Secrets Untold

Chapter 9

A/N: I'm a loser.  But I guess this is finally getting off hold. LOL knew winter break would be good for something.  Hopefully no one has given up hope in me yet (although I believe quite the contrary).  Anyways, enjoy :D

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            When Ashton directed me to Petite Italy, I faintly remember being here before.  It took me several minutes to finally figure out that this was one of the few places we took my grandparents to eat when they came to visit.  Typically, my mom was the type to make food at home, but that day, I forgot for whatever reason, we had eaten out.

            “I’ve been here before,” I said mindlessly, turning off my engine and getting out of the car. 

            “It’s kind of a small place,” Ashton responded and walked towards the door.  I followed in his footsteps.

            The waiter, who greeted us at the door, directed us to a table near the back of the room.  The restaurant was nearly empty except for Ashton and I along with a family of four who sat near the front and looked at us with interest.  Unconsciously, I took out my phone to check the time only to realize that it was still technically school hours.   In other words, it obviously looked like we ditched.  Swallowing any sort of irrational fear, I sat down across from Ashton who was facing the doorway.

            “So any recommendations?”  I finally asked once the waiter had brought us the menu.

            “Pizza,” Ashton said frankly.

            “No way,” I said sarcastically before opening up the menu and glancing through the items.  Finally I settled on the Hawaiian pizza which, to my surprise, Ashton got the exact same thing.  “You like Hawaiian?”  I asked after the waiter had left to put the order in.

            “Honestly, I’ve never tried it before,” he said with a slight smile.  We fell into a silence before Ashton started again, “So how have you been?”

            “Good.  You?”  I said, going along with the small talk.

            He gave a shaky laugh.  “Well you saw at the hospital.  It’s as good as it could get.”

            I nodded sympathetically before adding in, “She’ll be fine, trust me.”

            Shrugging nonchalantly, he picked up his water and drank slowly before saying, “Who knows?”

            After another silence, my phone gave a loud vibrate, startling both Ashton and I.  Excusing myself, I hurriedly picked up.  “Hey?”

            “Cade! What’s going on?”  Dani yelled at me through the phone and hastily, I lowered the volume so that the entire restaurant wouldn’t hear.  Catching Ashton’s questioning gaze, I mouthed ‘Dani’ and he nodded in understanding.

            “Nothing much, why?”  I said back, being sure to make sure my voice was leveled and devoid of emotion.

            “Nothing much?  You can’t just say nothing much!  You walked out of school; what’s up?  I think I deserve to know,” Dani demanded through the other end.  Wincing slightly, I shot Ashton a wide-eyed look, wondering if he would allow me to tell my best friend what just happened.  Instead of catching my glance, he looked off into the distance. 

            Hesitantly, I said, “It’s no big deal, okay?”

            I heard a frustrated sigh from the other end.  “Cade…”