Secrets Not Lies

Chapter Two - New Apartment

"Oh, I can't wait to see it!" my mum squealed excitedly.

I smiled over at where she was seated in the driver's seat. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement while watching the road ahead of her as she steered the car around a corner. I realized we were already on the street my new apartment building was off of.

It was the day before my parents were leaving, and although I was sad at the thought of not seeing them as often as I was used to, I had enough to be distracted by. A week earlier, Phil and I had gone looking through apartments together for three days straight. It quickly became evident that the job of finding a place to move into within a week was far more difficult than we'd imagined. Lucky for us, we didn't have high standards, and by the end of the three days, we would've been fine to move into the rat-infested apartment we'd seen the day before.

That was, until, we came across the perfect place. Despite minor things, we were able to move into the place right away and it was the perfect size for us.

My mum had barely rolled to a stop in a parking space when she started to clamber out of the car excitedly. I didn't know what kind of apartment she was expecting me to be moving into, but I supposed this was the first place I was ever going to be living in without her. In her eyes, I was finally growing up. However, I didn't want to disappoint her, as the place wasn't as glorious as I'd first described it.

"Remember," I started as I got out of the car, "we just got the keys for the place yesterday so we have barely anything at all moved in."

She waved her hand dismissively at me as we met at the front of the car and started across the parking lot. "Oh, shush. I'm just excited to see the place... and this guy Phil you'll be living with." She winked at me.

"Mum," I groaned, rolling my eyes at what she'd been implying, "I'm straight, remember?"

She raised her eyebrows in an unconvinced expression but said nothing more on the topic. "So, what floor is it on? How great is the view from your bedroom? Oh, I can't wait to see it!"

I simply laughed at her questions and held the door into the building open for her. She instantly started to wander over to the lift but I grabbed her elbow and guided her to the stairs instead. Although she gave me a slightly cross expression and muttered something about being old, she followed me into the stairwell and climbed the stairs behind me.

Once we were at the right level I led her to the door of mine and Phil's flat. She nearly exploded with excitement as I fumbled with the key for a minute before I opened the door. She eagerly pushed past me, hustling into the apartment.

"Oh, my! I love it!" she exclaimed, although she was only facing the staircase that led up to the apartment and couldn't see any of it yet.

I showed her around the place, pointing out where Phil and I had talked about putting the furniture in each of the rooms. She gave me her opinions on the paint chips I pointed out, telling me what colors she liked the best. By the time we reached my room, which I'd saved for last, the large, thrilled grin still hadn't left her face.

"I hope I can see it soon after you two are all completely moved in," she told me as we entered the empty space. She looked at me briefly with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry your dad couldn't make it today."

"It's fine," I assured her quickly, not wanting her to feel bad in the slightest. I understood how moving was time-consuming, especially since I was in the process of doing so myself.

The day before, I'd moved all of my boxes from my parents' house with help from PJ and Chris. They were stacked now in piles in the corners of rooms, as I hadn't started unpacking them yet. I needed help—which I assumed was probably going to be from Phil—assembling the furniture so I actually had places to put all my miscellaneous crap. PJ and Chris had offered the day before to help us as well whenever we needed it. I realized I was going to need it more than I'd thought after talking to my mum about how exhausting and laborious it was going to be.