Too Many Secrets To Hide | ✔| #Wattys2017

Chapter Six

Word Count: 3631

   My suspicions about my house not being on the way to Jaspers' coming from the school were confirmed. In fact, there didn't appear to be much on the way to his house. We were on the road he had drove me down to get to the restaurant. Because of this, I was surprised to see what a nice house it was. It had two stories with an attic and probably a basement, from what I could tell, and it was certainly nicer than my family's new house. I didn't have much of a mind to admire it though as Jasper pulled me inside.

   We entered directly into the foyer, then into a kitchen. Maddox had stopped there, but Jasper kept leading me deeper into the house and onto the living room. A slightly older looking woman who I assumed to be his mother sat on the sectional sofa reading a book. At first she didn't look up at us, but after a deep breath, she must have decided to. She snapped her head in our direction, then looked like someone had snuck into the house and tried to scare or surprise her. But when she saw me and Jasper, a full smile spread over her lips.
Without thinking, I gripped his hand tighter and twisted it so to force him arm in front of me more. I was far beyond the days of hiding behind my parents when meeting their friends, but when the woman smiled I felt intimidated and nervous. I was overly thankful that Jasper understood and allowed me to, for lack of a better word, hide- although it was very unlike me to feel shy like this. I was the confident type. Like Bel.

   "You must be Cadence!" the woman mentioned exuberantly. I blushed through the forced smile. "I'm Jasper's mother," she introduced herself. "Fiona." As she came closer, I noticed her dark green eyes. They weren't as bright as Maddox's, but with every bit as much emotion as his held on a normal day. She also had auburn hair, but exceptionally more red than brown. Much more than Jasper's amber brown hair. "He said you were beautiful..." her voice trailed off as she looked me over. I blushed as red as I ever have and I felt Jasper's muscles twitch, surely out of embarrassment. I didn't know why but it delighted me to know he felt that way. Fiona produced her hand for me to shake, which I quickly accepted, only partially coming out from behind the shield of Jasper's arm. "I'm glad to finally meet you," she grinned broadly, making it sound as if I was the only thing Jasper had talked about for weeks on end.

   "Where's Maddox and her sister?" Fiona directed at her son. Jasper dropped his head a little, what appeared to be a look of shame on him. "She's gone," he stated in nearly a whisper so that I shuddered and tucked myself farther behind him. Fiona's face went pale. Jasper handed her Bel's shirt, and she smelled it too. Just like both the boys, her pupils began to dilate before she handed it back. Her eye caught something behind us as she did, I turned to find Maddox had moped into the room. The look on her face demanded an explanation, which Maddox was the only one fit to give. He told her the same thing Jasper and I already knew. She nodded.

   "I'm going to take this to your father," she said, pulling the shirt away from Jasper and then heading out of the room. A few steps away, she turned back to face Jasper. "And make that poor child comfortable and get her something to eat," she told him pointedly. I didn't know how she knew I was hungry even when I didn't, but at the very mention of food my stomach began to feel like a gaping black hole begging for something to enter it.

   Without another word, she disappeared and Jasper was sitting me on the couch. He put me right in the corner, which was perfect. He covered me in one of the softest blankets I had ever felt, and bent down to my level. "What would you like to eat?" he asked softer than I thought he could speak. It was incredible how he could go from fuming to gentle so quickly. I didn't have an answer to his question, so I didn't speak. He seemed to understand that before I had really neglected to answer him. "I'll go find you something," he said soothingly and left me there with a pat on the shoulder. As he walked back towards the kitchen, I caught a glimpse of Maddox disappearing up the steps.