All the Little Secrets

CHAPTER 2. LOVELY

Chapter 2. Lovely

I spend most of the week running in the insanely rich, hilly neighborhood that we now live in, or lounging around the pool with Parker. William works all the time and my mom spends most of the days job searching against William's numerous complaints. Liam, Becca, and Byron are all in a sports camp for the rest of the summer, leaving Parker and me to have the whole mansion to ourselves.

Coming into an athletic family is intimidating for me and Parker since we never competed in sports before. I run, but I do it for myself. The closest thing to a sport Parker has played is his Fifa video game. We're nothing like them. Becca cheers for Varsity sports year-round, and Liam is the quarterback for the Varsity football team, one of Malibu High School's best football players. Balancing football season and off-season weight training with a 4.0 GPA makes William proud, and he likes to brag that Liam gets his brains and talent from his mom, but he never says that around Liam. I've noticed he really doesn't say much around Liam. They stay pretty silent around each other, while my mom, Parker, and I are in constant conversation.

While everyone is away, Parker and I spend a lot of time exploring the mansion. We even pretend were little and play a few rounds of hide-and-seek, which Parker is much better at than me. We watch movies in the theater, gorge on popcorn, and when we're bored from being inside, we swim. A backyard porch swing that overlooks the pool becomes my second favorite place in the mansion. When I swing, I can touch the water with my toes. It reminds me of my favorite bench back home.

That bench... Has Liam thought about my bench since he returned back from that night together?

If he had thought about me at all these past eight months.

Time flies and Monday afternoon creeps in. School starts on Thursday.

Parker and I spend the day by the pool as he flips off of the diving board for the millionth time. I rock back and forth on the swing in my bathing suit, writing in my journal. The ocean sparkles in the sunshine, catching my gaze for a moment as I daydream about running along the beach and burying my toes in its warm sand.

My thoughts are interrupted as a dirt-covered, sweat-drenched Liam walks up with his gym bag in hand, his brown hair a wavy mess plastered to his head. He slows his walk to a stop when he sees me. That intense look is back again, making me nervous as I glance down at my journal. He's still staring at me, I can see it out of the corner of my eye, and my heart is racing against my chest. He still has an effect on me.

Then, as if nothing happened, Liam walks past the swing, not one more glance in my direction. Parker leans against the pool wall as he greets Liam with a smile. Liam rustles Parker's wet hair, then walks into the poolhouse, closing the door behind him. My heart sinks. Maybe I'm overthinking it, that kiss, the intensity I feel when he's around. Maybe it's just me who feels that there's something there...

Hating how vulnerable I suddenly feel, I wrap a towel around my torso and leave Parker doing handstands in the pool.

The rest of the day goes by quickly as I lock myself in my room, waiting for Marco to text me. He tries to a few times but it takes forever between each message. His soccer team plays year-round, so camp in the summer is all about conditioning. I fall asleep, face on my phone, awaiting the ding of the message tone. Instead, I'm awakened by Millie knocking on my door.

"Excuse me, Miss Avery, but dinner is served." Her British accent is warm as she speaks.

"You don't have to say Miss, Millie," I remind her for the hundredth time. She smiles at me.

"Thank you, Miss Avery, but it's something I am quite accustomed to."

"Okay. I'll be right down."

Millie leaves the room quietly. Exhausted, I roll out of bed, throwing on a sweatshirt over my pajama shorts, letting my hair fall messily around my face.