The Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter 47: Florence

-Florence’s P.O.V-

“Where the hell have you been?” Matt had his arms crossed and an unhappy expression directed right at me. His likeness to Dad right now was incredible.

“I was at Annie’s house for the night, she had an emergency,” I lied smoothly. I’d never been the top student in acting class, but please, somebody give me points for the flawless delivery?

“And how does that describe the lack of communication?” he questioned like a terrier, never letting off. I had to give this one some thought, but not too long that he would get suspicious.

“It was in the middle of the night and I didn’t want to wake you. Plus I was a little preoccupied with her emergency…” I supplied. He seemed skeptic still.

“And what was her emergency?”

“Do you really want to know?” I fired back. “Girl stuff in general, but you wouldn’t want the details.” That got him to thinking that it was either gross or too ‘girly’ for him and he shut his mouth quite quickly.

Jackson, who was side by side with Matt, finally spoke. “What about your phone?”

I pointed to the kitchen counter, where it lay charging. “I left it at home. It’s been charging all night,” at least that part wasn’t a lie, I truly had forgotten about my phone before running. It was fully charged now, so I unhooked it and held it in the palm of my hand, the warm metal comforting me. I tried not to grimace when I stretched my arm. The movement caused the wound that slashed across my chest to stretch slightly, the feeling oddly painful. “Have you finished your interrogation then?” I asked, dying to recede from the spotlight like a reclusive old woman.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” it was a relief when Matt gave in and believed my lie. I felt terrible of course for not telling them the truth and having to hide things from them constantly, but it was for their own good. Knowing about a supernatural race living alongside your own was a lot to take on, and I didn’t want to burden them with that. Let them stay naive to that concealed part of the world.

“It’s just that because Mum and Dad are away, I’m responsible for what happens to you, you know?” Jackson told me, since he was the older of the two. I could easily imagine him stressing out about my whereabouts, and guilt overrode me like a wave.

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry Jack, I just wish they would come home too,” I sighed and gave him a light hug. “Less than a month to go now, right?”

“Sure,” Matt smiled. Our parents had toured most of Europe and had finally set a return date, only it seemed further away than it should have.

“I need to go clean up,” I told them, and bolted up the stairs. I shut the door and switched on my music to a low hum, then dialed Annie straight away. I’d been a terrible friend, and though I couldn’t tell her everything, we needed to have a chat.

“Florence?” She seemed genuinely surprised when I greeted her, if not a little disappointed. Was she expecting someone else?

“Hey Annie, how’s it going?”

“How’s it going? What the hell Florence! I haven’t seen you in forever! You go totally M.I.A for days and then decide to just call out of the blue and say ‘how’s it going?’ Unbelievable!” she fumed. I sighed heavily and collapsed on my bed. I had been a terrible friend, I should have at least told her something.

“I know Annie, and I’m so sorry. Look, I can explain everything, but it can’t be told over the phone. How about we meet at the park in five?” I asked. She acquiesced and I beamed, singing goodbye before hanging up. Cleaning up could wait I guess, I thought as I donned a pair of warm ugg-boots and a woolen jumper. When I passed by the boys watching TV to head to the door, to say they were suspicious was an understatement.