No One Has To Know

Chapter Eight

Sage's P.O.V

Dinner started out nicely, we all sat down and my mom served her famous lasagna with a side of salad. Everyone had a glass of red wine and when I would glance at Xavier he looked uncomfortable. 

"So how did you two meet?" My mother asks and my dad lets out a small sigh and I knew he had tried to talk her out of interrogating us

"At one of Xavier's basketball games" I say and add "Well actually we met at the party afterwards" My father raises his eyebrow silently asking 'what party'. "They won the last game so there was a huge party and one of the girls I had went to the game with begged me to tag along to the party seeing as I was her ride"

"What did we tell you about college parties Elizabeth? Terrible things can happen and no one would know because they have all drank themselves into oblivion." My father says and Xavier moves uncomfortably in his seat 

"Xavier dear, are you okay? You've barely touched your food and haven't even tasted the wine. That is a very good wine, expensive too" My mother tells him 

"I'm sorry ma'ma, your cooking is great but I don't drink wine.. I prefer beer" He says and I mentally slap my hand over my face. He sits up straighter in his seat and lets go of my hand to pull his sleeves up. My father looks at him and my mother's eyes widen 

She clears her throat "That's quite the collection of tattoos" She tries to smile but my father sits there staring, almost glaring 

"I have plenty more" He says and motions to his chest and then motions to the full length of his arms "It was my meaning of expression. I went through a rebellion phase when I was sixteen and got my first tattoo" He pauses looking at all of our faces and grins at my uneasiness as he begins tug the cardigan off his right arm and motions to the top of his arm "I got this that night and kind of became addicted to them" 

"Elizabeth honey, you haven't damaged your body have you?" My mother asks quietly bracing herself for my answer 

"No mother, of course not. But I actually find Xavier's tattoos attractive" I try to help him out even though he put himself in this situation "I'm going to get him a glass of water so that he can eat his dinner" I push away from the table and quickly walk into the kitchen. Through this entire thing Dillon hasn't said a word and it's starting to worry me. It's coming up on the year mark from the tragic event and I fear his emotions are going to be stronger than I had thought

I drop some ice into a glass and pour a bottle of sparkling water on top of the ice and walk back into the dining room, placing the glass in front of Xavier. He looks extremely mad and I can only imagine what happened while I was in the kitchen. 

"What's wrong?" I ask him, placing a hand on his forearm but he jerks away and stands up from his chair causing it to make a loud screeching noise against the hard wooden floors

"I'll see you when you come to bed" He says never breaking eye contact with my father and turning on his heel and walking out of the room not looking back 

"What did you do?" I ask glaring at my parents and look at Dillon helplessly but he has his head down looking in his lap "Answer me" I raise my voice slightly 

"Don't raise your voice at me young lady. You're still the child here" My father states before continuing "I just told him the truth Elizabeth. I mean does that kid really think he's enough for my only daughter? Does he honestly think I'd allow you to keep seeing him? Come on honey, you know you could do so much better. Some of the guys at the country club have been asking about you again, they want to know when you're gonna give this nursing gig up and come back for a real degree" I slam my hand on the table after hearing enough.

All eyes jump to me, even Dillon's and I can see the pain in his eyes as he looks back down "You're my father and you, my mother but you have no control over who I see and what I do with my life from here on out. I'd rather be with a guy like Xavier anyday over those stuck up guys at the country club that haven't even made anything of themselves yet. They're still using their parents money, throwing it around as if it's their own and I'm so glad I'm not like those people. God I'm glad I'm nothing like you two. You're both shallow and think that everyone is suppose to be like you but this is where I draw the line... I'll pack back up and leave if you can't except me and Xavier's relationship" I say and stand up, walking out without another word

When I walk into my room Xavier is standing at the end of my bed with a towel around his waist. His back is to me and he didn't hear me come in. The water droplets are still running down his back and I see more tattoos covering that skin as well. I lick my lips as I watch a droplet run down his toned back 

"Take a picture sweetie" HIs deep voice scares me causing me to jump. I sigh and close the door to my room before trying to think of what to say "Let me guess" He turns to face me and I can't help but stare at the sight of his wet, bare chest in front of me "You couldn't take your parents being upset at your choice of guys so you told them it was a joke? Or that you'd break it off if it made them happy so that little miss Elizabeth Sage could still be the little princess around here?" My mouth falls open in shock. Does he really see me as that shallow? Am I really like my parents? My eyes start to fill with tears and I run past him and into the bathroom, slamming the door and dropping to the floor against the door 

I'm nothing like my parents. I went to North Carolina so that I could become who I wanted to be and not have to worry as much about what my parents think. I'm not gonna lie, I still take some things into consideration with them but not nearly as much as I had to before. I want to be my own person and I would never be as shallow as they are, I don't care about Xavier's tattoos or his passion for basketball and partying. I never talked to him because he had a super sized ego that I just couldn't deal with

Now it'll get back to the university and every one will know that Sage wasn't always who she is now and it'll ruin what I have tried to build for myself