Emily

There was a brief silence in the room, like he was waiting for me to say something. He was watching me carefully.

"I will share a secret with you, then...." he said, after realizing I was not going to open up about me. I stood up and walked to the bed and sat down across from him. "Have you heard of the company Brownstone?" he asked.

"Of course, it's the famous in food and beverage industries."

"My Dad owns it."

I didn't see that coming, but judging by how lavish his lifestyles is, it all made sense to me.

"That was unexpected." I said shrugging a bit.

"I didn't see that reaction coming." he laughed. "You always have the unexpected reactions and I absolutely love it."

"What reaction were you expecting?"

"The squeals and excitement."

I give him a small guilty smile.

"I like your reaction better than any I have received so far from people.." he said.

"Who else knows about it?"

"Just Evan and you from school and some people outside school."

"You should be nice to Evan." I said, now that he mentioned Evan's name.

"I'm always nice to him, but recently he have been getting on my nerves and I think he needed a little reality check."

"No fights anymore." I said, trying to sound stern, but seeing him smile. I knew it didn't work out.

"No fights.." he said and I nodded my head in approval. "Unless, its absolutely necessary." he added.

"Hey!" I said leaning forward and smacked his arm, lightly and he laughed. I missed seeing his dimple.

"My brothers work for my Dad, my Dad is suppose to pass down the company." he shrugged. "My brothers' suggestion is, that I shouldn't be consider a successor because I'm the youngest and still in school."

"That's not fair." I frowned.

"Dad wants us three to compete with each other." he sighed. "I really have no interest in running a food and beverage company. I just like kicking my brother's sorry a*ses." he laughed. "We meet once a month for dinner, and that's to check how well we are doing in our role."

"You live alone?" My eyes widened.

"Yes." he said.

"My Dad stays at another place and my brothers stay in apartments."

His family life is much more complicated than I thought it would be.

"It must be lonely." I said.

"My Dad moved to the more rural side when I turned thirteen." he shrugged. "He was never home anyway, always in business trips and meeting. Mr. Harper, he raised me up."

I reached out and hugged him and he was taken aback by the sudden hug and he fell back on the bed.

He hugged his arms around me. I was on top of him. My injured arm in an awkward position as we hugged.

"Things will get better." I said to him.

"I hope so." he said to me.

Now, that Everett shared some bits and pieces about him. I was seeing him in a different light. He have things going on in his life, but he doesn't seem to let that bother his daily life. He works hard in school is loved by everyone and scared at the same time.

He's who he is- instead of wanting to be the flower, he decided to be the root of the plant.

His dad wanted him to be the flower, someone admirable and strong in the society, but Everett was much more than just a flower. He's the beautiful strong root, that keep the plant steady.

Everett was fast asleep on my bed in the mid-afternoon. I covered him up with the blanket and went back to do my work.

It was five-thirty, but he was still sound asleep. Not in a stalker way, but I could sit and watch him sleep. He's so breathtakingly beautiful. His beautiful face was in a frown, his lip slightly parted as he slept soundlessly. His body seemed rigid and tensed even while he was sleeping.

I don't know why he decided to open up about his life with me, but it made me feel slightly closer to him than before. He trusts me with his secret. He reminded me, that he did not share the secret with me in hope that I will open up my life with him.

"I don't want you to feel like you owe me secrets because I have shared mine with you. I shared mine's because I wanted you to know I trust you. I know my secrets are safe with you." He give me a dimple smile at the end.

My hand gently stroke his hair and he stirred a little and turned his body towards the wall.

"Would you still like me the same even after knowing, that my own family can't look me in the eyes without regretting their decision of adopting me?" I whispered quietly.

Everett woke up after sometime.

"How was the nap?" I asked him with a small smile.

"Better." He give me a smile. His phone rang and he looked at the caller ID and scowled a bit. He declined the call and was doing something on his phone. "It's London." He said to me.

Oh. I suddenly felt shy and embarrassed. Does London know what we did yesterday?

"I made the worse decision to make you jealous." He said looking at me.

I blinked a little, trying to comprehend his words and when I did, my eyes widened.

"Everett. You did not just-" I give him a disbelief look.

"I made an immature decision." He said. "Not one, but two. Of all the people.. you must be thinking why her? I was mad at you and she approached me in school the next day and you walked into the school pretending we were fine."

"And I was hoping you would feel jealous. I get what I want, Em. That's how I was raised."

"I'm not a thing." I told Everett.

"I know. I was foolish." He sighed.

"It's not fair to London."

"I made it clear we were not dating." He said. "She wanted popularity and I wanted to make you jealous."

"Sounds like you two made quite a deal, there."