All the Broken Pieces

0.2

ARIA

As soon as i hop into the car, Amber screeches from the back seat, "THE NEW KID'S NAME IS PHOENIX FREAKING THOMPSON! WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT! But it is kinda adorable, i have to admit."

I laugh so hard that i start to snort, and Archer and Amber join in laughing. " I don't even know why I'm laughing so hard, your attempt at a joke was so lame", I say to Amber.

"Hey! That is a very mean thing to say to your best friend!", Amber yells from the backseat while making a fake pouty face.

"Are you forgeting someone? Because I'm pretty sure I was her best friend first. I'm just going to simply put that out there for consideration.", Archer mumbles sarcastically from the driver's seat.

"I would never forget my Archer! I'm so sorry, Archie.", I say with a big, goofy grin.

He turns to me and just rolls his eyes and laughs. "Please, for goodness sake, don't call me Archie! You know i hate that.", he says.

"Ok, I'll try not to but I can't promise you anything.", I say.

We ride to school in silence for the rest of the way. I start to shake from nervousness. The last time I was here was a complete blur. It feels like it was so long ago, when it was really just a few months ago. Everyone will probably stare and whisper about me the entire day. This day is going to end terribly, I just know it. As soon as Archer parks, i rush into the school and i can feel everyone's eyes on me. I hate attention being drawn to me. I rush to my only true safe haven, the library. I find my way to my favorite chair in the back of the library and just collapse onto it. I close my eyes and attempt to steady my breathing, but I continue to breathe heavily. I can't calm myself down, so I grab a book and begin to read. As I do, my breathing goes back to normal. I close the book slowly and put it back in its spot. I hear heavy footsteps and attempt to hide, but I'm too slow.

"You know I can see you right?", the voice calls.

I slowly turn around and I'm faced by a very handsome boy with sharp features. His eyes are the most fascinating part of his face. They shine like green emeralds and they mesmerized me. His hair was jet black and was ruffled in places, but I hate to admit that he was really, really hot. I then realized he was staring at me and waiting for an answer.

"Um, yeah, I know that.", I stutter. Wow, I'm such an idiot. I can't think straight because he keeps staring at me and i can't tear my eyes away no matter how hard I try.

"Well, um, I'm Phoenix Thompson, the new kid. And you are?", he says expectantly.

Holy shit. My jaw drops and I stare wide eyed. This is THE Phoenix Thompson, and i have to admit, Amber was right. He is smoking hot.

"Is there something wrong?", he says, completely clueless as to why I'm so shocked.

"Oh, um, no, no, nothing's wrong. But my name's Aria Taylor.", I stutter. God, I'm so stupid.

"O-kay then, Aria, why are you all the way back here by yourself?", he says as he starts to move towards me slowly. I try to say something, but it's like I've forgotten how to speak. He's moved so far towards me that I move back and hit a bookshelf. I wince from the sudden impact and he's so close to me that I can feel the heat radiating from his body. I'm completely frozen in my spot. He looks at me with his gleaming, green eyes, and starts to lean in. I have a bad feeling that he's trying to kiss me, so I run. I run out the door and to the bathroom. I lock myself in the last stall and slide to the floor. My breathing begins to slow when I hear the bathroom door open.

"She's such an attention whore! I can't believe she actually came back to school. She's an idiot.", Joanna says.

"I know! She just likes the attention. She just wants to be pitied so she can attempt to be popular. Yeah, that will NEVER happen.", Alison says to Joanna. They both start to laugh at their own little jokes and begin to walk back out. I start to cry. Not just tiny sobs, but gut-wrenching sobs. I start to choke on air and everything begins to blur. I decide to go home. I run out of the bathroom and through the school till I reach the exit. I burst through the doors and start to run home, until I hear someone yelling my name.

"ARIA! ARIA!", Phoenix screams across the parking lot. I groan and begin to run again. I hear him running after me the entire way, yelling and screaming for me to stop. When i reach the house, I fumble around in my bag for the keys. I finally find them and try to unlock the door, but I drop them. Just my luck. I reach for them, but someone grabs my shoulders and turns me towards them. It's Phoenix. He's breathing heavily and his face is red and glistening from sweat. I look down but he lifts my chin up and looks me straight in the eyes. He somehow figures out that I've been crying and wipes my stray tears away.

"Why did you run away from me?!", he exclaims.

"I-I don't know.", I mumble.

"Did you think I was trying to kiss you?", he says more calmly.

"Um, maybe a little bit." I say. How did he know that?

"I wasn't trying to kiss you. There was a leaf stuck in your hair. I'm sorry if I upset you. I really am.", he mumbles slowly, more like he's talking to himself rather than me.

"I know. I just freaked out. I overreacted, I'm sorry", I tell him. I look down again but he lifts my chin up to look at me again.

"No. You shouldn't be sorry. Can we talk about this inside?", he says expectantly. I internally groan. Should I let him in?

"Um, yeah, sure why not.", I say. I mentally slap myself. Why did I do that? Why did I say yes?

"Good.", he says as he picks up my keys and unlocks the door for me. He strides right in and I watch him. Has the supposed bad boy gone soft? I don't even know what to think as I walk in and shut the door. This is going to be interesting, I think to myself as I walk through the house. I find him in the kitchen, staring off at something in the distance. He looks up at me and a smile stretches acroos his face.

"I like your house. It's cute. But I need to be honest about something.", he says looking at the ground.

"Thanks. But what is it? Is it bad? Did I do something?", I ramble on as he continues to look down at the ground. He then lifts his head up and our eyes lock.

"Aria, I- I think I, um, I think I like you.", he says slowly as if I might explode if he talks any louder. I stare, completely shocked. We've only known each other for a few hours and he thinks he likes me, is this some kind of sick joke?

"If you're wondering if this is a joke, it's not. I'm dead serious.", he states confidently. I stay silent and he moves closer to me.

"I know we haven't even know each other that long, but I know what I feel. I think you know too.", he says as he gets closer to me and lifts my chin up, yet again. He looks me straight in the eyes and says, "I think you like me too. Do you?"

"Uh, I-I-, yeah, I think I like you too.", I mumble. I keep waiting forn him to laugh and say "Gotcha!", but he doesn't. He leans in and this time I don't pull away. He kisses me gently, as if he kissed me any harder he might break me. What is wrong with me? This is all happening so unnaturally fast and I have no clue as to how to slow things down. But I let him continue kissing me until he pulls away with a smirk on his face.

"Well then, that was unexpected. But I'll talk to you later. Bye Aria.", he says as he strides out of the door and out of the house. What the hell just happened?! I groan and mentally slap myself as I head upstairs to my room. Today was so strange that I begin to think I was dreaming the entire time, but I know it was real. Phoenix freaking Thompson kissed me, me of all people. I laugh and remind myself to tell Amber about this tommorrow.