The Park!

With Ari's camera in one hand and Ari beside me, we rode our bikes to the park. I needed to get out of the house since Levi traveled to New York for work, and I'm stuck at home with Martha. So I called Ari, and here we are at the park.

I took a few pictures of Ari posing around the park, but every duck face pose only made us laugh hard. Later, while Ari talked to a guy she 'bumped' into a few minutes ago, I sat under my favorite tree.

It was in the center of the park and was a maple tree. I took out my iPhone as I scrolled through Instagram. Since the fight between Ari and Ella this morning, I think it's safe to say that Ari is now internet famous. Someone caught the whole fiasco on camera and posted it on the internet since, then, her Instagram and mine have been blowing up.

I laughed at the meme of Ella screaming down the hallway. Shaking my head, I pulled out Ari's camera as I captured the view of everything in the park. I looked up from the picture I was admiring and turned to Ari, who was skipping over to me.

She looked down and smiled at me, waving her phone in her hand. "I got a date." She sang in my face.

That had never been hard for her. My best friend is drop-dead gorgeous and hopes to be a model and actress in the future. I think she would make one hell of an actress because she has the looks and brains. Boys ask her out all the time after she and Chris split, but this is the first time she'd say yes.

"What about Nolan?" I asked her. She paled a little before shrugging.

"I don't know if anything will happen between us. Nolan's like that guy I can love from afar. I don't want that." She mumbled.

"So you're giving up on him?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to think about it. Right now, I have a hot date with a hot guy."

I rolled my eyes playfully. I brought the camera up to my face, causing Ari to strike another pose. "When?"

She sat beside me and collected the camera from my hand. "Saturday at 7. He saw the video and thought it was hilarious. I still can't believe Ella made me famous. One thing I'm grateful to her for. His name is Andrew, and he goes to Westmount. He's also a senior." She winked. "Wow! Thea, you take the best pictures."

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the camera from her. "I try. Is Andrew picking you up at my place or yours?"

"Yours. Do you think I want my dad to spoil the one good thing that is happening in my life right now?" She said in a 'duh' tone.

I don't think anyone wants that.

I sighed. "You should talk to your dad, Ari. I mean, he's your father."

"That man doesn't listen to anyone but himself. I have better things to do than waste my energy on him." Her voice trailed off. I knew she was only putting on a tough front. She's hurting inside.

I put my phone and the camera away before turning to her. "No matter what, Ash and I are with you, got that?"

"I know," She gave me a small smile before grabbing the camera. "You should make this a hobby, Thea. All the pictures are beautiful, even the silly ones."

"Nah, I couldn't. That's my mom's hobby. Besides, I don't own a camera." Back at Tennesse, mom had an obsession with filming. She was always with the camera anywhere she goes. Now, though, I have no idea where she kept those videos. They would've come in handy now, seeing as my dad's birthday is in two days.

"You could use this. It's not like I use it anyway." She shrugged at me.

"You sure about that? I don't want to---"

"Nuh-uh. You're taking it, and I want to see it with you everywhere we go, capish?" She said, making me roll my eyes.

"Have I ever told you you are the best?"

She flicked her hair to her back in a dramatic manner before batting her eyelashes at me. "Yeah, you have. But it's not like you can say it too many times."

We laughed as she helped me up my feet. "Come on, let's go to my place."

I agreed, and we took our bikes as we rode to her house. I made a mental note to text Martha when I get there. Knowing Ari and Mady, they won't let me leave tonight. Her place is massive but not as big as Aiden's. In a house designed for only four people, I don't think they needed all that space they had, but they used it well.

I smiled as I dropped my bike on her front lawn and entered the house. My smile dropped as Drake lunged at me, making both of us fall to the floor. I groaned and looked up at the idiotic 21-year-old.

He looked down. "I think this is a rather compromising position, don't you think?"

Drake is Ari's stepbrother. Madison had him before she met Ari's dad. The guy is four years older than us, but he acts like a 7-year-old. This always happened. He really should've played football, not soccer, with the way he tackled a person.

Ari rolled her eyes and went to the living room. "Get off of her, Drake."

Drake grinned devilishly, but I only smiled at him. His own smile faltered. I raised my knee and kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. It wasn't that hard, but hard enough for him to let go of me.

Once I got up and out of his grip, I watched him curl into a ball and hold his sensitive area."Oh, God! Fuck Thea! Geez, I forgot how aggressive you can be."

I laughed. "That's not even my hardest, you idiot. And if you try that again, I'll make sure you'll never have babies."

Ari walked out of the living room with Polly in her arms. She shook her head as she took in the situation. "Don't tell me she kicked your balls off. Again." Drake only groaned.

I laughed as I went upstairs to Ari's room. Her room was purple and white. I have never seen a single other color besides the things in her closet and the makeup on her dresser.

I lay on her canopy bed, making silly faces at Polly, who only giggled in return.

"So, how are you holding up with your dad's birthday coming up?" She turned on the music on her iPod before jumping on the bed.

I rolled my eyes at this. "How am I supposed to tell you when you've got 'Turn Down For What' blasting in our ears?"

She grinned at me. "Just speak."

"I don't know, Ari. All I know is that I miss him more and more each day." I said as I laid on my back, facing the ceiling.

"Our lives are pretty messed up, don't you think? Your mom is a psycho bitch, and my dad is a cheating idiot." I laughed at her choice of words before hearing Polly murmur.

"Ari, you can't say that in front of her," Ari rolled her eyes before turning to Polly.

"She didn't hear me." She then turned to Polly. "Did you hear me, baby girl?"

Polly giggled before running out of the room. Ari turned to me with an 'I told you so' look on her face.

"Arianna Raven Johnson! Mind your language." I laughed as I laid back down on the bed.

**~**~**

As the day slowly dragged on, I feel like crap.

I woke up feeling fine, but as the day wore on, my mood plummeted. I felt empty weirdly empty. I can't wait for this class to be over so I can sleep through lunch.

"So, class, it has come to my notice that you guys aren't taking your projects seriously. How many have started working on it?" Only a few students raised their hands, making the teacher sigh in frustration. I shot Aiden a glare, but he only winked at me. "Alright then. I prepared this questionnaire for you guys to get you started."

He handed the questionnaires to me, and I slowly ran my eyes over the paper. Some questions are okay. Some others were eh, and some others were just plain wtf. I seriously suspect that Mr. Smart was too bored when he typed all these questions, but since he was the teacher and we are his students, I guess we are stuck to do this.

"This period will be dedicated to answering the questions on this paper. If you answer them well, you guys will be good to go on the project. Great, get to work, guys."

Aiden brought his desk closer to me as if he wasn't already close enough. "Hello, partner."

"Are you going to be annoying?" He flashed me a cheeky grin.

"I make no promises, Hazel."

I sighed, my eyes falling to the first question on the paper.

"Alright, the first question," I started, snickering to myself. "Are you more of a social or a loner?"

"I'll say I'm a loner."

"Dude, do you know who a loner is? You are in no way a loner." I giggled.

He rolled his eyes. "You still have a lot to learn about me, Hazel. I only have girls around me most of the time, and that's cause they usually come to me. I'm not that cordial with people."

I nodded, realizing he was right. I've never seen him interact with any male except the girls that usually throw themselves at him, Ash, and Nolan. "You?"

"Uh, a mix between the two," I answered. "I'm not exactly free with people, but I can talk to people if I want to."

He nodded slowly at my answer, and we both wrote each other's answer before moving onto the next question. "What are your hidden talents?"

I bit my lip before giving him a small smile. "I love singing. You?"

"Aww, can you sing something for me?" He pouted as he brought his face closer to mine. I threw a fry at him.

"Of course not."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No. Can we go back to the main subject here?" I exclaimed.

"Geez! You're so boring. Well, for me, I love being a model." I should be shocked, but I'm not. What else would I expect from someone as handsome as he is? "What is the thing you miss about being a kid?"

"The time I enjoyed spending with my dad. You?" He looked like he was about to say something but decided against it last minute.

"Peeing in my bed and getting away with it."

If I had a drink in my mouth, I would have splattered it all over the table. How can he say such a thing casually? "You peed the bed?"

"Didn't you?" He retorted.

"No, I was a good kid." He rolled his eyes. "You know, I saw your Instagram account today. I could go there and tell your girl fans that the almighty Aiden Knight use to pee the bed."

A smirk slowly appeared on his face. "Hazel, trust me, they won't believe you."

"Want to try me?" I brought out my phone and went to Instagram as I clicked on his profile. He grabbed my phone from me when he realized I was going to do it.

"You don't play fair, Hazel."I shrugged at him as I collected my phone back from him. His eyes lazily scrolled through the questions on the paper before he exclaimed. "Oh, here's an interesting question. Have you had your first kiss?"

I blinked, feeling the blood rush to my neck and cheeks. "No," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"So if I had kissed you the day before yesterday, that would've been your first kiss?" He asked, shock evident in his voice. I nodded slowly, biting my lower lip.

He looked at me for a few moments before bursting into laughter. After some time, he wiped the tear that managed to slip from his eye. "So you're seventeen and haven't been kissed. Either you're repulsive, though I know you aren't because I have met your friends, or you're just a girl that no one really wants to fall for because you don't meet the standards---"

"You know what, Aiden. I actually thought we were finally becoming friends. But like always, you just have to be a jerk and ruin it." I shoved my earphone in my ear, blocking him out completely. I'm already in a bad mood, but he just had to make it worse, didn't he?