Princess

20

"Ari!" Clarissa said. "Why didn't you tell me about any of this?" She asked after I told her everything. "She told me not to and I didn't want her to hurt you." I mumbled. "Girl! I want you to look at these pythons! She ain't hurtin no one on my turf!" Clarissa sassed, showing me her stick arms while I laughed.

"I'm sorry for not telling you any of this." I sighed, pulling my pillow to my chest. "Don't worry Ari! Honestly, I probably wouldn't have told you if I were in your shoes." She admitted. I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic about how hurtful that was but decided against it.

"I just don't know what to so with Carson. He's mad at me because I didn't tell him what was going on with Monique and that I went to my cousin first." I explained, looking down at my freshly painted toes, curtesy of Clarissa.

"I think we should watch movies all night and then deal with him in a day or two." Clarissa suggested. "Alright..." I trailed off. Clarissa gave me a questioning look, but I shook it off and we popped "A Cinderella Story" into my DVD player and watched.

**************

I woke up the next morning and did my usual routine, this time with Clarissa by my side. We decided to take the bus that morning so that Eric could pick up Carson without any awkwardness.

After lunch, I went into my science class and waited for Mr. Davidson. We had a normal class, learning about stuff that I couldn't care less about. Like seriously! Why do I need to know all the parts of my cells? Ugh. Whatever.

Mr. Davidson assigned a project and our partners. We had to build a model of a cell on any way we wanted and include a written report including a bajillion things that he made us copy down. I was with this guy, Ethan Peterberg. He was smart, which was good. And he was cute, I won't lie, but he wasn't even close to Carson. I went over to him and we talked, exchanged numbers and decided he would come over after school so that we could work.

After school, he texted me saying he had to stop at home before coming to my place and that he would meet me there. When I got home, Eric was already home with Carson. He tried to talk to me when I got in but I just ignored him and went up to my room to do my other homework until Connor arrived. It was maybe 30 minutes before I heard knocking.

I went down the stairs to get the door but Carson beat me to it. "Can I help you?" He asked. "I'm here to see Ariel. We-" Ethan began before Carson walked towards the staircase, leaving Ethan standing in the doorway.

"Are you really that low Ari?" Carson asked, his eyes full of hurt. "What are you talking about he's only here for a project!" I protested. "Ya right, that's what they all say when they get caught cheating." Carson muttered before grabbing his sweater off of the railing and pushing past Ethan.

I stood there dumbfounded, with my jaw hitting the floor. Does he actually think that the day after we fought I would just go and pick up the next guy I laid eyes on?

Ethan hesitantly walked towards me and began apologizing. "Ariel I'm so so so so sorry that I made you two fight! I should've explained better and not let him lea-" "Ethan! It's not your fault! I'll talk to him later, let's just get started on this project." I interrupted, trying not to tear up.

We went up to my room and Ethan started telling me all of his ideas. I'm sure they were genius, I just wasn't really listening. "Ethan? I'm really sorry but I can't concentrate right now. Tomorrow in class we can talk about is and then go from there." I explained. "Don't worry about it. And if there's anything I can do to help you get him back Ari, let me know." He said sincerely.

I thanked him and let him out before calling Clarissa. "Ris you have 10 minutes to be here." I said into the phone when she picked up. I knew she would be able to tell by my tone what had happened. "I'll be there in 9." She laughed and hung up.

9 minutes and 3.6 seconds later, Clarissa's mom pulled into the driveway and she was up the porch steps. "You lied to me!" I pouted, showing her the stop watch on my phone. She laughed and we went up to my room.

"What the hell?" She asked after I explained what had happened. "I know right? He just instantly freaked out and assumed I was cheating on him!" I exclaimed.

"Tomorrow, find him and talk to him because I honestly have no idea what's up." Clarissa suggested after a moment. "Ugh, having a boyfriend is hard." I moaned. "Sometimes it is...but not when that boyfriend is Spencer!" She joked. "So how are you two?" I asked. And then Clarissa dove into the details of her love life while I sat there, envying my besties drama free relationship.