The truth she held inside

7

After school we all go back to my house. My mom was home earlier than I expected so she go to meet Arthur.

"I left some snacks on the counter if you guys get hungry, I'll be upstairs if you need me." My mom announces.

"Thank you." We all say.

"I know it's only been a couple of days, but Veronica, what do you think about City-View so far?" Ava asks Roni.

"I like it. I don't want to jinx myself or speak too soon but I think I'm going to like it here." Roni has a big smile across her face.

"Any guys you like?" Arthur blurts out.

"Arthur!" My eyes widen. "She just got here."

"And that doesn't mean she hasn't seen any cute faces." He replies.

I can't really say anything back because Arthur does have a point. I just want my cousin to focus on school first, that's what is most important right now.

"I can wait to find a boy but I want to know more about this guy who has a crush on my cousin and what's going to happen with them next." Roni trails off.

My eyes nearly pop out of my head as I listen to what she's saying. Ava and Arthur smile and agree with her.

"UH, nothing will happen because we barely even talk. He's just on of those kids who I've seen around school. We've had a couple of conversations but nothing too serious." They all give me the side eye.

"I give it a month or two. There is no way he won't try and talk to you. You know what he put online, he knows you know, there's no denying it now." Arthur teases.

I don't really think Steven's post will change anything but if it does I hope that change doesn't start now. There's just too much going on right now and to be completely honest, I'm confused. I'm confused and I don't know what to do, I don't know how to feel about it, and I don't know who to tell.

Well, Veronica already hinted that something was up so I think I can go to her when I'm ready. Arthur was the only one who had to do a project so he decided to do it at my house. We all helped him so we wouldn't just be sitting there and staring at him.

The rest of the night was filled with interesting conversation. Arthur and Ava left around the same time and we managed to help Arthur finish his project while talking.

"Now that it's just you and me, tell me how you really feel about this guy." Veronica demands.

"I don't feel any way about Steven, he's just a friend that I go to school with. That's all Roni!" I reply back to her while picking up little pieces of paper from Arthur's project.

"Okay, so if I started talking to him, it'll be cool right?" She asks deviously.

I stop in my tracks.

"Sure go ahead and talk to him, he's a friendly person."

"I didn't mean friend talk, you know that's not what I meant."

"You wouldn't actually talk to him."

"Yeah I would. Why not? He's just a year or two younger than me. Or maybe I should start talking to--."

"Don't you dare say her name." I cut her off.

Why would she do that?

"But I thought he was just your "friend" and that Reese girl was just a girl you so excitedly stared at." She tilts her head and smiles.

"Why are you torturing me?" I whine.

"I'm not trying to torture you at all. I just want you to stop lying to yourself." She walks out of the room. "And no, I wouldn't actually talk to them, I just wanted to see your jealous side come out." Roni scrunches her nose and heads to her room.

She's always so good at getting what she wants. Later when our house is much more active, I sneak into our studio room to get some practice in. Our studio room is a dance room/ workout room/ yoga room. Dad built it a year after we moved into our house. I guess he got tired of hearing me jump and leap across my floor.

I absolutely lost track of time because I finished my dance basically. Of course I will go back and tweak some parts but a lot of it I like. My mom peaks her head in the door and she asks me to meet her in the kitchen.

Everyone else is already in there and apparently we are about to have a family cooking session.

"Christmas is coming and we need to step up our baking game. We may be hosting this year or we might go over to another member of the family's house, either way, we're in charge of the pies and since our family is pretty huge, each of us are going to make at least one pie. Malia, you are in charge of the pumpkin pie, Veronica, you've got the sweet potato pie, Nyla, apple pie, I'll take the cherry pie, and your father will do the lemon meringue pie." She dishes out everyone's assignments pretty quickly.

"Got it!" We say together, as a team.

Hours of baking goes by and I only want to think about sleep. The pies came out great for the most part. Dad still needs to work on his lemon meringue pie but we've got time for this.

The day has been eventful which I like. Who likes a boring day? Now that mom has us all preparing for the holidays, I really need to get a move on my holiday shopping. This time a year, I always save a little extra so I could get my friends gifts. We did it every year but now that things are different, I want to mix it up a little.

After I complete my night routine, I can finally lay my head on my pillow. It didn't take long for me to sleep, at least I don't think it did.

Mornings are always so hard to wake up now because it gets colder. My routine is the exact same every day but It's works for my cousin and I. We are lucky Malia offered to drive us some days so we don't have to walk in the freezing cold.

When we get to school everyone seems so energetic. It's not even eight a.m. yet, we're all usually still half asleep. I sense people are staring at me and I really don't like it. Roni notices that something is up too.

We walk further down the hall and I feel my cheeks lift up suddenly and my heart is bursting with happiness and shock.