~Melody~ [Chim]

Chapter Nine: Secrets

When we finally broke apart Kimberley's tears had dried. She rubbed her eyes whilst I kept my hands on her hips and when she opened her eyes and saw me staring at her perfectly formed face she smiled shyly, hiding part of her face with her hand. I took hold of it and pulled it away, then I smiled at her darling face. She looked down and muttered "But the rules" and I sighed, exasperated, dropping her hand. I knew the moment couldn't last forever, not with her reputation she cared so much about.

Kimberley stepped away from me, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. "If you - if I - if we - want to do this, no, if something else happens you can't tell anybody." she said. I raised an eyebrow. "So I can sing to the world what a great snog you just were?" Evidently I wasn't funny, as she frowned at me, then looked away again, tightening her arms even more around herself. "No, nothing can get out about this, we both know how much it would affect our chances, as much as the coaches probably would pretend not to care we know they'd judge us for it, not to mention what the other kids will think" she seemed to be justifying it to herself more than me, so I raised my eyebrow even higher at her. "Remember I have no idea what your reputation means to you" I said, repeating her words. She rolled her eyes at me. Nice. "I'm serious, Cheryl" she groaned. My name coming out of her mouth in her rough accent gave me tingles in my belly. "I can't do this if you aren't prepared to keep this a secret, not even your sister can know." Yeah, like I'd tell Nicola.

I sighed and gave in and stepped forward, taking her hands in mine. "I promise, not even Nicola" I reassured her quietly, looking into her eyes. I finally got another smile out of her, then she took a deep breath in and exhaled quickly. "Right, now that's settled" she grinned cheekily. I stuck my tongue out at her as we walked out of the room towards the canteen, sneaking sideways glances at each other and smiling secretly. All secrets.

We went into the bustling canteen and joined the lunch queue, perfectly blending in with the hustle and bustle. The queue moved quickly, and I grabbed a ham sandwich and Kimberley opted for some noodles. "We can sit over there, it isn't busy" she said, pointing to a mostly empty table. "Mm" I agreed, nodding, but something caught my eye. A redhead and a blonde, staring at us from another table.

Blushing slightly and feeling a bit like a bitch, I walked past Nicola and Sarah to the empty seats. Kimberley seemed unfazed, but she was a better actress than me. We sat down and I unwrapped my sandwich whilst Kimberley tucked into her box of noodles. The delight on her face as she slurped up the strands made me laugh and she also giggled as she put one over her top lip to make a moustache. I was fully humoured by then and threw back my head in hysteria. Our giggles attracted the attention of bemused onlookers, including glares from Nicola in particular. I found though, that I didn't care.

I didn't care about anything.

Apart from her.

But don't tell anyone.