Professional Children ✔

(40) Collar

Months had gone by, Arabella was almost seventeen. It was the day of her graduation and her whole family were on their way to watch the ceremony. They were all dressed well, the women in different dresses while the men in different suits, they knew they were over dressed for the public school, but they were all going to have dinner at the mainland after the ceremony.

Isabella was also graduating. As their family sat in the crowd, family of the graduates clapped, some cheered to congratulate each name mentioned, but the name of Arabella Mitchell and Isabella Williams were accompanied by much louder claps and 'whoops' from the proud family.

The girls came running to their family, getting hugs from everyone. Everyone was there to congratulate the girls, both sets of parents, Jenkin and his two closest friends, Sav, Cole and of course Elijah, even Scott surprised the two.

"But I thought you couldn't come, Scotty." Isabella spoke as they all walked to their cars.

"I can't miss my two girl's graduation now, can I?" He wrapped his arms around the two youngest of the group.

"Thank you for coming." Ari giggled happily.

Everyone arrived at their vehicles and all piled into their own designated cars. It wasn't too late, early enough that the sun was still in the sky, but not too early for dinner. When they arrived at the restaurant they were escorted to a private room with a large table which Robert paid extra for. Ricky attempted to convince Robert to allow him to pay for at least half the cost of the reservation as they were also celebrating his daughter, but Robert declined and insisted he would pay the full bill.

"I'll never forget that time when Ari completely beat the shit out of that girl for being a bully." Isabella laughed.

"They even phoned me for that." Ricky laughed along. "They though Izzy and Bells were going to create a gang."

"Why didn't they tell me that?" Kimberly raised her brows.

"Probably because you were pretty much in his face demanding he didn't punish Arabella." Robert gave his wife a smug look.

"Hey, what about that time you threw a whole bottle of water over that boy who grabbed your ass." Ari pointed to her best friend.

"Hey! He deserved it." She smirked. "And he whined like a little bitch after. That was fun to see."

"Oh oh, and when you threw cream cheese at Mr Witlock for attempting to call you out for cheating." Isabelle recalled another memory.

"What?" Robert and Kimberly both spoke at the same time. "Why didn't we know about this?"

"Oh yeah, you told me about that." Ethan nodded and began chuckling to himself.

"Well... I'm heading to the restroom before food arrives. Anyone else?" Arabella stood from her seat, smoothing her black dress down and heading for the door.

"I'll come." Izzy also stood. Ethan, Jackson and Scott also decided to use the restroom.

"We did it." Isabella smiled at her best friend before they entered the stalls.

"We did." Ari nodded with a smile.

Robert was caught up in a conversation with Elijah when everyone began to return to their seats. "So you'll think it'll be soon?"

"I think, I'm not saying anything yet though, it isn't a worry." The raven haired man shook his head. Even after many years of aging the man's hair was still his deep black colour. Kimberly bet it was hair dye.

"Well, let me know, okay?" Robert and Elijah continued their private talk while everyone else around then chatted amongst themselves.

Arabella appeared back at the table with a smile. She took a seat by her mother and took a sip of her water. "Your lipstick is smudged, babe." Kim made a motion with her thumb, wiping her bottom lip to let her daughter know what she was talking about.

"Oh." She mumbled and pulled a small mirror out from her bag to fix her makeup.

"Ahem." Kimberly cleared her throat. Ari looked up at her mother, then shifted her gaze to what her sight was set on. Ethan was back in the room, making his way back to his seat, a sight that wouldn't seem suspicious, except for the aligning dots of Arabella's smudged lipstick, and the same shade of lipstick smudged on the collar of his white shirt.

Ari's jaw fell slack.

---

"Okay." Kim nodded. "We'll see you tomorrow." Kimberly said goodbye to everyone from her door. After dinner everyone gathered at the Mitchell home for a couple of drinks. Now it was just the four residents of the home left.

Arabella smiled and threw herself back on the couch after waving everyone goodbye. "Tonight-"

"Can I see you upstairs, Ari?" Kim's eyes glared holes into her daughter.

Arabella felt a pit of nerves in her stomach. "Sure..."

Ari followed her mother up the stairs and into Arabella's bedroom, locking the door behind her. "Why was your lipstick on Ethan's collar?" She spoke the moment the door was shut.

"It wasn't, it wasn't my lipstick." Ari shook her head.

"And what on earth makes you think I'd believe that?" She crossed her arms over her chest in disbelief.

"I was with Izzy, she came back the same time as me. Jackson and Scott were also in the restroom with Ethan, you should have learned by now how they'd never let me ever get away with flirting with anyone, never mind it be my own brothers best friend." Arabella laid back on her bed, stretching out a slight ache in her back as she explained to her mother how wrong she was.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I just got worried that Jenkin would see, presume the same thing as I and get mad at Ethan and you. We don't need him getting mad over that." Kim shook her head and let out a huff. "So how would he get lipstick on his collar?"

"Well, both Izzy and I gave him a kiss on the cheek when we hugged him at the graduation, but that wouldn't explain the collar." She shrugged. "But it's not our business, let's just leave it."

Kimberly chuckled and unlocked the door to her daughter's room, getting ready to leave her in peace. "Well, girls have always been all over Elijah, maybe Ethan possesses the same ladies skills." And with that she left.

Arabella shook her head with a small sigh. She stood to her feet while tapping on her phone to find some comfy clothes to change in. "Hello?" A deep voice vibrated through the phone.

"My mum was so close to catching us out." She nervous laughed. "Next time wipe you collar clean."

"How about next time don't start kissing my neck any chance you get, huh?"