Chapter 4: Is she really doing that?

A week later after my final exam, I’m walking down the halls with Aria. There’s some party tonight that some guy in her English class is throwing. She wants me to go with her, I think. Or she says it’s going to be lame. I don’t know. I stopped listening after she said “party”. Parties aren’t my thing. Even when I was younger, I never had birthday parties. She’s still going on about it. What’s with her obsession with parties all of the sudden?

 

“And I heard Jessica, from science, is going to-“

 

I cut her off.

 

“Have you seen Ethan anywhere? He’s leaving in two days and we’re supposed to get together and do something.”

 

I can feel the atmosphere change. She’s not happy that I cut her off. We’ve gone over this a million times. She rambles on about something that I don’t care about and I cut her off. It’s the same old thing. I know she want care in 5 minutes.

 

“Excuse me, I was kind of talking, Kendall. I don’t know where your stupid boyfriend is.”

 

“Are you serious, Aria? Name calling? Really? I don’t care about a party. What I care about is where my boyfriend is. He’s going away for a month and I want to spend as much time as possible with him before he leaves. You know that.”

 

“I’m glad he’s going. Maybe then you’ll give me a little attention for once. What’s gotten into you? The past few months, you’ve been blowing me off to see him. Did I do something to offend you? Am I not important enough for you? What is it? You don’t want to be my friend anymore? I’m sick of this s**t!”

 

I’m shocked to hear her talk to me like that. She’s never said anything like that before to me.

 

“What’s gotten into me? More like, what’s gotten into you!? All of the sudden you’re talking about parties and some girl named Jessica! Speaking of which, is this the same Jessica that tripped you on the first day of class because you wore a similar shirt and looked better in it? You hate her! Why are you talking about her?”

 

Everyone around us has slowed their pace to listen in on our fight. I don’t like the attention, but I’m too mad to care.

 

Aria lowers her voice and stops yelling. I can hear her voice shake when she talks.

 

“We are supposed to be best friends and you care more about a boy.”

 

Now, I’m about to cry. I grab her arm and pull her into an empty classroom.

 

“We are best friends. We have been since grade 2, Aria. Nothing is going to change that. Especially not a boy. You know how hard my life is right now. When my Dad died, everything was blown off course. I know it’s not fair to you, but you can’t give me the kind of attention Ethan gives me. I’m sorry about that. Also, you were so close with my Dad too. Your father was barely around and Dad treated you like his own daughter. I’ve just been afraid that you’ll blame me too. Like Mom and Nikki do.”

 

Suddenly, something about Aria changes. It’s like she totally forgot about everything that’s happened the past two years.

 

“Oh, Kendall! I’m so sorry!”

 

She pulls me in and hugs me tight. Now I know everything is fine between us. We walk out of the classroom and I spot Ethan down the hall. Wait, he’s not alone. There are a few guys around him that I don’t recognize, except for 2. Two faces I could never forget; Charlotte and Tyler. They’re plotting something. I knew it. Aria notices them too. I can sense her muscles tensing. She’s ready to throw down. Ethan is talking to someone next to Charlotte. It seems like she is trying to get his attention. Oh s**t! Tyler sees me. It’s too late to run away. He very subtly nudges Charlotte and before I know it, her arms are wrapped around Ethan’s neck. She’s kissing him. Ethan pushes her off and Aria takes off down the hall and starts yelling at her. Everyone else is frozen, including me. I’m 5 feet away. I can’t move. I can’t feel anything. I just stare at Ethan. He’s frozen too. He’s staring back at me. I can feel a tear roll down my cheek. He takes a step forward. I can’t believe him. I turn around and run away. Footsteps follow me. I don’t try to figure out who’s they are, I just keep running. I run out of the building and into the forest behind Hunter Darby High. There’s a bench somewhere around here. Where is it? I can’t find it. I can’t stand anymore. My legs give out on me and I hit the ground. The footsteps are still following me, but I don’t care anymore. A part of me hopes it’s Charlotte coming to beat the life out of me. Hoping she’ll leave me to die, staring at the sky through the breaks in the tree leaves. It’s not Charlotte. It’s Aria. I’m glad it’s not Ethan. She runs over and hugs me tight. I can’t see straight. I’m so dizzy. I can feel the tears streaming down my face. She’s whispering to me. Telling me to calm down. Saying Charlotte’s just trying to get to me and Ethan was just a prop used against his will. I can’t talk. I just cry.

 

We stay like this for 10 minutes. The crying isn’t as intense and I think I can talk now.

 

“Where is he?”

 

“I told him to go home. I said you’ll call him when you’re ready to talk to him.”

 

“Thank you. I’m sorry for yelling at you in the hall.”

 

“I already forgot about that. It’s okay. I was being selfish. Besides, this is more important right now.”

 

I nod and try to stand. I wobble and Aria helps me to my feet. She says we’re going to get ice cream and I can’t disagree. It’s our tradition to go get ice cream after something upsetting happens. After Dad died, it’s all we ate for three days.

 

5 minutes later, we’re sitting in our usual spot at our favourite 50s themed ice cream parlour. We both get a chocolate shake and rainbow coloured ice cream. It’s been 7 years and we still don’t what it’s supposed to taste like, but the joy is in the mystery.

 

“So, I have my place to myself tonight. If you want to spend the night, you can.”

 

“I would love that, right now. Thank you.”

 

“We can trash talk Charlotte if you want.”

 

I laugh. It’s forced, but it’s still a laugh. Nobody ever knows the difference anyway.

 

“How about we plan our friend-iversary instead?”

 

Every year, on July 1^st, we celebrate the day we became friends. We were at local firework display and our families sat next to each other. The next thing we knew, we were best friends.

 

“Sounds good to me.”

 

She smiles and chugs her shake. Ever since I left the school, my phone has been going off non-stop. I’m afraid to look at it. Not because I don’t want to see whatever Ethan has to say, but because I’m afraid of what Charlotte has to say.  After an attack, she always has something to say. I stir my straw nervously. What is she going to say this time and I’m scared. I’ve never been with Aria during a cyber-attack. She knows about them, but she’s never been around to see me react. I’ve always been alone or with Ethan. There was one time I was with Spencer. We were watching our favourite movie and I ran out of the room. He got worried and followed me. I was sitting on the floor in my room, clutching my phone, crying when he walked in.  He didn’t ask what was wrong. He probably assumed I was crying over Dad. I don’t know. Maybe he pieced it together. All I know is, he stayed there until I fell asleep. I don’t know how long he stayed. He wasn’t home when I got up and we’ve never talked about it. Maybe he stayed all night. Maybe he left right away. I’m not going to ask. I never want him to know what I’m going through. He has enough weight on his shoulders.

 

“Are you okay, Kendall?”

 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking.”

 

“Okay. Do you want to head over to my place now?”

 

“Yeah, sure. Let’s get out of here.”

 

****

 

“For our friend-iversary, do you want do our usual, Kendall?”

 

Usually for our friend-iversary, Aria and I pack a picnic and spend the whole day at a park that has a fire display later in the night. We both pack food for the other and surprise each other at the park. We always hate what the other packs, so we throw them out and buy hotdog at a stand in the park.

 

“I like what we usually do. It’s tradition.”

 

“I agree. Remember last year when I packed you a peanut butter and worm sandwich?  You screamed so loud the old lady next to us peed herself!”

 

“How could I forget that?’

 

We both burst out laughing. For the next 20 minutes we swap memories of past friend-iversaries. We laugh so hard, tears started leaking from our eyes. I stop when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket again. I immediately stop laughing and Aria notices that the smile dropped from my face.

 

“Kendall? What’s wrong?’

 

I pull my phone out of my pocket. I unlock it and see 15 texts from Ethan, 32 from Charlotte. I show Aria my phone and she turns ghost white.

 

“Don’t open them!”

 

Too late. I’m already scrolling through. Ethan just kept apologizing and begging me for forgiveness, saying it wasn’t his fault, etc. I know it’s not his fault, but this is something I don’t want to deal with right now. Charlotte, as expected, had nothing nice to say.

 

 I can feel the tears coming. They sting my eyes. Aria grabs my phone from my hand and reads the messages. She starts doing something I can’t see.

 

“She’s lying. Kendall, you know she’s lying. Ethan’s a good guy. He would never tell her anything. He definitely doesn’t want you dead. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I’ve seen the way he acts around you. He loves you and I know he would be beyond devastated if anything happened to you.  I forwarded the texts to him. You should be expecting a call from him. I know he’s better at comforting you and you should talk to him anyway and sort this out before it turns into something worse. Time might make somethings better, but it also makes a lot of things worse.”

 

She’s right. I hate it when she’s right. I hate how smart she is. Why does she have to be so smart?

 

“Damn it, Aria Buckley. Stop being right.”

 

Just as Aria begins to talk, my phone rings. It’s Ethan.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Kendall? Thank god! I thought you hated me! I’m so sorry. She kissed me. I tried to push her off sooner, but she’s like a leech. Please, don’t be mad at me! I love you so much, baby.”

 

I remain silent.

 

“What she said is all bullshit. Why would I want you to die? I love you more than anything. I didn’t tell her anything. I never even talked to her-“

 

“Then who were you talking to? Why were you over there with them?”

 

“I was talking to some guy named, Jimmy. Apparently he’s having a party tonight and was inviting us. Tyler and Charlotte came over when Jimmy said your name. I promise, I never said I word to either of them. After you ran away, the guys had to keep me from punching that dick in the face. They said they would take care of it for us the next time they see him.”

 

“Are you telling the truth?”

 

“Yes, baby! I would never lie to you. You are my world. Please forgive me!”

 

I stay silent. Neither of us says anything. I know it’s not his fault. He wouldn’t do anything like that. I’m still mad and really hurt, but guess I can’t be mad at him. He was just a prop. He was just a prop. Just a prop.  A prop.

 

“Okay, I forgive you. It wasn’t your fault.”

 

“Can I see you tonight?”

 

“One second, Ethan.”

 

I want to hang out with Ethan. He’ll be leaving before I know it and I’m going to miss him so much. The thing is. I’m with Aria and she’s already feeling neglected. Aha! I have an idea!

 

“Aria, you know how you’ve been crushing on Ethan’s friend, Nate? How would you feel if Ethan brought him over and we had a double date kind of thing?”

 

The look on her face says enough. It’s a go from her.

 

“Ethan, if you can bring Nate for Aria, you two can come here and spend the night. Her parents are out and we all know Nate and Aria have been making googly eyes at each other all year.”

 

“I’ll call him up. I’ll text you what he says. If he says ‘no’, I’ll drag him here. He’ll definitely say ‘yes’ though.”

 

We agree on a plan and say goodbye. A few minute later, Ethan texts me; Nate is down.

 

“Aria, I’ve got good new. Nate’s coming over with Ethan!”

 

“OH. MY. GOD! Really!? I can’t believe it. He’s so hot and so sweet!”

 

I sit and listen to Aria gush over her not-so-secret crush. Usually, I wouldn’t care, but there’s something different about this time. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t mind it. I just sit and giggle when she giggles. Out of nowhere, she gasps and run into her room to ‘spruce herself up’. I sit on her bed and shake my head.

 

****

 

Half an hour passes and the boys are finally here. I got tired of watching Aria get ready so I went into the living room and sent up three beds. One for me and Ethan, and two for Aria and Nate. I made it so their beds can be pushed together. I also made snacks and drinks. I didn’t know what kind of things we would get into tonight, so I made sure to put a bottle of vodka under the sink. I don’t think we’ll need them, but I also put some condoms in a drawer in the living room. I don’t think the night will turn out like that, but with the possibilities of alcohol, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

 

“Eek! Kendall, he’s here!”

 

Aria runs to the door to let them in and I just sit on the couch and turn on some music. If we aren’t going to Jimmy’s party, then we will have our own party.

 

“Hey, guys. Good to see you.”

“Hey, babe. You know Nate, right?”

 

I get off the couch to greet them properly and Nate already has his arm around Aria.

 

“Yes, I do. I see you two have met.”

 

Aria giggles like a school girl and kisses Nate on the cheek. To my surprise, Nate blushes. I never took him as a blusher. Ethan comes over to me and kisses me. I can tell it’s an apology kiss, but I don’t mind. He feels bad. He whispers that he loves me and I whisper back. We sit together on one couch, and Aria and Nate sit on the other.  They’re already making out.

 

“You okay?”

 

Ethan whispers.

 

“Yeah. I’m alright. I have vodka under the kitchen sink just in case we need to liven up this party.”

 

I can tell that he’s shocked to hear me say that.

 

“If they’re going to do that all night, we might need to open that bottle.”

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