Every love has a story. How you first met. Who said the first word.
Even mine does.
Seven o'clock is not the time anyone will think of falling in love. But as our worlds collided, we did just that. In a moment...
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CHAPTER 14
Time moved so fast, and each minute passed along because they were meant to. The summer festival arrived. They set up the stage, switched on the rides, and people started coming. The day that Ariel and Stephen had been so excited about weeks before junior year was through finally came around. And despite what had happened between Ariel and Athan, we were all coming together as a group, just like the original plan.
To say that it wasn't that bad—that everything flowed along smoothly after Ariel knew about my soon-to-be stepsister, Laurine, and Athan's relationship—would be an even lie. Things got rough, and the road we went through was edgy. There had never been a moment of complete peace. Everyone could feel the tension going around.
And the first time Athan realized Ariel's feelings for him was the Monday after Ariel had found out. Ariel tore up when Athan attempted to talk to her. He was only asking for the usual mechanical pencil that he always left at home. The secret that we religiously kept before had made its way out in a matter of instance. Athan, who was surprised at first, wasn't too dim to put two and two together. Ariel liked him and she also knew about Laurine.
When we were all together during lunch, Athan admitted, very much clearing up the misunderstandings and speculations, that he and Laurine were really going out. I also felt that Athan wanted to apologize to Ariel, but he didn't know what to say. I didn't think there was anything he could have said that would make things better.
It took her a while before Ariel could get back to her old self. I knew she was starting to feel okay when she was back to scolding our classmates, who were fond of teasing the girls in the field. It was better seeing her like that.
But even when she started acting like the same old Ariel, things didn't get better between her and Athan. The two of them rarely made any eye contact if they could help it, nor did they speak to each other at all.
"Here's your ticket." I handed Athan the yellow piece of paper. Ariel was technically the one who got them from the booth, but it was understandable why I had to be the one to hand Athan his ticket.
"Thanks," Athan replied with a smile, putting the ticket in his pocket.
"No problem," I replied.
"I want to try those sparklers they have over there," Stephen said, catching our attention.
"Where?" Ariel asked, looking around. When she saw it, she continued, "Are you sure that's safe?"
"Looks safe enough to me. Come on, let's try it," Stephen urged us.
"We haven't tried the roller coaster yet! The tickets are for them," Ariel protested, placing both of her hands on her hips. With an impatient sigh, she stood on her toes higher and looked around the place. "And where are those two, anyway?"
Brooks and Jane went missing roughly half an hour by now. The two of them had their own world whenever we went out in a group. They usually came back carrying things they had bought together, giggling and engaging in conversations that only they knew about.
