Elliott and I have been pretty good with the whole secret relationship these past couple of days.
We sneak in kisses while Ethan tries to tie his shoes before camp, while Jonas turns to get the milk out of the refrigerator, while Addison bends down to pick up her crutches. The only person who has caught us so far is Bethany, but I'm pretty sure she won't tell anyone, unless overnight she becomes fluent in words besides "poo" and "mama".
The late night dinner date became a regular thing, not always involving actual dinner food. We pig-out on candy, ice cream, and anything sugary. And for hours we just talk about the most random things, our favorite movies, celebrities, bands. We tell stories and we fight back our laughter to keep from waking up the kids.
Sometimes we don't even talk. It happened last night, actually. There was a moment when the conversation died out, but that wasn't an issue. We just sat in a beautiful silence for a few minutes, looking at one another. The silence was broken when Elliott screamed, "you blinked!"
I still get a little dizzy thinking back on how true that silence was last night, that mystical silence with this boy who is slowly knocking down my walls without even realizing that our discussions about aliens and Paul Rudd meant a hammer crashing into the brick barrier I spent years building.
"Ideally, you'd give me $50. I'm willing to lower my price to $40."
"You're just going to the movies, kid," I say to Jonas. "Here's ten bucks." I slap a ten dollar bill in his hand. "Buy some candy." Grabbing him by the sleeve of his shirt and sniffing the air around him, I ask, "are you wearing perfume?"
He scoffs. "Um, Ivy, I'm not wearing perfume. I'm a man in case you didn't realize. Men don't wear perfume."
"You're right," I sigh, though I definitely still believe he's wearing perfume. "So, what time are you getting picked up?"
"In like fifteen minutes," he says after checking his watch. "Well, I've got fifteen minutes to kill. Entertain me."
"I have an even better idea!" I say. "Why don't you do the dishes while you wait?"
Jonas frowns. "What's the point of having a nanny if she can't even do the dishes?" he asks and jumps off his stool to go to the sink.
Elliott enters the kitchen, pecking my cheek with his lips before hopping on the top of the counter near Jonas. "Dude, are you wearing perfume?"
"Okay, is it really that noticeable?" he asks, spinning around with his arms to his sides. "I might have accidentally sprayed a little of Addison's perfume."
"It smells like you bathed in it," Elliott says and sniffs the air.
Jonas sighs. "Well, I also got a little carried away with the spritz and walk through thing. It just happens sometimes."
"Why'd you put perfume on in the first place?" I ask. "And don't think I didn't notice that you gelled your hair. Are you going on a date, Jo?"
"No!" he screams, his eyes wild. "Why would you even ask that? God, Ivy, sorry that I like to look nice when I go to the movies!"
Elliott and I share a look.
"So, who's the unlucky girl?" Elliott asks, hitting his brother's shoulder lightly.
Jonas squints his eyes. "I just said I'm not going on a date! We're two friends hanging out at the movies. She just happens to not have a penis."
"Hey," I scold the crassness. "What's her name?"
"I don't want to say."
"Why not? You think that as soon as you say her name I'm going to break into your room, steal your yearbook, and find out what she looks like?" I ask with a smile.
Jonas rolls his eyes. "No. You wouldn't even find her in my yearbook anyway." He grows a little cocky when he says, "she's an older woman."
"How much older?"
"Only a year," he sighs.
"You're going on a date with one of Addison's friends?" I ask, assuming that's how they would've met.
He shrugs. "She's not really friends with her anymore. Don't tell Addison! She'll get super pissed at me if she found out."
"Aha!" Elliott cries and points a finger at Jonas. "So you are going on a date!"
I pout my lip. "Aw, my little Jonas is all manly and wearing perfume and taking older women on dates!" I go up to him and start pinching his cheeks.
He whacks me away. "It's not a date! There's a whole group going. Come on, don't treat me like a baby."
"You are a baby," Elliott comments.
"Addison's only a year older than me and you guys think her relationship with Mike is so serious just because she's going into high school and I'm stuck in middle school for another year without the true love of my life," he complains. "No offense, Ivy. You'll always be in my heart."
I nod. "Thanks. And that's not true. I acted the same way to Addison when she told me about Mike. When do we get to meet this girl?"
"Not today!" he says and leaves the kitchen, going to stand at the front door. "My ride is here. Later, losers."
"Have fun!" I call out just before he slams the front door shut. "I always feel ten times more tired after dealing with him."
Elliott laughs and gives me a chaste kiss. "On the bright side, now that he's gone, there are no kids left in the house."
He's right. Addison is having dinner with Mike's family before they go bowling with friends. The twins, Ethan, and Bethany are at the neighbor's house with their kids all around the same age. Now that Jonas left, it's just Elliott and me.
"But you're still here," I joke.
"Okay, I guess I won't invite you to my graduation party tonight."
"What? Graduation party? Why wasn't I invited earlier?"
He shrugs. "Yogi wanted to throw one for me since I'm one of the few who actually graduated. I know you don't like him and also I kind of forgot until this morning. But do you want to go?"
"Yeah," I answer. "Though we have to be at the top of our secretive game."
"Come on, Ivy! Why can't we tell them? My family never sees them."
"Yogi works at the grocery store and he has the biggest mouth out of anyone!" I remind. "You promised me that you'd keep this a secret from everyone."
"I know," he sighs. "Sorry that I want to show you off."
I smile softly. "What time is the party?"
"It started half an hour ago," he answers.
"Elliott!" I laugh. "Now we have no time to waste! I have to pick the kids up at 8:30. That gives us about two hours, fifteen extra minutes if you take the minivan."
He groans and takes the minivan keys off the hook before grabbing my hand. "I look like a loser showing up to a party in my mom's minivan."
"And you're with your nanny," I add, following him into the garage and letting go of his hand to get into the passenger's seat. "So lame."
He laughs and starts up the car, backing out of the driveway and adjusting the volume of his music. I move his hand back towards the steering wheel and skip through a couple songs on his CD until I find one I can sing along to. Elliott sings with me, our horribly off-pitch voices filling my ears with a strangely beautiful sound as they mix together.
We park on the side of the road behind a few other cars that are near the forest that leads to the opening. I step out, my sandals sinking into the mud. Elliott walks to my side, slipping his arm around my waist.
"Hey," I say and push him away, "you don't know me like that!"
He rolls his eyes and places his arms at his sides. "You're killing me, Red."
In the opening, there are around twenty people gathered around two picnic tables. They have beers and chips and other snack foods set on the table. As for decorations, there's a piece of paper taped to a tree that reads "Elliott's Grad Party Here" with a small arrow pointing to the dirt ground.
"Welcoming," Elliott mutters quietly to himself as he notes the sign.
"The guest of honor has arrived!" Yogi announces loudly, running over to slap Elliott on the back.
Everyone cheers shortly before going back to their conversations.
I see Flynn standing with Kirk and Abraham. They're right by the cliff, glancing down every once in awhile. I decide to go over there, since I'm most comfortable around them. "Hey, guys."
"Hey," they all say at the same time.
"What's up?" Flynn asks, taking a sip of his beer.
"Nothing much," I respond. "Anything new with you guys?"
"I dared Kirk to jump," Abraham says. "He thinks he's going to get eaten by a shark."
I nod. "There's always that risk."
"Thanks for understanding me, Ivy," Kirk says. "I just don't feel like being the girl in the beginning of Jaws."
"Dude, it's too rocky for there to be a shark," Abraham argues.
Kirk rolls his eyes. "Okay, well, I don't want to be a shish kabob either!"
"So, what's Nora up to?" I ask as Kirk and Abraham start fighting about the best types of shish kabobs there are.
"I don't know. I didn't want to invite her tonight because I'm not a huge fan of Elliott's friends' friends." He tips his head in the direction of the crowd near the picnic table. "See that one guy with snake tattoo on his dumb bald head? That's Yogi's best friend. He told me he'd rip off my balls and feed them to Abraham when I accidentally bumped into him."
I cover my mouth with my hand. "Oh my gosh! Did he really?"
"Yes, Ivy. I'm traumatized."
"So am I," Abraham says, jumping into the conversation.
"Ivy Lynch!"
My eyes widen slightly when I hear the familiar voice call my full name.
"Now you're traumatized too," Flynn jokes just before Jake joins our little circle.
Throwing his arm over my shoulders, Jake says, "hey, Ivy Lynch." He pats Flynn's shoulders and shakes Kirk and Abraham's hands. "Evening, boys."
"Hey, Jake," I say with a warm smile. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."
"Oh, yeah. I've actually been coming down here a lot to hang out with Hardy. He's teaching me how to play the guitar."
I smile. "That's nice."
"How have you been, Ivy Lynch? I feel like I haven't seen you in so long."
"I've been good," I say. "Super busy with the job though. How have you been?"
"I have been just fine. I actually just got a job at the-"
"Jake Acker!" Elliott interrupts loudly, essentially coming out of nowhere.
Elliott's sudden outburst throws Kirk off. He stumbles backwards, tripping over a twig and losing his balance completely. Before any of us could react, Kirk flies off the edge of the cliff. He screams on his way down until we hear a distant splash.
I gasp and rush to stand near the edge. "Kirk, are you alright?"
"I'm going to die!" he screams loudly, splashing all around. "Mother of God! I'm going to die! I'm too young to die!"
"Just stay calm, alright?" Elliott yells down to him. "Swim to the rocks on your right and keep going to your right until you get to the shore."
Flynn shoves Elliott out of the way. "Holy shit, man! Is that a dorsal fin?"
Kirk screams bloody murder.
Abraham, Flynn, Jake, and Elliott all start laughing as if this is the funniest situation in the world.
"Don't be asses," I mutter. "Kirk, you're okay. Can you do what Elliott said or do you want one of us to come get you?"
Kirk just continues to scream.
"I'll go get him," Elliott volunteers, pulling his shirt off over his head.
Ivy, stay focused. Kirk is pooping his pants right now and you're getting distracted by a few toned abdominal muscles.
"Kirk, Elliott is coming to get you!" I inform, briefly glancing to where Elliott is now taking off his shorts. I straighten up when I realize my eyes were lingering a tad too long. "Uh, Kirk, move to the side so he doesn't fall on you."
Kirk screams.
Elliott gets a running start before leaping up and jumping off the cliff. He lets out a joyful yell that briefly covers Kirk's screams as he does so. Once in the water, Elliott takes Kirk and directs him to the rocks where they slowly disappear out of our view.
"What a show!" Jake comments.
After Elliott and Kirk make it back to the opening, we all sit down to eat the burgers Yogi prepared. Kirk is wrapped in a towel, his voice lost. Elliott throws back on his clothes after crying off and takes a seat next to me at the picnic table. Jake sits on my other side.
"I'd like to make a toast," Yogi announces and stands up from his end of the table. "To Elliott for pulling his shit together and graduating high school. I love you, brother."
Elliott nods in appreciation with a small smile as everyone toasts to his name. I kiss his shoulder when I feel as though everyone is busy in clinking their beer bottles against one another's. He looks at me with a smile, one that warms my insides.
The rest of the party is really fun. We play bags, drink a little, eat some more. I watch Elliott go off the cliff time after time. At one point, he asks me to jump with him, but I just can't get myself to go. There's something holding me back, something deeper than just what's in my mind.
While I'm sitting at the emptied picnic tables as everyone takes turns jumping, Jake comes over to join me.
"What're you doing over here all alone, Ivy Lynch?" he asks.
"I just wanted to try some of this cake Angelina made," I say and eat some of the frosting off my slice.
"It's good. I had three pieces already," Jake laughs. "So, are you going to tell me why you've been avoiding me?"
I almost choke on my cake, surprised by the question. "I haven't been avoiding you!"
"Come on." He sighs heavily. "I'm not an idiot, remember?"
I frown and set my fork down. "Jake, I've been so busy with work. I always mean to respond to your texts and calls, but, just as I'm about to, Bethany throws up her food or Ethan lost his imaginary best friend!"
"I know you're busy with that. I guess I just wished maybe you'd spend the few minutes you do have free trying to talk to me, which is what I've been doing."
"Jake," I start.
He stops me. "I know I'm loud and annoying sometimes, but I can also be really sweet, and I hope you know that. I don't want to scare you away or anything...I just want you to know that I like you, Ivy Lynch."
There's no way to avoid this confrontation right now. I have no choice. "I don't like you as anything more than a friend, Jake. I didn't want to lead you on, and that's why I've been dodging your calls and texts. I didn't want to hurt your feelings."
"I knew it," he sighs. "I knew it. I knew it. I knew it, yet I still stupidly ran my mouth and embarrassed myself. What's new though, right?"
"Don't beat yourself up over this. I think you're a great guy and any girl would be lucky to be with you."
He nods. "Is there someone else?"
I look to where Elliott and Flynn are lifting Kirk up to throw him over the cliff, though they won't actually go through with it. "Possibly."
"It's Abraham, isn't it? He told me about that triple date you asked him on," Jake says. "And I could definitely tell by the way you two looked at each other. Can I ask...what does he have that I don't?"
I shrug, slightly amused that Jake thinks I like Abraham, who I see as only a friend if that wasn't completely obvious. "He has my heart."
"Damn. He's a lucky man."
"Yeah." I slide him my plate with a half eaten cake on it. "Peace offering?"
He smiles and happily eats my cake. "You know just how to mend my broken heart, Ivy Lynch."
"So, you were about to tell me about your job before Kirk fell off the cliff," I remind. "I'm still open to listening."
Jake excitedly tells me all about his job, as if I hadn't rejected just a few minutes earlier. I listen to him go on and on about his new job at McDonalds. He has quite a few stories to tell and they're all pretty interesting. We share a few drinks, bringing me just slightly to the tipsy side.
"Uh, Ivy," Elliott interrupts Jake right in the middle of his story, "we should go home. It's close to eight-thirty now."
"Is it?" I ask. "Shoot, we have to pick up the kids! I'm sorry, Jake. I'll see you later, okay? Call me!"
He nods. "Yeah, of course I will. Bye, guys."
Elliott doesn't say anything and goes to tell his friends goodbye.
I feel Jake's eyes on me as I say goodbye to everyone else. I make a point to say goodbye to Abraham specifically, even giving him a kiss on the cheek. Abraham looks at me like I'm crazy.
"He's just playing hard to get," I explain to Jake when I hug him goodbye. "Bye-bye."
"Come on, Ivy," Elliott mumbles, taking my arm and pulling me with him into the forest.
I put my hands on my hips. "If I didn't know any better, Elliott Kennedy, I'd say you're jealous of Jake."
"And I'd say you're drunk," Elliott replies sharply.
I stick out my tongue behind his back and follow him through the leafy forest. He opens the passenger's door for me and helps me get in. I buckle myself as he climbs in the driver's side.
"What's up your butt?" I ask when he doesn't talk to me for most of the car ride.
He shakes his head. "Please at least try to act sober when the kids get in the car."
I frown and sit in the car chair criss-cross-applesauce style. "I'm not drunk. I was just having fun tonight. I thought you were too."
"Yeah, well, I just wish we could've actually spent some time together tonight too, you know, like you did with Jake," he says with a sigh. "But that'd break the code of the secret relationship."
"Hey, I wanted to do the same thing," I promise. "Don't be jealous of Jake. I rejected the boy tonight."
"Yeah?"
I nod. "I told him I was madly in love with Abraham."
Elliott takes his eyes off the road briefly to look at me like I'm crazy. "Abraham?"
"Jake's the one who guessed him!" I laugh. "I had to keep the illusion alive."
"Yeah, well, as long as it's not Stanley. I noticed his eyes wandering when you'd walk past," he says as we pull into the neighbor's driveway to pick up the kids.
"Stanley has a lazy eye, Li."
When we get back home, I help the kids get ready for bed. Ethan takes the longest to put the bed. The twins fall asleep pretty quickly, as well as Bethany. Addison comes home and locks herself in her room per usual. Jonas calls me to let me know he's sleeping over at Jett's. I call Nora to confirm.
Speaking of Nora, Flynn came over to spend the night. Elliott seemed a bit surprised when his friend walked in the door with his pillow. Apparently, Flynn's floors are getting re-done and he forgot to ask if it was cool for him to stay over. We couldn't exactly kick him out, but I knew Elliott wanted to have our late night date tonight, and so did I.
Flynn and Elliott go downstairs for the night. I stay in the family room and watch a bit of television before bed. At around midnight, I get a text from Abraham.
From: Abraham
hey..just talked to Jake. I'm super honored and blessed that you like me, but I'm sort of seeing someone..you're a great friend & a great person. much love (but in a friendship way because I don't like you like that).
I laugh at the message and send him a quick response. After this, Elliott and Flynn come back upstairs to get some food, as if they haven't already eaten enough today.
"Hey, we're about to start a movie. You want to watch?" Elliott asks me, kissing me on the forehead as he stands behind the couch.
"I'm too tired for a movie," I say and stand up from the couch. "I think I'm just going to go to bed."
He nods. "Okay. And I swear I had no idea Flynn was coming over tonight."
"I believe you. Goodnight."
"Night," he says and squeezes my arm gently.
I go upstairs and collapse onto the bed, unable to keep my eyes open for any longer. I fall asleep pretty quickly, worn out from the long day of dealing with the Kennedy's. About three hours into my beautiful sleep, the doorbell rings repeatedly. At first, I plan to ignore it, pretty sure it was a few annoying teenagers. But it goes on for ten minutes.
Rolling out of bed, I slowly walk down the steps and peer out the front window to see who is at the door. Elliott and Flynn come out of the basement to see what all the noise is.
"Who's at the door?"
In the dark, I'm able to recognize the person ringing the doorbell repeatedly, my stomach dropping. "It's my mom."
"What?" Elliott asks and moves closer. "Open the door!"
"I don't want to!" I whisper-scream.
He rolls his eyes and moves past me to open the front door for my mom. I hide behind the door childishly. "Hello. May I help you?"
"Is my daughter there?" my mom asks. "My ex told me this is where she'd be."
Elliott looks over to me, hesitancy in his eyes. "Yeah. She's sleeping right now. Can I take a message?"
"I know you. I talked to you on the phone," my mom says in recognition. "You her boyfriend or something?"
"Yes, ma'am."
My eyes widen and I snap my head towards Flynn, who luckily passed out on the couch already. I let out a small sigh of relief.
"I need a place to crash," my mom says plainly. "Do you have a couch?"
"We have a guest house," Elliott explains. "You're welcome to stay there while Ivy's working here."
I mentally slap my hand on my forehead in frustration. Please say no. Please say no. Please say-
"That will do," my mom decides. "Thanks... What's your name?"
"Elliott," he introduces.
She nods. "It's nice to meet you, Elliott."
Well, I'm completely and utterly screwed.
~~
AN:
hey friends! lol sorry about the accidental publish earlier.. I was frantically writing this chapter and accidentally published instead of just saved my progress lol I'm a dweeb
I want to get back on track for my Thursday/Friday schedule but the Monday update last week threw me off. I'm trying people. I'm trying.
QUESTION:
which character do you relate most to?
MY ANSWER:
personally, this chapter I related to Kirk. overall I relate to Martin the pizza guy because he's completely underrated in everything he does.
predictions? thoughts? emotions?
ps love y'all
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