Secret Lovers

Prologue

The year is 1957, and the day is April 6th. Adelaide Benz (you) and your family, including Ricky Nelson's family, are going on a family trip to Palm Springs. You guys are taking a 1954 Airstream RV attached to a 1954 Chevy Suburban. The parents are sitting in the car, while you and your younger brother sit with Ricky & David in the RV.

I throw my pink lace, full slip nightgown into my suitcase. I close my suitcase, and take out my curlers quickly. I'm super excited to see Ricky today! I haven't seen him in a few months! I brush through my curls and leave my hair in a loose curl. I'm wearing a pink satin tank top with matching pink shorts. I didn't want to wear anything crazy just because we're driving for around 2 hours. I slip on some lace socks and I put on some Pink Flats.

I rush out my room, suitcase in hand. I walk towards the living room, and I pick up my 4 year old brother. I carry him on my left side. 'You need help?' My dad asks. I nod, 'Please.' He grabs the suitcase and walks outside to the RV. 'My baby girl! You look so pretty!' My mom says as she walks up behind me. I laugh, 'Thank you, Mom. But I'm 17 now.' She takes my brother from me, 'I know, I know. But still, you're my first baby.' I laugh.

My dad walks in, as my Beagle, 'Felix' follows him. 'You ready guys?' I nod and my mom does as well. We turn off the lights and exit the house. Honk. I jump. Ozzie. They park their car on the other half of our driveway. Harriet runs out of her car, clutching two suitcases in both hands. 'Sorry we're late dear, there was traffic.' 'Ah, it's alright.' My mom gives a side-hug to Harriet. I smile and give Harriet a big hug. Ozzie walks to the front of the car, carrying one large suitcase. He walks over to me and I hug him, 'So I scared you, huh?' I roll my eyes, 'Whatever.' I start laughing. He greets my mom and high fives my dad. Both dads finish packing up the RV.

Ricky shuts the trunk. David and Ricky walk around from the back of the car. David is carrying, 1 large suitcase and 2 small ones. Ricky carries 2 medium suitcases. They walk over to our dads and they hand them their suitcases. My dad takes David's and Ozzie takes Ricky's. David runs up to me, 'Hi, Addy.' 'Hi, David!' I give him a side hug.

I keep my eyes on Ricky, as he makes his way over to me. Hands in pocket, and looking handsome. 'Hey, Loser.' His eyes widened as he gets closer. 'Hey, Shithead.' We laugh as we embrace in a bear-hug. Everything felt so right when we touched or even talked. 'Tell me all about Hollywood.' He nods. I grab, my baby brother, James and I place him on my left side. As Ricky, David and myself make our way to the RV, my mom and Harriet stop us, 'No monkey business. You hear me?' Harriet says. My mom says, 'Make sure James is safe. Put him in his car seat and DON'T take him out. Okay? He should be sleepy. Here's his bottle.' I take the bottle, and agree to both Harriet and my mother. We make our way into the RV.

Harriet closes the door. I place James into his car seat, which is accessible to the table. I make sure he's tight and secure. I give him a piece of paper and 3 crayons to draw on. He sits at the table and draws. Ricky, David and I all sit down on the two love seats, facing across each other. I sit next to Ricky & David faces us. 'Addy, YOU would LOVE Hollywood!' I laugh, 'Really?' They both nod. 'It's so much fun, really! You should really come down sometime, it's super fun.' 'Alright, maybe I will.' We continued to talk about Hollywood and this and that, until about 20 minutes into the drive. James drops a crayon, and as I bend down to pick it up, I feel eyes on me. I get up and hand James his crayon and I give him a kiss on the head.

As I return back to the seat next to Ricky, I noticed he looks very flustered. He keeps rearranging his pants and places his right arm on his pants. Which is weird since Ricky usually keeps that arm on top of the seat and his legs open. I think nothing of it until David shouts out, 'Oh god, Ricky. Is. Stiff.' My eyes widened.

Ricky looks at me and nervously laughs at me. 'Can we talk, Rick?' He knows I'm either mad or sad when I call him Rick. This time, I'm weirded out. He nods and we walk towards the 'bed' area. I close the curtain. 'What the hell? Why- what- wait...are YOU the one who stared at me when I bent down?' He shifts his gaze to the walk behind me, 'I have no clue what you're talking about.' I raise a brow, 'Ricky. I know when you're lying.' 'Fine! It was me!' I gasp. I'm not totally distraught. 'Why?' 'I- I don't know! I just did, okay?' 'Aren't I like a sister to you??' 'Well... YES, we're close but, I- I don't see you like that.' My eyes water, 'What- what does that mean?'

He interlocks his eyes with mine. He does that when he's dead serious. 'I don't mean it like that. I...I just have some *feelings for you*.' He mumbled the last part. 'What?' 'I have feelings for you. A lot. A lot of feelings for you.' My eyes widened, my legs go weak, I get butterflies. 'Aren't you going to say something?' Ricky asks. 'I- I don't know.' I open the curtain and instead of sitting next to Ricky or David, I sit next to James.

I can see Ricky, standing there, arms open, his face is crossed. He looks flabbergasted. I'm flabbergasted. I know that there's always been a weird feeling between us... and I don't know if I'm ready to admit my feelings to him. I need time alone.