Clouds As Witnesses (RUBY DA CHERRY/$UICIDEBOY$)

Chapter 5

"See you tomorrow!" Shay waved excitedly to Kate and Mikey as she and Aristos began the walk to her house. It was finally Friday, the afternoon before prom night. Final exams were next week, a little cruel to be placed so soon after prom, and the next weekend was graduation. Everything was happening so fast. Almost too fast for her liking. But Shayna was a firm believer that life chugs on regardless of how you feel about it, so she allowed herself to ride the wave of emotions as they came so she could settle back into its calm drift once things slowed down. That was her preferred approach for most things in life after she lost her dad, and it seemed to work out better than shoving down feelings and leaving herself with a sense of regret or longing.

Ari turned his back on their friends and took off down the sidewalk without her instead, forcing Shay to near-sprint to catch up with him. "Ari, are you seriously still mad at them?"

"I'm just starting to hate everyone, honestly." He said sincerely, hiking his backpack up onto his shoulder before slowing his pace to match hers. "They're all so fake and caught up in the bullshit."

"You hate me, too?" Shay feigned offense.

"Nah, not yet." He joked. "But you're on thin ice."

"Why's that, Mr. Petrou?"

"Because you can smell the shit, but you're not playing in it." His tone was very matter-of-fact. One of Ari's many talents was saying the most bizzare shit with a poker face, not even having to stifle a laugh. Shay, on the other hand, could rarely ever spit a joke out because she was too busy dying of laughter at herself.

"You think I smell like shit?"

"No, you smell like apples." 

Well, that was definitely the type of shampoo she used. "Ew, don't ever snoop through my mom's bathroom."

Ari scrunched his nose in confusion. "Huh?"

"That's the shampoo I use."

"Oh." He looked faintly amused that he'd guessed correctly. "See, I got a good eye for that shit. Or nose, I guess."

"Yeah, and you're going to ruin that good nose."

Ari pursed his lips. "I'll have you know, I haven't put a single thing in my nose this week."

Shay raised an eyebrow. "You haven't been to Scott's, that's why."

"Well I'm going there tomorrow and I'll still have the same answer."

Prom was tomorrow, so why would he go there? "Wait, why tomorrow?"

"He's helping me get ready for prom. He has the day off. Also... I have a surprise."

"For me or him?"

"You. Do you want to know?"

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a surprise?"

"You'll be surprised right now." Ari argued, practically vibrating with excitement as they arrived at her house. The change in demeanor did pique her curiosity, so she conceded.

"Fine. Tell me." She swung the door open and ushered him inside, the cool air conditioning blasting them in the face to relieve them of the cruel summer heat. Usually the sunshine was her best friend, but today was hot, so she was grateful somebody (probably her) had forgot to cut it off while she and her mom were out. Sorry, electricity bill.

Ari paused and turned to face her. "Scott's letting me take the car tomorrow. Tori's back, so they'll use hers for the weekend."

"What?!" Shay yelped. "The Tahoe?!"