My Little Secret

"Maybe I should dust the shelves up a little." I say as I give Simon his cup of coffee. He was recovering well and had gotten back to his usual routine of sitting in the basement of Absolem. Lucky for him, he lived there.

He nodded in agreement. Simon hardly said no to me. I go up and take out the books from the first shelf and dust them. I carefully pull out each book and place them on the piece of cloth I laid out. I then picked out a book from the pile and wiped it with a napkin.

I hear my phone buzz. It was Ivan. I had been avoiding him since the party last night, after I walked out. I did feel guilty when I woke up, but Bryan's words hit me hard. I didn't think I wanted to be there.

The door opens and turn around to see who it is. I must admit, I felt a little disappointed when I saw a group of young kids enter. I wished it was Ivan. Why was it suddenly so difficult to pass time? A few months ago, he did not matter. But now, not a day goes by when I don't think about him.

"Sofia!" Simon calls out my name and walk downstairs hesitantly. I did not want to leave the place unattended with these kids around.

Suddenly, Ivan walks in. He was panting as he approached me. "Knew I'd find you here." He says and holds his hips, breathing heavily.

"Sit down, Ivan." I tell him and push him gently, on the stool nearby. I give him my water bottle and walk down to Simon's cabin. He would take care of the kids while I was gone.

"I must have forgotten to mention. The kids of the neighboring school have some paper reading homework. We agreed to help them do a little reading here. You have to help them and initiate it of course." Simon says as I enter his cabin.

"Sure, I'll get to it." I say and walk back up. I was lost in thought. What book would be best? Something that would be appropriate to read out to kids. Charlotte's web seemed most promising.

Ivan kept looking at me all through the reading. It was almost as if he was a kid himself. He'd catch me looking at him sometimes and smile. I wanted to smile back but I held it in and continued reading till I forgot how adorable he was.

After I was halfway through the fourth chapter, he gets up and walks towards me.

"How about I read it from now." He offers and the kids agree in excitement.

Ivan read the story out beautifully. Every tone, was picked well. Every expression, validated. Every emotion, felt. I was lost in his voice; I closed my eyes and I could imagine Wilbur being nervous about being slaughtered. It was beautiful. I could listen to him read to me all day.

"You know, Madrake Press was the company who published this book." He says as I was putting the books back into the shelf.

The reading session for today was done and the kids had gone home.

"I won't ask you why you left, Sofia. What I will ask you, is why you didn't tell me about it."

"You seemed like you were having fun, Iv." I tell him softly. I was on the verge of crying. I had missed him so much. I was so glad he was here. I wanted to forget all the bad things and just hug him and remain in his embrace till I felt better.

"I seemed fine there, because I am used to these things. I'd rather spend a day at the arcade with you, than attend these kinds of parties. It's not my thing, Sof." He says and holds my shoulders and looks at me.

"I may not be very similar to you, but I am not very different from you either." He says and I nod, my head is still down.

"Sof." He says and lifts my chin up. "I really like you." He says and bends forward to kiss me. I kiss him back, softly.

"Can you please be more open with me?" he says and I nod in agreement.

"Good. Can we go to the amusement park? I want to take you on the ferris wheel." He says.

"No way." I say, "I am scared of heights. Super scared. I can never."

"I'm here Sof. Have a little faith. Plus, we'll get cotton candy later."

"How did you know I like cotton candy?" I was surprised.

"Just a guess." He shrugs.

"Most of your guesses about me are right. It terrifies me sometimes, it's like we've known each other for a long time. Like we've been friends since ages, you know."

"I feel the same. It's like, I can just. I don't know Sof. I can be myself with you. I haven't felt like this ever. I can say anything without thinking twice or fear of misunderstanding you know. Most importantly, I somehow just seem to know what you like. Every time I guess it right, I love how your eyes glisten." He says and I smile at him.

Maybe we weren't so different after all. Even if we were, we were trying to make it work. Effort. That was all that mattered.