After school I called my mum to ask if I could go to the coffee bean, "sure Rome but let's not forget curfew is 8:30" she said " I know mom and Melrose 3B is the bus I have to catch, right?" "okay, bye mom." As soon as I got off the phone Aria snatched my phone from my hands and started to type in her phone number so we could talk, " Melrose 3B right? That's my bus too, guess you won't be getting rid of me that fast" she said smiling " good" I replied as she handed me back my phone. We all walked to the back of the campus where our school's coffee shop was and as soon as we set foot in the building we heard, "Aria Griffith, came her to see me?" Aria rolled her eyes and kept on walking like she didn't hear anything. I being the suspicious person I was, I turned around for her and said "yes?" Aria yanked my arm and said "Hope, trust me, you really don't want to do that" Kenzington shook her head in agreement "who even is that guy Aria?" I asked intently and before Aria could even say a word "I am here boyfriend, Kai" he replied. My heart sank and if I could I would have curled up into a tiny little ball on the floor "I am not your girlfriend, Kai" she snapped back at him and they both started to fight until Aria told the others she wanted to leave while holding my hand and pulling me. "so what's the story behind him" I asked her "it's a long one" she said in a frustrated tone "well it's a long walk back across campus and to the bus stop, also don't forget we catch the same bus" I smartly replied. She sighed and began to speak " well, that was my ex-boyfriend, Kai, we broke up last year and hes still stuck in the past, that's the shortest way I can put it" she explained "see that wasn't a long story, now was it?" I mocked her.
At the bus stop we all were talking about what happened at the Coffee Bean until Aria pulled me aside. We sat on a bench away from the others and she turned to me with her head held down and grabbed my hand. "I'm not the usually the one to ask this but I think something about you is different from the other boys I've met ." she said "And i wanted to know if you'd be interested in being with me", she then started to ramble on about how I didn't need to decide then or if I wasn't interested it was okay. I lifted her head up, covered her mouth and with a smile said "of course i'd like to be with you" she smiled back and hugged me. We decided to tell the others right away and they were all pretty happy but I realized a look of disgust on Jaheim's face, anyone would've told Aria but that was her best friend and I couldn't be the one responsible for them fighting so I kept quiet.
The others' buses came about half an hour before ours and most of the time Aria and I used to take pictures together. Our bus ride was about fifteen minutes and when it came to "23 Tree Avenue" we both said bye and hugged but we stood at the same time to get off the bus. Confused expressions came across our faces as we slowly got off. "Well doesn't this day just keep getting better and better?" I said "so you live down this road too Hope?, cool" she said as she grabbed my hand again to hold it. She lived a few houses down from me so I walked her home first and then back to mine. As soon as I layed on my bed I got two messages one from Aria reading a simple "hi this is Aria" and one from an anonymous person that said " careful with Aria she was mine first and she's going to be mine last, so watch your back."
