Never Gonna Dance Again

Chapter 2: Arabella Anderson

Kiran's POV

That night I layed on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I heard a quiet knock on the door and I jumped up. I quickly glanced at the mirror and smoothed out my shirt. Why was I nervous? I hate all girls and one girl won't change anything. I quickly walked over to the door and opened it.

  "Hi," I said shyly.

Ara smiled, "Was this time good, you didn't say what time to come." I noticed her cheeks had reddened.

"All good." I said. My hands were shaking and clenched them into fists. I felt them get a bit moist, like they were sweating.

  "You okay?" Ara asked, she looked concerned.

    I looked out the window, lost in thought.

   "Hello?"

   "Oh, uh, sorry. Yeah, I'm fine."

I liked how her brown eyes sparkled when I looked into them. I stepped away from the door.

  "Come in..." I smiled and motioned for her to enter. She walked inside, studying my room carefully.

   "A reader?" She asked when her eyes landed on my bookshelf filled with books.

    "Well, I do like to pick up a book every now and then," I said.

    "And by every now and then you mean...?" Ara asked.

   "All the time," I said, flashing her a shy smile, and placing my hand at the back on my neck.

    "Funny. I would have thought you were the sporty type. But, seeing as you have all those papers strewn across your desk, I'd say you were a pretty good student," she said, looking impressed.

     "Well, I do do pretty well in school, but I do play football," I said.

    "Oh." There was a knock on the door, and we whipped our heads around.

    "Come in, it's unlocked," I said, almost sure it was Jamie or Alden Harvey.

     Sure enough, Jamie and a boy with caramel-coloured hair, green eyes and freckles entered.

     "Hey," I said, suddenly interested in my shoes.

     "Hey. Who's this?" Alden asked.

     "I'm Ara."

     "Oh. The new girl."

     "Yeah." Ara turned her head, giving me a questioning look.

     "Oh, um, that's Jamie and that's Alden," I said.

     "I don't believe what I'm seeing!" Alden said, all of a sudden.

     "What?" Ara and I asked.

    "Kiran Leroy. Caught talking to a girl."

    Ara looked at me. "So you weren't lying to me. About having girls following you around."

    "Are you kidding?! I hate that so much!" I said.

     There was a long moment of silence. And finally Ara spoke up.

"So? You made me come here so you can get to know me."

I nodded slowly not wanting to say anything else. Luckily for me Jamie stepped in and said, "Yah. That was my fault. I asked him to get to know you. And I really didn't expect him to actually do it..." his voice tailed off leaving the whole room in silence. Finally Ara got the courage to speak up.

"Uh...so...okay," she started, "Since I want to get to know you guys as well, please, talk to me." and that was all that was needed to start the other guys up. My damn friends, always fall for girls. I invited everyone to sit down, and as I listened to the conversation all around me,

    "What do you do?" Jamie asked. "You know, like, as a hobby."

     "I like to draw. What about you?"Ara replied.

     I wasn't quite sure of which one of us she was talking to, so I spoke up, "Well, I'm sure you figured this out, but, I like to read."

     "And I like to talk. That's why I'm always here," Jamie said. I went to swat him, but he ducked.

     "I love sports," Alden said.

     "Hmm. It's strange how you're all friends. You seem so different, but you're all such good friends," Ara said.

     I laughed.

    "How did you guys meet?"

    I thought for a moment. I opened my mouth to speak, but Alden was quicker.

    "First day of kindergarten. Kiran wanted a cookie from Holden Jamar, but he wouldn't give it to him, so I gave him mine. Then Jamie came by and sat with us. I believe he said, 'I grant you permission to be my friend.' And ever since that day, we've been friends. We made a pact to stay together wherever we went."

     We all laughed.

     "What about you?" Alden asked. "Did you have any good friends back at your old school?"

     She thought for a moment, before answering. "Not really. There was this one girl. Elise Brair. She was my friend up until the seventh grade. Then she turned on me, and made everyone hate me. Ever since then, I've been kinda a loner," Ara said.

     "Oh. I'm sorry," I said. "Hey, if you want, you can hang out with us."

Ara smiled and looked up glancing at my friends and I.

  "Are you sure? You don't mind?" She asked.

  "Of course not," I replied.  But I bet all the other girl will be really jealous, I added in my head.

  I grinned. "Do you play any sports?" I asked quickly.

     "I like soccer." Ara replied. "I'm not on a team or anything like that." She added.

I smiled, I used to play soccer but quickly grew out of my liking for it and switched to football.

There was a moment of silence before Ara pointed to my bookshelf.

     "Did you like the Throne of Glass?" She asked as she stared at the book sat there on the shelf.

  I looked at the book. "Oh. Actually, that's one book I haven't read yet." I confessed.

"Oh," Ara said, "It's really good, you should read it soon."

     "Ok. I'll try to finish it this week," I said.

    "Hey! You two! We're still her, you know," Jamie said. I glared at him.

    "Yeah, yeah, I know," I said, pausing while checking my watch. "It's getting late. You guys should go."

    "But it's a Friday!" Alden complained.

    "I know, Al, but I'm tired, and this is my dorm. If you want to talk, go to one of your own dorms," I said stubbornly.

    "Ok. My dorm is 315, just in case," Ara said.

    She stood up and checked her phone.

   "But I agree, it is pretty late. We can meet up by the Sweet Shop at 10:00." Ara suggested.

   "Sure," I said, "see you guys tomorrow." I ushered them out the door and closed it after them. First of all I just needed something nice to wear.