Bullet From A Gun

09: Drop All Your Worries

09: Drop All Your Worries

"I'm going out tonight," AJ says confidently to Sonny.

He turns and looks up from his morning paper. It's all a part of his routine. He would get up at around eight (unless he was hung-over), shower, run his "errands," come home, eat breakfast and then read the paper. And now, that's exactly what he is doing, reading the paper and drinking strong, black coffee without sugar.

"Excuse me?" he asks, looking at her.

"I'm going out tonight," she repeats clearly.

He raises his eyebrows and puts his newspaper down. Jim, his parole officer, sits up in his seat beside him. "With who?" Sonny asks.

AJ hesitates. She knew he was going to ask, so why didn't she think of a response before? Good thinking, dumbass. She clears her throat. "My boyfriend," she tells him cautiously.

He stares at her. "I told you that you couldn't see him anymore," he says sternly.

"I'm not seeing Zayn anymore," she lies quickly, not that he knows the difference. "I'm dating somebody else."

"Who?" he asks, sounding amused.

"His name is Jason," she tells him, thinking on her feet.

"Jason what?" he asks.

"Jason McCann," she tells him with a smile.

"Where he from?" he asks.

She smiles wider, knowing that he fell for her lie. "He lives on the other side of town. I go to school with him."

He nods slowly. "What time will you be back?"

"Would it be okay if I spend the night at Andy's?" she asks. "He wants me to meet his new girlfriend."

He sighs. "Alright," he says. He doesn't make any effort to fight with her. His behavior seems strange to AJ, but she brushes it off. Maybe he is changing.

"Thanks," she tells him with a smile. She walks back to her room and takes a deep breath. He didn't question her or threaten her. It was a first. Maybe he just got like that because of Zayn. Suddenly remembering him, she checks the time to see that she has about three hours before Zayn is set to pick her up. She grabs a set of clean clothes and trots off to the bathroom to take a shower.

An hour later she is finished with her shower and her makeup, keeping it natural; she didn't need much makeup to begin with. AJ stares at her reflection in the steamy mirror. "Ugh, my hair," she mutters to herself, running her fingers through her damp hair. She grabs her bottle of gel and mouse, and plugs in the hair drier. She messes mouse and gel into her hair and then dries it, letting it fall into loose curls.

She puts her things away and then makes her way back to her room. She goes over to her closet and takes out the dress that she picked out last night. It's simple. A strapless, black dress that came to her mid-thigh with a braided, tan belt to define her small waist. It has been forever since she's dressed up for anything. It's surprising she even owns a dress.

She lays the dress on her bed and then returns to find some sort of footwear to match. After digging through her closet for ten minutes, she decides on tan sandals. "Perfect," she says, looking at her outfit. She quickly changes, trying her best not to mess up her hair, then putting on a long gold necklace, with a feather at the end and a few bracelets on her right wrist.

After packing a small overnight bag, she grabs her purse, a dark blue jean jacket, and slips her sandals on. "I look pretty good," she tells her reflection with a smirk. She grabs her phone and then makes her way out of her room, shutting the door behind her. AJ says a quick goodbye and heads out the door, walking to her brother's apartment to drop her things off.