DISGUISED

Chapter 6 : The Encounter

Soundtrack: Anxiety by Julia Michaels ft Selena Gomez

Ahh finally at peace!!!" Kaitlyn plops down on the couch abruptly as Aahana hands her a glass of lemonade.

"Guess the hangover's gone now?"
Aahana climbs onto her bed, ready to hear the big news that Kaitlyn is about to tell.

She chugs down the whole glass before speaking.
"So....How long has it been since I've mentioned about Aaron?".

Aahana's eyes widen as soon as she hears the name.

"Aaron? You mean your cousin brother Aaron Smith?"

"Yeah yeah" Kaitlyn rolls her eyes and continues.
"The same Aaron who went MIA for the last couple of years and who, now suddenly arrived out of the blue and is gonna stay here for the summer. Can you believe it?" she comments while raising her hands in annoyance.

"And don't even get me started on Mom and Dad" she gets up from the couch pacing around the room with her arms crossed.

Aahana gets lost in her own thoughts after hearing his name. She flashbacks to the time when they used to show up at Steff's every afternoon. Memories of the two ten year olds pulling pranks at Nate, the waiter guy overwhelmed her. She remembers the last time they saw each other at the park. That was his last day here in this town.

She thinks about the time Kaitlyn was bummed out after he suddenly phased out from her life after his parents death. Their family gatherings during holidays came to an end after that tragic incident. Kaitlyn and her parents got the news of Mr. and Mrs. Smith when they were in Italy for the summer.

Kaitlyn breaks her thought bubble snapping her fingers in front of her.
"Earth to Ahana"

She composes herself before replying.
"I'm sorry.. You were saying?"

Kaitlyn snaps her fingers again and pinched her arm making her flinch in pain.
"What the hell!" she cries out.

"Hey.. I'm just checking if you're still not lost in your world." She raises her hands in surrender. She joins her on the bed while laying flat on her stomach.

"Haha.. Very funny", she replies with a sarcastic laugh.

"I was asking you for some of your wise advice on how to deal with this matter."

Aahana lifts her eyebrow as Kaitlyn gives stress specifically while uttering the word 'wise.'

"You don't need to deal with anything. He's your cousin brother and if you look at it, it's not such a bad situation you're making it out to be. I know you're mad at him and I, very well know the reasons but maybe you can give it a second chance. Try talking to him, you're seriously not thinking about ignoring him for the whole summer living under the same roof right?"

Kaitlyn lifts her eyebrows and bit her lip.
"Considering that was my plan for starters"

"Kaitlyn? " Aahana tilts her head.

"Well.. What did you expect?" she let out a nervous laugh.
"You know how I am, so don't act too shocked"

"I knew you still had a soft spot for him."
Kaitlyn mumbled while getting up from the bed and raises the volume of the stereo.

She pretends not to hear the last comment.
"Time to change the topic I guess."

"Exactly!! And speaking of it, have you heard from our Mr. Writer? He hasn't been responding to any of my texts." she spoke.

As both of them laid down on the bed Aahana fills her in with the details.

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Recalling this morning's breakfast, feeling guilty of some of his previous actions and decisions he took within the last few years, he sits down at the stool against the counter table of his favourite place in this town. Thinking of all the people he'd shut out from his life after that incident,he realised this morning how it may have affected them, especially the one's who were once closest to him.

The clinking sound of the doorbell made him turn his head around, towards the entrance and his eyes landed on the brunette girl who just entered and stood a few metres away from him.

"So everything's settled?" she speaks on the phone while smiling at the waiter who seemed to know her pretty well as he greeted her with a wide smile on his face.

"The usual I presume?" he asks.

"Yes" she chuckles. "And pack two double-cheesed hamburgers too, Nate"

"Okay, take some rest Jay alright.Talk to you tomorrow."

Aaron watches sipping his cold coffee, unable to avert his gaze from her as she strucks within him a sense of familiarity he's unable to comprehend.

The waiter soon arrives with her order and he averts his gaze from her.

"There you go, Ahana."

Aaron stares blankly at her in shock
and he turns towards her once again.
He fidgets for a moment while she stands before him waiting for her order. After a moment,he stands up from his seat without thinking and walks towards her.

Picking up her order, as Ahana turns back to leave she bumps into someone standing right in front of her.

A few moments pass by as Ahana squeezes her eyebrows in confused as the person standing before looks at her silently.

"Excuse me?"

"Ahana?"

She looks up at him bewildered but not long before she observes him closely. Realisation hits her as she glances at the dark brown haired boy with the familiar blue eyes and suddenly without thinking she blurts out the name she'd been thinking about the whole day since Kaitlyn mentioned it to her this morning.

"Aaron?"

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Hope you like this chapter😊
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