F***in' Arizona

All That Glitters Is Shit (Chapter 39)

Where was Ari?

I opened my eyes and sleepily looked around the room for him, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Ari?" I say out into the open room.

No answer.

"Arizona? You in the bathroom or kitchen?"

No answer.

I rolled out of the comfort of the bed in search for him so I could question why he left me. I walked inside of the kitchen, but he wasn't there, the living room was empty as well. The bathroom was the only place left which was connected to the dimly lit living room. The door was slightly ajar and the light on. I could hear heavy sighing and what sounded like a few things falling over and hitting the rugged tiled floor.

I walked closer and nervously opened the door.

"Ari?"

Startled, he looked up from where he sat on the edge of the white bathtub, wringing his hands and appearing like he hadn't gotten much sleep. How long had he been awake?

"Ari, how long have you been awake? Are you ok? What's going on?"

"Uh, I've been awake for a couple hours."
The dark brown puffy bags under his hazels made that evident.

"Couple hours? Why? Were you waiting for me to wake up so we could go back into the house together?"

"Not exactly. I was waiting for you to wake up though."

"Ok, you're being awfully vague. You wanna try being straight up with me on what's going on?"

I stood in the doorway with my arms and legs crossed as I leaned against the frame. Whatever it was that he needed to say, it wasn't about his father. Whatever this is that is bothering him, is really bothering him.

"Um...remember how I said last night that something happened?" He mentioned nervously.

"Yes."

"Nova, what I'm about to tell you...I...I didn't mean for it to happen. No, I ABSOLUTELY didn't want it to happen. I was just so distracted and pissed off and angry and sad and feeling completely alone and unwanted—"

"Ari! What is going on?" I pleaded, cutting him off and getting increasingly anxious.

He sighed, "I went to the park like I said I was. While I was there, you wouldn't believe who was in the park as well."

"Who?"

"Charlie."

"CHARLIE?! CHARLIE FUCKIN' OBERMAN?! Are you shitting me right now? That's a joke, right? Is he stalking you?! Wait, did you walk up to him or did he walk up to you?"

"He walked up to me. I was really fucking angry and just started yelling. I guess he was somewhere in the park and heard me. He claimed that he came to see what the noise was and saw me. His family has a house up this way too because my parents put his onto a house not that far from here. He said he had some things on his mind, so he went for a walk. But the odds that my ex would be in the park at the same time is just crazy."

"Right! That's really crazy. Did you tell him to gtfo?"

"I wanted to, believe me I did, but curiosity got the better of me. Curiosity and the need for closure."

"Understandable."

"But Nova, we got to talking and I was asking him questions about why he cheated on me and it was pissing me off, and we talked about me coming out to my family, and the way he reacted was kinda selfish and it was making me even more mad, so I stood up to leave, but he stopped me and—"