Chapter 24: The Bet *Hidden Truths

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Chapter 22 *Hidden Truths*

~Sophia

I can lie. Say I wrote: Handsome. I even saw that word on Drake’s paper. But will Andre believe me? Besides, he can lie either. Say something that’s obviously written on my paper. Even though he hasn’t seen it, he can say: Smart, because basically there are a lot of smart’s in my paper.

I’d rather not know what he wrote on my paper than tell Andre what I wrote on Draky’s paper.

Maybe he planned this conversation with Andre because it’s the same with his message a while ago. You shouldn’t let people know your weakness so that they can’t fool you.

“No deal,” I say to Andre firmly.

He looks disappointed but he doesn’t press the topic.

We continue to watch the movie in awkward silence. I don’t even really understand it because my mind is busy thinking different things.

“Andre,” I say.

“What?” he asks, turning to look at me.

“Um.” I don’t know how to say this without offending him but something in me is urging to ask this question for a long time now. Taking a deep breath, I ask, “How did your father die?”

He looks pointedly at the screen and is silent for a minute. I cringe inwardly because I might retrieve a painful memory in his mind. I have a hard time swallowing the lump in my throat. Maybe it’s not a good idea, me questioning him. Curiosity kills the cat is a very good example of this situation I am currently in.

“He died in a car accident,” he says softly.

“Car accident?” I ask dubiously. Like the one that killed Matt?

Andre still doesn’t look at me, but continues, “He was supposed to have a business meeting in another town but he was running late. He was driving too fast and his car collided with another car.” He pauses and drinks his coke. His hand trembles as he takes a sip. “He died, and one of the people in the other car died too. I don’t know what was wrong with him that day. He is, I mean, he was a good driver you know. That’s why it’s hard to process things.”

He’s still talking but I stop listening on the part where one of the people on the other car died.

Can it be? Car accident is so common, maybe it’s just a coincidence. But as far as I know, there’s no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens for a reason.

My mind is whirling with thoughts. Taking a huge breath, I ask him, “When did your father die?”

He looks at me warily and finally says, “May 26, 2007.”

I hear someone gasp, and then I realize after a second that the sound comes from me.

The accident that killed his father and my brother. This is not true. I shake my head to clear it from these haunting thoughts.

He’s lying. I know it! He’s a monster so he’s lying.

“Sophia,” he says in a gentle voice.

I close my eyes and pretend that he’s not here. I want to run away but my feet are locked in place.

“Don’t cry,” he murmurs.

Opening my eyes, I see him with a raise hand. He wants to wipe my tears away. But he thinks better of it so he puts it back down on his side.

Didn’t I just say that I hate crying? Stupid tears! They flow freely at the wrong place and at the wrong time.

Suddenly, my mind thinks back on my first day here in this house -- when we had our first dinner and I asked where his father was. My mother sent me an incredulous look and the dinner became more awkward after that.

Now I understand.

“Did you know?” I ask, my voice hoarse. I wipe my tears at the back of my hand. I can’t believe I can’t stop them.

“Yes,” he whispers, averting his gaze away from me. “My mom and I went to your brother’s funeral. That was the first time I saw you. You were sitting at the front, alone.” He plays with his shaking fingers, staring at the carpet on the ground. “Your friends were around you but you wouldn’t talk to them. And that was when I realized that he was your brother. I wanted to talk to you but I didn’t know how. How could I say that the man who killed your brother was my father?”

What is he talking about? He saw me? I didn’t see him. Actually, I didn’t really care at all what was happening around me back then. The only thought I had was I am alone. Matt is dead. No one will ever call me Phia again. Even though I told him I hated his nickname for me, deep inside, I liked it. My mom told me that the people who love us are the only ones who give us names.

Truth is, I don’t even care about the other car. I never thought that he had a family too that will mourn for him. I only thought that because of him, my brother is dead. My mom went to the man’s funeral but I had no idea that his wife is her friend.

“I’m sorry,” Andre says in a muffled voice.

I turn to see him with his head on his hands, looking miserable.

Why is he saying, sorry? He didn’t do anything wrong. And then a horrible thought comes to my mind. He already knows what I’ve been through yet he still chose to hurt me.

“I was shocked to see you on the first day of freshman year,” he says, oblivious to my thoughts. “I even thought I was hallucinating. I tried again to talk to you and say all the things that I know but I chickened out. I was afraid you’ll blame my father.”

Why? Why is he so wicked? Does he want to get a payback for the death of his father? But I lost someone too! Not just him!

“You know what amazed me?” Andre says. “Your mom and my mom are friends even before the accident. But they didn’t fight because of it. It’s kind of unusual. My mom told me she talked to your mom about it. They became closer after the accident. They didn’t blame anyone. They still are the same.” Finally, he looks at me with his green eyes full of sadness.

But why didn’t my mom tell me about it? That I’m living with the family of the other car? Why? There are a lot of secrets in my family. I don’t know why my parents aren’t telling me about it.

What if I wake up one day to find out that I’m just an orphan? That they aren’t really my parents? I guess I don’t really know them. They should have at least told me so that I’ll know what to expect. It’s my right!

What does Aunt V think of me? The daughter of the man who killed her husband (I know my dad wasn’t the one who killed his husband, but still). I don’t know what to think! I feel hollow inside out. I’m tired of my parents keeping secrets from me. I swear I’ll find out everything--

“When my mom told me you’ll stay here with us,” Andre says, interrupting me from my reverie, “I didn’t even believe her at first. How can I? Why in the world will you stay with us?” He shakes his head smiling, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “And then she said that you don’t know about my father, because your mom didn’t tell you.”

“Of course she didn’t,” I mutter.

If she did, there’s no doubt that I will not stay here. I don’t even know why they want me to move out. My parents are so strange! I have the weirdest family ever.

“My mom is happy to have you here,” he says after a moment.

A smile forms on my mouth. “She’s very kind,” I say honestly.

“Yes,” he agrees. “She’s very brave. She’s really trying to make me feel that our family is still complete even if my dad is dead.”

“I’m sorry about that,” I murmur.

He shrugs, and turns to watch the movie.

The music from the screen is a background noise to us. I wonder if Andre understands the film.

“Maybe my brother and your dad know each other know, considering they are both in heaven,” I say lightly.

That brings a real smile to his face.

I feel . . . I don’t know what to feel. I have mix emotions in me. One thing is for sure; my anger towards Andre dims a little; maybe because I empathize with him. We experienced the same kind of pain when we lost our loved ones.

I have a lot of questions for him, like why did he choose me for the bet? What’s the reason behind that? Andre and I have something in common and it makes me feel that I’m not alone even though I still don’t like him.

When the movie ends, Andre gets up and turns off the screen.

“Can you keep a secret for me?” I hear myself ask him.

“What?” he asks, taken aback.

“Please don’t tell your mom that I know all about it now,” I whisper. “If you do, she’ll tell my mom. I want my parents to admit it to me when they’re ready.”

If they’ll ever be.

“Okay,” he says, giving me a nod.

“Does Drake know?”  I ask.

When I told Draky about my past, he looked surprise. He was even speechless.

“What?” Andre, asks, confused.

Controlling the urge to roll my eyes, I say, “About your dad and my brother.”

He shakes his head solemnly. “I didn’t tell him.”

I want to ask him why, but I think better of it. Maybe he has his own reason that’s why he can’t even tell it to his best friend. Anyway, Draky didn’t tell Andre about my past. Even if he did, Andre already knows it, even before him.

Before I can stop myself, I ask him, “Why are you friends with Drake?”

“What?” He’s clearly taken aback with my question.

I don’t know what’s gotten to me to ask him that.

“What do you mean?” he says after a moment.

“Um, you have a lot of friends,” I start, “So why did you choose him to be your best friend?”

Yes, I changed my question.

“I don’t know,” he says, a wry smile crosses his face. “And we both chose each other.”

We are silent for a minute and then he says, “Why?”

“I’m just wondering,” I lie.

“Perhaps because despite our differences, we still understand each other.”

“Maybe.”

“It’s better to enjoy life committing mistakes and learning, rather than play safe your entire life and learned nothing at all,” he says thoughtfully.

Mistakes—as in, their deal? Don’t worry, you’ll sure learn from playing tricks on me.

“Remember when we were young?” he asks. “Our mothers' taught us how to close and open our palms. They wanted us to have a lesson; a lesson that will help us when we grow up. Unfortunately, only few people know that.”

“What is it?” I ask impatiently. I don’t know where this conversation is going.

“To learn when to let go and when to hold on tight.” He closes and opens his left hand, showing his point to me.

A comfortable silence passes between us.

“Good night,” Andre says suddenly, and then corrects himself automatically, “Good morning.” He smiles, and ruffles the back of his hair.

“I think the right term is Good mornight,” I say, realizing that both of us came here to watch a movie but instead he spilled the hidden truths about our families.

“Good mornight then,” he says, standing up and walking away.

------

Because of talking to Andre a while ago, memories of the past floods in my mind.

“Phia, Phia.”

I groan and put the pillow over my head.

“Phia.” Matt shakes my arm. “Phia.”

“Matt, get out,” I say wearily. I still need to sleep.

Suddenly, he’s jumping up and down on my bed. It makes me dizzy! “I’m awake now!” I throw my pillow away.

He laughs at my expression. “Mom told me to wake you,” he says.

My body feels heavy so I’m not getting up. Suddenly, Matt is on my side and is tickling me.

“Hey!” I complain, squirming away from him. “Stop it!” Laughter escapes from my mouth without control.

Matt knows my weakness so he’s using it against me. He laughs with me because I’m trying to get away from him. Even though he’s just ten and I’m already thirteen, I can’t push him away from me. He’s really clever to think of this plan.

“Matt!” I yell.

He laughs, the sound of a bell chiming.

“Okay,” I choke the words out. “I’m going to get up now.”

“Are you sure?” he asks between laughs.

“Yes,” I gasp.

He’s still tickling me; until I fall off my bed and to the ground, butt first.

“Ow!”

“Oops,” Matt mutters from above. There’s a smile threatening to form on his lips. “I didn’t mean to push you.” He swings his legs off the bed and offers his hand to help me stand up.

Instead of him, pulling me to him, I grab his hand to pull him to me. There’s a thud when he falls on the floor beside me. I can’t stop laughing at his facial expression. It’s so priceless!

Matt turns to me with a scowl on his face. It seems unlikely because he looks like a sweet angel that comes from heaven.

In that moment, I promise to myself that I will do everything I can to protect my brother.

He looks like he’s up to something so I give him a hug.

“I love you Phia,” he says, hugging me tight.

“Love you too Matty,” I say wholeheartedly.

“Sophia, Matt,” Mom calls from downstairs.

“We’re coming!” I say loudly. I get up from the floor slowly. My hip will surely have a bruise later. I help Matt stand up and we walk hand in hand downstairs.

Shaking my head, I try not to reminisce about the past. That event happened the day of the accident.

Phia is close to Pie that’s why I almost snap at Draky when he called me that name for the first time. It brought memories from the past. I don’t even know why he calls me that name. At least Phia is from Sophia, while Pie is from . . I don’t know.

I lay in bed, trying to think of nothing, waiting for sleep to come.

*****

The next chapter is on Drake’s POV. I bet you want to know what he’s thinking =D

The song for this chapter is Secrets by One Republic.

Banner by Risterbug13 :)