Smock |sma'k| noun; a loose garment worn over one's clothes to protect them: an artist's smock. –New Oxford American Dictionary.

Chapter eleven; smock

I slept on the way home. Arthur didn't seem to mind but he also didn't go out of his way to make me comfortable seeing as when we began driving he cranked up the music and jammed out the whole way home. At least I'm assuming he did because Justin Bieber's Sorry was on full blast when he woke me up.

I sit up straight and stretch, feeling like a cat as my back bends and I let out a groan as my muscles stretch out. "Am I home yet?" I ask with squinted eyes.

Arthur looks around at our surroundings and raises an eyebrow at me. "Not exactly. I thought you'd be hungry considering I kept you until past breakfast and lunch." He laughs.

I blink at the McDonald's drive through menu and my eyes zero in on a picture of a double cheeseburger, my stomach responding immediately with an embarrassing grumble. "I guess I'm pretty hungry." I admit, rubbing my stomach.

His crooked smile appears and I find my gaze averting randomly to a strawberry milkshake.

"So. What does your little heart desire? My treat." He gestures to the board with a sparkle in his eye before rolling up the sleeves of his thin grey American Eagle shirt half way up his forearms, a few specks of clay remaining stubbornly on his blonde arm hair.

I lean forward and peer at all of my choices before deciding. "I can't argue with that. I'll take a...double cheeseburger, a medium fry, and chicken nuggets with buffalo sauce." I nod to him firmly and he whistles, looking me up and down.

"Nice. A girl who likes to eat, I like it." He winks at me jokingly and I laugh, not taking it too seriously.

He rolls down the window and places our order and just as he's listed off both of our choices he pauses and looks over at me before adding, "And, uh, can I get two small strawberry milkshakes with that please?"

"Sure thing. Pull up to the first window please." The muffled voiced employee replies.

My mouth drops open and I reach over to shove his arm. "How did you know?"

"Know what?" He asks mischievously with a toothy smile, his dimple appearing like a cherry on top.

I stay silent but force myself to stare out the window so he doesn't see my smile. I guess we really are true friends.

* * * * *

"So you're telling me that you and your friend –"

"Lila." I offer.

"Right, Lila. Went to this guy Phillip Derek's house, snuck through his window and stole a pair of his boxers?" He laughs a bellowing laugh with his mouth full of French fries.

I laugh so hard that I let out a snort which makes us laugh even harder. "H-have you ever seen that movie Sleepover with that chick from Spy Kids?" I ask.

When he realizes what I'm saying he bends over in his driver's seat as he laughs, clutching his stomach. "You're not saying what I think you're saying are you?"

I cover my mouth to contain my laughter. "We saw the movie, decided it would be a good idea to dare each other to do the same. Lila was less of a chicken than I was so while I waited outside his window, she snuck right in. Like the idiot she is she hid in his closet when we heard someone coming. I ducked down but apparently she covered her eyes just in time before he stripped stark naked and finally walked into his bathroom. I still to this day don't think she was telling the truth about not seeing anything." When I finally get the whole story out I allow myself to let out all the laughter I had been holding back, holding my hand to my chest.

I look over at Arthur to see him red in the face gasping for breath before I️ begin to calm down, sighing and letting out one last laugh. He continues to laugh as I look to my house.

We had just decided to eat in the car and somehow we had ended up telling embarrassing stories...mostly about other people.

"Okay well I should probably get inside." I tell him, placing my hand on the door handle.

This gets his attention and he runs a hand through his hair and lets out a sigh. "Yeah I guess you're right."

I give him a closed lip smile and open the door, stepping out and keeping one foot on the step of the Wrangler to see him. "Um...thanks for the food by the way. And for the day...I actually had a lot of fun."

He smiles, gives me a nod and before I know it I'm walking through my front door and he's driving away, the sound of tires on my driveway fading until it is non-existent.

The house is silent as I enter. No one appears to be home but I'm not surprised seeing as it's about two in the afternoon. Mom must have a class and Ray is...well he's I don't know where.

I flop down on the couch with a sigh, reaching for the remote on the coffee table grunting as I go. As soon as the television is on I whip out my phone after not bring able to check it for the past several hours. My eyes widen at the screen and I freeze in place.

MISSED CALL FROM: Mommy.

(2)MISSED CALL FROM: Mommy.

(3)MISSED CALL FROM: Mommy.

Mommy:

WHERE ARE YOU??? Have a class at twelve and I'm not exactly happy to find my daughter MISSING!

Going now. We will be discussing this when I get home.

I groan, dropping my phone in my lap and pressing the palms of my hands to my eyes.

         I️ try my hardest not to be annoyed at the fact that I'm eighteen years old and she still forces me to inform her of everything I️ do.

I try to call her back but when she doesn't answer on the second try, I decide to give up and accept my fate. Was it so hard for me to just leave a note? Why the heck did I not think to tell my mom where I was going before leaving in the blanket of darkness with a boy at six in the morning?

Okay I'm being a bit melodramatic but what do you expect from a girl with a death sentence?

My mom as always been protective. Always wanting to meet every single parent at a birthday party before finally leaving me there, never letting me take walks by myself until I was fifteen. Just little things like that.

But what's worse is she never lets me get away with anything. No wrong doing goes unpunished. Frankly, I don't really feel like I've done anything wrong so maybe this time will be different?

* * * * *

"You're grounded." These were the first words my mother said to me as she walked through the front door at five in the evening, grocery bags in hand.

"But mom! I didn't do anything wrong!" I exclaim in exasperation.

She gives me a flat look and begins unloading a lettuce head and an assortment of vegetables onto the counter. "You left this morning while everyone was asleep, didn't leave a note or enquiry as to where you were going, and completely ignored my calls and messages. Tell me what part of that wasn't against the rules, Lovely." Her brash tone makes me flinch.

I try and scramble for something to say that might assuage the situation. "Mom...I know how this looks but early this morning Arthur texted me and asked me to help him with an art project." I begin to explain and I mentally high five myself when she looks up suddenly, her interest obviously peaked.

"An art project? What kind?" She asks nonchalantly. I smile knowing that art is my mother's weakness. Which I suppose must be the case for all real artists.

I shrug casually and begin helping her sort the vegetables. "Ceramics. What he made was really quite terrific...maybe he'll let you have a look after it's done."

She considers this as she rinses of the lettuce head, her eyes searching my face for something. "I'd like that. As soon as he's finished why don't you invite him over? I'd love to pick his brain for whatever their teaching him at that college. Maybe it'll give me some ideas. I'm running a little dry on ideas for projects these days." She admits.

I smile knowing she's forgotten completely about grounding me. "Sure thing, Mom."

I'm practically walking on egg shells as we chop and cube vegetables, completely paranoid that my mom will come to her senses and realize that she's angry with me but the only time she opens her mouth is to say,

"Love, do you me a favor and go get your brother for dinner." She nods her head towards the stairs and I'm so relieved that I'm not busted that I practically skip to Ray's room. I guess he's been here the whole time after all...

"Ray, dinner time." I chirp to the door. Moments later, the door swings open and Ray stands before me shirtless with his phone in his hand. Why a fifteen year old boy needs a phone is beyond me. I didn't get one until I was sixteen.

I raise my eyebrows. "Have you been working out?" I comment on his slightly toned physic and he immediately turns red and spins around, throwing on a shirt before I can blink.

"Shut up. What's got you all...cheery? Did you finally get a boyfriend?" He smirks at me and for some reason I blush. He seems pleased that the tables have turned, his smirk deepening.

             Devil child.

"No. I'm just not in trouble is all." I shrug.

He scoffs and crosses his arms, leaning against the doorframe. "You do know that you're eighteen, right? Mom can't punish you."

I freeze and think about this, my mind completely blown. I completely forgot that I've recently turned eighteen...Ray is totally right. "Thanks Ray. I completely forgot."

He rolls his eyes and pushes past me mumbling under his breath about how weird I am and how I need to get a life.

I sigh at his behavior and take one last look into his unusually tidy room, my eyebrows furrowing at the made bed, organized book shelf and the dresser with all the drawers closed. "Weird..." I mutter to myself before following him down the stairs.

I hum on my way down, stopping suddenly at the opening to the kitchen when I hear hushed voices.

"Ray, it's no big deal. She'll understand and I really don't think she'll mind." My mother's soothing whisper puzzles me.

"You don't think who will mind what?" I ask as I walk in.

Ray's eyes widen at my sudden butt into their conversation and my mom places a hand on my shoulder. "Nothing of your concern. Now let's eat."

Something about this doesn't sit right with me but I shrug it off and serve myself a plate full of salad anyway.

As I sit on my bed with absolutely nothing to do, I can't help but think about my prized possession.

           Even though it's back in my care, I️ can't help but wonder if Arthur ever even peeked inside for it's leather bound secrets while it was in his possession.

I know he promised that he hadn't read it but maybe he got curious...I know I would. No, Arthur wouldn't do that to me?

Would he?

I jump in shock, my heart beating erratically in my chest as my phone rings wildly.

I let out a breath to calm myself down. "Geez." I mutter under my breath. "That scared me."

            Stop talking to yourself.

I take one look at the caller ID before answering. "Hello?"

"Lovely, why do I feel like you're forgetting about me?" Lila asks.

I smile and lay back onto my pillows. "I haven't, why would you think that?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because you've been spending more time with someone whose name starts with an A instead of with me?" She reprimands me and I roll my eyes.

"How did you know I've been spending time with Arthur?"

"..."

"Lila?"

"I didn't. Now I do." She laughs loudly.

I scrunch my nose. "Not fair, you tricked me."

"All is fair in love and war." She sings.

I laugh. "Lila, none of this involves love or war."

She pauses and I laugh once more. "Okay why did you really call?" I ask.

"Okay so I talked to Ray."

I freeze and sit up, placing a pillow into my lap. "And? What happened, what did he say?"

"I know you're his sister and all but I don't think he would appreciate me sharing." She says quietly.

"Oh..." I drift off. "Well how did you go about it?"

"Believe it or not, he actually contacted me. He texted me one day and today I actually went over there. I hope you don't mind. I really think I'm helping though. He just really needs someone to talk to right now." She tells me.

My eyebrows rise in surprise. "Really? How did he...oh. It all makes sense now." I exclaim.

"What? What are you talking about?"

I stand up, holding the phone to my ear, pacing back and forth as the pieces come together. "The other day he took my phone and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. Then today his room was actually clean and he and my mom were talking in hushed tones. They stopped as soon as I made an appearance. I'm pretty sure it was about me but I can't be sure..."

"Oh...well I don't know but I just thought you should know. I don't want to keep you in the dark on this." She says.

I nod. "Yeah sure. Thanks, Li."

"No problem. Okay I've gotta go but I'll text you tomorrow. Love you, Love."

She hangs up and I toss my phone onto the bed with a sigh. Ray could have just came and asked for Lila's number and I would have given it to him. Then again he probably thought I'd get the wrong idea...I honestly probably would have actually so I guess everything worked out nicely.

With a yawn I check the time. 8:45pm.It's pretty early but then again I did get up at six this morning and I've been going all day.

I decide to hit the hay early at my closing eyelids' request. I get ready quickly, skipping one or two steps, before slipping under the covers. Before I know it I'm out like a light.