"Did Josh ever call you back?" Kitty asked as I shut the front door behind us. "No," I sighed while locking up. "And it's been five days since he sent me the bouquet. He hasn't even texted me." "Well, I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure he's still working through some things- cough- Margot- cough." "I know, I know…." "You two can talk about it when he gets back." "You're right," I shot her a pleasant smile. "So! How are we getting to the visa office? Should I drive or….?" Kitty's sentence was cut off by a loud series of honks. She looked to me confused and I smiled. "Um, Aerity?" "Yes?" "There's a jeep….. in front of our house." "Yes; yes, there is."
That's when Peter opened his car door and came out to fetch us. The look on Kitty's face went from shocked to ecstatic in three seconds. "Whoa! Look who it is; Mr. Hottie!" She exclaimed a little too loudly. "Hey, Covey," Peter greeted me before turning to her. "Little Covey." "Little?" "Kitty, do you remember Peter from the movies the other night?" I asked her. "How could I forget?" Her grin was much too happy. "Ready to go to the visa office?" "Wait? He's driving us?" Kitty blinked over to me perplexed. "That's right." "Yeah, I've never been to the visa office before; could be fun." "It's not," my sister's eyes rolled.
I wasn't impressed with how Kitty was acting thus far but I did notice her eyes grow in astonishment when Peter opened the jeep door and smiled at me. He shut my door once I was securely inside and joined me in the car, along with Kitty in the back seat. I could feel her eyes move constantly between Peter and me, which wasn't awkward at all, my eyes inwardly rolled. My younger sister just had this knack of saying and doing these things; such things that made me want to melt down and seep through the floor. Here's one such example. "Why are you two friends again?" She asked Peter, making me feel ill for the briefest moment. Ugh, Kitty! Why?!
Peter peered over at me and cracked a side grin. "Well, it just sorta happened," ok, I wouldn't argue with that; it was a half-truth. Kitty wasn't at all satisfied with this. "Yeah, ok. So you're just driving us downtown to the visa office because you "just sorta happened"? Uh huh, no; try again." "Kitty!" I gasped annoyedly. "Uh, well, uh I guess I'm her… boyfriend?" He looked to me for confirmation. "Boyfriend?!" Oh god, my eyes automatically winced shut. Here it comes…. "Wha-… how…. Aerity?!" "I can explain, Kitty. We're just together for a little while; just to test the waters, you could say." And Peter smiled in my direction; he genuinely smiled….. Kitty wasn't smiling however. She had this look of utter scandal on her face.
"Quit smiling at her like that," Kitty ordered Peter, making us both turn back to her in surprise. Oh, the glare she was shooting Peter…. "She's not available." "Kitty! What are you…?!" "May I remind you of the two dozen roses sitting all around the house? You're going to be going off to masters soon. It's time to start thinking of husband material, sis." "What is she talking about?" Peter asked me, sounding more confused than anything. "I'm talking about you being friend-zoned, mister," Kitty cut in and my eyes rolled; they couldn't help it. "Seriously, Aerity! Why would you go for Mr. Wickham when you can have Mr. Darcy?" "Who?" Peter sounded even more puzzled, if that were possible.
My lips let out a long sigh as I stared up at the ceiling of the jeep and gently shook my head. "It's not that simple, Kitty." "Sure, it is! Your Mr. Darcy is hot, and smart, and rich….." "Uh, I'm all the above," Peter's hand rose up, earning a grin from me. "Really?" Of course she wasn't convinced. "You're also rich?" "Well, yeah; kinda. We're….. comfortable." "Oh," for some reason, this made her re-think her position. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms defiantly. "Well, ok; I guess Aerity can have two Mr. Darcys for the summer. But just FYI, I'm still team Josh." "Kitty!" My sister's lack of filter left me absolutely flabbergasted. Peter's eyes rolled from her to me, as if seeking context. "It's a long story," I sighed.
"Ok," to my surprise, my fake boyfriend decided to play along. Despite everything, I think he still liked Kitty; it was pretty hard to not like Kitty, regardless of her… quirks. "Well, what do I have to do to get you onto team Peter?" This question took Kitty aback, who looked at us with wide alarmed eyes. They didn't last long though, as a clever smirk rolled over her lips. "Drive me and Aerity wherever we want to go," she demanded. "You can drive, Kitty," I countered. "Yeah but being chauffeured is more fun." "You got it," Peter grinned, a bit happily to my surprise. "Anything else?" "It might help if you watched Pride and Prejudice with us on our movie night." "Ok, I can do that," though he was looking at me this time. "Good," and she grinned for what felt like the first time since we got into the car. "Ok, you can stick around; for a little while."
Peter chuckled and pulled something out of his pocket. I watched as he reached over to set something onto my leg. It was a little folded piece of paper with my name written on it. "As per our agreement," he said before starting the car and pressing on the gas. While he drove and talked with Kitty, who was warming up to "Mr. Hottie" rather quickly, I unfolded the paper. It read: I know this may seem a bit weird at first; for me too. But that doesn't make me not want to do it; it just makes me want to stand beside you while we go on this journey- together. The most nature of smiles bloomed across my face; of which I'm sure Kitty saw but didn't address, for once. Huh, what a beautiful note….. My eyes instinctively rolled over to Peter, who was concentrating on the road. "I've never read poetry before, but this isn't bad. You have some real talent." Looks like I wasn't the only one with poetic inclinations, my grin widened brilliantly.