Finally, it's Friday. The school week has gone by a lot faster than I assumed it would, thanks to my friends and Aurora. The day I went to her house was great. Holy fuck, she is a goddess in a tiny human body. Her cooking skills are beyond what anyone could hope for, she's got a great voice, and she's into sports and cars. She's every man's dream woman!
She slipped on an ice cube in the kitchen and I caught her before she could hit the ground. Actually having my arms wrapped around her I realized she's really not that tiny, just short. She's toned like she works out. Tomorrow she and her friend are coming to my house to go "muddin'" as she calls it. Maybe we should add swimming in the lake to our imaginary itinerary for tomorrow.
"Get up Aiden, you're going to be late," I tell myself and force myself out of bed, ready to get Friday over with.
I remember that I'll see Aurora first period and I'm no longer dreading it. I hurry to get ready and hop into my Audi R8. When I get to school I park next to Aurora's Ferrari and I see that she's sitting inside it, looking down at her phone.
As I'm about to get out she stops scrolling on her phone, rolls her eyes and presses it to her ear. All of a sudden anger fills her face and I can tell she's forcing herself not to yell into her phone. What the fuck has her so upset? Soon she calms down and her expression turns into a confident, almost challenging one. She hangs up and tosses her phone into the passenger seat. I watch as she checks herself in the mirror before putting on a smile and getting out. I get out and catch up to her.
"Hey," she smiles up at me.
"Don't give me that fake smile. Who was that on the phone?" I demand an answer, not sure why I'm being so hostile about the situation.
"Well good morning to you too," She smirks and keeps walking.
"Aurora, who was it?"
"Tanner," she shrugs and I stop walking.
Once she realizes I've stopped walking, she turns on her white converse shoe and looks up at me.
"What?" She asks.
"Why is your ex calling you? I thought he was put away," I start to feel my blood boil.
"Yeah, put in the hospital. I never said he was put in jail."
"So he hit you and other than an ass kicking he wasn't punished?" I pull her between some cars to not make a scene.
She looks down and starts playing with her fingers and it's like she's refusing to look at me.
"Remember when I had dinner at your place and I told you that teenage girls come up with awful rumors?" She keeps looking at the ground.
"What did they say about you? Look at me," I tell her.
She hesitates for a second but she looks up at me, biting her lip but avoiding eye contact. She almost looks like she wants to cry.
"The most popular group of girls in the high school I went to came up with a rumor that um," she clears her throat and a single tear falls from her eye. "They said that I'm actually the one that murdered my mom. That I made up the man in the mask to cover my own ass," another tear falls and she looks down at her feet again.
Shit. I didn't want her to cry. Fuck. I don't know what to say. She wipes her eyes and looks back up at me.
"Anyway, he didn't get locked up because of my past. That rumor was enough to convince the police that I was unstable at the time and decided that he wasn't at fault. He used it against me," she straightens her posture and shrugs.
"I hate that guy even more now," I grumble and she lets out a light giggle.
"It's okay. I hate him too," she smiles.
"What did he want?"
"Pretty much if he can't have me, nobody can. He makes threats but I don't think he'll follow through with them. He's a pussy to the core," she smirks.
"Are you in danger?" I ask her, worried.
"I don't think so. He doesn't scare me. I'm not fragile, Aiden. I can defend myself," she lightly punches my arm and turns around to walk to the building.
"But you don't have to. You don't have to defend yourself anymore," I follow her into the school.
She turns around in the hallway and stops me by putting her hand on my chest.
"How about we compromise? If I need your help, I'll let you know. I'm like ninety percent sure he won't do anything. Deal?" She proposes.
"Do I have another option?" I counter.
"Nope."
"Alright then."
"Let's get to class," she turns around and leads the way.
School flies by today and when the final bell rings, Aurora, Carter and I practically sprint into the hallway.
"Hey guys, wanna come with me?" Aurora turns to us and asks.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"Taylor's plane lands in just over an hour and I'm picking her up."
"Oh fuck yeah, I'm down," Carter peps up.
"Cool. I'm gonna go home first. Y'all follow me there and I'll drive us to the airport," she takes out her keys and sprints to her car.
When we all pull up in her driveway, we hop into her compact SUV and start the drive towards the airport.
"I'm so excited I can't even sit still," Aurora moves around in her seat once she pulls onto the highway.
"How long have you two been friends?" I ask her.
"Eleven years. We've been through thick and thin. Everything you could think of. She and her family were there for me and my dad after my mom was gone. She was there for me in the nastiest times of high school and so on. She's basically my sister," Aurora smiles.
"Wow. I've been best friends with Carter for seven years and I'm already fucking tired of him," I chuckle.
"Hey man, fuck you. If anything I should be tired of your ass," Carter flips me off and Aurora laughs.
The drive is about an hour long but with the company of Aurora and Carter, it feels like thirty minutes. We pull into a private airport and wait for the plane to land.
"I'll get in the backseat so she can sit up here with you," I unbuckle my seatbelt but Aurora stops me.
"No she's going to sit in the back. As much as I'd like to say she misses me, I have a feeling her attention will be focused on him," Aurora points her thumb over her shoulder towards Carter.
"Why do you say that?" I ask.
"She called dibs on him," she smirks.
"Awesome! Sorry Aurora. I know you're just dying to have a piece of this goodness but obviously your friend got the jump on you," Carter says, jokingly.
"I'm sure I'll live. You were headed to the friend zone anyway," she shoots back at him with a challenging smirk tugging at her lips.
"Damn, that's a burn. That's a bad burn," I laugh at Carter.
"I'm a little hurt by that," Carter fakes offense before returning his expression back to normal. "Have you called dibs on anyone, Aurora?" He asks her.
"I don't call dibs. It's not my thing. Of course I have my interests, but if I were going to call dibs who would I tell? Unless one of the guys turned out to be gay, there would be no point in calling dibs," she shrugs.
"So you do like someone," he points his finger at her.
"Like I said, I've got my interests," she bites her lips and looks at me for a split second and turns her attention back to Carter.
"Well I'm relieved to hear it isn't me. I mean don't get me wrong, you're definitely hot as hell but not for me," Carter sits back in his seat, crossing his arms.
"You think I'm hot? That's weird and flattering at the same time," Aurora giggles.
"I'm not blind, Aurora," Carter smirks.
Aurora turns in her seat to look at me as the plane lands.
"Do you think I'm hot?" She asks me.
My heartbeat spikes out of fear but somehow my voice comes out smooth as water.
"I'm not blind either. But there are several other words that better fit you than that one," I look her in her piercing blue eyes.
I see the lightest shade of pink appear on her cheeks and I feel proud of myself.
"Yeah? What are they? The better words, I mean," she raises her eyebrows at me.
"Gorgeous, incredible, sexy, so on," I smirk on the outside but my heart is pounding like fucking crazy.
She looks at me, her eyes piercing my soul and then she bites her lip, sending my heart into overdrive.
"Hmm, good," she looks at me for a brief second more and gets out of the car to greet Taylor.
"What the fuck did that mean?" I freak out as soon as the door closes.
"I think that means you're staying out of the friend zone, dude," Carter puts his hand on my shoulder.
"You think so?"
"Dude that sounded like an invitation to me. An invitation to what exactly, I don't know. Something tells me you're good, bro," he chuckles and steps out of the car.
I shake my head and step out, walking over to Aurora. We watch the plane door come down and Aurora grips my arm with excitement. Once Taylor is off the plane, Aurora sprints to her like she hasn't seen her in an eternity. Aurora grabs Taylor's suitcase and starts walking towards us. Once they reach us, we do introductions and I take the suitcase from Aurora and put it in the trunk for her.
We all hop in the car with Carter and Taylor in the backseat.
"Y'all behave back there," Aurora smiles.
"No promises," Taylor says and makes Carter laugh.
Aurora pulls the car out of the airport and back on to the highway. The drive is interesting to say the least. Taylor is paying no attention to neither Aurora nor me. She and Carter are whispering to each other, constant giggles filling the car. I decide to turn my attention Aurora, hoping we won't be awkward after our little connection earlier.
"So there's a man-made lake on the property behind my house. I thought we could all go swimming in it after riding around in the mud tomorrow," I look at the side of her flawless face.
"Sounds awesome. I love swimming, and mud. That's the perfect combination," she smiles at me.
"Great. And you don't have to bring your own ATV. We have more than I count at the house so you can use one."
"Awesome. I'm excited! I love getting dirty. That didn't sound right," she giggles.
"I know what you mean," I chuckle and shake my head.
By the time we get to Aurora's it's pitch black outside and everyone is tired. We pile into her house and plop on the couch once we get into the living room.
"Let me guess, you decorated," Taylor says to Aurora.
"Of course I did. You know Dad can't decorate for shit," Aurora giggles.
"Thanks, Honey," Aurora's Dad turns a light on, startling all of us for a moment.
"Well it's true," Taylor smiles and hugs him.
"Hey Taylor. How are you?" He hugs her back, tightly.
"Alright. School isn't the same without my other half but I'm surviving," she smiles back at him.
"I know. We miss you too. I just wanted to see you before I went to bed. Now that I have, I'm going to sleep. Gentlemen, you may stay the night if you'd like, just keep your hands to yourselves," Mr. Lane waves to us and disappears to his bedroom.
Aurora leads us all to the media room and puts on a film. Aurora and I sit on one couch while Carter and Taylor sit on the other, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know what is going on under their blanket.
"So is Carter expecting to get laid?" Aurora scoots closer to me.
I chuckle at her question and look over at her, her face is so close to mine and it's so tempting to lean in, but I refrain myself.
"Probably. To be honest we really haven't discussed it. But I've been his friend long enough to know that he has to have sex with a girl to pursue a relationship with her. Not only that but the sex has to be good," I answer her question, looking away so I'm not tempted to kiss her.
"I wouldn't either. Good sex is important in a relationship. I don't think he'll be let down. Taylor isn't necessarily a whore, but she likes to have fun. And by the looks of the past couple of hours, I guarantee they'll get it done by the time she has to leave on Sunday."
"How can you be so sure?"
"She's been my best friend forever so I know her. She's a lot more bold and open to that kind of intimacy than I am. She's always on me about morals and shit but I ignore it," she rolls her eyes with a smile on her lips.
I don't say anything, because what is there to say? Halfway through the movie, both Taylor and Carter are passed out. I look over to Aurora and it looks like she's fighting sleep. She's laying across the couch with her legs over my lap, a blanket covering her.
"Fall asleep already," she groans, but smiles.
"What do you need me to go to sleep for?" I chuckle.
"Because I want to go to sleep but not before you. I'm trying to be a good host," she starts to sit up but I stop her.
"We're past that. Go to sleep," I chuckle and watch her lay back down.
"Fine. Goodnight," she closes her eyes.
I know it's creepy but I can't help but watch her sleep. She doesn't snore or make any noises, and she hardly moves at all. Finally I feel my eyes get drowsy and I let myself fall asleep.