Mr. Anonymous

Chapter 22

Audrey felt a lump forming in her throat and her eyes began to water. She felt guilty for feeling this way. She tried to reassure herself. At least it was Noah and not some jerk trying to  make a fool out of her.

"Can you come closer? So we can talk?" Noah asked hesitantly and Audrey realized numbly that her feet had been rooted to the spot from the moment she recognized Noah. She just nodded.

She couldn't seem to bring herself to speak. She wanted to pull out her phone and text Mr. Anonymous. She suddenly wished that she had left their relationship the way it was. Because somehow, even though she had suspected it was Noah, she had wished that somehow it was Jack. She knew that that wasn't fair, though.

She numbly realized that Noah had been speaking and shook her head as if to clear it.

"I'm sorry can you start over?" Audrey asked.

But just then, a shadow fell over the two of them and Audrey turned around.

"Hey." Jack said to Audrey, an intense look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Audrey asked.

Audrey was so confused. She started looking back and forth between the two of them. Were they both Mr. Anonymous? Had they shared the phone and both showed up here to laugh in her face?

Just then, Audrey's phone buzzed. It was Mr. Anonymous.

It's me.

Audrey looked up to see Jack texting without looking and giving her a nervous smile.

Me. Jack. I'm Mr. Anonymous.

"You?" Audrey said out loud, her eyes locked with Jack's. She couldn't help it; she was smiling widely now.

"Me. It's me." he said, grinning back at her. "I had to get Jessie to break me out of the hospital to get here in time. I knew the DJ so I called ahead and requested this song. Did you like it?" Jack asked seeming somewhat relieved.

"I loved it." Audrey said, smiling so hard her face was starting to hurt. "It's really you?" she asked again.

"Yeah... I'm the one that's been texting you..." he said laughing nervously.

"I can't believe it's you." Audrey sighed, contentedly.

"Are you disappointed... that it's me?" Jack asked looking to the floor.

"No! I was actually hoping it was you, somehow." she admitted with a blush. "But wait! You didn't fill out a survey!" Audrey said, confused.

"Oh yeah! That first day I couldn't find a dollar and was too nervous to go ask Noah since he was sitting with you that day. I waited til the next day and got a survey from Mrs. Varner, but you were sick so I guess you wouldn't have known that." he said rubbing the back of his neck.

"But what about your dad?" she turned to Noah. "What are the odds that both of your fathers passed away like that?" Audrey asked.

Noah finally spoke up. "What? My dad didn't die. He walked out on us."

As the pieces finally fit together, Audrey started to feel embarrassed.

"Wait... did you think it was me?" Noah asked, uncertainly.

"Well you've been acting weird and not talking to me for the same amount of time Mr. Anonymous hasn't been speaking to me!" Audrey admitted, blushing.

"It's okay. I guess I can see how you thought that now. For the record, I was acting weirdly because of Jack. With him being in the hospital and Jessie getting so upset over it, I just reacted badly and took my feelings out on you. I'm sorry I've been so weird lately." Noah said, looking to the floor.

"It's okay. I understand." Audrey said.

"Okay, good." Noah said. "And with that, I'm going to leave you two alone now."

As Noah left and it was finally just the two of them, Audrey couldn't help but smile up at Jack.

"It's really you?" she asked again, wanting to pinch herself.

"It's really me." Jack said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "By the way... I want you to know... do you remember me telling you about that nonprofit for suicide awareness? Life is for Living?" Audrey just nodded and he continued. "I support that charity because of my dad... he battled depression for a long time, but..." Jack trailed off, looking away.

Audrey stepped closer to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry, Jack. I had no idea." she said as she hugged him close.

"I know... I wanted you to know that about me. I want you to know me - the real me - totally and completely." Jack said, pulling her closer.

"Me, too." Audrey said in a quiet voice.

After a moment, Jack spoke up.

"There's something else I wanted you to know, too." Jack said, pulling back to look her in the eye.

"Go for it." Audrey said with a smile.

"I want you to know that I would really like to kiss you now." Jack said.

"Really?" Audrey asked, leaning forward slightly in anticipation.

"Really." Jack said, closing the distance.

As his lips touched hers, the dance and everything else fell away and it was as if they were the only two people in the world.

------------------------------------------------

As Rockplay stepped up to the stage, Audrey and Jade cheered wildly. Christian stepped up to the microphone.

"So we're gonna do this a little different tonight. Our very own Jack Matthews is going to introduce our song tonight." Christian said motioning to Jack. The crowd clapped and then waited to hear what he was going to say.

"Tonight we're going to start with an original song called, "Secret Heart." This is actually a song I wrote for a girl who's had my heart for a long time now. Audrey, this one's for you." Jack said, locking eyes with her and smiling widely.

Audrey melted at the words and smiled back at him.

As she listened to the lyrics of the song once more her heart swelled.

It's obvious you're meant for me
Every piece of you, just fits perfectly
Every second, every thought, I'm in so deep
But I'll never show it on my face
But know this, you've got my secret heart, darlin
You've got my secret heart, darlin

As she thought about the events of the past weeks, Audrey couldn't help but be glad everything worked out the way it had.

She looked up at Jack like she had at that show so long ago and remembered being embarrassed that he had caught her staring. Now she openly stared at Jack, smiling when he caught her eye.

Now she didn't care who saw her. Jack had her heart and she would never keep that a secret.