As my eyes remain closed, I feel someone breathing on me. I slowly lift up my eyelids and see a beautiful middle aged woman towering over me. It was Aiden's mother. As I stand up, she focuses her stare at me, seeming as if she's trying to figure out who I am. I wouldn't blame her though. I have changed since the past five years. I look at her and I couldn't help but smile. This woman loved me as one of her own; cared for me as one of her own.
"Hi Aunt Zelda," I greet with the warmest smile I could ever show. She squints her eyes and slowly she starts recognizing me and her expression slowly changes from confusion to shock. "Lorelai? Is, is it really you?" She asks hesitantly. I shrug and laugh as I start to tear up. "Who else would it be?" I answer with another question. She gasps and covers her mouth and slowly makes her way to me. Her fingers trail all over my face as she tries to find even the slightest proof to my answer. Her eyes start watering and she smiles and instantly hugs me. "Oh, I've missed you so much my baby girl!" I hug her back just as tightly. "I've missed you too Aunt Z." She pushes me away and wipes her eyes. "Child, look what you've done to my makeup," she laughs as she wipes away her ruined mascara. "When did you get back?"
"Sunday."
"And it took you three days to come visit me." I smile guiltily. "I've just been caught up with a lot of things."
Aiden then groans loudly. "Why are you people talking so loudly early in the morning?" He rubs his eyes sleepily. "Aiden, you never told me Lorelai was back," mentions his mother. He covers a blanket over his head and answers rudely. "Must have slipped my mind." Aunt Zelda shakes her head and turns back to me. "Join us for dinner tonight."
"I would love to but I haven't exactly been at home lately and if I miss out on dinner tonight too, my parents will ground me."
"Alright. How about Friday then?"
"Friday sound perfect."
"Amazing. I'm looking forward to it." She hugs me tightly and leaves. I turn to Aiden and I see him standing up and walking towards me. "What time is it?" He asks. I grab my phone from the table next to the couch and I check the time. "7:00am," I answer. He passes me and walks over to the kitchen and takes out a bunch full of food. "What are you doing?" I ask. "What does it look like I'm doing idiot? I'm making breakfast," he answers. Fair point. "Remind me never to wake you up. Your attitude is fowl in the morning." He laughs. "Shut up and help me." I walk over to him and he hands me two eggs, a bowl and a whisk.
"Now, what you're going to do is-" I grab the things from him and cut him off. "I know how to whisk eggs Aiden. I'm not a child." I slide past him and place the eggs and bowl and whisk on the table and I hear him say, "You act like one." I turn around and gasp with a smile on my face and I see he's very proud of himself. He points to the eggs and orders me. "Beat those eggs already and stop wasting time."
"My gosh! You're such a demon early in the morning aren't you?" He smiles and walks away. Ten minutes later, he comes back down with a pile of clothes and places them on a chair next to me. "Get changed," he orders. "There's no way I'm putting clothes that belong to some girl I don't even know." He sighs. "They're my mum's and she hasn't worn them yet. So unless you want Rebecca and her horde coming to you and humiliating you for wearing the same outfit, I'd suggest you to go change." His voice comes off asserting and powerful. I've never really been one to care what people say about me, but there was just something in his voice that made me stop in my tracks and do as he commands. I nod and grab my clothes and head to his room. And the nostalgia is back.
I look around his room and remember the little moments I spent with Aiden. From laying down in bed and staring at the ceiling, trying to find patterns to sitting on the floor, tearing papers and making a mess of everything. I miss this.
Aiden knocks on the door, breaking me from my thoughts. "Hey dimwit, are you done yet? The food is getting cold." Baby Aiden was so cute and nice. That person outside is nothing but a monster inhabiting his body. "I'll be down momentarily!" I yell back.
I put on the clothes and for some reason, they fit perfectly. Aiden gave me a white sleeveless top and black tights. I put them on and head downstairs. He takes one look at me and says, "You look like my mother."
"Well, I shall take that as a compliment since your mother is simply astounding."
"Don't kid yourself." I smile. Aiden prepares the table and we both say grace and we eat our meals. Aiden checks his phone and chokes. "It's 7:50am!" He yells out. He grabs both his plate as well as mine and practically throws them in the sink and pulls me out the door while he grabs his keys. We both run to the car and Aiden starts the engine and drives off. Suddenly, I get a call from Emily. Oh no. I turn to Aiden. "We forgot to pick up Emily and Eddie." Aiden immediately steps on the breaks, causing me to be thrown against the glass. He lets out a sigh and turns around and drives over to Emily's place. Near their house, we see them already standing outside. Emily sees us and starts throwing a tantrum as she gets in. "Why in the bloody hell are you guys late?!" She yells. "Woke up late," Aiden answers. Aiden steps on the accelerator and races to school. When we get there, we see the school gate already half closed.
Emily and I run to school while the boys follow. Luckily, we manage to get in before they shut us out. Every one of us rush to our own classrooms. Ironically enough, I have bio first thing in the morning, again. I run to my classroom, but this time, I slowly open the door and politely excuse myself. The teacher smiles at me and allows me to come in. I take a seat next to Braden and he says, "Is this, showing up late to class a Lorelai thing?" He teases. "Well, you know what they say better late than never," I fire back and he smiles.
"Today, I shall give you an assignment. You will pair up with your partner and each pairing will have to explain about a certain organ thoroughly. You are given a week to prepare. I don't want any excuses," says the teacher. "Guess you're stuck with me for an entire week then," Braden mentions. "Looking forward to it," I smile and he smiles back.
"As for Ms. Dixon and Mr. McCain," the teacher continues. "You will be presenting your work tomorrow." Braden and I turn to each other in utter shock. "But Sir, it's not possible to finish everything in one night," Braden informs. The teacher laughs and says, "Not my problem. You have your partner to blame for coming in late. Let this be a punishment to both you and her."
That sinister lowlife! I turn to Braden and I apologize. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
"It's fine. Professor douche has always been this way. I'll come over to your place later, if you don't mind. My house is occupied as of the moment." I nod and we stay silent during the entire class.
When class ends, he stands up and says, "Wait for me at the gate," and leaves.
On my way out, I meet Jerome. "Hello love." I am never going to get enough of that accent. "Hi."
"What do you have now?"
"History."
"Come, I'll walk with you."
"Jerome, you really don't have to-" he grabs my shoulder gently and says, "I want to." I nod and we both walk to my next class. "So have you thought about when you'll visit the council room?"
"Not really."
"Well, why don't you come by during lunch, and then we can go have something to eat." I laugh. "Alright sure."
"Excellent. I'll come find you. Well, I must leave you now. Have fun in class. Oh, and, try not to get into detention again." He smiles and winks at me and my face reddens. "How did you-"
"Being the school president has its perks," he says, cutting me off. He takes my hand and kisses it and walks away. I shake my head and walk inside the classroom. I look over to my place and see Aiden laying his head on his desk, asleep. I walk over to my place and settle down and then it struck me. The presentation is today. I quickly go through my bag to find my notes but I could not find them. I turn to Aiden and shake him vigorously. "What?" He groans. "Aiden! The presentation. It's today and I don't have my notes with me!" I freak out. "It's fine. We'll just do everything like we did last time." How can this man remain so calm?
I slowly start hyperventilating and start having a panic attack. My throat starts hurting and my mouth goes dry and suddenly, Aiden pulls my chair and makes me face him and places his forehead on mine and says, "Calm down Peaches, there's no need to panic. I'm right here." And just like that, my heartbeat starts slowing down and I breathe normally again. Everyone turns to us like we've done something scandalous.
A minute later, the teacher enters and asks us to present our projects and she calls me and Aiden first. Aiden, like always, walks up with confidence that would make even the greatest person bow down to him, whereas I, a child with social anxiety, tremble along the way. Aiden goes ahead and explains first. To him, things come naturally, like the sun after a heavy rainfall, and warmth, after a long cold day. Aiden has always been my spark; a spark to light me up whenever I am dying, to remind me who I am and where I come from, instilling courage and inspiration in me, and that's what he's doing right now; lighting up my dying flame.
Slowly and gradually, I start opening up as well and take part in the explanation. Maybe Aiden thinks I need the spotlight because as I am explaining, he goes silent, letting me do all the talking.
At the end of our presentation, the teacher congratulates us on doing a splendid job and the entire class gave us an applause. A moment later, the bell rings and class ends. Aiden and I grab our books and he pats my head and says, "I'll see you in lunch Peaches," and walks away.
As usual, the day goes by and lunch period arrives. I see Jerome already standing outside my class. I walk up to him and say, "You know, when you said you'd come find me, I didn't exactly think you'd mean actual stalking." He laughs and says, "I wasn't stalking you. I met Emily on the way here and asked her where you might be. Now, let's go visit my class."
"I have one more class to attend. If I skip, I might get in trouble."
"You're with me. You'll be alright." I laugh and I follow him.
When I get there, I see a bunch of people working. A girl walks up to us and introduces herself. "Hi, I'm Amy, the school's manager. It's a pleasure to meet you." I never knew schools had students as managers. Amy is a typical teenage girl. Tall, blonde and pretty. She extends her hand and I shake it. "I'm Lorelai."
"Jerome has told me a lot about you." I look at him and he blushes. "Well, you can't blame me. A girl as unforgettable as you, how could I not?" He says, defending himself. I laugh. Jerome gives me a tour around the room and introduces me to everyone there. "Now that you have finally visited, I feel relieved," he says, smiling. "Now I'll just let you decide for yourself. For now, we'll go eat. I'm sure you're hungry." I nod and say goodbye to everyone and we head to his car. "I thought we were having lunch in the cafeteria," I say. "No not at all love. I'm taking you out for food today." He grabs my hand and pulls me to his car and his driver comes out and opens the door for the both of us. "Thank you Eugene," says Jerome. He shuts the door and walks to the driver's seat, gets in and drives. "Have you ever been to the Garden of Eden?" Jerome asks me. "No, I haven't."
"Perfect. This shall be your first time then."
A few blocks later, we arrive at our destination and Jerome's chauffer opens the door for us. The place Jerome mentioned is a building decorated with flowers all over. We walk inside and Jerome talks to the receptionist about his reservations. A young man then comes out and tells us to follow him. I take a look around and I see the floor and pillars are made of white marble stone and the walls are made of thick glass. The tables are well polished and the furniture are off white in colour, placed all over the ground floor.
Jerome and I walk into a living room and the man takes us to the terrace. The moment the door opens, my eyes grow wide. The sight is just magnificent. There is a pathway along from the elevator onwards, and on the sides of the path, there is water and fishes and in the middle of it all lays a beautiful fountain, streaming water along the sides of the pathway. The main road splits into several others which lead to a small hut where there are tables and chairs. The balustrades are decorated with bushes and vines crawling all over and the roof is made of glass and has pots of flowers hanging from it. The man takes us right towards the end of the passage and helps us settle down and hands us our menu and walks away.
"Jerome, this place is beautiful!" I exclaim.
"My uncle owns this place. He's always wanted me to bring someone over but I've never had someone to bring, until now." I look at him and smile. "Now, tell me what you want to have."
"Lasagna with lemon tea." He calls the waiter and tells him everything and he leaves. "So, Lorelai. Tell me about yourself."
"What do you want to know? My trauma or favourite colour?" I ask jokingly and he laughs. "How about your favourite colour for now," he says, laughing and I smile. "But no, I mean, about you and your family, your birthday, your life. You know, what makes you, you."
"Well, I am the fourth child. I have three older brothers and one younger brother, hence I'm the only girl. My birthday is on the eleventh of August. I spent most of my years in boarding school. Worst years of my life. I hate social events. I'd rather stay home, but if I am with people I'm comfortable with, I become a tyrant." He laughs. "I read, I occasionally cook, I play, but I'd pick sleep over all of that any day," I smile and so does he. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. Your turn."
"Well, I am an only child. My birthday is on the seventh of December. My family has a lot of expectations from me and they all think I'm going to inherit the family business, which I will, and just like you, I prefer the indoors. I read as well, and write. Sometimes poetry, sometimes novels, but regardless, I believe writing is an art. I sing too. I can't cook. Leave me in the kitchen and I'll single-handedly manage to burn the entire house down." We laugh. "Can I see some of your writings?"
"Maybe one day." He smiles. The food arrives and I say grace like usual but Jerome immediately eats his food. He notices his mistake and apologizes and says grace with me. As I am eating, I get a call. It is from none other than Aiden. I cancel the call and I keep eating until I hear a notification.
Aiden : Where are you?
Me : Having lunch. Why?
Aiden : Where?
Me : Café.
Aiden : With who?
Me : Jerome.
Aiden : You're seriously missing practice just to go on a date with a rich snob?
What is his problem?
Me : Last time I checked, you're in no position to tell me what to do.
He leaves me on seen. Jerome notices me and asks me, "Is everything alright?" right after he asks me, I get a message from Aiden.
Aiden : Whatever. Hurry your ass up.
I look at Jerome and smile. "Everything is perfectly fine. Please, tell me more about you."