We ended up going to a small park that wasn't very busy, even on a cool Friday afternoon. Aiden wore his sunglasses and got approached once by a group of three teenage boys, but other than that, no one bothered him. At first, I had tried giving Aiden some options of where we could go that weren't in public, but he really wanted to go to this park. Especially after I told him it was a great place for fishing and watching ducks.
As the sun set, we sat on a bench in the far corner of the park's lake, looking out across the sparkling water. The ducks swam across the water lazily and with not a care in the world.
"I wish I was a duck," I blurted out.
Aiden laughed. "Really? Out of all the animals?"
"They get the best of everything! They can fly, but they also sit on the water and swim... Such peaceful lives," I said, wistfully resting my head on my arm.
"I suppose so," said Aiden.
We sat in silence. I knew what the silence meant.
I let the sun sink lower and lower into the earth, finally disappearing beyond the lake's edge, leaving rippling dark water behind before I spoke up.
"You have to leave soon, right?"
Aiden's eyes got sad. I hated when his eyes got sad.
"I do," he responded. I could almost tangibly feel the misery behind his voice.
One of his bodyguards, who was standing thirty feet away, started walking towards us.
"It's time, Aiden," said the bodyguard.
"We're wrapping it up, Mike," said Aiden. His bodyguard nodded and gave us some space.
Aiden sighed. "I hope to see you sooner than our last time."
"I sure hope so!" I said, biting my bottom lip. My eyes were getting a bit stingy.
Aiden noticed. As he always did.
The next moment, he was wrapping his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. I immediately hugged him back, but that was when I lost control over my tears and let them flow freely. Curse hugs! They always made me cry.
As though reading my thoughts, Aiden said, "Don't feel bad for crying."
"You don't know me," I repeated his words teasingly.
"Idiot," he said softly.
I could hear the smile in his voice.
---River's POV---
I didn't see Holly much on Friday, since she was out with her brother and I had a long practice. I was hoping to see her Saturday, but she had the morning shift at the bakery, and I again had a long day of practicing.
To say I was exhausted by late Saturday afternoon was an understatement. My legs felt shaky and unstable to use, and my shoulder was still bothering me from the rough hit during the game last weekend. My feet dragged as I climbed the three flights of stairs to our apartment.
As I entered, I saw Holly sitting at the dining table, her glasses on, her hair in its signature ponytail. She wore a pale blue hoodie with a daisy on the front and sweatpants. Her eyes moved to mine as I shut the door behind me.
"You look comfy," I said with jealousy.
She smiled a bit. "Come join me! I'm doing homework."
"I will in a bit."
When I showered and changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants and came back out, Holly was still in the same position.
She glanced at me. "You took a quick shower this time."
"I have homework to do," I said with a small grin. It was most of the reason.
I sat across from her, taking out my laptop and some books and folders from my backpack and getting ready to settle into a few hours of homework. I was a bit behind since practice had been so long yesterday and today.
We sat in silence for a while. Holly had brought some muffins that she'd baked at work, so we ate those while we each worked on our own assignments. I had a couple of papers that I needed to write and some text to study. Once in a while, I would glance over at Holly. She drew on her tablet in pretty swoops, sometimes so focused that she would bite her cheek as she concentrated.
We finally took a break at 7 p.m. for dinner. I cooked a chicken alfredo pasta from ingredients that Holly had bought after work today, and we ate at the table, our school stuff pushed to the side.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" asked Holly suddenly.
"Depends on the question," I respond, putting down my fork.
She looked down at her plate. "Why aren't you hanging out with your teammates? Aren't they your friends?"
"I..." I didn't know how to respond. I blankly stared at her, thinking. She looked back at me, and I ran a hand through my hair. "A lot of people on campus think I like my teammates. Maybe during freshman year, they were okay, but now... they do a lot of things that I don't like."
"Like what?" asked Holly.
"They party and drink a lot. And their focus tends to be on girls. All those things don't really appeal to me."
"Sorry for asking the question. It's just that... well, I've heard rumors that you did those things, too. So when I see you staying home a lot, I wonder if those were untrue."
"Most of the rumors about me aren't true," I told her. "The girlfriend one is false, too."
Holly blushed slightly. "I believe you. If you had a girlfriend, you and I would both be dead somewhere right now."
We both laughed at that.
"I'm comfortable here, anyway," I said with a small shrug, not meeting Holly in the eyes. "I'd rather work on homework here than have to deal with others."
"I like that we've come to this stage. And I'm glad that you clarified those things," said Holly.
"People like making rumors," I said in a lower voice.
"Oh, I know."
Holly fell quiet. We went back to eating.
"Can I ask you a question then?" I said.
"Sure," she said.
"Why don't you want people to know about Aiden?" I asked. "Everyone would be nicer to you."
Holly smiled, but I could see a shadow of sadness behind it.
"I already had that life in high school," said Holly. "Everyone knew Aiden was my brother, and I was very popular, but only as 'Aiden's sister.' Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be his sister... but when people only wanted to use me to get closer to Aiden, it got old. I wasn't my own person anymore."
I let her take a breath and watched as she gazed out the window into the darkening sky.
Holly continued, "Yes, everyone was nicer to me. But it was only surface level. They always wanted something. Sometimes it was an autograph or a photo, but other times, they'd become friends with me just to be invited over to our house. Then they'd ditch me to be with Aiden. And still others were rude behind my back, calling me names and saying I was undeserving of such a cool brother."
She had that sad smile again. "I was tired of not being my own person. Aiden could handle the fame, but it wasn't for me. I used to think I was conceited for thinking this way, but then I realized that it was okay to want the normalcy of a regular life. So, for college, I went far away and didn't tell a soul who I was. My picture with Aiden isn't on the internet unless you look really hard. And here, no one is suspicious of me enough to search.
"Sure, there are some downsides. I get picked on a little and I'm not seen as 'cool,' but I don't mind. They're little compared to what I used to go through. I like that no one here looks at me only as a way to get to Aiden."
I shook my head. "I had no idea..."
"Not even Alice and James know, so... please don't tell anyone else."
"I won't. You can trust me."
Holly's eyes crinkled in her smile. She was so pretty.
"Thank you. And don't start being nicer to me just because my brother is famous."
"Darn, you caught me: I wanted to ask for an autograph..." I said.
We shared a laugh. I realized that I hadn't laughed recently, but I loved it. Especially with her.
"I want to start being nicer to you because I should," I said. "I was being a jerk in the beginning because I was scared to have a stranger as a roommate. I'm sorry for being a jerk. There was a lot I didn't know about you, and I should've been nicer."
"You're forgiven," said Holly with a gentle smile.
It made the room warmer somehow.