Obscured (The Obscured Series Book 1) by C.M. Boers Read Free Book Online

imagine him wanting to talk to me after pulling up with Pete.
    Pete
was attractive, and I suddenly transformed into a frog that couldn’t utter a
word. Apparently neither could Pete, so we sat in silence. Thankfully, it
wasn’t awkward; it was actually a comfortable silence. I’d take a comfortable
silence over an awkward conversation about the weather any day.
    We
pulled onto my street, and I looked around quickly to see if Eli’s car was
waiting. It was. I silently cursed myself for having been so stupid. Getting a
ride from Pete had been a bad idea when I knew I had invited Eli over. What was
I thinking? Oh yeah, I didn’t want to walk in the heat. Oh well, Eli would just
have to understand.
    “My
house is the one right there with the car in front.” I pointed towards Eli’s
car.
    “Who’s
car is that?” he asked.
    I
wondered if he was admiring the beauty of it. I knew I did every time.
    “It’s
Eli’s. He goes to school with us.”
    Pete
stopped in front of the driveway.
    “Are
you guys’ friends or something?” he asked.
    “Yeah,
sort of,” I answered.
    “How
come he didn’t give you a ride home if he was going to come over anyway?” He
seemed almost perturbed.
    “He
told me he was staying after school, but it must not have taken as long as he
thought it would and he didn't know where to find me.” The lies were coming out
easier and easier each time. It was becoming a really bad habit.
    “Oh,”
he responded, seemingly unconvinced.
    “Well,
thanks for the ride. I guess I will see you tomorrow.”
    “You’re
welcome. Are you walking to school tomorrow?”
    “I
don’t know. It depends on my mom’s work schedule.”
    I
opened the door and stepped out.
    I
walked slowly over to Eli’s car and looked in the window. He looked mad; worse
than he had earlier in the day. His hands kept gripping and relaxing on the
steering wheel, his knuckles turning white each time. He wouldn’t even look at
me as I peered into the car.
    Finally,
he got out and looked at me from over the car.
    “This
isn’t exactly what I expected when I came over here. Why did you ask me to come
here? To show me that you don’t care about anything I told you? Is getting a
ride home from him some kind of payback? If so, I’m not sure what I did to
deserve it.”
    “Come
inside; I want to talk. I’m sorry you're upset. I didn’t plan on getting a ride
with him. He saw me walking and offered me a ride.”
    “Does
it really matter? Either way you still rode with him. If you wanted a ride home
I would have preferred you got a ride with me, even if I am mad at you.”
    He
took a few steps around the car and headed up to the house. I was relieved that
he was still willing to come inside, but I wasn’t exactly pleased with his
dad-like approach with Pete. I decided to brush it off instead of dwelling on
it. 
    I
unlocked the door and stepped into the cool air, making room for Eli to follow
behind. Thank goodness for air conditioning—I had broken a sweat just by
walking from the car.
    “I
didn’t plan it. You haven’t exactly been reachable anyway. You wouldn’t talk to
me.” I reiterated, and motioned for the living room, “I’ll meet you in there.”
    I
set my backpack in the kitchen, grabbed two sodas, and went into the living
room. I handed Eli one and sat down next to him on the couch.
    “I
realize my being friends with Pete is not what you want, but it is something I
want. I don’t see any danger, yet. I want to see if I can figure out what
happened. But in the mean time I would like to be friends with him. I was
hoping that you would be willing to help me.”
    “Help
you?”
    “Well,
I sort of thought I could get information from Pete and we could figure it out
together.”
    “I
don't want you to get close to him just to figure out what happened back then.
Just leave it be. The past is the past.”
    “Well
what about that guys’ family? They must be wondering where he went and probably
want closure if that