See you again

Chapter 4

Walking into my bedroom, I groaned as I noticed the unfinished pile of homework on my desk. Homework shouldn't be assigned on the first day of school. Any content feelings that I had diminished in a mere second. I reluctantly returned to my desk and got back to work. As I was finishing my last problem, I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I said, still focusing down at my work. The door opened and I looked up to see Aaron with damp hair wearing a shirt and a pair of sweats. After I finished the problem and closed the book, I noticed Aaron sitting patiently on my bed as he looked around my room.

"I do like chemistry," he said breaking the silence in the room. I looked at him with a confused look as to why he said it so randomly, but then I remembered asking him if he did earlier in the day. "Sorry, for not answering you earlier... I just, well, how do I say this?" he said scratching the top of his head.

"I don't really like meeting new people. Well, You've been in my English class every year since middle school so I guess you aren't really 'new', but," he sighed. "I don't know..." I felt shivers run up my spine. He knew I was in his class? "It's fine. We've never really talked before, anyway," I said, standing up and sitting on my bed, still keeping a good distance between us.

"How did your grandma know I was from the city?" He asked.

"She knows everything," I said simply. "I don't know how she does it, but yeah, I don't think there's a single person in town that she doesn't know."

"So, you just live with your grandmother? Where are your parents?" He asked.

"Mhm. She used to live alone in her own house, but after my parents died a few years ago, she moved in here." I took a deep breath before speaking again. "They're the reason my brother died. My parents died in a car accident on the way to his university graduation. He blamed their death on himself and committed suicide that night..."

"I'm so sorry," he said quietly. I sighed. "I'm sorry for dampening the mood... Honestly, I don't really know why I told you that. I've never told anyone that before. Not even my closest friends," I said to myself, keeping my eyes on the floor. "You shouldn't bottle things up inside of you. The longer we hold things in, the easier it is for them to come out. Don't worry though, I won't tell anyone," he said with a small, comforting smile.

"Well, it's getting late. We should both get some sleep," he said standing up from my bed. "Thanks for letting me stay over," he said walking over to the door. "If you ever need to get something off of your chest, don't hesitate coming to me," he said before closing the door.

I stared at the door and pondered over our conversation. I didn't really know why I opened up so much to him after only talking to him for a night. Maybe it was because I thought that if I opened up to him, I would stand a better chance of him opening up to me.

But even after the whole night, I realized that I didn't really learn much about him. Sure, he didn't hate me and I guess I learned he was a pretty good friend, but other than that, he, and his actions, didn't reveal much about himself. As far as I was concerned, he was still a complete mystery to me.

***

Waking up the next morning was a bit different than usual, but it was probably because what was lying on the other side of my wall or perhaps the fact that I had spilled practically my whole life story to said person, but I don't know. I walked to the bathroom and noticed that my brother's room was open. I peeked inside and noticed that the room looked like it had been untouched. The bed was made and everything was back in its place. Yesterday couldn't have possibly been just a dream, right?

"Good morning," I said to my grandmother. I tested my theory. "Did you happen to see Aaron leave earlier?" I asked as I sat down at the table. She was gently placing an egg cooked over easy and a few slices of bacon atop a piece of toast. I noticed an empty plate in front of the empty seat beside me.

My grandmother was never the breakfast type, so I knew yesterdays happenings were quite likely."Yes, I did, actually," she said, placing breakfast down in front of me. I smiled to myself thanking the heavens that it all wasn't too good to be true. "He walked out the door just as I heard your door open."

"Why'd he leave so early?" It was only 7 o'clock and school didn't start till 8. She shrugged her shoulders. "He just had breakfast, told me a quick thank you, and walked right out the door." After finishing breakfast, I bid goodbye to my grandmother and walked out the door to meet the others. They were all outside on the sidewalk, waiting for me to finally come out. "My mom told me she saw you at the grocery store last night," Jason said. "With a boy. A boy that wasn't any of us. Care to explain?" Jason's mother worked at a cute little restaurant next door to the grocery store. As a matter of fact, she actually owned the joint and was probably closing down, which was why she would have seen me last night. 

"My grandma sent me to the grocery store last night and on my way there I saw him standing outside of his friend house because he apparently missed his bus back home and he needed somewhere to stay, but he wasn't answering his phone," I explained.

I thought that would be enough explanation for them, but they remained quiet and waited for me to go on. With a sigh, I continued. "I asked him if he wanted to go to the grocery store with me to see if he'd answer by the time we got back. He declined at first, but after a few steps he just appeared next to me and he came along."

"Oh my god, he totally loves you," Thomas said, mimicking the voice of an uptight girl gossiping. I rolled my eyes and punched him in the arm. It didn't do much damage considering the martial artist he was, but the message was received.

In the beginning of third period, which just happened to be my English class, Aaron walked over and sat in the empty desk in front of me, turning to face me. I could feel Liam's eyes burning lasers into my skin as I tried to remain somewhat calm.

"Thanks for letting me stay over last night." I saw Liam's jaw drop and hand shove over his mouth. "Sorry I left so early though. My friend called me as soon as he woke up because of my 23 missed calls..."

"Oh, it's alright. I look like a mess in the morning, so maybe it's better that you weren't there." Why did I say that? Why? He's going to imply that I like him now because I care about my appearance through his eyes and now I have just made things more awkward than things should have been. Shortly after my war with myself, the teacher walked in, causing Aaron to just flash a smile and walk back to his seat. I released a breath I didn't even realize I was holding and tentatively glanced at Liam next to me. He had his chin propped on his cupped hand as he gave me the most absurd smirk I've ever seen in my life.