I woke up and looked around my room. Me and Shelton were in my bed snuggled together at the top, since at the foot of my bed was Katie and Lamar, snuggled together. They were so cute. Matt and Christy, for some reason, were in my room too, on the floor next to my bed. Hardy and Amy were sitting against the wall, Amy's head in he boyfriend's lap, Hardy with his arm around her. Jeff and Nikki sere in my big chair, Kristin and Gene-o were under my desk, Rachael and her Italian Stallion were in front of my bathroom door, Crystal and Marco were on my beanbag chair, and Shane and Tess were in front of my closet. They all were covered with blankets, probably my parents and uncle's doing. I looked at the clock, and saw that it was almost 2 in the afternoon. I wasn't surprised, seeing how we didn't go to sleep until about 5 or 6 am; maybe even later than that.
"Man, I wish I could wake up like this everyday," I heard a voice say. I rolled over to look at Shelton, who had woken up.
"What do you mean?" I said after I kissed him good morning.
"Waking up next to you everyday." He said, kissing me again. He rolled on top of me and we were kissing. It would have lasted longer, but somebody kicked Lamar in the head and woke him up.
"Hey! If you two are going to do hat, at least wait until we are gone and not sharing a bed." Lamar grumbled. I laughed than hit him with a pillow.
"No one was going that far, Mar-Mar." I said, getting up to go to the bathroom. I crept over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts, since all I sleep in is a tank top and boxers.
I climbed over everybody, and walked out into the hall. I heard voices in the kitchen, and walked in. Sitting around the table were my parents, Uncle Randy and Aunt Beautifull, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Danny, Uncle Dave and, and Aunt Stacy, Uncle Paul and Aunt Stephanie, and Uncle Chris and Aunt Trish.
"Well, look who's finally awake!" Uncle Chris said, noticing me in the kitchen.
"Morning," I said, yawning. I walked over to the fridge and got a glass of Apple juice.
"How'd you sleep, princess?" Uncle Paul said, kissing me on the forehead.
"Good," I said with a far away look in her eyes.
"Morning everyone!" Katie said, walking in the kitchen hand in hand with a boxer-clad Lamar, who just waved; he wasn't much of a morning person, even if it was 2:00 in the afternoon.
"Hey Kit Kat, I'm not even going to ask," my dad said, noticing that she was holding Lamar's hand.
"Hi, good morning, blah, blah, blah, I'm hungry, so let's eat" was Matt's greeting as he came in, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.
"You pig," Christy giggled, accepting the orange juice I passed to her. I really liked Christy. She was a lot of fun to hang with.
"Hey, hey, why don't I smell food? Any other time we stay over, we smell food when we wake up!" Eugene joked, he also in nothing but boxers, but also wearing Kristin on his back.
"This ain't the holiday inn, so unless you paying, or the last name's Cena, food should not be expected," Matt said, laughing.
"Now come on Cena, you know I'm always hungry! How you gonna play a brother like that?" Came Shelton's voice down the stairs. He entered the kitchen dressed like all of the guys, a pair of boxers and nothing more. He came over to me, and kissed my forehead, then grabbed the half-drank glass of apple juice in my hand.
"Hey! That's mine you ass." I said, laughing and trying to get it back from him.
"Ariel, what have I told you about your language?" Uncle Dave said, laughing because I had just slapped Shelton in the back of his head.
"Sorry uncle Davie." I said, kissing his cheek.
"Uncle Davie?" my dad said, laughing along with Jeff, Matt, Hardy, Shane, Shelton, Uncle Paul, Uncle Randy, and Uncle Wayne.
"Hold it, I know you're not laughing, Randinator!" Uncle Wayne said, pushing Uncle Randy playfully.
"What about you, Waynie-bear?" my dad said, earning a slap in the head from my mom and Uncle Wayne at the same time.
"Oh yeah, Uncle Johnny?" I said, kissing my dad on the cheek and laughing with the others.
"Uncle Johnny?" everyone said, looking at my dad, laughing. That was the first time anyone in the business had heard of him being called 'Johnny' by anyone.
"Johnny? Dude, that is so lame. Ari, I thought your dad was cool!" Lamar said, earning a slap from Katie who was sitting on his lap. The door bell rang, and I got up to answer it.
I opened the door, and there was a woman at the door. She was a very pretty Latina woman, and she had piercing green eyes, just like mine. Her smile was identical to Matt's crooked one, and she looked really familiar. It was my mom.
"DAD!" I screamed, running from the door. "DADDY!" I collapsed on the stairs; I pulled my knees close, and buried my face in my arms. I wasn't crying, but I was close to it. I felt strong arms come around me, and I looked up. Shelton was hugging me. I pulled him closer, and just held on. Then I got up, went into my room, put on some tennis shoes and taped up my wrists and knuckles. When I came down, I saw Christy hugging Matt, who was close to tears too. I went to my brother and I hugged him. I looked to the door and she was still there, talking to my dad and mom. I walked to the door, holding Matt's hand.
"Why are you here? We were perfectly happy without you here, and we'll be fine once you leave." I said softly, my voice flat, emotionless. "After what you did to us, how can you expect us to even want to see you?"
"I remember the day you nearly killed me. I was TEN YEARS OLD! You took a Louisville Slugger to the back of my head 34 times. I still have scars, and I almost died Consuelo. DIED! Why did you hit us like that? Do you know Ari still has nightmares about what happened to her in the orphanage? Do you know I still have nightmares about it? What kind of mother were you? NONE, because when we needed you, you were too strung out on crack to do anything to help us." Matt screamed, near tears. He ran his hands through his short hair, and turned his back on her. He walked back into the house and down into the gym. I heard 3 Days Grace start to play, and I knew I had to wait to hit the bag.
"Ariel, please give me a chance, I just want a chance to get to know you." She said, her eyes pleading.
"Well, here's you chance. My name is Ariel Nicole Cena. I'm 16, and I'm Senior Class president at Oakland Catholic High for Girls. I have naturally blondish-brown hair, but I dyed it black. I want to be a Wrestler like my dad, uncles, friends and brother, and when I graduate, I have a contract at Ohio Valley Wrestling waiting for me. My boyfriend's name is Shelton Benjamin, and he's a wrestler in the WWE and Matt's tag tame partner. I was adopted when I was six, and I've been happy ever since. My parents' names are John Anthony Felix Cena and Antoinette Crystal Cena. They've been married for ten years, and I was the flower girl at their wedding. I never needed you, and I never will. Any questions?" I said, crossing my arms in front of me. I didn't have to look up to know that my dad was smirking his crooked smile at me.
The woman who gave birth to me spilled into some sob story about how she's been clean for six years, and all this other hoo hah, but I wasn't listening to her, I was listening for the song to go off, so I could attack the bag once Matt got done.
"All I'm asking is for you to talk to me. I'm your mother, I deserve that much." She said, crying again. That's when my mom exploded.
"What the hell kind of mother were you? All of the bruises, scars, cuts, all of those sores that I healed and cleaned off of Matt's back; you put them there, and I helped them go away. Ari was RAPED, okay, RAPED because you beat the shit out of her and she ended up in a home where that bastard took advantage of her. Where were you during her psychiatrist sessions? Where were you when she was having nightmares and needed someone to tuck her in at night? Where were you when she was too afraid to leave her brother's side for more than a minute? Where were you when she was seven went to school being called half-breed, and spick and wanted to stay home? Where were you when she turned nine and she broke her wrist rollerblading? Where were you when she turned twelve and decided to follow in her dad's footsteps and become a Wrestler? You weren't there. I WAS! You're not their mother, I am. Now get off of my doorstep." My mom closed the door, and went into her room.
I went down to the gym and sat in the ring, waiting for Matt to finish. When he did, I got up and walked over to him. I looked at his hands, and they were raw and red. He's busted his knuckles open a bit, but it wasn't enough to need to get stitches. He kissed my forehead and hugged me tight, and then he walked upstairs. I heard people talking, and I tuned them out. I turned on a Good Charlotte CD, and turned it all the way up.
This world
This
world is cold
But you don't
You don't have to go
You're
feeling sad, you're feeling lonely, and no one seems to care
Your
mother's gone and your father hits you
This pain you cannot
bear
But we all bleed the same way as you do
And we all
have the same things to go through
Everyone was down stairs looking at me, but I didn't notice. I was punching and kicking and screaming. I was letting the music flow through me, and just taking my anger out on the bag.
Hold on if you feel
like letting go
Hold on it gets better than you know
Your
days
You say they're way too long
And your nights
You can't
sleep at all
Hold on
And you're not sure what you're waiting
for, but you don't want to no more
And you're not sure what
you're looking for, but you don't want to no more
But we all
bleed the same way as you do
And we all have the same things to go
through
Hold on if you feel like letting go
Hold on it gets
better than you know
Don't stop looking, you're one step
closer
Don't stop searching, it's not over
Hold on
What
are you looking for?
What are you waiting for?
Do you know what
you're doing to me?
Go ahead...What are you waiting for?
I was going to talk to Shelton about what was going to happen to us when I hit OVW...what was going to happen to us?
Hold on if you
feel like letting go
Hold on it gets better than you know
Don't
stop looking, you're one step closer
Don't stop searching, it's
not over
Hold on if you feel like letting go
Hold on it gets
better than you know
Hold on
As the song went off, I sat on the ground and un-wrapped my wrists. Dad came over and started to help me un-wrap them. Mom was standing by with the peroxide to clean my knuckles because, like always, I had busted my knuckles. Once I was cleaned up, Shelton, who was now in a pair of baggy jean shorts and a t-shirt, walked over and pulled me into a hug. All of my friends were staring. They didn't know about my past. Only Shelton knew, and he didn't even know the whole story. Well, now they knew why I was such a head case.
"You okay?" he said, kissing me on my cheek.
"Yeah, but I need to talk to you. It's nothing big; I'm just a little worried about some things." I said into his chest. He led me out by the pool, and we sat down with our feet in the water.
"What's wrong Ari?" he said, putting his arms around me.
"I mean, what's going to happen to us when I go to OVW in a couple of months? You're going to be on tour with WWE, and I'm gonna be on the OVW circuit..."
"And you're scared we won't be together, right?" he said. I nodded, and he pulled me into a hug. "I was thinking you were worried about that. Listen to me Ari. I love you. So much, and nothing is going to change that. We'll do things the same way we do it when it's just me on the road; we'll talk on the phone every night, and we'll see each other when we can." He pulled me into a hug and kissed me. I kissed him back. It was one of those kisses where your mind goes blank and you don't notice anything around you. I was really into the kiss, until someone, namely my dad, pushed us into the pool. I stood up, fuming.
"DAD! I'm gonna kill you!" I said, climbing out of the pool. I was chasing him around the gym when he rolled in the ring. I fallowed him in, and we ended up locking up and in a fierce match. Amy jumped in, and hit a hurricania on my dad, which caused Uncle Dave to jump in and he hit me with a rather soft power bomb. Pretty soon, we all were in the ring having a good time. Then the doorbell rang, and Matt went to get it. Two minutes later, he came back downstairs with a grim look on his face. Right behind him was Katie's mom. My dad, who was about to hit me with an F5, set me down and walked up to his sister. Katie, who was sitting on Lamar's lap, crossed her arms and leaned back into Lamar.
"Johanna, what are you doing here? We've had enough drama around here for today, could you possibly come back later, maybe like tomorrow?" he said, scratching his head.
"I want my daughter home Jonathan. I don't know what you all are doing down here..." she looked around. Matt and Shelton were still locking up; Jeff and Shane were lifting weights along with Uncle Dave, Paul, Chris, Randy, and Alec. The girls and I were standing behind Dad, pretending to talk, but really listening to their conversation. Katie and Lamar walked by the pool and they were sitting on the edge like Shelton and I were.
"Oh my god...this is indecent, Jonathan. These girls are practically naked, and they should respect themselves a little more. Especially those two..." she said, pointing at Amy and me. "I've seen that one on television, parading herself around with her underwear showing like a little wore..." Amy's face dropped, and I had to hold her back. "And you..." she rounded on me. "You are a bad influence. I knew it from the start. Look at yourself! You have on next to nothing!" I was wearing a tank top and some short-shorts, my pajamas...with all of the drama; I hadn't had a chance to get dressed. "If you're going to be a Cena, it's time you started acting like one! You are a disgrace to this family! You and your brother; you want to be a member of this family?"
I nodded. I wanted nothing more than to be accepted by the family.
"Then prove it. Every member of the Cena family has been involved with Catillion, the debutante ball. You're a Cena; you must participate in the ball. It's in three weeks. I expect you to be there...and you must find yourself a White Knight to escort you into the ball. It is a tradition. Katie's boyfriend Trent is her escort. Hopefully, you're pretty enough to find someone willing to stoop to your level and escort someone like you." She snorted.
"Johanna, there's no WAY my daughter's being a debutante. I know my daughter. She hates dresses. She doesn't waltz, her boyfriend doesn't waltz, none of her friends waltz. Hell, I don't even waltz. She's unique, just like all of her friends. I hated the Catillion, so I know Ari will. We're too much alike. You remember our Catillion, when I escorted Sydney Parker, I was miserable. No way, I'm not putting my child through that torture." My dad said, putting his arm around my shoulder. I smiled at him, laying my head into his chest, since I was too short to put it on his shoulder.
"And mother, Trent is not my boyfriend. He never was; you just always thought that we were supposed to be together and what not...I don't even like Trent, not even a little bit. YOU always said he was. I have a boyfriend. He's my White Knight for Catillion." Katie said, pointing to Mar-Mar. My mouth dropped. I didn't know they were officially a couple.
"Damn Mar, I didn't know that! You move fast!" I said, laughing at my best friend. He flipped me off, and kissed Katie on the cheek.
"Kathryn Marie Cena! How could you? I gave you everything, put food on the table and clothes on your back, and this is hour you repay me? By becoming a god- forsaking-"
"You finish that sentence, I'll fucking slap you. I've never hit a woman in my life, but I'm coming real close." My dad interrupted her
"I'll see that that little darkie is not my daughter's escort when she debuts into society if it's the last thing I ever do..."
"Honestly mother, give it a rest! I wouldn't even be going to Catillion if you wouldn't have put the down payment on my dress when I was in the fourth grade. I don't want to live your life. I want to be me, NOT YOU! Can't you see that? West Newberry isn't but a thirty minute ride from Boston, why can't you stop being bitch, and get over the fact that the world is changing and I'm dating a black guy? Honestly, grow up." With that, Katie walked out of the room, Lamar not far behind. For his dark caramel complexion, he was red with anger.
"Now see what you've done? You've all turned my daughter against me. What happened to you Jonathan? We used to be so close. We used to be like your children, friends. We used to do everything together...it was when you started to hang with those barbarians that worked at the country club..."
"Hey, I was one of those 'barbarians'" Uncle Dave said, balling his fists.
"Baby sis, maybe it's best if you just left...I'll make sure Kit Kat gets home alright, okay?" my dad said, his voice emotionless.
"Fine, but Katie, you have practice for Catillion tomorrow at the country club at two." She said, walking up the stairs.
"But I don't want to go to Catillion," Katie whispered once her mom left. Lamar hugged her, and they went off to the game room and were playing pool with Hardy and Amy. I smirked at how cute they were, and went upstairs to change my clothes.
Well, the rest of the two days off went off without a hitch. The guys and dad were going to Newark New Jersey tonight for Smackdown. I was fine with Shelton, and before he got on the plane, he gave me what he called a promise ring, saying that we'd be together forever, right in front of my parents! Then he told me he loved me, and kissed me on both cheeks. I walked back to the car with a goofy grin on my face. I smiled to myself because I'd convinced Mar-Mar to drive my cousin home. Aunt Johanna was gonna be pissed when she saw his black '64 Chevy Impala pull up in front of the house blasting Trick Daddy out of the radio.
I got home, and I started training...I only had three months until my dark match, and I wanted to be ready.
