Trouble In Paradise

39. Tap Dance

"Hey, Aria, could I talk to you for a moment?"

I looked up to see Katie glancing at me nervously.

All my friends stopped talking and stared at us. I realized that must be uncomfortable for Katie, so I smiled up at her, "Sure."

We walked to the kitchen where Jax was taking out a bunch of cookies from the oven with a scowl on his face.

"Um, Jax?" Katie called out.

"I can't hear you," he muttered, tasting the cookie. Then he scowled as they must've tasted good and put in another batch of cookies.

I started thinking about how if Torryn were here, he would say something like "he mirrors the Christmas mood". I quickly halted my thoughts and focused on Katie.

She looked very guilty, which made me wonder if she had killed my fish.

You don't have a fish, dumbo, my subconscious sneered.

But that's what her expression conveys! I defended.

"I'm so sorry for what happened back there," Katie started. "If I'd known Torryn Cole and you were dating, I wouldn't have tried to flirt with him."

I was so surprised by her words, I couldn't bring myself to do much other than gape at her like a fish.

"I-uh, Cole and I-we, uh, we aren't dating," I finally managed.

"Right," she snorted. "I totally imagined you two being all cute and sharing a cheesecake a few minutes back."

My cheeks reddened. "That was his cheesecake. I was just stealing, you see."

"I see quite a lot," she smirked as if she were a daughter of Aphrodite-she could be for all I knew, with her pretty Asian features and all. "But you guys seriously aren't dating?" She asked incredulously.

"No!" I squeaked out, my face heating up to match the temperature of a volcano. "It's not like that."

"Well, it should be," Katie leaned against the door beside us. "Don't you like him?"

I was going to say no but for some reason, I stopped.

Do I like Torryn Cole?

I thought about how my stomach got all weird around him and how I wouldn't mind spending all of my time with him. I thought about the sweet Torryn, who almost baby-proofed his house because I kept banging into things and the cold Torryn, who snapped at people who bumped into me, whom I also found sweet. I thought about the Torryn who teased me more than anyone but also called me a genius when it came to chemistry. I thought about the Torryn who shook his head at my lack of artistic skills but still sharpened my pencils for me. Mostly, I thought about the Torryn who flashed dimpled-smiles at me and how my heart did a little tap dance every time he did. And then, I came to a conclusion.

"I like Torryn Cole," I whispered and when the words seem to belong, I said them once more, louder this time. "I like Torryn Cole."

A shit-eating grin broke out on my face as Katie ruffled my hair. "There you g-"

The door slammed open and we both got crushed behind it. Greg rushed to the sink with too many plates in his arms than was considered possible. He sighed in relief as none of the plates looked broken and then looked up and realized that he'd slammed the door open on us.

"Sorry," he squeaked, looking extremely guilty.

Did he kill my fis-

SHUT UP!