Afraid to Love

Chapter One

It had been two years since the accident. I was a senior in highschool now, and just like my aunt had said, it was time to move on.

I slammed the final suitcase shut, sitting on it as I zipped the zipper around the extremely large bag. I heard my aunt call me from downstairs. I brushed the loose hair from my face to behind my ear, and I
threw the suitcase onto the ground.

I stared around my room, taking in every detail that I was leaving behind. My friends, my support system for the past two years.

I closed my eyes, exhaling slowly through my nostrils to calm my nerves. I was headed to live with my father, a man who I hadn't seen since I was five years old.

He moved up to Washington, found himself a housewife and left me and my now dead mother behind.

What an asshole.

I grabbed my cellphone and headphones off my bed and checked my outfit one last time. It was beginning to be fall, so I had on a simple pair of black leggings and a light sweatshirt. There was no need to look fancy on an airplane.

Succumbing to my aunts almost desperate sounding calls, I dragged my feet downstairs and looked at her with a disinterested look on my face.

"Cheer up, your father is excited to see you," she spoke, her voice was practically identical to my mothers.

"If he was so excited to see me, why didn't the asshole call sooner?" I said bitterly, the feeling of repulsion running through my veins.

"Ariella," my aunt chastised, "watch your language around me young lady." She said, pointing at manicured finger at me.

I rolled my eyes, grumbling about how I didn't want to stay with my father underneath my breath. Though, respecting my aunt, I started towards the car.

I stopped dead in my tracks. I never really got into cars, I was terrified of them. I heard my aunt speak from behind me.

"You took your pills, right?"

I glanced behind my shoulder at her, my oceanic eyes swimming with uncertainty, "Yeah, can we just get this over with?" I said, heading closer towards the car and placing my hand on the car door.

My aunt watched me from afar, she always did. She came closer to me before simply passing by me and getting into the driver's seat.

I huffed and opened the car door, slowly sinking into the seat beside her and immediately buckling. "Okay, go. I'll fall asleep soon."

My aunt simply nodded in response and began driving as I sat rigidly in the passenger's seat.

We only lived an hour from the airport, and within the first 10 minutes I had fallen asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I looked at the terminal, down at my ticket, then to my aunt. "I really have to go, don't I?" I said bitterly and she simply laughed at my expression.

"Yes, you really have to go. Your father will be waiting there when you land. Take good care of yourself, Ari." My aunt said, blowing me one final kiss goodbye before she walked away.

I watched her walk off, my shoulders deflating as I plugged in my headphones and let Harry Styles' Sign of the Times take me away.

When my gate number was called, I stood up slowly, not as eager as some of the other passengers on the flight. I had no problems with planes, just cars. Cars were a nightmare.

After I showed my ticket, I boarded the plane and sat in my assigned seat. I looked out the window, watching the planes be directed in and out of their respective places.