wild [h.s./hariana]

forty two

Ariana

I sit at the table, sipping my drink and sneakily glaring at Ricky over the rim of the glass. I hold it in my hand, tapping my finger against it while he laughs along with Harry and Chelsea, especially Chelsea. I lean back with a small smirk, the kind of smirk that says: well done, you've figured it out.

I watch a while longer, waiting for everyone to finish their meals as I casually pick at my nails, my knowledgable smile still on my lips.

"Hey, you ok?" Harry asks me, placing his hand on the back on my chair.

"Yeah. Why?" I ask while turning around to face him.

"You just seem really quiet." Harry tells me. "Is your tattoo hurting?"

"A bit." I say and Harry nods understandingly.

"Ah, well, you can take off the bandage soon." Harry reminds me. "Done with your plate? Is everyone done?"

Harry begins to clear up and carry the plates over to the kitchen. I look over to see Ricky staring down at his phone and I also notice Chelsea is also on hers. I take one last sip of my drink before placing it down a little too loudly, causing Chelsea to look up.

"Chels, could you help Harry clear up and wash the plates?" I ask her. "I need to talk to Ricky."

"Uh, sure..." Chelsea says with a confused look but she goes ahead and takes away the rest of the plates, as well as Ricky's. He doesn't even notice as he's still looking at his phone. I roll my eyes as I stand up and push my chair in.

"Ricky!" I snap and he jumps, glancing up at me. "I need to talk to you. Now."

I turn on my heel and head into my room, sitting cross legged on my bed. He follows shortly after, shutting the door behind him and joining me.

"What's up?" He asks me and I scoff, causing him to look even more confused. "God, you're acting weird. Did the chemicals from your tattoo go up into your brain?"

"Wow, you're so funny." I say sarcastically.

"Whatever. I'm glad you asked to talk because I needed to talk to you as well-"

"I'm sure you do." I laugh and Ricky's eyebrows furrow. "But you were talking a hell of a lot to Chelsea at dinner. More than usual."

"What is this about?" Ricky asks me. "Because I am truly lost."

"Well, think about this question for a minute. Let's hope you don't get too confused with this one." I say and Ricky raises his eyebrows. "What did you and Chelsea do when Harry and I were out?"

"What do you mean?" Ricky asks uncomfortably. "And why would you ask that anyway?"

"Well, first of, you would never normally glance over at her during dinner or try extra hard to make her laugh or start a conversation." I tell him. "And texting her at the table. Cute."

Ricky stays quiet and for a moment and I think he's going to try and refuse it all, making a dozen excuses. And then he just sighs. I smile, knowing I was right.

"So, what happened?" I ask.

"Look, don't get all pissed at me, ok? We were just there, together, and I could tell something was up. So I asked her about it and she was telling me all this stuff about Zach. I kind of let it slip that his story about going to see his grandma was a lie-"

"Ricky, you're such an idiot." I tell him with a huff. "You know that Zach will kill you for telling her."

"Well, you didn't even tell her and you knew." Ricky protests. "Anyway, I was kind of saying all this stuff about how she shouldn't be upset about Zach - you know, the typical comforting stuff. And then she just....."