lost | jariana

02

"Ariana, will you please come inside for a moment? I have someone I want you to meet."

Ariana set down her shovel, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. Who was this important that she had to stop her conquest of digging to China for?

Running inside the house, muddy shoes and all, she stopped in front of her mother. "Who is it, mommy?"

"Ariana!" Joan shrieked, immediately grabbing the little girl's wrist. "Look at you!"

She looked down at herself, giggling. Her blue overalls were caked with dirt, staining the pink t-shirt she had underneath. "I was trying to dig to China."

Joan scoffed amusingly, pulling the dirty girl up the stairs into her bedroom. "Ari, you know that's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible if you just believe," Ariana wiggled out of the overalls, her mom throwing it into the hamper. She raised her arms once her mom grabbed the bottom of her pink t-shirt, pulling it over her head. "You and Daddy always tell me I can be whoever I want to be. And I want to do things no one has ever done before! Starting with going to China.. By digging."

Joan's eyes glistened with pride. She was so proud of how positive and wise her little daughter was. She was going to grow up and be an incredible young lady, she knows it. "That's right. But let's keep the digging for some other time, okay? Here, put this on."

Ariana was handed a white sundress with yellow flowers; she grinned at the dress, her dimples appearing. Slipping on the dress, she asked, "Who's here? Am I going to get a new friend?"

"As a matter of a fact," Joan started brushing out Ariana's tangles in her light brown hair. "You are. Your dad and I are always too busy for you, and I'm sorry for that. But you're a smart girl, and you know it's only for your safety, right?"

Ariana nodded. Her parents always worried about her safety. It gets annoying sometimes, but she understood that being in charge of a gang is very dangerous. Her mom continued, "We hope that you two hit it off. You guys are going to be the best of friends, I know it. His parents are excited about it too. They can't wait to meet you."

The word 'his' totally slipped her mind. She was too caught up with the idea of a new best friend. "Oh my gosh, then what are we waiting for?!" Ariana sprung up from the little chair her mom had placed her in. "I want to meet her!"

She grabbed her mom's hand, dragging her down the stairs behind her. "I can't wait, I finally have someone to play my dollies with." The two burst through the living room door, and Ariana's cheery face dropped along with the grasp of her mom's hand.

Standing in the middle of their living room was a young boy, probably only two years older than her. His dirty blonde hair was spiked up, his eyes were the color of chocolate, and his soft pink lips smacked on the ice cream cone he had in his hand.

"I am not playing dollies with you."

justin's pov

"Chaz, what do you mean you found Ariana?" I questioned, shoving the notepad I was writing on into one of the drawers. I didn't care about that anymore; I was more interested in Ariana.

I stared intently at Chaz, who walked fully inside the room, shutting the door behind him. He grabbed a seat in front of my desk; I could see the excitement in his eyes.

Chaz Somers, 20 years old. He was an overall goofball; with his brown mess of curly hair and twinkling brown eyes, he could make everyone in the room laugh, no matter what the situation was. But when it was down for serious business, he was very handy with a gun. He's also the talkative one, giving him the job of gathering information from other people. I've learned that he has a way of making people slip out the truth without fully acknowledging what they just did. I trust Chaz, not only was he apart of my gang, but he's also one of my best friends.