With Me | Chris Sturniolo

14

After parking near the back of the parking lot, I made my way towards the school just in time to catch Chris.

"Chris!" I call out to get his attention as he got out of his car.

"Hey, about Friday night-"

He leaned against his car with his arms crossed. "What about it?"

"You know...could you maybe-"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"What?"

"Were you just about to ask me to keep my mouth shut about Friday?"

"Maybe?"

He laughed and straightened up. "You really think you had to ask me to keep your secret?"

"I mean- I figured I wouldn't, but it's important and I wanted to make sure"

"You thought I'd tell people? Jesus, I should get you a trampoline since you love jumping to conclusions"

"Who are you and what have you done with Chris Sturniolo?"

"What?"

"I didn't know you knew about the art of teasing"

I can't believe how much he's opened up to me in a short amount of time. If you told me a few days ago that Chris would joke around with me, I would've thought you escaped from a mental hospital.

He keeps his emotions locked up and only let people see his anger or boredom. But he opened up to me, told me about his parents, and now he's joking with me.

"Being an asshole can get boring. I like to spice it up" he joked

I laughed again, before staring at him in amazement. Chris was giving me a real smile, not a smirk. My heart beat faster as I realise he was smiling at me.

He realises that I was staring at him and he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing- I've never seen you smile like that before" I admitted. "You should smile like that more often"

His smile faded as he looked away, scanning the parking lot. "I guess I don't have much to smile about"

The Chris I'm used to was back because of my big mouth. "Anyway, you don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone what you told me"

"I know. I'm- I'm sorry for asking. I know you won't"

A lot was riding on my image. If people look into my past, they won't find anything. Sabrina Gold didn't exist until a few months ago.

Chris asked me why there wasn't any pictures on my phone, and that's because there can't be any evidence of me. Not even on my personal phone- we can't take any risks until the cops find Martin.

Even if I do trust Chris, I hope he doesn't dig any deeper into my past. All it would take is a simple google search to find out there never was a Sabrina Gold in a life threatening car accident that killed a little girl.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you're hiding?"

"What?"

"Some things don't add up. There's more to the story. You can talk to me, if  you want"

Trying not to look worried, I took a page from his book and changed the subject. "How about you? You never told me what happened to the twins. Are they..?"

"Alive? Yeah. Alive and healthy"

"What are their names?"

"Cody and Grayson. They're nine now" he smiled softly talking about his brothers and I knew he loved them deeply.