Chapter Eight... Secrets
Melia had held her word that she wouldn't tell anybody about me and Ben. But every time we were alone, she would hassle me about ending things with him. She even confronted him at school one afternoon, as he was leaving. But when a few other teachers saw her shove him, she earned herself a week of detention.
I had tried to convince Melia I was handling it, that it was my problem and not hers. But she was causing more problems for Ben and I, and I couldn't let her anymore.
But the worst part about a big secret like mine? When someone accidentally lets something slip.
And Melia did.
"I'm so sorry, Lana!" she cried as she sat in my bedroom late one night. "I didn't mean to tell them. I didn't!"
"Well, now they know that I'm most certainly not studying late, or hanging with friends!" I growled. "How could you tell them?"
"I'm sorry," she sobbed.
"You will be!" I hissed. "If anyone finds out, Ben loses his job! And I'll get into trouble, too! And now mom and dad know I'm off having sex every other night! How are they ever gonna trust me again?"
"You're seventeen tomorrow," Melia sniffled. "Hopefully they still trust you. It's not like you exactly tell your parents your screwing a guy. And they don't know who it is yet, so relax!"
"It's only a matter of time before they find out, Mel," I sighed. "It's only a matter of time before everybody finds out..."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"One year. In one year I'm going public. Telling the world we're a couple. I won't be his student, and he won't be my teacher. And I won't be a minor anymore."
"You'll still be a high school student in a year, Lana. You can't."
"No, I won't be. In fact, I won't be a high school student after tomorrow, either."
"Look what he's doing to you, Lana! He's ruining your future!"
"What future? I'm a nuisance!"
"Mom and dad are gonna get suspicious when you quit school, Lana! You can't do it! Ben's fucked up your whole life, and you can't even see it! The next thing you're gonna tell me is that you're pregnant, and engaged!"
"Well..." I began, but hesitated.
"Oh, please don't tell me you're pregnant!"
"No, but I am... kind of engaged..."
"What the hell does that mean?!"
"It means that he asked me if I'd be interested in marrying him someday, and I said yes!"
I stood up from my bed, and Melia grasped my arm, hard.
"Ow! Let me go!" I wailed.
"You're being a moron if you think that that dickhead is marriage material!" she screamed. "He cheated on his wife with you! He got her pregnant! He has three kids to her, and you're still fucking him! There's something wrong with you!"
"It's none of your business!" I shouted. "I'll do whatever the fuck I want, and there isn't a damn thing you can do to stop me!"
"I can ruin your boyfriend's perfect reputation! I can expose your affair! A teacher sleeping with his sixteen year old student?! You'll be all over the headlines! The whole world will know who you are!"
"Fuck you!" I screamed, running from the room... from the house.
I ran down the road, jumping into my car. I drove to Ben's motel, where he was just about to go to bed. Tears streamed across my face, and the anger that ran through me was indescribable.
"Lana?" he asked. "Are you alright?"
"No," I sobbed. "I want you to do me hard. Please. Really hard."
>>>>
I awoke on my seventeenth birthday in the arms of the man that I loved. The only problem? The world couldn't know that I loved him. But all of that was about to change. I had decided to get thrown out of school, or to quit. And the only way that I wanted to do that was dramatically. I couldn't just up and leave... my parents wouldn't stand for that. I'd secretly gone off the pill... even Ben didn't know that I was no longer taking it.
I would come to regret my decision later, but I wanted the world to know who I loved. And this seemed to be the only logical way, in my mind, to do that.
"Happy birthday, Lana," Ben whispered in my ear, kissing me.
"Good morning," I smiled.
"You were a real wreck last night," he recalled. "You ready to talk about it?"
"No," I said simply. "I hate my sister. That's all there is to it."
"Knowing you, there's more behind it," he smiled.
"It's really just girl stuff," I lied. "Just... crap. We'll get over it. But she knows about us... and for now, she's keeping it a secret."
"She wouldn't tell, would she?" he asked.
"I don't think so," I frowned. "It would ruin her life, too."
"I suppose," he sighed. "Are we doing the right thing here? Staying together all night? Your parents must be worried... you didn't go home last night."
"They don't truly care about me the way you do," I crooned. "And I don't care about them. They know I'm off having sex nearly every night... my sister let that slip."
"But didn't say it was with me?"
"No. Which means she must care. If she didn't care, she would have told the universe by now."
"That's good, I guess."
"I'm afraid. I'm actually terrified of going near people who don't know about us, because I'm afraid of telling them."
"You uh... since it's your birthday and all, you probably should go home. I have to be at work soon, you know."
"I guess," I frowned. "I'll come back tonight."
I got dressed and we kissed goodbye. Just as I was leaving, he handed me a gift. It was a necklace with the letter L on it, for Lana.
I arrived home, wearing the necklace.
"And where have you been all night?" mom asked furiously.
"Out," I shrugged.
"With a boy?" she questioned.
"Maybe," I answered. "Why do you care?"
"I hope you're being safe," mom muttered. Melia snorted into laughter.
"Oh, shut up whore!" I spat at her.
"What is it?" mom asked.
"She's not being safe," Melia said loud enough for my father to hear.
"Bullshit, Melia!" I shouted. "I'm on the fucking pill!"
"Language!" mom hissed. "Lana, sit down. We have some presents for you, since you're seventeen today and all."
"Thanks, mom," I smiled weakly at her.
"She doesn't deserve them," Melia hissed.
"What do you know?!" I snapped at her.
"Want me to tell them about the man you've been screwing?!" Melia spat, standing up.
"Man?" mom asked weakly.
"He's like... in his thirties," Melia spoke. "He's a freaking teacher!"
"You're lying!" I screamed.
"No, you are!" Melia snapped. "You're a little whore, sleeping with a married man! He's your history teacher, for God's sake!"
"What?!" mom shouted, looking at me. I slowly sunk into the chair I'd previously been sitting in.
"Why did you do that?!" I cried at Melia. "Why would you do that?!"
"I can't keep a secret like that, Lana!" she cried. "I'm afraid for you! He seduced her in the classroom when she was on detention one day! And ever since he's been in her pants! He's got a daughter her age!"
"Stop it!" I screamed.
"No!" Melia shouted. "I'm worried about you! And he's brainwashing you into thinking it's alright! You're making the wrong decisions!"
Tears streamed angrily down my eyes. I went to stand up to walk away, but mom gently shoved me back into the seat. Melia looked relieved not to be holding the big secret in anymore, and I wasn't sure how to react. My parents knew all about my affair with Ben...
And soon the world would, too. Looks like I wouldn't need my dramatic plan after all...