The Psycho Is Innocent | ꪜ

Chapter 10: The Confrontation

Present

         "IS THAT LARSON'S truck?" Adele exclaimed as she tailed Ariel around the house. Ariel halted in her footsteps, her eyes growing wide. "Please, by all means, let the whole world know, Adele." She spat in annoyance. Adele leaned against the wall. "Are you two back together?" Ariel zipped on her boots and remained silent in hopes that Adele would just drop the conversation. However, she continued to persist. "Since when did you guys get back together!?"

"Jesus, we're not! Drop it, okay? We're just going out for ice cream, nothing more." Adele rolled her eyes, unconvinced that it was the truth. "What? You don't believe me?" Ariel asked as she fished her house keys off the rack. Adele shook her head no, "you were sulking around the house for weeks when you guys broke up and you expect me to believe that you guys are just friends and you're going out for ice cream? I'm fifteen, not five."

Adele wrapped her arms around her chest and puckered up her lips. Already expecting her sister to be a nuisance, Ariel was one step ahead, blatantly ignoring the smooching sounds emitting from Adele's mouth. "Hey, kid, shut your mouth, you hear me? I know you're gonna tell mom because you talk like there's no tomorrow." Ariel slid a ten-dollar bill into Adele's hand, knowing for a fact that by the time she got back home she'd get an ear full from Janet, the one person who despised Larson the most for breaking her daughter's heart.

"Ten more," Adele smirked as she outstretched a hand towards Ariel. "Hell no," she spat, pivoting on her heels to leave. By the time she got to the door, Adele was already headed up the stairs, a mischievous smirk on her lips, "mom Ariel is going out with Lar–" within the second that the words tumbled from her lips, Ariel made it from the door to the stairs, her palm enclosed around her sister's mouth, knocking the sentence back down her throat. She leaned into Adele's ears, "you win. You're literally the devil," she shoved an extra ten-dollar bill into her sister's pocket.

           When Ariel's grip loosened from Adele's mouth, she laughed, "I may be the devil, but I'm your reincarnation." Ariel threw her middle finger up in the air and disappeared down the foyer out of Adele's view. She left the house quickly and stepped out into the freezing weather. Her eyes caught sight of Larson sat in his black truck, fingers moving swiftly against his phone screen, eyes concentrated downwards, unaware of her presence. She tumbled down the slippery stairs and towards his truck.

Ariel knocked against the tinted windows, startling Larson. He tore his attention away from the phone and quickly unlocked the door, allowing her to slip in. "Hey," she ripped off her scarf and buckled herself in, flashing Larson a lop-sided smile. To say this interaction was awkward was an understatement. Neither one of them wanted to admit out loud how ridiculously stomach-churning this entire situation was but they both had their own agendas and comfort came second in both their eyes. "Your sister is still something special I see," he commented as he gazed out the window.

          Ariel followed his gaze towards her house, only to see Adele's face smushed against the glass panes, eyes wide, curtains barely concealing her. At the sight of them both staring, Adele retreated. "She is," Ariel replied with a slight chuckle. She waved Adele goodbye who re-emerged after a few seconds. Ariel flipped her off once again, missing the chance to indulge in Adele's astonished expression as the truck pulled out of the driveway and down the street.

The car ride was excessively slow and excruciating. However that didn't stop Ariel from staring, her mind racing with one burning question she had been meaning to ask him the very same day everything went downhill. Sensing her burning gaze upon his skin, Larson tore his attention away from the road for a split second, his eyes catching sight of Ariel's penetrating orbs, "did I do something?" He chuckled nervously. Ariel didn't budge despite being caught staring. Instead, she cut right to the chase, too impatient to wait any longer, "why did you break up with me?"