lost | jariana

11

Ariana ignored the first time she felt the bed bounce. She could see out of the corner of her eye Liz jumping onto the bed from her spot from the ground. The second time it happened, she briefly looked up, seeing that Liz was just in the same spot, smiling (quite creepily) at her from her position at the edge of the bed. The third time it happened, this time, with a long whine of, "Ariaaana," she finally spoke.

"What?" Ariana mumbled, too engrossed in her book that she was reading to even bother looking up to her friend.

Liz Gillies and Ariana Butera were total opposites. Liz loved black, while Ariana loved pink. Liz was into slasher movies, but Ariana always insisted on watching the latest Disney release. Their personalities clash multiple times, especially when they try to decide what to do during their playdates, yet the two 8 year olds became pretty close friends (ignoring the fact that when they had first met each other, Liz threatened to stab her with a pair of scissors).

"Class, we have a new transfer student today. This is Ariana Butera, and today is her first day here, so please make her feel welcome." The class all clapped, making Ariana blush. She smiled cheekily back at everyone before turning back to her teacher. "Ariana, tell us a little about yourself."

"Uhh," Ariana chewed on her bottom lip. She didn't know what to say. All she does all day every day is hang out with Jason or her parents. "I like to spend time with my family.. And I sing sometimes."

"Awh, maybe one day you could sing for us. But for now, take a seat next to Liz and we'll get class started."

Ariana nodded, grateful that the teacher didn't make her start singing. She rushed over to the only empty seat in the room, next to who she presumed was Liz. The raven haired girl wore all black, matching the pair of black scissors she had in her hands.

"Hi, I'm Ariana."

"I know. Sikowitz just said that."

"That's a rude name to call our teacher."

"No, that's his name," Liz rolled her eyes. She continued to cut the piece of paper in her hands into tiny bits of scrap, littering her desk with it.

"Oh."

Ariana sat quietly as she listened to Mr. Sikowitz introduce multiplication by setting up the basics, "If Amber has 5 friends, and she wants each of them to have 3 cookies, how much cookies does she need for everyone to have 3 cookies?"

15 cookies, Ariana thought. She had already learned multiplication when she watched Jason do his homework.

Bored, and determined to make a girl friend today (as much fun as it was to hang out with Jason, Chaz, and Ryan all the time, she still hadn't find anyone to play dollies with), she turned back to Liz. "Why are you cutting up that piece of paper?"

Liz stopped, her hands midway of clamping the blades down on the paper. "To practice when I'm cutting you up with them." She raised the pair of scissors, hoping it was threatening enough to get the ball of sunshine to stop talking to her.

Ariana blinked back at the girl, deadpanning her. After a short pause, she just said, "My dad has a gun, and I think guns can kill people way faster."

The girl just set down her scissors. Okay, maybe the ball of sunshine has a dark side.

"Are you and Jason a thing?"

That made Ariana immediately look up from her book. "What are you talking about?"

Liz rolled her eyes. Pushing herself off the bed towards Ariana, she handed a picture frame that she stole from Ariana's vanity as Ariana set down her book, replacing her book in her hands with the picture frame. "You know what I'm talking about, don't play dumb."