The rest of vacation was fun, we watched movies at the house, went out to the mall, movies, other things. It sucked. And it sucked because I started to realize that I kind of liked Lucas.
And I don't mean just liked Lucas. I mean liked him. I had a fucking crush on Lucas Hunter. And I didn't know what to do about it. So I did what any normal person would do when they had to deal with a crush on the little girl they babysits' older brother; I avoided him like the plague.
I went to class as late as possible so I didn't have to sit next to him. If he was home when I was watching Clara, either I'd make sure we were across the house or not in it at all. Mature, I know.
And it worked for almost a month. Until it didn't. The bastard cornered me. I had been watching Clara, who had just gone to bed. I was washing the dishes and apparently, Lucas had come home.
As I was scrubbing a pan, a pair of arms appeared on my sides. I froze as his breath fanned over my neck, "Why have you been avoiding me, princess?" His voice asked lowly.
I steeled myself, refusing to let him see any sign of weakness. I turned around in his grip and looked up a him feigning innocence, "I have no idea what you're talking about." I said.
He rolled his eyes, "Don't play dumb, princess, you're too smart for that. Are you telling me that it's just coincidence that you haven't sat next to me in any class, spoken to me unless necessary, or even been in the same room alone with me for the last month? Because I don't think it's a coincidence." He said.
I shrugged and pushed him away as I moved to clean up the rest of the kitchen, which was a mess (Clara wanted to bake a cake), "I don't know. I guess I just never really thought about it." I said.
He grabbed my arm gently and turned me around, looking concerned, "Is it something I said to you? Did I make you upset about something?" He asked, sounding conflicted.
I sighed, absolutely not about to tell him the truth, "It's nothing you did," except for being to attractive, "I guess I just never thought that I was avoiding you," except I was because you're actually a nice person behind your bad boy ways, "I promise I wasn't trying to avoid you." Except I totally was.
He seemed to buy it, shrugging and giving a curt nod. He turned and started walking away and I visibly relaxed and turned back to the sink, deciding to tackle the cake ingredient mess later. Just when I thought Lucas was gone, I felt something land on my head and white powder appeared from my peripheral vision. It was fucking flour.
I gasped in surprise and turned around, coming face-to-face with Lucas, who was sporting a shit-eating grin, "You did not just fucking do that." I said.
"Oh princess, but I totally did." He said, in between laughs.
As he was doubled over, I snatched the tube of decorating frosting and squeezed it on his head, smearing the sugary pink concoction all over his smooth and shiny raven locks.
he immediately stopped laughing and stood up ramrod straight, giving me the death glare as I smirked triumphantly, "What's the matter, Hunter?" I asked as I swung the frosting in my hand.
"No one touches my hair." He said lowly.
I shrugged and continued smirking, "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen." I said.
That was the moment and evil glint appeared in his eyes and a smirk formed on his face. Before I could react, he lunged at me and grabbed me by my waist. I shrieked in surprise as he threw me over his shoulder, "Lucas! Put me down!" I exclaimed.
"Oh I don't think so, princess." He said as he grabbed an egg and cracked it over my head, the gooey mixture of egg and flour falling into my face.
"Gross!" I exclaimed as I wiggled out of his hold and grabbed some flour of my own before throwing a handful at him, it sticking to his black V-neck.
Five minutes later the entire kitchen, floor, and ourselves were covered in ingredients ranging from flour to caramel sauce (Lucas was a cheat). I sat atop the counter, Lucas and I both laughing as we had called a truce.
Our laughter died down and Lucas stepped up to me, wedging his body in between my legs to look up at me. He looked me in the eyes as he reached up and wiped caramel sauce away from my eyes.
We were both quiet until someone clearing their throat snapped us back into reality. I turned around and Lucas leaned to the side to find Jason and Tessa standing in the doorway, both of them suppressing smiles, Tessa holding up her phone as if she had just taken a photo.
"What happened in here?" Tessa asked.
"Um, Clara wanted to bake a cake. So we did. And Lucas seemed to have other plans." I said with a sheepish smile, hopping off the counter and gesturing to my surroundings.
Tessa smiled widely, "Alright. Well, here's you money. And, you two, clean this mess up." She said, pointing to the kitchen before turning around and walking away, taking her husband with her.
I started cleaning the mess, Lucas joining me, both of us suppressing smiles. For the rest of the night, I couldn't help but replay the moment from earlier in my head. I'd thought Lucas was about to kiss me. He'd looked like he was about to kiss me.
I shook my head as I drove home, trying to shake the thought out of my head. There was no way Lucas wanted to kiss me. At least, not the way I wanted him to. The only possible reason he would want to kiss me was to try and sleep with me. And I didn't want that. I wanted more. Stop it, Ariel.
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Over the next week, I made it a point to talk to Lucas more, to try and show him that I wasn't avoiding him (even though I totally was). I let him sit next to me in class more often, and would let him hang out with Clara and I when I babysat.
Before I knew it, it was already almost February break and Junior year was half over. My crush on Lucas had not subsided, which I had hoped it would. Yay.
It was Friday night, one of the few Fridays I had off from watching Clara, and the others had declared it "Friend Friday", and dragged everyone out to Dave 'n' Busters. Even Lucas had grumpily agreed to come along.
We got dinner and then went into the arcade, wreaking havoc on everything. At least, the boys were. Maya and I were just going from game to game, trying not to be seen too close to the buffoons.
As Maya and I finished up at some Trivia game, she spoke up, "So what's up with you and Lucas?" She asked casually.
I looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, "What do you mean?" I fired back, trying to sound oblivious.
"Come on, Ariel. For the entirety of winter break, ever since you two had that secret gossip session on his porch, which you still haven't told me about by the way, you two were attached at the hip. Then, after break, you avoid him like the plague for an entire month, not sitting next to him, not talking to him, and then, all of a sudden, you're back to being best friends. What happened between you two?" She asked.
I sighed and looked around, making sure none of the guys were wandering over, "I don't really know. That night over break, we talked, and I felt a kind of connection that I haven't felt with anyone before. I trusted him 100 percent. I've never trusted anyone that much. And over the break, I realized I might kind of...like him," I said, and her eyes bulged out of her head.
However, she let me continue politely, "And I'm not an idiot. I know Lucas Hunter doesn't do relationships. So I tried avoiding him to see if the so-called 'crush' would go away, but it didn't. So I just kind of... decided to deal with it. It wasn't helping anyone by not talking to him. So I've just been kind of rolling with it." I said.
She was quiet as she processed what I had said, "Oh, honey." She said sympathetically, "You've got it bad." She said and I rolled my eyes, turning away.
I began to walk away but she grabbed my arm, looking around to make sure we were in the clear before speaking again, "If I'm being honest with you, Ariel, he treats you different from the way he treats other girls." She said.
I narrowed my eyes at her, "What the Hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked.
She sighed, "I'm not really sure its just...Lucas has always treated girls like they're beneath him. For the last two years, girls have worshipped at Lucas Hunter's feet, even freshman year. He never had to follow the rules because his parents pay the school so they won't expel him. He never had to care about a girls feelings because he was never the one that went after them; they came to him. He never had to be beneath anyone.
"And then you get here and...change him. He's actually going to classes, he hasn't slept with a girl in...weeks, and he listens to you." She said.
I scoffed, "What makes you say it's me?" I asked, dreading the possible answers that would follow the question, "Couldn't it just be the fact that he has new friends?" I suggested.
"Ariel, he didn't have new friends until after he met you."
Fuck she's right.
"I'm not saying that he likes you romantically, because I don't want to assume something that big. But I will say that he's changed for the better since he's met you. And he cares about you. More importantly he respects you. I've never seen him act like this before. And I'm not the only one whose noticed." She said.
I sighed. Well. Fuck. This didn't make things better.
I shook my head, "I don't know what that means, or what it might insinuate. All I know is that I can't ruin our friendship. I won't make things awkward for him, myself, you guys, and most importantly; Clara. That little girl is one of the sweetest, kindest and most pure kids I've ever met. And she loves it when Lucas and I do things with her together. I'm not going to jeopardize all of it to try and pursue a crush that's probably not going to last." I said.
She shrugged, "And I will support you, because you're my best friend and I love you." She said, giving me a hug.
I smiled, grateful for Maya. Grateful for my life at that point. Yeah, I had a crush on a guy that would never like me back, but we were friends, I had other friends, I had a job that I loved, and I was happy.
Too bad that couldn't last.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the day before February break when Maya came up to me, looking sad and terrified, "Have you heard the rumor going around?" She asked
"Um no, but there are a lot of rumors going around, this is high school. Which one are you talking about?" I asked her.
"Um, people are saying about something that happened to you in the seventh grade. They think you're making it up." She said.
My heart stopped, scared about what she was going to say next, "They're saying that you are telling people that Dylan Crowley raped you at a party in the seventh grade.
I froze, my heart trying to climb out of my throat as I processed what she had just said. I refused to show any emotion, keeping my face stoic. How had they known? Who told them? I had only ever told one person.
"Ariel, is it true what they're saying? Did that actually happen to you?" She asked, putting her hand on my arm.
"I only told one person about it." I said quietly, still processing everything.
"Who did you tell?" She asked.
"Lucas." I said, swallowing.
"Oh Ariel, you don't think..." She trailed off, not saying what she was thinking.
I forced myself to not let the hot tears fall just yet as I stormed to the cafeteria. Maya followed me, too scared to say anything. I walked in and zeroed in on my target. I marched over to the table where he saw me and smirked. Before he could say some smartass comment I slapped him across the face.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I spat at Dylan Crowley.
A/N: UH-OH SPAGHETTI-OH'S. Looks like someone's gonna get ittttttt.
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