little brother had seen my most unflattering moments and was willing to divulge them to anyone at any time.

"Well, yes I suppose he is quite attractive but he's a very kind person too and I would like to be his friend. If you could just ask the twins if their brother could come by after school just to visit, please?"

"Sure, I'll do it, but you have to do something for me."

"Anything." I said excitedly.

"Watch Thomas for me." I groaned. He was a sweet little boy, with a mop of messy auburn hair and a smile that could light up the town, but very rarely did he smile. He usually slept or cried or tore up the house in his quest for attention which is why I never really bothered to help with him and for some reason he hated me. He bawled his heart out when I cradled him and screamed when I tried to pick him up, but he adored Jack, even though Jack barely paid any mind to him either.

"I can't do that, he'll kill me." I said, backing away.

"No he won't he's just a baby. Mom told me to watch him while she went for an audition but you can watch him in the park."

"No, I can't he's all over the place, he'll never sit still for me!" I cried. "I won't even be able to talk to Nathan if I'm chasing a toddler around!"

"Take it or leave It." he said.

"Fine I'll take him, but only for an hour, then it's your turn." I said crossly.

"Deal."

My heart leaped when I finally spotted the figure of Nathan Hockley walking across the lawn towards me. His marble skin glowed in the dusky golden sunlight that bathed the grass and the trees beyond it. His dark hair was slicked back and he wore a black jacket with the emblem of a school marked on its pocket. I could make out his eyes from several yards away, brilliantly blue in the gold tinted earth.

" Hi." He said, his eyes falling upon the little boy struggling to break free of my grip, he whimpered, and kicked growing red in the face. Nathan laughed. "He looks like he's going to explode if you don't let him go."

"If I let him go he'll run away, then what will I tell my mother?" My eyes met his, and he looked breath taken.

"Wow." He said, taking the seat on the bench next to me, brushing a stray curl out of my eyes. "You look…stunning." I felt my face go hot.

"You don't look too bad yourself." I said, trying to force back my snigger as I caught sight of his tie.

"Yeah, I go to a boy's school. It's a nice school I guess but there isn't very much to look at." I didn't know whether I should've been flattered or disgusted by his remark, yet I was oddly entranced by the way he said it, so affectionately that it was as if I was the only one he ever wanted to look upon. I stared at him for a moment and he stared back at me, we were fascinated by each other and we both seemed to realize it.

"Have you any knowledge on how to tame a toddler?" I implored jokingly, struggling to maintain my grip on little Thomas.

"Sorry, we had nannies when the twins were that age. I haven't a clue how they kept them from falling in a well and drowning."

He was so unlike my image of a privileged boy. He didn't talk properly, or refrain from teasing. He was a normal boy, not unlike my father I remarked, but that thought was quickly driven from my head when he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I looked up at him in surprise, he just smiled.

"I just wanted to know what it would feel like. Your cheeks are so smooth." I blushed and clapped my hands over my face.

"You shouldn't say those things."

"Why?" He asked, taking my hands and removing them from my face. "I told you before, you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen.

"I don't think I'm as pretty as you say." I knew I wasn't as pretty as he said. I was the one who looked in the mirror everyday, who scrubbed every inch of my body. I was the one who enjoyed the teasing. I knew I was no beauty. So why did he believe I was?

"I don't say things unless they're true." He said earnestly. Then he kissed me. I had forgotten how thrilling it was to kiss someone. Someone you'd just met. Without anyone knowing. Sharing a secret without saying a word.

And I was so engulfed in my recent epiphany that I was in love for the first time that I failed to realize that my baby brother had disappeared from sight.