My Best Friend's Brother // Young Love Book 1 ✔️

My Best Friend's Brother Ch. 35

Chapter 35

Lying had never been my forte. Of course, in times of need, those skills seemed to work a bit better. I remembered a time in my early years of learning, when Cindy and I had broken the teacher's favorite ceramic vase. Boy, that was hella scary for little Eli and little Cindy.

"Elouise, check this out!" she whisper-yelled at me. We'd only just snuck inside the classroom, a few minutes after the lunch bell rang.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I whined nervously. I was the less courageous one, as you could see.

We cautiously admired our art teacher's precious vase, our hands itching to touch it. It was colourful and glazed to perfection. The detail was incredible, and somewhat folksy. Cindy started reaching out for it, and I, acting on impulse, slapped it away. At the time, I thought it was the most logical plan of action. It was meant to keep her hand from touching it completely. Except, all that did was smash the once incredible vase. Instead of having a scratch-free, fingerprint-free vase, we ended up with tiny ceramic pieces. Cindy's hand made the vase topple over to the ground and we obviously freaked out. We scrambled like headless chooks, trying to pick up all the pieces and dunking them in the trash.

"Hurry up!" I told her frantically.

"I'm trying!" she shot back with a scowl.

Once we heard footsteps nearing the room, we swiftly hid behind oversized tables and lockers. And, guess what? They still found us. Not that our hiding places of choice were any good. My whole leg was actually exposed, I think.

"Excuse me, girls, but why are you two here?" Mr McGregor asked us politely, though his face showed real concern.

I gulped, conjuring an excuse in my head. "Uh..."

"Looking for Eli's earring," Cindy quipped, giving me a sideways glance. Then, she realized I had both on. "Or was it your bracelet?" she added in a nervous almost-whisper.

I held my breath, my pulse accelerating. "It's--Yeah," I mumbled.

As if on cue, Cindy and I both dropped to the floor and began searching for my so-called missing bracelet. Since we weren't the worst students of the school, Mr McGregor believed us. In fact, he even helped us out. He inspected his desk and the surrounding shelves. We played our part dutifully. I acted really worried, while Cindy kept scratching her head in faux confusion.

Let's just say we distracted him long enough. We got away that day without a single lecture. Instead, we got reassurace from the man who unknowingly lost something valuable to him. Gosh, we were evil.

Snapping out of my mini flashback, I instantly locked eyes with the boy in question. Only this time, I wasn't sure I wanted to lie. His golden eyes were questioning, as if they were asking, "What the hell is going on?" I didn't glance away, though. I just breathed in and continued watching him carefully. He still had the same style of clothes, which was pretty plain and basic. Jeans, a plain tee, sneakers--nothing new. His maple brown hair was product-free and the same. My eyes flickered to Cindy and I found her inspecting her brother as well. I bet she was thinking the same thought I had--that its probably not true.

Once the initial shock disappeared, Charlie grunted like an angry lion ready to pounce. "What are you two doing here?" he demanded with crossed arms.

"Just, ah--" I started hesitantly.

"And what's this secret, huh?" he fired again, stepping towards his sister and I.

"You know--" Cindy began to reply, but she was cut off too.