Secret Crush

3

Stephanie

I only invited the Mewis sisters, and it is enough.

We are gathered around a table. Hope is cooking some of her tremendous spaghettis, while my sister is trying to find the gift she bought for me. So when Sam's phone rings, she has to take the call, which leaves Kristie and I alone. She seems pretty nervous today, and not as fresh as usual. Of course it has something to do with yesterday's party.

"Since we are alone..." she begins, getting a small gift packed in a fawn paper. "Here you go."

I look at her, all smiles. I then take the gift without grumbling, before opening it under her careful watch. As I remove the last piece of paper covering the little box, my eyes go wide. It's probably a collar given the size of the box. I give her an intrigued look and she just gestures to order me to open it.

I was right. Inside of the black box is put a beautiful silver collar, with a pendant in the shape of a leopard. I fell my heart break a little bit : it was my dad's favorite animal, and also the sign of the first club we played into together. My eyes are now wet, and Kristie just looks at me with soft eyes.

I shake my head.

"Kristie, you shouldn't have-" I try to say.

But she cut me off by placing her hand on my mouth. I didn't realize it before, but now we are sitting very close to each other. She sees that our current position is pretty weird and removes her hand. She then grabs the piece of jewelry and undertakes to put it around my neck. Our faces once again are close to each other's, and I can't help but look at her lips for a while. She sees that not so discrete move and blushes.

She then sits back on her chair, pretty far for me now.

"Do you like it ?" she asks, worried.

"Are you kidding me ? I love it !" I exclaim.

She laughs, and my heart flickers a bit. Sam is now back from her phone call and sits in front of me. She notices the jewel right away, and gives me an intrigued look. I point at Kristie, who just blushes even more. But before her sister can say a word, Carli is back from her little treasure hunt and looks pretty happy with herself.

Hope then brings the spaghettis and we begin to eat in silence. There is some tension in the air, even if I might be the only one to feel it. Kristie doesn't even dare to look at me, while Sam is just throwing looks at her sister. Hope, who noticed the growing tension, just looks at Carli and smiles. I don't really get it. Those two are weird sometimes.

Hope is the one to break the awkward not-so-awkward silence.

"So, Kristie, how was Germany ?" she asks.

The blonde seems to chuckle for a while, before looking up at the impressive dark-haired. It is true that I don't fear her and Carli because they're family to me, but Kristie always told me she was pretty impressed. Well, she hasn't said it out loud, but I can read her looks. She must think they're some kind of defenders or mine or something.

She finally is able to answer.

"Very good. The food was excellent, the weather not so much."

Her joke makes me laugh, while the rest of the people here just smile.

"I'm happy to be back home and reunited with everyone, though" she goes on, trying to hold a conversation.

"I bet you and Steph right here have a lot to catch up, so we'll let you go for the second spot of the evening." Carli says in a confident tone.

I give her a cold glare and she laughs. Of course she couldn't just listen to me and do something pretty simple. She always wants the best for me. I mean, 18 year old isn't that important. It's the majority age in Europe, but since I won't go there for now, it's not really useful. I just follow my two friends in Sam's car. She obviously is part of the plan.

She starts the car and puts on some music.

***

After ten minutes, the car slows down and stops. Sam makes us understand that we have to get off the car. We then follow her. We are not allowed to speak, because Carli insisted that the surprise has to be total. Sam makes a sign to her sister, who wraps a band around my face so that I don't see anything.

Kristie grabs my arm, and that causes me to shiver. As I am praying that she didn't notice it, she just stands closer to me.

"Just follow my lead" she orders.

I hear them laughing, as we are advancing in what seems to be a forest - a guess that I made because of the overall atmosphere. I see some lights through my band, and Kristie stops walking. She then removes it from my eyes. And what a beautiful show that is right in front of me.

I was right : we are in a forest. Actually, it's more like a camping spot, with the river passing by not far from here. One tent is settled on the ground, with lights all over the place. It's just like in the movies. I throw a death glare at Sam, who immediately react.

"Don't look at me !" Sam exclaims. "It was Carli's idea. And maybe a little Kristie's as well".

I turn to face the famous Kristie, who is just looking at me with excitement in her eyes. I softly punched her in the arm, and she fakes to be outraged by my violent behavior. She then punches me back, but it feels more like a caress.

"Well, you deserve all the best" she innocently says.

I smile at her, and we go to join her sister, that already is getting ready for the slumber party that will take place here.