What She Concealed

by Jannat Bhat

  “In my defense, you can’t steal something that isn’t yours,” Julian said sneering at Ethan.

  “I loved her! I gave her a rose and she came and gave it to you!” Ethan said, mad.

  “No wonder. No sane girl would go out with you.” Naomi said aggravating the situation.

  “Guys, don’t you see what’s wrong here? How is it my fault if she gave it to me? It would have been rude to not accept it.” Julian looked around the table. “I couldn’t break her heart.”

  “You’re right. It would have been rude.” Carter supported him.

  “Thank you. I knew you’d understand.”

  Eliana was no stranger to the fact that female population fall over their feet for Julian. But hearing about his past conquests made her uncomfortable. So she remained silent and focused on eating her lunch. “But did you know that Ethan loved her?” Mia asked.

  “Well . . .” Julian drawled. “I can’t remember.”

  “Yes, he did. Which is why he accepted it in the first place. He had no trouble rejecting girls before.” Ethan exposed.

  “And that is where you were wrong,” Mia said to Julian. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  “So what did you do?” Carter asked, looking at Ethan as if this was the most entertaining movie he had ever watched.

  “He made false accusations that I cheated in the finals,” Julian said.

  “It wasn’t false. I know for a fact that you cheated.” Ethan defended his past actions.

  “What proof do you have?” Naomi asked. “I’m sure you must have lied.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you, Clark.” Ethan gave her a dark look. She thinned her lips at his response and twisted away from him sharply, her long curly hair hitting him across the cheek.

  “I don’t cheat, Bailey. Never have, never will.” Julian stated.

  “Then what happened?” Carter asked again almost jumping in his seat.

  “His father was one of the trustees, so of course he saved his son’s ass,” Ethan said. “Because his mother couldn’t be bothered teaching him the rights and wrongs of life.”

  Julian tensed and glared at Ethan. “Shut your mouth, Bailey. Before I shut it for you.” He said in a dangerously low tone and clenched his hands. Ethan was wandering into dangerous territory.

  “Okay enough of the arguments.” Mia said and the rest quietened after that. “I’m dating Andrew.” She blurted out a minute later.

  “Andrew?” Carter asked. “Andrew Wallace, the football caption?”

  Mia nodded and there were hoots and excitement as was expected from her friends.

  A week full of submitting assignments and meeting project deadlines, the students had the chance to take things slow. “Thank God for the quiet. I’ve been so stressed studying that I haven’t had the time to go to the washroom.” Carter said when they were at the cafeteria and laid down his head on the table.

  “I agree.” Eliana sighed.

  “Me too,” Julian said looking at Eliana. “But it shouldn’t affect people who don’t work otherwise too. You are the headmaster’s daughter, if you know what I mean.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Naomi said coming to Eliana’s defense. “You know, we girls work as much as you do. Even harder. We are as strong as you.”

  “Never said you weren’t.” Julian shrugged, sipping his coffee. “But, we’re stronger.”

  “Are not!” Eliana took the bait Julian had laid out for her.

  “Yes, we are. There are just some things that women can’t do.” He said.

  “Like what?” Naomi question. “It can’t be football since Eliana clearly won the last time.”

  “What do you mean last time? I wasn’t there for the last time.” Ethan added.

  “No one asked you to speak,” Julian said.

  “Whether you like it or not Julian, Ethan is part of our team now. So be civil and as Naomi said, the game was kind of fun the last time.” Mia said. “But let’s go to the pub tonight and dance away the weekend. And don’t bail on us like you did the other night.” Julian grumbled. “We can play some darts and you can have your silly battle of the sexes there.”

  “Agreed. Us women versus you men.” Naomi stated.

  “Why does everything with you turn into a battle of sexes?” Ethan asked. It’s like she had a personal agenda against men.

  “Because you think we’re weak.” Naomi countered.

  “We never said that,” Ethan added.

  “In other words, you did. We are not less than anything or anyone.” Naomi said standing up.

  “Alright fine. I’m not in the mood to fight with you.” Ethan surrendered and gave in.

  “About time we hang out together again,” Mia said and turned to Julian. “You can bond nicely with Ethan too and forget all about past and begin anew. Just like you bonded with Eliana. Sort of.”

  “Mia Sanders, ever the optimist,” Eliana said with a smile at her friend.

  “Whatever you say, Mia.” Julian was looking at Eliana, already liking the turn of events. He wanted to see the dark haired girl dance. He wondered if her body would sway just as gracefully to the beat of the music as it did when she walked. Julian rested his head on his hands which he’d folded behind him. “Make sure you bring some cheerleaders for your winner. That would be me, in case you didn’t know.”

  “Gloat as much as you want, Rivera. You won’t have the opportunity after you lose to me. Again.” Eliana said. She had never played darts in her life, but how hard could it be?

  “We’ll see about that,” Julian smirked in response. He couldn’t wait for tonight.

  “Hold on. No game is complete without a prize.” Carter said. “So what is it going to be?”

  “If we win, then Ethan has to kiss Sara Gomez.” It shouldn’t have been a big deal but Naomi knew that Sara had a crush on Ethan and she also weighed about 200 pounds.

  “What! Why me?” Ethan jumped up. “I’m not doing that. Have you seen the way she looks at me? Like a hungry lion looking at a juicy piece of meat.” Ethan looked as if he would throw up any minute. Naomi smiled at him sweetly. She knew exactly how the Sara looked at Ethan.

  “Don’t worry, loser. I’ll save you.” Julian radiated confidence. “You should know this by experience.”

  “Nope. Not going to happen!” Ethan shook his head. “I don’t trust you.”

  “Your loss.” Julian shrugged. He couldn’t care less about Ethan not trusting him.

  “You have to trust, Julian. He won't lose, I’m sure of it.” Carter assured looking at Ethan.

  “You sure about that?” Eliana muttered. “Did you not see the last game?” She asked him.

  “That’s because he let you win.” Cater said grinning at his bro. Julian gave him a high five.

  “Okay, but if we win, Julian has to kiss Eliana,” Ethan said unexpectedly.

  “Dude, what?” Julian looked sideways.

  “Excuse me!” Eliana’s eyes widened. “How did this happen?”

  “It only makes sense. If I have to kiss someone I don’t want, then one of you girls has to do the same. And since Mia has a boyfriend, we don’t want to jeopardize her relationship. You won’t do it because you treat Julian like a brother from what I’ve seen.” He said looking at Naomi.

  “Do I treat you like a brother?” Naomi asked. “I didn’t know that.” Julian shrugged. “Why not Carter?”

  “Because Eliana treats Carter as a brother from another mother.” Ethan justified without any evidence. Eliana and Carter shrugged simultaneously at each other. “So that leaves Eliana, who hates Julian as they are always fighting. See, complete sense.” Ethan explained.

  “I don’t hate him,” Eliana said murmured. “And I don’t hate her,” Julian said after her.

  “You don’t like him either,” Ethan said to the dark-haired girl. “So, yes?” Eliana bit her lip and shook her head in denial. No way was she agreeing to this. She couldn’t kiss Julian.

  “Agreed,” Naomi said. �
�Let’s shake on it.”

  “What?” Eliana whipped her head to Naomi. “No!” What is she thinking?

  “Don’t worry, Eliana. We’re going to win. You’ll see.” Naomi assured her.

  “And what if we don’t?” She was about to start hyperventilating.

  “Then I get to kiss you, Bennett.” Julian winked at her mischievously.

  “You . . . you’re . . .” She stuttered.

  “Very attractive. I know, thanks!” Julian grinned. “Try not to swoon.”

  “You’re impossible.” Eliana left the cafeteria before she had a panic attack.

  When they met up at the pub, they were only missing Jax who said he had prior plans when invited by Ethan. So the game was three on three. Julian, Ethan, and Carter versus Eliana, Naomi, and Mia.

  “Ready to lose, Ladies?” Julian greeted them upon their arrival. He was in his usual attire of dark jeans, shirt and black jacket, hair falling into his eyes. Ethan and Carter were in casual t-shirts and jeans too. The girls had on skin tight dresses so they could dance and shake off the week’s stress. They scowled at the guys who smiled kindly in return.

  They decided to play nine games, three each. Naomi versus Ethan, Mia versus Carter and Julian versus Eliana. Ethan gave his turns to Julian to play in his stead. After they began, as Naomi had claimed, women weren’t less than anything or anyone. And because they studied hard, they played harder. With her quick movements and efficient strategy, she won her part of the game easily. “Bro, come stand next to me. I need moral support.” Carter said after watching Mia play.

  Ethan wasn’t looking too good by this time and was shooting dirty looks at Julian who kept being distracted by the dark-haired doctor. He never tired of watching her move. He would lose a million games just to keep his eyes on her. She was elegant without even trying. Her hair danced around her and he wanted nothing more than touch those silky strands. Feeling Ethan’s burning gaze on him, Julian shook himself. However delightful he found watching Eliana, right now he had to keep his word to Ethan and that is why he put himself to work during the next half where Carter gave his turns to Julian too. The girls didn’t mind because they had confidence in their skill unlike the guys.

  With Julian hitting bull’s eye in the last shot, Ethan was the happiest of the lot and grinned wide looking at Naomi. Carter was ecstatic whereas Julian looked unbothered as if he’d already known the outcome of the game. Both the teams came closer to end the game with honor and claim victory. Mia looked sympathetic while Naomi gave Eliana an apologetic look. Eliana was looking everywhere except Julian who looked nowhere but at her.

  “Time to take your prize, Julian.” Ethan pushed Julian forward.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t do this.” Naomi tried to help Eliana out of kissing Julian.

  “Or maybe we should. If you had won, would you have let me out of this?” Ethan asked her.

  “C’mon Ethan, it’s just a game.” Mia helped.

  “And it’s just a kiss,” Ethan said folding his arms. “It’s no big deal.”

  “Eliana, you don’t have to do this. Let’s just go.” Naomi took Eliana’s hand, who was frozen to the ground. She didn’t hear a word Ethan or Naomi had said and neither had Julian. The world had fallen away for the two youngsters as they continued to watch each other.

  “Look at you going back on your words.” Ethan narrowed his eyes at Naomi. “C’mon Julian, prove it to them that we do as we promise.”

  Julian placed his fingers under Eliana’s chin and tilted it up. He saw her chest rise and fall in quick motions indicating her labored breathing and swallowed nervously. “Do you want me to kiss you, Elly?” He asked so quietly that she could barely hear him over the loud music, but Eliana didn’t answer him anyway. Julian gave it a moment before he dropped his hand with a small smile. She wasn’t as immune to him as she pretended to be. “I got nothing to prove.” He said aloud and stepped back. Eliana gave him a conflicted look and they ended the game with an innocent handshake. However, that evening all she thought about was how it would have felt if Julian had kissed her.

  Eliana and Jax reached the school early the next day because her brother was anxious about one of his papers and wanted to talk to Ms. Diaz before class started. She was alone at her locker room when she saw Julian’s was ajar once more. He really needs to learn to lock it after last time. She hastily peeked inside for more ways to mess with him and found a black leather book. Opening it, she found countless names and numbers. Of women.

  Is this his hookup book? She wondered taking pictures on her phone and put it back shutting the locker. Julian came back from the washroom and tried to catch a moment with Eliana.

  “Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?” He pulled her aside.

  “Not right now, I have to get to class.” She waved her book in his face.

  “I know, it won’t take long.”

  “Fine. What is it?”

  “I was just wondering if you wanted to, you know, maybe go out with me.” He asked. “For dinner, tonight?” Julian couldn’t stop thinking about this girl and he wanted to get to know her better. Spend more time with her alone. At school, they were always surrounded by their friends. It wasn’t enough. He wanted more.

  “Oh.” Eliana couldn’t believe her luck. This was exactly what she needed to pull her prank on him. “Uh, sure. Where do you have in mind?”

  “The Secret Garden.” He mentioned the restaurant not far from the school. He was a little surprised she had agreed. Maybe his feelings weren’t one way after all. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”

  “I’ll meet you there.” She smiled at him. God forbid her father see her go on a date with a southsider, though she couldn’t deny she found nothing wrong with them. “By the way, what’s your favorite color? So you know, I can wear that.”

  “It’s maroon.” He said softly.

  “Got it.”

  “Great. I’ll see you later.” He beamed and went towards his own class.

  That evening, Eliana, on one hand, took out her phone and started dialing a few numbers from the picture of the book. She couldn’t stop being amused at how Julian would react to finding his three separate hookups looking for him at the restaurant at the same time. Julian, on the other hand, had barely escaped the clutches of these girls who awaited his return to the restaurant hoping for a second time. He observed the color they had worn then put two and two together. He was so going to get back at Eliana for this.

  The dark-haired girl asked Carter the next day if he had seen the grey-eyed guy that morning.

  “Please tell me you aren’t falling for him as well,” Carter said to her instead. “It won’t be a surprise considering his looks, but I thought you guys weren’t like that.”

  “What? Me? No way!” Eliana said. “Why would you say that?”

  “You’ve been asking about him a lot more than usual these days,” Jax comments inquisitively. “That’s why he said that.”

  “I was just . . . curious.” She shrugged, just then Julian walked to his locker room and dived straight in to get his books.

  “There you are. Eliana was just asking about you.” Carter lets Julian know.

  “Yeah, why’s that?” Julian asked. Before Eliana could answer the warning bell rung above her.

  “Time to go face the dragon,” Naomi said, with Carter and Jax following closely. Ethan was running late.

  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it to dinner yesterday.” Eliana pretended to be sad walking beside Julian to their Lit class. “Something came up.”

  “No worries. It’s fine. I get it.” Julian said casually.

  Does he know it was me who pulled the prank? It is quite obvious. But then why he is behaving as if nothing happened? Eliana wondered. He ignored her half the day and then acted suspiciously nice towards her. Getting her coffee during break, asking her if she needed anything else to eat or if he could help her with any of her classes. The others observed this and wondered what Julian had up his sleeve this time.
Eliana took the opportunity when she saw Julian alone outside the library after her last class for the day and said, “I need to talk to you.”

  “Go ahead. Anything you need.” He said sweetly.

  “Not here.” She looked around before taking his arm and dragging him inside to the far corner of an almost secluded library. “Are you sick?” She asked in a low voice.

  “What?” He frowned slightly and turned towards her.

  “Are you going to die? Is that why you’re being so nice to me?” She asked.

  “I’m not going to die, Bennett.” Julian laughed softly.