Chapter 35 "Hello Again" Saturday December 6th APOV
Laine walked back into my living room, phone in hand, laughing hysterically.
"So, let me get this strait." Laine said, plopping down into one of the recliners. "Rob is driving you crazy with talk of Leah?" She asked, all too loudly, looking smugly in my direction. I huffed, rolled my eyes and walked over to apprehend the phone. "No way!" She exclaimed sarcastically. "You think he's smitten about Leah because he won't shut up about her? Oh and you're sick of it? Really?" She asked, throwing more and more looks my way.
"That's it." I said, snatching the phone from her hand. "Either you come over or stop calling." I said, clicking it off before Nicolai could utter another word.
"That was very rude." Laine said shaking her head. "I'm deeply hurt." She said, painting on the drama.
"Alright, I get your point." I said, rolling my eyes. "Rob is crazy about Leah." She scoffed at that. "Yeah, I know that's not your point." I admitted, flipping on the TV.
"Do you?" She asked, seriously.
"Yeah. So I'm crazy about Chaz. You were right, blah, blah, blah." I said, dryly, muting the TV. "Want to talk about you and Nicolai?" I asked, challengingly. Shocked, she opened her mouth. "Didn't think so." I added, smugly, before she could speak.
"That's not the same subject." She said, rolling eyes in an attempt to brush it off.
"You keep telling yourself that." I replied, turning back up the volume.
Sunday December 7th
"Aiden." I felt my body be shaken lightly as my name was being called. I forced my eyes open, blinking rapidly at the blurry figure in front of me and groaned. "Aid." Laine cooed, wake-up. I groaned again and rolled over, hitting the ground with a hard thud.
"Ow!" I jumped up fast, curling back up on the couch, rubbing my now-throbbing elbow. "See what you made me do?" I mumbled, sadly. I heard Laine huff from behind me, probably rolling her eyes as well.
"Rob called about a half hour ago saying that he was expecting us over." She said, shaking my shoulder yet again. "Nicolai is here picking me up, so me and Ranger are leaving. So get up, sleepy." I swatted he hand off, curling back up in my blanket and replied through my yawn.
"Go ahead." I yawned. "Take Ranger... have fun..." I said, sleepily.
"How will you get there?"
"I don't know." I said, stubborn, sleepy and annoyed.
"Well you better be ready soon." I heard her call, as her voice disappeared through the door. "Chaz is going to be here to pick you up in about a half hour." I reacted before I could think, instantly sitting up, surprised.
"Chaz?" I asked, startled.
"Yeah. Rob invited him and Leah over." She said, as though it should have been blatantly obvious.
"Right." I said, nodding, as I stood up, rushing into my room. I quickly showered, dressed, and evaluated myself in the mirror several times before exiting my room. I hurried upstairs, grabbing a banana as a fast breakfast, and checked out the front window for any sign of a car.
Nothing. I sighed, settling down on the steps for him to arrive.
Suddenly, the phone rang, making me jump. I dashed into the kitchen, picking the cordless off the receiver and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey Aid!" Leah said, excitedly.
"Hey Leah... what's up?"
"We're running a bit late, but we'll be there to pick you up soon." She promised sweetly.
"No problem."
"Alright, see you!" She said, before the phone clicked off. I shrugged, hanging up the phone and went back to sit on the stairs.
"Come on, come on." I chanted, drumming my fingers against the stair rail. "Where are you?" I asked, standing up to pace. My, I was being impatient, wasn't I? I got only a few steps into my impatient pace when I heard a sudden knock on the door. I breathed a sigh, half out of surprise, half of relief, and yanked the door open, only to freeze in place.
"Hey Aidey." He said, offering a confidant smile. I openly grimaced at the sound of my name coming out of his mouth.
"Go away." I said flatly, starting to close the door.
"Awe, don't be like that." He said, gripping his hand on the edge of the door. "I just came by to say hey. Maybe talk a little." He said, trying to fake a pout. It definitely did not work. I opened my mouth to speak, when something better came to mind. I turned my head the slightest and whistled into the house, before remembering that Ranger was with Laine. I cursed in my head, thinking of a back up plan.
"You don't still have that dog do you?" He asked, disgusted, and a bit scared at the thought.
"Yes." I said, sternly.
"But I didn't get to tell you the best part." He said, smiling wickedly.
"I'm sure that I don't care." I said, truthfully, starting to shut the door once more. He simply increased his grip on the doorframe, opening the door up more.
"So, Arriannah is transferring to the school on the Rez." He said, casually. "Weird thing!" He said, faking surprise. "Because, I just transferred, too!" He said, smiling yet again. I glared at him, mentally picturing all the possible ways to torture him, when suddenly he sighed, letting to of the doorframe. "So, I'll see you at school." He said, winking, before he turned around and walked down the front steps.
I huffed, slamming the door, and plopped down onto the stairs. What torture school will be now with that.. thing being there. I shuttered at the thought, as I heard a car door shut outside. Before I was even the two steps to the door, a knock came from the other side. Well, that was certainly fast, I thought, opening the door.
"Hey, chicky." Leah said, smiling. "Ready to go?" I nodded, locking my door and shutting it behind me. It was then that I noticed the unfamiliar car at the curb.
"Whose car...?" I asked, as we neared the large car.
"Chaz." Leah stated, as though it should have been obvious. I simply nodded, reaching for the side-door handle, when Leah tapped my shoulder. I looked over as she opened the passenger door, motioning me to get it.
"Thanks." I said, climbing up into the SUV, as she shut my door, and got in the door behind me. I looked over to see Chaz behind the wheel, smiling broadly.
"Hey." He said, sweetly.
"Hey," I said, buckling my seatbelt. "New car?" I asked, looking around at the spotlessness of it. I heard him sigh as he started the engine back up, and put it in gear.
"My mom's." He stated, flatly. "The 2005 Isuzu Ascender 7-Passenger" He added. "They delivered it today." He said, as we started to drive away.
"The stuff just keeps coming." Leah said, unenthused.
"Wow." I said, imagining his house with more stuff crammed into it. "How much more is there?" I heard Leah scoff, and Chaz sighed.
"Too much." He said, shaking his head.
"What are you doing to do with it all?" I asked, curiously.
"Well..." He started, as he slowed down to turn onto another road. "I'm probably going to build some more onto my house." He explained. "A garage, another bedroom, maybe a bathroom, expand the living room. I'd really like to do a lot- but we'll see what happens. Don't want to get too in over my head." He said, chuckling.
"And after that?" I asked.
"Oh I'm having a lot of stuff sent to storage in Olympia." He said, pausing to turn onto another road. "See, my parent's company just moved down there, so they have storage and stuff. And I'm planning on just having an auction or something, I don't know." He said, shrugging.
"And your car...?"
"You mean my dad's car?" He asked. I nodded. "Sold." He said, triumphantly. "And gone." He added, smiling. We came to a stop, and Chaz killed the engine. He pointed to the brick house we were stopped in front of. "Is this it?" He asked. I nodded and unbuckled my seatbelt, climbing out of the car.
Nicolai and Laine left around three or four to go with Ander to see this movie he's been wanting to go see. So it was me, Leah, Chaz and Rob hanging out. We told stories, played games, watched TV, ate, and laughed a lot.
I was about to get up to go use the bathroom when my phone went off. I excused myself and stepped out into the kitchen to answer it, seeing that it was my mom who was calling me.
"Hey mom what's going on?"
"Oh nothing." She said, sounding a bit strange. "I just got back from my trip and thought you would be home is all."
"Oh. I'm over at Rob's." I said. "But I could come home if you needed me to." I added. "Ranger is here with me." I added-- like she cared.
"Oh, well that's nice."
"Is everything alright?" I asked, a bit worried at the strange tone in her voice
"Oh no! Everything is fine. I found out today about some news about the company, but its no big deal. Just rumors. Anyway, you have fun, I think I'll head over to your aunt's to have a chat. See you hon." I said goodbye just before the phone clicked off into silence. I sighed, leaning back into one of the kitchen barstools. I know she said everything was fine... but something about how she sounded just didn't settle with me quite right...
"You alright Aid?" I jumped at the sound of Leah's name, quickly brushing off my surprise.
"Yeah I'm fine." I said, giving her a quick smile.
"Can I ask you something?" She asked suddenly, checking twice over her shoulder. I nodded encouragingly, prodding her on.
"How cute is Rob??" She mused, sounding like a hyper pre-teen. I laughed along with her, shaking my head.
"You two are definitely cute." I said, nodding, making my way back to the living room."
"Yeah, well I hear you and Chaz aren't so bad yourselves." She said, adding a wink. I simply shook my head, going back to my seat on the couch next to Ranger.
A few more hours passed by unnoticed. That is, until I got a glance at the clock, and remembered that tomorrow was Monday. I sighed, and tapped Chaz on the shoulder. His eyes instantly snapped to mine, and my thoughts started to blur. What was I thinking again? The dark flame of his eyes seemed to entrance me, making it difficult to use my brain at all. This wasn't so bad, though. Not at all. I could most definitely stay here for a good, long while. Maybe forever...
"Yes?" Chaz asked, snapping me out of my stupor.
"Its getting kind of late... and we have school tomorrow..." I said, suddenly fumbling over my words.
"Oh. No problem." He said, grinning. He pushed off the couch and extended his hand. I took it-- my skin still tingled at the touch-- allowing him to help me to my feet. Though, once I was standing, instead of dropping my hand, he twisted his fingers, slipping them through mine. My heart sighed, before quickly accelerating. "Hey, Leah," he said, getting her attention, "Aiden's got to get home so-"
"Alright." She breathed, turning back to Rob. "Guess I'm leaving." Rob started to say something when Chaz's hand suddenly left mine, as his arm slid around my shoulders.
"We'll be in the car." He announced. I whistled at Ranger, who instantly jumped up and followed us as we departed back outside. As we reached the car, I expected to reach out for my door handle, but it was soon replaced with air.
"You know-- I can open my own door." I informed him, climbing into the passenger seat. He simply nodded, letting Ranger in the backseat and closing my door for me. Before I had a hand on my seatbelt, I felt a small burst of air, as Chaz closed the drivers side door. How the...?
"I know." He stated, buckling his seatbelt, and starting the ignition. "But I did it anyway." He said, flashing me a killer grin. How can I argue with that? Exactly; I can't.