I KNOW PLACES | George Russell

24. turned into your worst fears

Monaco
Saturday

Parker

Ariella
Can you come over to Max's? I wanna chat about something.-

Parker
-yeah course on my way now

I can't stop myself from fidgeting with everything in sight. The hem of my shirt, my colorfully beaded bracelet, a piece of string that came off the comforter of the guest bed I'm currently sitting on.

I'm extremely nervous for how Parker will react to the news. Logically, it shouldn't be bad. I mean, I didn't hide it from her. We only just made it official not even two hours ago.

Max had to idea for me to invite her over here, so in the case it gets bad he can be there to help me through the aftermath.

The quick knocks on the door match the tapping of my foot. Max is seen in the doorway. "I made you tea. It's supposed to help with nerves or something like that. How do you like it?" His voice is gentle and his gaze is soft.

I stop my fidgeting for a moment to focus on the blonde at the door. "A decent amount of milk and a little bit of sugar, please." I give the boy a grateful smile and he leaves me alone again to prepare my tea.

He comes back with the hot liquid in an insulated cup and hands it to me. I mutter out a thank you as he sits next to me on the bed.

"You two are the closest people I know, you're going to be just fine." He shakes his head and gives me a soft smile. I shake my head and focus on the beaded bracelet that's being weaved through my fingers.

A small sigh escapes me. "I hope so." I instinctively go to pick at the skin of my lips, but stop myself quickly. It's a bad habit I had throughout my teens and was only able to break it a few years ago.

He glances down at the new notification on his phone. "She's here. I'm gonna go let her in." I nod as he leaves the room.

She comes in not even a minute later, looking slightly concerned at my fiddling state. "What's up? What's wrong? Do I need to beat someone up?" She rambles on and I shake my head at the last question.

"George and I are dating." I say quietly, my gaze not moving from that beaded bracelet.

"Oh my god! What! Since when?!" She says all these words very quickly and let's out a squeal.

Her positive reaction gives me the courage to look up at her face. "Well we started seeing each other in Imola but we made it official today." I say kind of shyly.

Her eyes widen, but soon her face falls. "Wait." She puts a hand out in front of her and shakes her head quickly, her face falling. "So you were 'seeing each other' up until today? Ariella that is exactly what you were pressing me about not even two weeks ago." She puts the words "seeing each other" into air quotes. This is the exact kind of reaction I was fearing.

"Parker," I start without really having an idea to finish the sentence. The raises her brows at me and motions for me to go on. I don't because truthfully, I don't have anything to say.

"You badgered me for weeks about Lando, telling me to be careful and what not. That you had a bad feeling about it!" She makes gestures throughout her rant, which exaggerates her words.