Secrets

Chapter Two

Elaine's POV

A sigh left my lips as I lay down on Ethan's bed in our shared apartment. He was currently coding, and nothing could break him out of his trance when he was doing that. I've tried to ask him what project he's working on, but it's always been a 'surprise'.

I sigh a little louder in hopes of catching his attention, but my efforts die in vain. Fiddling with the ends of my favourite yellow hoodie, I stand up and explore the room I have explored countless times before.

I walk up to his wall seeing his countless medals and trophies he's won from hockey hanging on the wall. You'd think a computer geek like him wouldn't like sports, but you'd be wrong. I turn to look at his dresser and see a picture of him with his brother Daniel, a picture of Ethan, Bridget, Gio and I at the beach (a picture I look awful in, mental note to make him replace that), and one with his favorite hockey player he met a couple of years ago. I turn to look around again in his plain room, he never really has many things to look at.

Seeing there was nothing interesting to do, I turned back to Ethan. Walking over to where he's sat, I try to read what he has written, but I can't make sense of the jumbles of lines; surprising, this must be a more complex code than usual.

"Whatcha coding?" I ask him in a sing-song voice, my curiosity killing me. I've never not been allowed to know what his projects are for, and now that he has kept one a secret, I was ultra curious. What could he possibly be doing that he couldn't tell me?

"It's a surprise El, leave me alone for a sec." Ethan grunts at me, his fingers never ceasing from flying across the keyboard. I wasn't shocked anymore at his unwillingness to share his code, but that doesn't mean it hurt any less. He's meant to be my best friend, couldn't he share anything with me? Plus, it's just a code.

Walking out of his room, I walked down the relatively short corridor into the living room, where I found Bridget and Giovanna to be gone. Well there goes that plan.

In an attempt to keep busy, I head towards the kitchen to grab myself some strawberry ice cream. We always stocked the neapolitan flavours, as the members of the household all had different tastes.

Strawberry is obviously the best one.

Grabbing my bowl and spoon, I walk over to the couch, and turn on Disney+; I was in the mood for some Hamilton. Settling into the soft cushions, I ate my ice cream in peace- or as well as a lactose intolerant could, glad to be away from the irritating clicks of Ethan's keyboard.

Around halfway through the movie, Ethan emerged from his bedroom and saw me on the couch.

"Are Gio and B gone?" He asks conversationally, although it was quite clear they weren't here. The lack of their school things spoke for itself.

"Yeah. You wanna watch Hamilton with me?" I ask him politely, although secretly I really want him to say yes, we hadn't really spent any time together as friends and I missed him. Ethan simply shrugs and leaves to the kitchen.

My shoulders fall with disappointment, only for my mood to brighten when I see him walking back into the living room, only this time accompanied by a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

He settles down onto the couch beside me, and we continue to watch the amazing musical in peace (apart from my random bursts of facts about it.) We both finish our ice cream, and our bowls are stacked together on the coffee table. It's nearing the end of the three hours movie, and my eyes begin to drop. I fight them open for a good five minutes, before giving up and falling asleep.

-3 AM-

A harsh ringing woke me from my sleep, the annoying trill of a phone ringing..

Wait.

A phone is ringing.

Scrambling to get out from the heavy blanket wrapped around my waist, I reach for the phone.

"Hello?" I answered breathlessly, this blanket was REALLY heavy.

"Elaine Gagnon. Where the hell are you?!" A very angry voice said at the other end. This angry voice happened to belong to my father. I cringed at the rage in his tone.

"I'm safe, I'm with a friend." I tell him calmly, hoping to quell some of that anger by reassuring him I was fine.

"You have to tell me if you want to stay with a friend! We've been over this, when the fuck are you going to listen to me? It's dangerous." His angry voice carries over the speaker.

"I'm sorry dad, can we talk about this later? I just want to sleep." I ask him desperately. This week had tired me out, and it was the first good night of sleep I had gotten all month. I didn't want to fight with him again...I hate living in a stupid mafia family, he always worries about my saftey.

I'm gonna be just fine, I can handle myself.

"We are talking about this as soon as you get home. Just next time-" I cut him off.

"Yes dad, I know. Love you." I tell him quickly.

"I love you too." Then the line goes dead. Sighing I place my phone back onto the coffee table. I snuggle back into the warmth, and then my blanket tightens around me.

Oh my! It's Ethan's arm, and it's wrapped around my waist. His heavy limbs are intertwined with mine, and surprisingly, I don't mind the sensation. A little weird of course, my best friend's arm...but hey, warmth is warmth.

I soon fall back asleep in his arms, more comfortable than ever.