Free Fall - Finchwell FF

chapter one

"Look, Bails, I'm 27. I am a successful first class cricketer. I get to make my own choices. I am not attending a birthday party." I reason.

"Come on, she's my girlfriend Glenn. You're my best mate. You've got to come. We don't have any games any time soon; besides, I think Aaron will be there. " George teases.

"I will think about it." I respond, giving up. I'm an adult. I have a car. Whenever I want to leave, I can leave.

I turn back to my computer, and continue aimlessly moving the cursor around the page.

"We are leaving in two minutes. You do not have time to think about it Glenn." George bugs. I roll my eyes, and nod my head.

"I'll come, on one condition. No party games."

"No party games." George agrees. I turn off my computer, and George and I leave the apartment. The door locks behind us, and we make our way to the car.

"Did you buy her a present Bails?" I ask him. He doesn't say anything

"You didn't buy her a present did you?" I say. "You idiot." I chuckle.

As soon as we arrive at the party, I know I shouldn't have come. I can hear the music from the car. 

"George. This party is a bit too crazy. Let's just –"

"None of that." George interrupts. I give up, and step out of the car. I knock on the door and Katie; George's girlfriend, answers the door. I smile at her, and she lets us through. The house is just as I remember it. The walls are white, and all the bench tops are marble. The house is massive. The first floor alone could house a whole cricket audience. I smile as I see a small group of kids run past me, recognising a few of them as the children of my friends.

'Glenn!' I hear a familiar voice from behind me, and my brain melts. My whole body melts.

'Uh, h-hi Aaron' I splutter. He raises an eyebrow, but brushes off my odd behaviour.

'What are you doing here?' Aaron asks me. I forget to answer for a second, doing my best not to visibly shake.

'Uh, I came with Bails. He said you might be here.' I say awkwardly

'Well I guess I am?' Aaron says. I laugh and he smiles.

'So why are you here?' I ask

'Well, Amy is friends with Katie so I didn't have much choice.' He laughs. My smile fades at the mention of his girlfriend's name, but he doesn't seem to notice.

'Anyway... I guess I should say hi to some people.' He tells me, breaking the awkward silence.

'Okay!' I say but I know it sounds very forced. He turns away, and my heart sinks. I'm so awkward, I think. I blew it. I audibly groan, and a little girl in front of me, no older than 5 looks up at me.

'What's wrong?' She asks me. I shake my head, and she pokes my arm.

'Okay, okay, I think I blew it with someone I really like. He's really sweet and kind, and I'm so awkward. He has a girlfriend, he would never like me.' I vent

'So you like a boy? Me too!' She says. I nod and she smiles.

'Is it that one?' She asks, pointing over my shoulder, and I turn around. Aaron is standing a few metres behind me, and I can tell he is shocked.

'I, I came back to tell you that uh, I don't, I don't remember.' He says awkwardly. I bury my face in my hands, my face going red.

'I'm sorry Aaron. I didn't know you were there, you weren't supposed to hear that' I mumble.

'Can we talk?' He asks, motioning to the room across the hall

'Um yeah sure.' I respond. He smiles, and we enter the room. There is a fire burning in the corner of the room, a big double bed, and an armchair next to the fire. Aaron moves over to the armchair, so I take a seat on the bed.

The fire is quiet, but is loud in the silence.

'Amy and I, we, we really love each other.' He tells me. I nod; I know where this is going.

'I can't do this. You know, we are really close, Amy and me, we, we.' He mumbles. I look up.

'It's okay, I understand man. It's ok I don't expect anything, you know that.' I tell him

'Yes, I know that. But it's not ok.' He tells me, standing up. He walks closer to me, and sits next to me on the bed.

'I know it's awkward, let's just for-' I start, but Aaron puts his mouth on mine, stopping me mid sentence. His body is warm, and he smells like cinnamon. I kiss him back, holding him as close to myself as I can. I forget to breathe. I forget to think.

I bite his lip, and I smile, while still kissing him, allowing my body to relax. He pulls away, his hair fluffing up in weird areas. I don't remember holding his head, but I can't remember much.

'Aaron?' Someone whimpers from the door. We turn, and see Amy standing in the doorway, tearing up. Aaron is speechless.

'I knew you were close with Glenn, heck, you talk about him all the time, but I didn't think it was... more than friends...' She cries. I smile a little when I hear he talks about me a lot, but it fades as soon as Aaron begins to talk.

'No Amy I'm so, so sorry, it's nothing like that. We just got caught up in the moment.' He turns and stares at me. 'I'm leaving.' He tells me. My face goes red and I nod. I stay sitting in the room for at least half an hour after he leaves. I don't know what to think. When I finally manage to stand up and leave the room, George is waiting for me outside.

'Aaron looked upset, what happened?' George asks me.

'Not now.' I tell George, and we leave the party. We don't speak on the way home. As soon as the car pulls into the driveway, I rush to my room, and lie down, my face in my hands.

'Do you want to talk about it?' George asks me. I nod my head and sit up, telling him about the afternoon. He nods, occasionally making comments.

'It sounds like he really does like you.' George tells me.

'Then why would he say that? Why would he just leave? Why wouldn't he stand up for me?' I question.

'Glenn, Aaron did the right thing. Breaking up with his girlfriend at a party would not have been good for him, his family, or his career. Trust me, you'll get a phone call from him tonight.' I nod, and as if on cue, my phone begins to ring.

'I better take this.' I say, leaving the room. George laughs and smiles at me.

'Aaron?' I answer the phone.

'Hi Glenn.' Aaron says, his voice guilt ridden.

'Um...' I say awkwardly, waiting for him to say something.

'Okay, I'm sorry about earlier everything was happening really fast and I guess I got caught up in the rush. Can we just forget about it?' He asks me. My heart sinks.

'Um yeah sure! I completely agree.' I say a little too forcefully. He hangs up, and I go back to my room. George has left, and I'm glad. I lie down on my bed, my heart beating in every part of my body, my head spinning. I had so much to hold on to, and it had all just disappeared in seconds.

(written by Diana)