Main Street U.S.A.
Chapter 27
"So…"
"So?" Jasmine twirled around the room and flounced on her bed. She suspected Ariel had been dying to ask her a certain question all day but had waited until it was prudent to do so. Now that they were home and it was night and they were getting ready for bed... it was definitely prudent. Which meant Jasmine had to prepare herself for the oncoming inquisition.
Ariel's smile was sillier than usual, which made Jasmine wary. The redhead's hands were dancing around, mesmerizing Jasmine as Ariel spoke, "I heard you and Aladdin went on a date last night…"
Jasmine wasn't sure whether to laugh or to grimace. Of course Eric knew. And of course he told Ariel.
Instead, she sighed heavily, "What do you know?"
Ariel clapped her formerly fluttering hands excitedly together, "Oh! You did then! I wasn't sure if it was a misunderstanding, considering that you didn't like him very much, well you know, before…"
Jasmine nodded and Ariel continued speaking, "But you went on a date with him! Where did you guys go? Eric said he didn't know anything and c'mon I'm your best friend I need to know!"
Jasmine didn't want to talk about Aladdin with Ariel.
She liked Aladdin, she even kissed him last night, a long, drawn out, ridiculously romantic and sexy kiss, but she didn't want to share that with her friend. It felt special. It felt like it belonged to her. And from the look in his eyes as she pulled away, she suspected he felt the same. Although knowing him, he might tell Eric.
But Jasmine couldn't think about that now. Ariel's lower lip was starting to jut and Jasmine knew that wouldn't do.
"It went better than expected," she hedged, unable to stop a smile from growing on her face. She grabbed her purple hairbrush that was lying on their shared dresser.
It was strange only having one dresser, especially since she shared it. Jasmine never had to share anything. Even Ariel was used to sharing, growing up with all of her sisters, but Jasmine was an only child - spoiled rotten from the day she was born.
Well, perhaps not rotten, she corrected, unable to think of herself as something bad, but definitely spoiled. Yet now she was sharing a small apartment that was half the size of her bathroom back home with Ariel.
"What does better than expected mean?" Ariel asked, jumping on Jasmine's twin bed. It creaked in response to the added weight. That was another adjustment. Twin beds when she had grown up sleeping in a King sized bed.
Jasmine smiled a little wider at Ariel's prodding, "Well, we walked around Disney, it was kind of nice, there were some workers setting up some of the stands for the fair, they kind of chased us out of the area which was –" Strange? Exhilarating?
She brushed her bangs and tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, "It was interesting."
"So you just walked around?" A little crease developed between Ariel's two eyebrows.
Jasmine held back a laugh at her friend's expense, "Oh no, we didn't actually. There's this bike rental place, where you can rent those tandem bikes, you know the 'bicycles built for two'" she sang, and Ariel's eyes widened in understanding.
"You went biking together?"
"Yeah, it was actually really fun, there were all these different paths that we could take-"
"So you went walking and biking?" Ariel frowned, "I didn't realize you were so athletic."
Neither did Jasmine. But it felt good to be outside especially in the summer evening when everything was aglow. And yet the day was dying and the night was beginning, and the pink sky contrasted beautifully against the green leaves that hung in the trees that surrounded the roads and bike paths of Disney. And Jasmine just felt so at peace.
She was always kept indoors back home. One of her tutors when she was six once called her an indoor cat, after she scratched him (she was a wild child and he wasn't a very good tutor), and Jasmine held the name with pride for so long, but now she wondered. Was she really like Rajah, her beloved cat that was probably resting on her soft, beautiful King sized bed now, or was she really an outdoor cat? Someone who wanted to breathe in the fresh air and see the people and the world!
A poke in the leg recovered Jasmine's senses, "Well, what else happened?" Ariel demanded, a sly grin spreading across her face.
"We came back home and talked about going into the city next weekend, after the fair is over."
"YOU HAVE ANOTHER DATE? REALLY?" Ariel screeched. The diminutive redhead was so loud that Jasmine was sure that all the neighbors including the boys could hear her.
"Shh! Not so loud!" Jasmine half-whispered, turning a little red in embarrassment.
Ariel soon matched her hair,"I'm sorry, I'm just shocked, I didn't expect that you'd like him! You always complained about him!"
"Well, he showed his true colors now, and I like him better now that he's not being a pompous ass," Jasmine declared honestly, thinking of how annoying he was before. He was just like all the other jerks she had to deal with before he inadvertently revealed his past to her. Those assholes only dated her for her father's money or her father's respect. None of them were in it for her.
But not Aladdin.
He liked her.
He did his dumb, stupid, idiotic act to impress her. And although it backfired tremendously, he still liked her. And he apologized, sincerely, and was embarrassed of his checkered past as much as she was embarrassed of her privileged one.
And she knew her father would like him. She just had this feeling in her heart that her loveable goofball father and Aladdin would get along famously and she couldn't help but feel so tremendously happy about that.
It almost made Jasmine want to grab Aladdin out of his apartment and kiss him again.
But she stopped herself.
"So you really like him then?" Ariel asked, her voice quiet, and her smile soft. She took Jasmine's brush away from her, and started to brush her own hair, her blue eyes twinkling in the cheap fluorescent light.
"Yeah I do," Jasmine replied.
Ariel placed the brush down carefully on the bed before enveloping Jasmine into a hug, "Oh God, I'm so glad, I was so worried that you'd hate him even more."
Jasmine laughed into Ariel's hair and then immediately regretted doing so as she started to choke on it so she pulled away from her friend's tight grasp.
Ariel let go but kept talking, "I just, I'm so excited because if you guys do end up being a couple, then it'll be so much easier to tell them both the truth you know?"
Jasmine's stomach dropped, "About who we are?"
Ariel's eyes were watery, "Yeah, I… I really want to do it, but I'm fine with waiting another month. I just, I really like Eric, but I'm also worried that our Dad's are still worried you know? We ran away with little warning or notice-"
"We left notes and we're old enough." Enough was a loose term for it but Jasmine wasn't going to be lax when discussing this with Ariel.
"We need to let them know soon don't we?" Ariel implored, looking down at her hands.
Jasmine wasn't even sure who the 'them' was referring to, their boys or their fathers.
Both probably.
"I know, Ariel. I know, but-"
"I'm so tired of dodging the truth, Jasmine! Eric is so honest and upfront with me and I feel like a mute because I can't say anything! And I hate it."
"I don't like lying either, but we needed this, you know we needed this-"
"And I'm so glad we did it! I would have never met Eric, probably! And he's so wonderful and kind and stop rolling your eyes because he is and you know it. I love him so much," Ariel confessed. The tears that had threatened to spill out ever since the conversation took its threatening turn trickled down her face.
Jasmine was aghast. She didn't realize that Ariel was in love with Eric. She didn't know that it was this passionate.
"Is Eric in love with you?" Jasmine asked, gently.
Ariel laughed through her tears, "I don't know. I think so sometimes. He looks at me like he does." She smiled victoriously, "He kisses me like he does."
Kisses meant little in the game of love in Jasmine's opinion but she was wise enough to keep it to herself, "Maybe you should tell him? Before you tell him the other big thing, I mean?"
"Probably."
The two young women were quiet in their thoughts.
"Boys… huh?" Jasmine uttered dryly.
A small grin appeared on Ariel's tear-stained face and Jasmine could hear the strains of "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" in praise of her achievement. After all, cheering a friend up when they're despondent is just as difficult as winning a battle.
"Yeah… boys," Ariel acquiesced with a rueful laugh that quickly spread into giggles.
Jasmine joined her in the laughter and soon they were trading stories about how ridiculous their boys were (although Jasmine was hesitant to call Aladdin her boy, she knew, in truth, that he was, just by the way he looked at her).
Jasmine fell asleep that night, safely tucked into her small, twin sized bed, with Ariel across from her in her small twin sized bed, thinking of nothing but laughter, a bicycle ride, and a certain passionate kiss.
(A/N) Sorry for the delay, I wasn't sure how to approach this chapter but I think it turned out nicely! Thanks for any reviews you leave!
