Turning over the page where there were more doodles I’d stuck down, pictures, quotes and saying’s we’d come across.
A few pages later we found another family photo from mine and Evie’s thirteenth birthday. We had a huge pyjama party so me and Evie had matching ones on but in different colours, even our parents were in some.
Next came all our high school photo’s, random days out and school trips. Some from when we went to summer camp. There was one picture from when we had visited the Zoo with school and Dan was in the chipmunk house, the monkey behind him against the window. There was a piece of paper stuck underneath saying ‘If I was an animal, I’d be a monkey. I’m cheeky like that...I can’t help it.’
I laughed looking at it as did Dan. “I can’t believe you kept all this.”
“It came in handy.” I smiled as he continued to flick over the pages to where I had stuck in bits of writing from my leaving book at the end of year eleven.
There was a page dedicated to Me and Luke, with some stupid photo’s I’d taken, something he’d wrote in my leaving book and random doodles. The next being dedicated to me and Dan.
There was a picture of me and him at our prom. No one had asked me to it, so Dan did. Even though he had practically all the girls in our year waiting for him to ask them...he chose me.
His arms wrapped around my waist from behind and us cheesy grinning at the camera.
“This book is amazing , how have I never seen it?”
“No one has, it’s just a keep sake book I decided to make.”
“It’s amazing.”
On the page for me and Dan there was random pieces of school book paper stuck in from where Dan had attacked my book with his writing doodles.
‘You smell, so bad...like flowers.’
‘Your skirt is short today ;) I can nearly see your bottom :O’
‘I <3 You’
‘I love the smell of your hair.’
‘You are my best friend Tink...NEVER forget that.’
“As if you kept all these.” Dan laughed
“I just ripped them out of my school books. You wrote pretty much all over them.”
“I got bored easily.”
“I know, hence why we always ended up in after school detentions as I always got blamed for your sillyness.”
“Don’t go blaming me now; you were as much to blame as me for giggling in class.”
“I suppose.” I reply smiling at him
“I remember our prom night.” Dan says to me as I look back at the picture of us.
“Yea me too.”
“Was a great night.”
“Yea until you ditched me for that slag Shanice.”
“I never left you.”
“Yea you did. You left me sat at our table with Evie, Ryan, Luke and Sarah while you went and lost your virginity to her.”
“Okay so I may have left you briefly, but I never slept with her.”
“Dan it’s fine. You don’t have to lie to me, it was five years ago.”
“I’m not lying. I never slept with Shanice.”
“Dan, I saw you with her. I came to look for you and she was all over you. I heard her ask you to go back to hers so I left you’s to it.”
“She asked me to but I never went.”
“Then why didn’t you come back to me?” I ask turning to look at him
“I did...but you were on the dance floor with James.”
“Oh right.” I replied
“I know what happened between you two next.” He sighed
“Err yea.”
I ended up going to the after party with this lad James. Getting completely hammered and sleeping with him. Something I always regret doing.
“Why him?” Dan asked me
“I duno, it just happened.”
“Do you regret it?”
“You know I do. Dan can we drop it...I don’t like talking about it.”
“Why?”
“It’s just something I regret doing. It was a huge deal for me and I just wasted it, I wanted it to be special and it wasn’t. Can’t really say yours would have been romantic with Shanice either.”
“I didn’t sleep with Shanice, I told you that.”
“That’s not what she told me.”
“And you believed her?”
“Why wouldn’t I? She was my friend.”
“Well she lied to your face.”
“What?”
“I never slept with her; I told her I liked someone else.”
“So the girl you liked? Is this the girl you shagged that night then?”
“No.” He sighed again
“Dan I know you slept with someone that night, you walked out of the bedroom next to James’ when I did”
“Yea I did sleep with someone and I really regret it as well”
“Why?”
“Because I never had feelings for her and...”
“I didn’t have any feeling for James but it happened. Who did you like? You never told me and we told each other everything.”
“You’re the one person I couldn’t tell.”
“Why not? Dan we’re best friends.”
“Because it was you”
***
“What was me?”
“The girl I liked.”
“Shut up Dan, who was it really?”
“Liv, it was you.” Dan sighed taking told of my hands
I stared into his chocolate brown eyes for a couple of seconds taking it all in. “Hang on a sec...you liked me when we were sixteen?”
“Well I’ve liked you for a lot longer. When we had our first kiss, I kinda got this feeling in the pit of my stomach. Ever since that night I couldnt shake it. So when it came to prom and no one had asked you I was so relieved because I wanted to ask you.”
“Oh wow.” I say completely shocked
“I didn’t realise you saw me and Shanice together...is that why you went and danced with James?”
“Not really. I went back inside and Evie was dancing with Ryan, Luke was with Sarah so I was sat on my own waiting for you. Then James came over and asked me to dance so I said yea. I thought you’d left with Shanice.”
“No I never. I was so gutted to see you dancing with him, kissing him.”
“I’m sorry .”
“You never knew, I should have manned up and told you how I felt but I was scared at how you would react.”
“I had no idea you felt like that.”
“Yea I hid it well. Only Luke knew.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did, just took me five years to do it.”
“The night you kissed me in the kitchen?”
“Yea, we’d been flirting more than usual and I just had this feeling in me to go for it. I didn’t know how you would react but I was drunk and so were you. So if you turned me down, I could just blame the booze and then try and finally move on from you.”
“Good job I never turned you down then isn’t it.” I smile up at him
“Yes, you don’t understand how happy I was when you kissed me back.”
“I just don’t understand why you never told me at prom? You had plenty of opportunities.”
“When? All those girls kept coming over asking to dance with me.”
“Oh yea.” I laughed
“I wish I did, believe me. I just want to forget prom night.”
“Why? What happened that was so bad?”
“It doesn’t matter” he smiled, “It’s in the past.”
“You can tell me you know.”
“Yea I know...I just, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Is it something to do with Shanice? Did you sleep with her?”
“No, I never slept with her.”
“I was a bit shocked as she was my friend but that was about it.”
“Liv I never slept with Shanice.”
“Why would Shanice lie to me then?”
“Because I asked her to.”
“Dan...I’m confused. Why would you tell Shanice to say she slept with you when you didn’t?”
Dan never replied to me, he just placed my scrapbook off his lap and got out of bed. I followed him to my bedroom door and stopped him.
“Tell me.”
“I can’t. Tink it doesn’t matter.”
“Dan it does, we know everything about each other. Why won’t you tell me who you first slept with if it wasn’t Shanice and make her lie to me.”
“It doesn’t matter...I shouldn’t have said anything. All that matters is that I have you; we’re together and going to be together forever. I love you.”
“I love you too Dan and I know we’ll be together always. But why won’t you just tell me?”
“I don’t want to.” He replied walking out my room and down stairs.
I followed him down, still asking him. Why wouldn’t he just tell me who he’d slept with? It was five years ago, I don’t care who it was.
“Dan why don’t you just tell me who your first was?” I ask walking into the kitchen to be greeted by Evie and Luke who had scared looks on their faces.
“What?” I ask looking at them
“You told her?” Luke asks Dan who shook his head.
“What’s going on?” I ask looking at them
“Why did you bring that night up?” Evie asked Dan
“We were looking at photo’s, one came up of me and Liv.” Dan replied, he had a look in his eye I’d never seen before. He honestly looked petrified.
“What’s wrong with prom night? Yes it wasn’t the most romantic night ever and things happened that I personally regret but it couldn’t have been that bad?”
“Just drop it yea Liv.” Luke smiled before passing me a glass of orange juice.
“I would but you’s seem to know something that I don’t.”
“No we don’t.” Evie replied quietly, keeping her gaze from Dan’s and mine. Looking at the floor.
“Yes you all do. You are all keeping something from me.”
“ please can you just drop it. It doesn’t matter.” Dan pleaded with me
“No. I’m determined to find out who it was. Why tell me it was Shanice if it wasn’t? Who could it be that is so bad? That bad you’re lying right to my face about it.” I ask looking at him. His glance left mine to Evie for a split second then back to me.
Then it hit me.
I placed my glass on the side and shook my head.
“Oh my life…No.” I whisper as tears began to fall down my cheeks.
“Liv...” Evie whispered taking my hand in hers but I shook it off.
“Don’t speak to me again. Any of you.” I reply running out the kitchen. I slipped on my pumps before running out the house slamming the door behind me.