the secret » david dobrik au

T H I R T E E N

^simon is jacob tremblay the best child actor in existence love him with all my heart xoxo

"Hey, um, Evan?" Natalie was poking my side way too early in the morning, disturbing both David and I's much needed beauty sleep. I barely cracked my eyes open, and she smiled at me, her hair sopping wet and her fluffy gray bathrobe tied tightly around her body. She said, "Someone's here for you."

"Who?" I frowned. I had all of three friends, and they were all in the apartment by now. Zane wouldn't be up this early on a Saturday morning, especially not after I brought him to his first frat party the night before.

When I dropped him off at the dorms, he could barely stand. He fell asleep next to his toilet... "just in case". I didn't think 7:23 the next morning would be his ideal wake up time. David mumbled, "I hate you, Natalie. I'm trying to sleep."

"You've slept with her four nights out of the last week," Natalie laughed. "I think you'll be fine. Let's go."

"Why are you up so early?" I asked as I pulled David's arm off of me and placed one of my pillows back under him.

"I never went to sleep," she raised her eyebrows, a cheeky smile on her face. I turned my eyes up at her nasty self, while David just sleepily smiled.

"Word," he stuck out his hand for a fist bump. "Tell Todd I said congrats."

"Tell Todd he's a slut," I joked, leaving the two to chat about Natalie's fun night. In my living room sat Simon and Lydia, bright smiles on their faces. My jaw dropped, but a smile quickly replaced my shocked look as Simon ran to give me a hug. "SimSim!"

"Sissy!" Simon wrapped his arms around my neck and I picked him up, swinging him around. "We came to visit you! We're staying all day!"

I knew why they chose to visit this weekend. It hadn't slipped my mind that today was not just any September Saturday; it was Maddie's birthday. Madeline Elizabeth Shepherd would've been fifteen today. I guess Lydia didn't want me to be alone. If only she knew what happened just last weekend. I don't think I'd be allowed to stay in college. Just another reason I needed David to keep my secret.

"I'm so excited," I carried him over to the couch, where I tossed him back so I could hug Lydia. "Hi, Lyd."

"I miss you. Tell Miss Natalie I'm sorry for interrupting her shower. I thought you'd be awake."

"Have you met me?" I laughed. "I don't think I've been up before eight since elementary school."

"I hoped college changed you," she shook her head in disappointment. "I guess it hasn't."

"Can I meet your friends now?" Simon asked, standing up from where I flung him on the couch to show me he was ready to go. "I think I'll start college."

"Yeah, okay, buddy," I scoffed. "When you graduate middle school, you can think about college."

"Will you come to my eighth grade graduation?" he looked up at me with the sweetest puppy dog eyes that only Simon really knew how to master.

"That's in two years," I laughed. "We can't plan that far ahead."

"What if you die like Maddie?" he asked, completely innocent, and Lydia and I shared a look. He didn't mean anything by it, but today probably wasn't the best day. "That would be really sad."

"Simon," I squatted down in front of him, placing my hands on his cheeks. "I will be at your eighth grade graduation, right hand to Jesus. You wanna come help me make breakfast? All my friends will come out when they smell food."

"I will watch."

Simon was never one for helping. Lydia put cinnamon rolls on the pan, all while talking my ear off about the man at her job that's asked her on forty dates. He was "so cute", but she "wasn't ready for a relationship" and she "didn't know if she could handle someone who plays golf"... whatever that means.

"You should just take Simon to the park and find a cute single dad," I told her for the millionth time. We didn't have a cute dog to attract men with, and Earl wouldn't last too long in the real world, but Simon would.

"I don't want a dad!" she whined. "I'm not even twenty five! I cannot be responsible for another child."

"Until I graduate and get a job, you're basically a mom," I giggled. Lydia had a hard time accepting that she was anything but a cool aunt.

"Aunt Lydia's better than a mom!" Simon chimed in. "She plays Minecraft with me, and I get to stay up late."

"See? Kids love you. Find a dad."

"Aren't all dads golfers? And I'm trying to avoid golfers."

"You could find someone on campus. As long as he's a senior, he's pretty close to your age."

"Evangeline Grace, I am a working woman," she slapped me on the back with an oven mitt like my statement really offended her. "I cannot be seen with a college boy. That is insulting."

"Some of them are pretty cute," I shrugged as I pulled the bacon off the stove to drain some of the grease so I could make the eggs. "You never know until you give it a shot."

"Hell will freeze over before I take dating advice from my teenage niece."

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics, asking her to stir the eggs while I went to wake up everyone. Todd and Natalie were still awake, Corinna woke up when I came in, and David had to basically be dragged out of bed, but he eventually came out. Lydia didn't fail to notice what door he sauntered out of, leaning in to whisper, "What the hell was he doing in your room, Little Miss Evangeline?"

Her suspicions were only intensified when David sleepily wrapped his arms around me from behind. He rested his chin on my shoulder and mumbled, "Thank you for breakfast."

I should've slapped the cheesy, suggestive smiles off everyone's faces. No one liked to listen to me when I said I wasn't interested in anyone, and especially not David. David was my friend, but it also was a business transaction in a way. I was friendly to David so he would keep my secret, above all. He may have been nice and funny, but at the core of it all, I had a mission.

"We have guests!" Corinna waved her hand towards Lydia and Simon, who was in her arms. "He's my favorite."

"Corinna will be my girlfriend now," Simon said confidently, and we all laughed at his boisterousness. He was never one to exercise restraint.

"Hey, I'm David," he shook hands with Lydia. "Evan's pretty amazing, isn't she?"

"Are you her boyfriend?" Lydia asked, thinking if she couldn't get it from me, she'd get it from David. I rolled my eyes, taking my plate and moving to the couch.

"Nah, me and Ev are homies," he shrugged. "Just like me and Simon will be. I've heard a lot about you, buddy."

"Really? Evan didn't even tell me about you."

"Wow, Ev..." David shook his head at me. "Are you ashamed of me?"

"Yes. Now, shut up and leave me alone."

Ive been tiktoking and watching tv all day so i needed to do something semi productive (its spring break for me...... and im sitting at home)

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Xoxo abby