Now // A.I

𝓣 𝔀 𝓸

It couldn't be him. What was the possibility that a worldwide famous band member was my childhood best friend and what was the possibility that he moved to the house in front of mine?
Chloe didn't know about my best friend when I was young, I never felt like telling that story and if I tell her now I know she'll never believe me. Yeah, the drummer of your favorite band was my best friend you know? Or at least I think it is... His name was also Ashton Irwin but it could be two different persons and this is just a huge coincidence.

My mom was almost arriving from work and only she can understand what's really happening.

I stopped, looking at the man sitting in his porch and frankly, he looked so much like my Ashton. Golden messy hair, bright honey eyes, and soft skin, but how could I be so sure of anything?

Chloe already had gone home when my mom entered the house looking radiant, smiling and very happy with her life like she always is.

-Did you see, Aria?

-What? -I asked hugging my mom like I always do when she arrives home.

-Your friend, Ashton, is back! He's moving here again! -She smiled and it was like a knife had hit me, heart. It was him, it was really him.

I went upstairs while my mom's words echoed in my brain. Why is he here now? Why after all this time?

He's so different but nothing has changed at the same time. He has still his golden hair but it's a little darker now and a little messier. His eyes still look the same honey eyes I used to look at everyday but now they aren't so pure anymore. His taller now, he used to be almost my height even though he was older than me but I bet he's way taller than me now.

My mom called me downstairs and I went running. My father was in a business trip and when he is in one, he isn't home for two or three weeks, the usual.

-Can you go to the supermarket and brink me this things? -she handed me a big list.

-Why do you need so many things? It's just the two of us!

-Nothing. I'm doing something. -she was vague with her words.

I went upstairs just to pick some jean shorts and tucked my t-shirt inside just I was a little more presentable to get out of my house.
I enter my car and made my way to the closest supermarket. It was pretty empty and only some cars were in the parking lot.

I saw some of my neighbors there and one of my mom's best friends talked to me while doing her shopping. I was looking for one of the things that my mom asked me to pick up when I saw a familiar face. It was him, looking at the corridor of rice, confused and picking each package at a time.
I wasn't ready for it. I wasn't ready for talking to him. After years of being his best friend I can't talk to him since it was ages ago.
I said goodbye to the lady I was talking to and ran towards the opposite direction but it was too late.
A hand lands on my shoulder and suddenly my blood was all in my cheeks.

-Hm... Hi, I know this is strange but I saw that you have... Rice on your shopping car and I'm having trouble picking one cause they're so many. Can you indicate me one? -His face was also red which made me think he was full of shame of his own words.

-Sure. The olive-green package it's the best rice and also the cheapest. -I said and turned around before he could recognize me.

I picked up the last thing on the list and made my way back to home.
My mom is going to be so mad since I took so long just to buy a few things. I also bought some things for me like ice cream and cookies. I'm always eating it and I don't know how I'm not fat because of it.

When I arrived I placed the shopping bag on the table calling my mom downstairs so she could do whatever she wanted to do in the first place.

I went up to my room staying there for the rest of the day, catching the last minutes of sunlight from there. Watching as the sky fades from lavender, pink and orange to the dark blue of the night. I smoked my last cigarette of the package before my mom called to dinner.
I wasn't the one to smoke everyday one package a day but I like the sensation of having one sometimes. It doesn't hurt smoking two or three a week, just causes damage to my lungs but I know that my heart and my liver are much worse than my lungs due to so many heartbreaks. I only had two in my life but one of them still haunts me and now it's like he's following me since he moved again to the house in front of mine. We were just kids but it broke my heart watching him go away that way.

I took of my shorts and my t-shirt and replaced them with my sleeping t-shirt and short sweat shorts before eating dinner alone.
When my father isn't around my mom never eats with me... She barely eats at all and I think I know why. For years now my mom is stressing about something but a she never tells me why but the other day I heard my parents have this fight and I Immediately knew what it was all about. My mom suspects that my father is cheating on her. She is right, though. He almost isn't home anymore and when he's around, he leaves in the morning and cames back around 1am, sometimes a little drunk but he always denials it explaining he was working until then and the sleepiness is making him seem like that.

I smelled something that I haven't smelled in years bringing me those memories when the little boy was eating breakfast with us. My mom always made that orange pie we both loved. We ate the whole thing alone leaving nothing for my parents. This pie smelled the exact same

I made some pasta just for myself and before eating it I picked up the plate going to the table on the yard. Sometimes I like to eat outside in the night. Watching nothing going on but catching some fresh air. The cold night breeze was my best friend while having dinner. I watch the quiet street turning off their lights and getting ready to sleep but this tame it was different.
The house in front of mine wasn't quite as it used to be, it had lights on everywhere and this faint melody drived around through my ears. I smoked my last cigarette of the day, reminding me that today I smoked more than usual, before entering my house again.

-Aria, can you take the pie that I made to Ashton? I want him to feel welcome but I'm already in my pijamas and you know the pie is better when it's warm!

-Mom, don't make me do it. I'm already in my pijamas too! -I screamed so she could hear me from the front door.

-Go on, take your time there. Take the opportunity and catch up with him. I bet you two have so much to say to each other! You were best friends!

-When I was five, mom! What could I possibly know now? If you don't know, people change, in fifteen years, everything changes. We're not kids anymore and he doesn't know who am I, mom. I'm not catching up with him. -I riposte and my mom just screams again making me go.

I picked the pie and made my way to the house in front of mine. A half a minute walk seemed like hours long. My heart beats fast and my throat dried up. What's wrong with me?