adora • lookism

4. The Library

Ari was packing up her things at the end of classes when she heard, "Bye, Jay!"

She glanced over her shoulder, curious.

There behind her, in all his 6 feet of glory, stood Daniel Park, waving cheerily at a dumbfounded looking Jay. Then Daniel turned towards her, quite visibly more nervous, and shyly said, "Um, see... see you tomorrow, Ari!"

Ari smiled back automatically, just as baffled as Jay. What on Earth had she done to make Daniel think they were on friendly terms? They'd barely even exchanged a sentence between them, and even that was her making a one-sided snark.

"See you tomorrow," she replied, as Jay also raised a hesitant hand in farewell.

Daniel went off, in high spirits, as Ari and Jay exchanged a stunned look behind him.

"Ari!" someone sang, slipping their arms around her waist from behind.

Ari immediately leaned her weight back into the embrace, tilting her head to the side so that it rested on a pleasingly soft shoulder.

"Hi, Zoe," she said, smiling sweetly up at the girl. Of course Daniel's sudden greeting had summoned this little wildcat.

Zoe's face was a bit flushed, probably from anticipation. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?" Ari asked, blinking.

"Zack and the others are going to have a get together tonight, and Daniel's going to be there!"

Ari stared at Zoe with a blank look that all but had 'What does this have to do with me?' stencilled across her forehead.

"I'm going to go, and you should come with me," Zoe coaxed, playfully rocking their intertwined bodies from side to side.

Even without being able to see him, Ari could feel the "I don't like that idea" energy just billowing off of Jay in thunderous waves. Ari, in all honesty, did not particularly want to go either.

"I don't know," she said, trailing off unsurely. "What time is it?"

"It's at 7! Please come," Zoe begged. "If you're there, not only will everything be much more fun, but Zack'll calm down a bit, too. You know he doesn't like me, but he's nicer to you than he is to anyone who isn't Mira."

Well, you couldn't say the girl wasn't straightforward with her intentions. Anyone with ears could tell that Zoe was worried Zack would kick her out if she went alone. And that she, for some reason, thought Ari's presence would distract him enough that Zoe could spend some time cozying with Daniel.

Why were all these people assuming that Zack was soft on her or something? They clearly hadn't seen him hefting her by the collar the other day.

"Sorry Zoe," Ari said. "I have work at that time."

"Shoot." Zoe pouted unhappily. "I guess it can't be helped then..." Ari had had the off-handed thought that Zoe was probably using this opportunity to try to test her interest in Daniel, but the girl looked legitimately disappointed to hear this.

Ari turned a bit to drape her own arm around Zoe's shoulders, looking up apologetically through her lashes. "We can try to hang out next time, though? What about karaoke later this week?"

Zoe seemed to cheer up immediately. "Okay!" she said, eagerly. "Let's ask Daniel if he wants to come too!" Seeing the hesitant look on Ari's face, she hastily added, "Or not?"

"It's okay," Ari said generously. "You can ask him." Based on what Zoe had just told her, Ari knew for a fact that Daniel had a day off work today, meaning he probably wouldn't have another later this week.