Chapter 7 | The Unveiling

"Because some secrets are best kept hidden."

-Mallory Millington

• • •

Some things have a way of making you smile. Whilst most of the people would be overjoyed by the announcement of new season of their favorite television show or trying out the new restaurant uptown or even when they buy the new book of the series they adore or something of the kind, some people are different.

Whatever may be the thing that transports you to your happy place, but one thing is certain, for most people exercising would never top the list, that is, unless you are a fitness fanatic. Apparently, exercising leads to release of endorphins from the pituitary glands of the brain. These endorphins are "feel-good" chemicals which induce feelings of euphoria and pleasure. In relatively simple words, it's a natural substitute for the drug Ecstasy or so scientists argue.

Lying on the couch with sweat rolling down her face, Mallory could vehemently debate the aforementioned fact. With her heavy pants, she was exhausted from all the physical activity. She couldn't help but feel that whoever said that endorphins were natural pain killers should be hanged till death.

"You know, some day I will die from all these nasty activities you force me to do!" Mallory squalled at her brother while he searched for the can opener in the kitchen.

"Nasty activities?" he scoffed. "All you did was run for a few minutes!"

"A few minutes?" Her eyes widened feigning horror. "We left at 6:03 and it's practically 7:08!" She shoved the cellphone screen in her brother's face as he gave her the can of some energy drink.

"You jogged for ten minutes. And after that it was just me dragging you while you practically dragged your feet!" He said complaining. "And besides it's not like I enjoy doing this to you."

"Oh, don't give me that shit! You enjoy it. You enjoy each minute of my torture," she said snatching away the gray can.

"Okay, sometimes I do. But I am just a human!" Jake tried to hide his sly smile. Mallory thought that it was almost schoolboy-ish that his twenty four years old brother still enjoyed annoying her. "But it's for your own good!" he added.

"Oh, really? My good?" She pouted again. "Jacob Millington, I will tell you what's good for me!" She gulped down some of the drink.

Jake quirked his eyebrow.

"Food, food is good for me. Lots and lots of food. And sleep is good for me," she argued. "Running and exercising are bad. B-A-D. Bad for me."

"And that peeping tummy is definitely very good." Jacob retorted with an eye roll.

"Look at the guy, making me body-shame myself!" She crowed in mock-horror.

"Health and body-shaming are two different things! And be-"

He was cut off when the doorbell rang.

"Go open the door Jake." Mallory commanded.

"It's your turn, Smelly-Melly!"

Mallory scrunched her nose at the familiar nickname and said, "No it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"It's not."

"It is."

"It's not."

At that moment, her phone buzzed. It was Ben.

"Hello ex-best friend." Mallory said.

"Oh come on, Mel. You still can't be pissed off over the party. Open the door, please?"

"Wait, I am sending Jake."

"But Jake's not going," her brother mocked her tone.

"Oh, I will make him," she narrowed her eyes.

"I would love to see you try." Jake challenged.

"I guess I would just go back with these pizzas and other things I have," Ben announced smugly.

That was all Mallory needed to hear. She disconnected the call and briskly walked over to the front door. Within moments she had unlocked the door and was pulling her best friend inside the house.

"Come in, soul mate. Where were you my entire life?" she inquired with a wink, "Here, let me take them from you. You seem like you cannot carry so much of wait yourself."

"If I were you, I would stay away from those," Jake said as he thrust a couple of water bottles in his gym bag.

"But thankfully you are not me," Mallory shrugged as she popped open the pizza box.

"Mallory, they are..umm...mushroom pizzas," Ben stuttered as if afraid to face his best friend's wrath.

"Mushroom...wha-at? Jake put you up to this, didn't he? You? No...he...no...you both..." She trailed off whilst her pointed finger switched back and forth between two boys who looked rather amused by the turn of events.

"Is there any humanity left in this world? Why would you do that to me? She demanded​. "You know I am allergic to mushrooms!"

"Jake said that I am not supposed to bring you any home made pizzas." Ben replied, gesturing to her brother like he was the traitor.

"You liar...you cheat...you are a disgrace to this family's name! How can you do this to me? How can you snatch away the only thing I live for? Oh, food! I mean, oh, god! What did I do to deserve this?" She ranted dramatically.

Her reaction had the two boys laughing furiously. She crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the two boys who couldn't contain their laughter.

Finally some five minutes later, Jake said, "Look, Melly. All you do is eat, sit around and watch Netflix. Look at that little tummy. It won't be long till becomes full-fledged pot-belly!" Though he knew that he was exaggerating, it was necessary for his little sister. "And anyway, who even eats pizza for breakfast?"

"I do, okay?" She retorted. "Also, before you leave I would like to give you a little warning, big brother. You wake me up at the crack of dawn, I may forgive you. You make me run laps, okay, acceptable. But you mess with my food? That was your biggest mistake. Huge! Right now, from this moment I declare a war!" She grinned evilly.

"Melly, please stop watching melodramatic movies," he said slapping his palm to his forehead in annoyance.

"Oh, by the way, I grabbed this on the way here," he flashed a small plastic container.

"Flavor?"

"Butterscotch!" Ben beamed.

"Oh, how much I love you Benjamin Jones! Marry me. Would ya?" She hugged him pretending to wipe off tears.

"In your dreams? Maybe." Ben winked. "So does that mean I am forgiven?"

Mallory nodded vigorously as she scooped a spoonful of ice-cream in her mouth. She moaned at the creamy taste in her mouth as she thrust in another spoonful of it.

"So does that mean, I can go to the party too?" Ben asked, hopeful.

"Don't push it." Mallory replied and he slumped back, dejected.

• • •

Andrew groaned as sunlight flooded his room from the open window. He must have forgotten to close the blinds the previous day. He slid deeper into the covers trying to shield his eyes with the back of his hand. But soon after, the alarm on his cellphone went off. He covered his ears with the pillow, ignoring the alarm which went silent after blaring for about half a minute.

Five minutes later, another alarm went off, then another. A couple of minutes after his fourth alarm he finally decided to oblige and dismissed the upcoming ones. With a groan he stretched and then rubbed his eyes. With a dull throbbing in his head, he resentfully towed himself off the bed.

Whilst he splashed water on his face, the events of previous night abounded in his mind, his thoughts occupied by a single name; Mallory. But there was something different this time. The thought which seemed so compelling at the dead of night, seemed incredulous in the broad day light.

Could Mallory Millington be that girl? He wondered while he continued his daily routine of brushing and bathing. Was it possible that the girl had actually survived all the atrocities and remained psychologically unaffected? Pandemonium ensued inside his head as he tried to make out head and tail of his thoughts.

Although the girl came across as no one extraordinary, he had heard rumors, rumors that she was believed to be dead. A few years ago she had abruptly vanished from the town only to return back with transformed looks. Furthermore, no one seemed to know what had actually happened to her led Andrew to dismissed it as some baseless rumor until then.

Finally, there was one most important thing; the question that was eating him up, gnawing at his insides, the thing he couldn't figure out was if she was indeed that girl, how could she be so normal. She should have showed at least some sort of post trauma symptoms, but as far as he knew Mallory Millington was quite normal.

He shrugged the chaos off his mind. Whatever was the issue, one thing was certain the girl was definitely not everything that she seemed. He had to peal the layers off her well constructed persona to find out what lay beneath.

After all, behind her happy exterior and conspicuous smiles, the new girl was hiding something dark and dangerous.

And he would find it out.

But how? How can he possibly talk to her without a reason? He wondered walking back into his room. And as if at cue his eyes fell on the blue fabric which was rolled up on the chair. She had left her clothes at his place.

He fished out a bag and stuffed her clothes inside it. Picking it up along with his car  keys, he whispered to himself, "So let's unveil your secrets, Mallory Millington."

• • •

"Why are you taking this away from me?" Luke whispered slipping in the chair behind Mallory.

It was Algebra class and when the teacher turned around to write on the board, Luke had slipped out of his seat to sit in the empty chair near her. She groaned as he poked at her back with his finger.

"What do you want?" Mallory hissed, leaning back in her chair.

"Permission," he began, "I need permission to take Ben to the party."

Ben placed his palm on his forehead and shook his head in an elaborate gesture of face-palm.

"You don't need my permission," she replied nonchalantly. "Who am I? His mother?"

"Luke, can we do it after class?" Ben suggested pointing at their teacher who was repeatedly turning around to glare at the trio.

"Shut up!" Luke chided.

"No seriously, Luke. I will talk to you after class," Mallory affirmed.

"Talk to me now!" He demanded like a fussy child and when he didn't get a reply he began shaking her shoulder.

"Luke, don't mess with me. I am warning you," she said in a hostile tone.

"Dude, if I were you, I would listen to her," Ben told Luke.

"What would she do? Tell on me?" Luke laughed, casually dismissing him.

"Mr. Vega, Ms. Millington and Mr. Jones, what is it that is more important than this class?"

"I warned you!" Ben muttered under his breath as both of them saw Mallory standing up.

"Mam, actually, Luke, here was inviting us to this college party. Ideally, I like parties. But this one has all sort of bad things including alcohol and drugs. So, obviously we turned him down and now he is bothering Ben and I, trying to convince us to join him," Mallory suppressed her smug smile by feigning an innocent expression.

"Mr. Vega, detention for you for next two days," Mrs. Grey announced.

"But mam, I have basketball practice sessions both today and tomorrow," Luke argued.

"You should have thought it before you began talking in my class," she said in a dismissive tone.

Mallory and Ben sniggered while Luke fumed.

"I am never talking to you guys ever again," He folded his arms across his chest and looked away.

"Thank you, mam," Mallory said doing a victory dance, mentally.

"Don't thank me too fast, Ms. Millington," Mrs. Grey replied. "You and Mr. Jones would be serving detention too. You disturbed the class, nonetheless."

"But that is so unfair," Ben said rising up from his seat.

"Do you want me to make it a week?" She raised her eyebrow.

"No mam. What you gave us couldn't be more fair!" Ben and Mallory slumped back in there seats, while Mrs. Grey smiled.

"Jerk." Mallory muttered as Luke sniggered behind them.

• • •

"So does that mean I can go?" Ben said before biting into the sandwich, during lunch break.

"You won't drink too much. You won't drive after drinking and you won't even touch the drugs!" Mallory said. "And if you overlook any of these I am going straight to your father."

"Alright, mom," Ben rolled his eyes.

Ever since childhood, Mallory had been playing the father card. It was almost like he had the nagging presence of an annoying sister. And Simon Jones, who adored Mallory, hated Ben. So one mistake, and he would lose the opportunity to choose the car he would get for his birthday.

"So, now since everyone is happy, I can be at peace. See you around best friends," Luke said laughing at his own joke.

"He is a nice kid, he has a weird sense of humor, but he is nice." Mallory remarked with a grin.

"Yeah, I know." Ben muttered.

"Hello!" Sarah said pulling a chair next to Mallory.

"Oh, hello, who might be this pretty girl," Ben said winking at her.

"And here comes the raging testosterone charged jerk!" Mallory muttered under her breath.

"Ben, this is Sarah. Sarah, Ben." Mallory introduced the two, scrunching her nose at her drooling best friend.

"Hey! I think I have seen you somewhere," Ben replied pretending to think, "Ah, of course. I believe you came into my dream last night."

Mallory coughed at his cheesiness.

"Oh wow, that's a coincidence!" Sarah remarked.

Ben beamed.

"Now, that I think about it I saw you yesterday in my dream, only it was more of a -- how should I put this gentle -- nightmare?" She winked.

"Ouch!" Mallory spoke out loud giving her companion a high five, "Way to go, Sarah."

"Oh, well I try," Sarah laughed with a mock bow.

"See, Ben, that's what happens when you use world's sleaziest pick-up line," she remarked.

"Since, I am sufficiently embarrassed, I'll just pick up the remaining pieces of my dignity and leave," Ben said dramatically getting up and then added, "And you," he pointed at Mallory, "I'll deal with you later."

"Oh, I am so scared," She flailed her arms in faux scared expression.

"He is so ad --" Sarah began but was interrupted by someone.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Andrew said standing next to Mallory.

"What is it?" The brunette asked curiously.

"In private..."

"What's the problem here?" Mallory demanded.

"Fine..." He groaned. "Just meet me before going home."

"Who are you? The principal?" Mallory scoffed.

He scowled in response, "Just come to the parking lot for a couple of minutes, after last period."

"What was that about?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

Mallory shrugged, her eyes to his receding back as he was walking towards the door of the cafeteria, "Like I have any idea."

• • •

"Would you be quick? I have a detention!" Andrew saw Mallory walking briskly towards him.

"What did you do?" Andrew said as he reached for the bag which was lying on the his car's backseat.

"Not your business."

"Fair enough," Andrew remarked whilst he drew out clothes from the bag, "You left them at my house that day."

"Thank you," Mallory replied, "By the way, I would return yours tomorrow."

"Don't bother, I don't wear them anyway."

"Oh-okay, I guess..."

Andrew saw her rolling the clothes in her hand. She thrusted them in her backpack and was about to leave, when Andrew called out, "Hey, Mallory, I was wondering...Have we ever met before?"

"Oh yeah, I am the girl of your dreams," Mallory retorted with a smug smile.

For a minute, he froze; only to realize that she was joking. He almost smiled at the irony of situation. She was indeed the girl of his dreams, in a very non platonic way though.

"No seriously. Have I seen you before?"

"Andrew, is this a lame attempt to flirt? Because if you a--"

"Have you ever changed your hair color?" He decided not to beat around the bush and cut right to the chase.

Her smile faltered immediately, "N-No...Why?"

"Look Mallory," he began. "Meet me here at six, we need to talk." He slipped her a piece of paper.

Mallory took it a little timidly, "And what makes you think I would come?"

Andrew smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Because if you are, who I think you are, you would need my help more than you can imagine."

• • •

VOTE ! Just one little tap!

Heyooo people,

So what do you think about this chapter? What's your take on exercising? And yes, Mallory isn't flat bellied, why? Because I wanted her to be an average girl. And most of us, do eat without paying attention to the calories.

It was a small filler sort of chapter and not a lot happened, but what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Do comment!

-Ridhima☺