Summer With You (Malibu Rescue : Tyler Fanfic)

Chapter 18: I'm In

Bite after bite, Eric shoved the cheeseburger down his throat.

"So, how long has this been going on?" Wendy, Lizzie's mother asked, sipping slowly from her strawberry milkshake.

"A week." Lizzie answered.

"Mm-hmm. And who liked who first?" Nicole chewed on some fries.

"It was mutual."

"Why'd you keep it a secret?" Eric's father asked.

"We agreed we'd tell you all at the same time. In person. On Family Day."

"Oh. I appreciate the personal touch." The man smiled.

"We had a feeling you would, Mr. Mitchell."

"Please, call me Derek."

"I remain Mrs. Mitchell." Nicole said, seeming uninterested.

"Eric... you haven't said a word. How do you feel about all this?" Wendy asked.

"I... uh..."

"Hey, guys." 

"Huh?"

The group looked up to see Ellie leaning on the door frame, holding a milkshake.

"Hey, Ellie." Eric sighed in relief at their teammate and friend.

"Oh, sorry. Was I interrupting something?"

"No! Not at all. Can we talk to Ellie real quick? Thanks." Lizzie grabbed Eric's hand and Ellie's arm and dragged them away from the parents.

"Oh, thank god you're here, Ellie." Eric wiped his sweat from his eyebrow.

"Why?" The blond raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Here's the thing. I haven't told my mom that I'm in Sea Patrol and now my mom thinks I'm acting weird for not telling her." Lizzie explained.

"I thought she signed it?" Ellie took a sip from her drink.

"Lizzie forged her mom's signature." Eric butted in.

"What?"

"Yeah, so when my mom asked me what I was hiding from her, I panicked and said that I was hiding 'us'."

"'Us'?"

"Eric and I."

Ellie's jaw dropped.

"Wait, I'm confused. So are you actually... a thing?"

"No. Well, kind of. Just for today." Eric explained.

"Oh. And what does this have to do with me?" Ellie asked.

"Now, my mom is suspicious of Eric and I, and now that you walked in, she's gonna start being suspicious of you. She really wants to find out what I'm hiding." Lizzie sighed.

"Why don't you just tell her that you forged her signature?"

"If my mom finds out that I'm in Sea Patrol, she's going to pull me out of the program."

"The Sea Jet Patrol? Or the program in general?" 

"In general. Please, Ellie, you have to help me." Lizzie pleaded.

"Umm... okay, fine." The blond gave in.

"Thank you so much, guys. This means so much to me." Lizzie hugged the three of them.

"Of course."

✧✧✧✧✧

"Ellie. How nice to finally meet you." Wendy smiled at the blond seated next to her.