Secrets Not Lies

Chapter Six - the First Draft

"I would drive you home but unfortunately I don't have a car," I informed Brooklyn as she laughed.

"That's fine," she assured me.

We'd finished the movie and were stood at the entrance of the theater to say goodbye. I'd enjoyed the date surprisingly and was happy Pj had forced me to go. Maybe he was the new Cupid, the thought amused me. Brooklyn and I had exchanged numbers and when I told her I wanted to see her again, her cheeks had flushed a crimson colour.

"When will our next date be?" she asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

"Whenever you want," I replied and watched her smile stretch wider on her face.

She wrapped her arms around my neck as she pulled me into another hug, probably the fifth that day. I flinched slightly as I didn't like people touching my neck but wrapped my arms around her too.

"I have to go now," she said, her voice muffled by the way she'd buried her face in my shoulder.

"Alright," I answered.

Brooklyn began to pull away, pecking me on the cheek as she did. "I'll see you later."

I waved as she turned, glancing over her should to wave back at me.

After a moment, I turned too, leaving in the opposite direction. As the wind began to nibble at my face while I walked, I thought about the date. It had been nice, there was no denying that, but I couldn't help but feel like something had been missing. I wasn't nervous talking to her which had made our conversations easy, but almost too much so. I wasn't saying I liked being anxious, just that I'd been expecting to feel differently. Even when she'd kissed my cheek, I hadn't felt butterflies or grown suddenly timid.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts, I almost walked right past my building. I snapped out of it as I swung the door open, greeted by warmth. I skipped up the stairs to the right floor, shedding my jacket as soon as I entered our apartment.

I found Phil in the living room, looking like he hadn't moved since I'd left. I didn't blame him though, if I'd stayed home I would've done the same thing. I noticed after a second, however, that he must've moved since pressed against the wall across from the TV was a couch. Oddly enough, he wasn't sat on it though, he still chose the floor.

"Hey," I greeted, Phil's eyes moving from the TV to meet mine.

"Oh, you're back already?" he asked, seeming slightly surprised.

"And you got a couch?" I observed, ignoring his question.

He nodded with a smile, twisting around to look at it. "You like it?"

"Yeah," I replied. The couch looked quite comfortable I had to admit, so I strode across the room and plopped myself down onto it. "Where'd you get it?"

"Pj and Chris brought it over," he told me and noticed my confused expression. "It was an apology. Pj's aunt is moving and was going to get rid of it so he took it for us."

As soon as he mentioned an apology, I thought back to earlier, when he'd been yelling at someone on the phone. I wondered if it had been Pj on the other end and I couldn't help but be curious about why they'd been fighting.

"Cool," I responded. I did my best to bury my questions, as it was none of my business. "This is a pretty great apology. It kind of makes me want to get into a fight with them."

Phil laughed. "Maybe you could get us free TVs for our rooms."

I laughed too before glancing at the time. "Have you eaten supper yet?" I asked and he shook his head. "I'll get something started since you made lunch."