Game of Love

Chapter Fifteen - Swing Vote Sixties

Emily's POV

"Criminal record?!" I exclaimed.

"Sebastian..." Chris said.

"Oh, you didn't know? I see. Chris has been keeping secrets from everyone," Sebastian said.

"Chris, what is he talking about?" I asked.

"Nothing! Er... well -"

"Reconsider my earlier offer. Unless you want the whole school to know about your sordid past!" Sebastian exclaimed. "I'll leave you two to talk. I assume you have a lot to discuss."

Sebastian sauntered away, smirking to himself. "Is it true, Chris?" I asked.

"I..." Chris said.

He trailed off and didn't meet my eye. "I can't believe you kept this from me! Why didn't you say anything? I'm your girlfriend! You know you can tell me anything!"

"I was going to, eventually! But... I could never seem to find the right time."

"So you decided to keep secrets instead?"

"I didn't want you to think less of me."

"I don't know what to think, Chris."

"Please, Emily. This isn't the way I wanted you to find out. Just give me a chance to explain."

"Fine. But you need to tell me everything."

"I will. Promise. Can we go somewhere a little more private to talk about this?"

"How about we head back to the dorm?"

"No... I need to get away from everything for a bit. Let's go for a drive."

Chris drove in silence for a while. I glanced over at him, but he kept his eyes on the road. "You ready to talk?"

Chris let out a long sigh. "I guess so. I haven't told you everything about my past, Emily."

"No, you haven't. But now would be a great time to start."

"I guess I thought if I never talked about it, it couldn't come back to haunt me... I grew up in Maine with my mom and little sister and brother. Money was tight, Mom was working most of the time..."

"I see, it sounds like things were pretty tough. You must have had a lot to worry about."

"I tried to work odd jobs to help make ends meet, but my hands were pretty full looking after my siblings. Sometimes I felt like I was missing out on my teen years. I had too many responsibilities. The point is, I was young and frustrated, and I didn't have a lot of friends. I felt like I was going to explode. There was this group of guys at my school... They cut class a lot, snuck cigarettes during lunch, got into fights..."

"The troublemakers?"

"Big time. Anyway, one day they invited me to come sit with them behind the bleachers during lunch... And before long, I was part of their group."

"So you fell in with the wrong crowd."

"It was great at first. I finally had somewhere to belong, and breaking the rules gave me a thrill I'd never felt before. But you can't go on like that without creating more problems. I was neglecting my family, falling behind in school, and getting into more and more trouble." Chris took a deep breath before continuing. "Finally, I... I got caught stealing a car."

"Oh my God, I can't believe you would do something like that! What were you thinking?"

"Believe me, I'm not proud of it. I know I have no one to blame but myself, but I was vulnerable. I was out of control, and trying to prove myself to my new friends."