Exposing Secrets- H.S. A.U

Chapter 1*

"Secrets are generally terrible. Beauty is not hidden--only ugliness and deformity."

― L.M. Montgomery

"We're almost here!" My dad said with a hint of excitement in his voice. I looked out the window and saw nothing but farm land and a house here and there. I have to admit, I wasn't excited moving from a house in the city to basically no where, and not being around my friends anymore. Starting over isn't easy, especially at my age where everyone has grown up with each other and all the groups have been established. Not that I had many friends back home anyway, I had a couple, but not a ton that I would miss.

"Oh, look, up here on the right! It's beautiful!" I looked up from my phone and saw a beautiful house just above the hill. I will admit, older houses are so much better than newer homes. They have so much character and history to them, and it is pretty cool to get to be a part of it and help add onto it. The driveway was a bit long and gravel wasn't my favorite but, it'll do.

"And it seems we have neighbors as well." My mom pointed out as we got out of the car. I looked back in the neighbor's field to see a two men in the back talking. A car horn beeped and I turned around, seeing my grandparents pull up behind us.

"Tanner, you really need to clean your car out." Grandma said as she came out of the car. Grandpa saying the same thing about my mom's car as he came out of hers. I hugged them both, thanking them again for helping us move.

"This house is beautiful, I mean honestly breath-taking." Grandma said as we walked up the front steps. Dad pulled out the keys and unlocked the door. He pushed it open and walked right in, all four of us following behind. I was in awe over how well the people before refurbished the home. How well kept the original flooring was.

"It's so charming, are you sure George and I can't move in with you?" Grandma joked. I walked up the stairs, pushing the door to a room to the far left of the house, facing the neighbors house. It had a window seat, so I was sold. I looked around the room, the white walls helping the wood flooring pop out.

"I'm guessing you call dibs on this one?" Mom said, leaning on the doorframe. I smiled and nodded before walking with her to finish checking out the house.

***

"Are you sure you have to leave?" I asked Grandma as she grabbed her jacket from the railing. She sent me a weak smile and hugged me.

"I know it's going to be hard Tanner, but you'll be ok. I'm a phone call away and I'll see you soon. There's still a couple more boxes left of course and your mom will need her car back soon." I sighed and hugged her again,

"I love you Grandma." She kissed my forehead,

"I love you too Tanner."

***

"Tanner, wake up! It's almost one in the afternoon." Mom said, shaking my body. I shot up and glared at her before pulling the covers off and walking downstairs. I typically don't sleep in this late, but with all the cleaning from the past week, I think my body gave up trying the early wake up calls and late night turn ins.

"Well look who's finally up." Dad said sitting at the kitchen with his laptop in front of him. I looked at him and then walked over to the fridge, being welcomed by the last cold piece of pizza. I sighed and took the piece out, throwing the box away.

"I made some sweets for the neighbors, I figured you could take them over?" I leaned against the counter-top,

"I suppose." I walked upstairs and grabbed some clothes before getting in the shower. Everything squeaked in the bathroom though, which was annoying when your half away. And the water takes forever to warm up as well. By the time the water warmed up I could've already been shaving after washing my hair and face.

**

"If they're not home, just leave them on the porch. But there's a truck in the driveway, so someone should be home." I nodded before taking the plate of sweets and walking across the yard. The problem with living in farm country is that usually the houses are spaced apart, and to an extent our houses were.

There was a fence surrounding the house, a picket fence with white paint chipping off of it. I walked up the front porch, stepping on the barely present stepping stones on my way. There was a small porch, appearing that it was just re-painted. I knocked on the door, awkwardly rocking backing and forth on my feet while I waited. After a couple minutes, still no response. I searched for a doorbell before knocking again, but a bit harder. Another couple minutes went by, no response. I pounded on the door one more time before the door swung open revealing a shirtless man with tattoos scattered across his body. He had a towel in his hand and wet hair dripping water down his chest. Saying he was attractive was a understatement.

"Hi uh, um, I'm T-Tanner. M-my family and I just moved in ne-next store." He lifted the towel up to his hair and just kept staring at me. My palms were beginning to sweat, stares and strong eye-contact really just freak me out. And the silence wasn't helping. What happened to "Hi, nice to meet you" or "Come in while I get a t-shirt on", not that the second option was a big deal that it wasn't happening.

"These are for your family." I lifted the plate up to show him. He opened the screen door and took the plate, nodding his head as he closed the screen door again.

"I-it was nice meeting you." I said before I scurried off the porch and quickly made my way home. I kept shaking my head, that was one of the most awkward times in my life. And this time it wasn't me  who caused it. But why does someone just, stare? Isn't it just common sense to be polite and say hello?

I swung the front door opened and kicked off my shoes. I walked into the kitchen to see my parents sitting on the sofa, going over the list of things still needed to be done in the house. I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed one of the left-over sweets.

"Are you ready for the list of things to do today?"

A/N: Hi guys! So this is the first chapter I have revised and if you're new to the story, please note that I really recommend waiting until there is a star next to a chapter because I am changing/editing chapters and the plot itself. So if you do go on, beware confusion haha! Thank you so much for reading and hoping my writing style has gotten better since I started this book almost two years ago. Love you guys!! (: Please don't forget to vote, comment, and add to your library! (: