Aiden's P.O.V
It's Saturday evening, and I'm currently getting ready for this welcome back party that Sitara is having at her house. The whole gang is supposed to be there, including Clara which made me look foward to the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually starting to get along with her friends, but just the thought of Clara made me want to go to this thing.
God, what's happening to me? Clara has this strange effect on me, like everytime I think of her I always get this strange feeling that I can't describe. I try to brush it off, but it always creeps its way back in when she pops up in my head again.
For the party, I guess I'll wear some plain jeans, a black t-shirt and my brown leather jacket. I know, I don't seem to really wear anything else, but I always keep it simple unless there's some fancy event going on.
Before I left, I told my mom I was going and she warned me to be careful and not to do drugs or drink. Funny how she worries about me doing something I most likely wouldn't do, but she doesn't say anything about Nick's new boyfriend. Interesting.
When I left, I followed the location Sitara gave me to her place on my GPS. Once I got there, my jaw nearly dropped at the sight of her house, or should I say mansion. Wrench wasn't kidding when he said her family was rich. Even though there was a huge gate blocking my way to the entrance, I could see the building and it looked like the type of place a celebrity would live in.
I could see a fountain pouring out water from all directions and there were also trees and bushes surrounding the front of the mansion that further complimented its look. As I sat in front of the huge gate in front of me, I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't know if Sitara was going to open the gate or I'd run into some security guards.
I was about to call her until the gate started opening. I then heard my phone vibrate. I picked it up and saw that it was a message from Sitara.
"Sorry for not telling you about this ahead of time, lol. When you go in, on your right there's an underground entrance to the parking lot."
Jesus, she even has her own parking lot. Once I drove through the gate, I looked around and saw the underground entrance that Sitara was talking about. I honestly felt like I was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be, almost as if I was trespassing. It's probably because I've never been to a place like this before.
When I entered the parking area, I was even more stunned by a couple of expensive looking cars all parked together. No way in hell would I be able to afford those. One of them was a Lamborghini. A fucking Lamborghini. I'm not sure what her parents do for a living, but they are definitely making a fortune.
While driving through the underground parking lot, I passed a few cars that looked average and I assumed they were everyone else's. Once I found an empty spot I pulled in and parked before getting out and making my way over to that Lamborghini. I HAD to take a look at it. It had a silver color and it looked shiny and new. As I got closer to it, I began to admire it. I couldn't help but imagine myself taking this thing for a joyride. Of course, I wouldn't be able to afford it, but it was nice to think about.
I wasn't sure if I was allowed to touch it, but even if I wasn't, I was always a bit of a rule breaker. I reached my hand out and I was nearly about to touch it.
"I wouldn't do that."
I jumped at the sound of Sitara's voice coming from a distance behind me. I turned around and saw her leaning against a glass door. She chuckled upon seeing my startled expression.
"I know it looks nice, but my parents would have a fit if they found fingerprint marks on one of their cars."
I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly from getting caught. "Sorry about that."
"No worries. Come on, I'll give you a little tour around the house."
I nodded and followed her inside. She led me to an elevator that would take us up to the first floor. I was still taken aback by all this and as the elevator began to move up, I asked her, "Just out of curiosity, what do your parents do for a living?
She chuckled once more, amused by my amazed expressions. "Well...I don't really approve of what they do to get the money, but let's just say they work for a big corporation."
Upon hearing the beginning of her sentence, I turned to her with a cocked eyebrow. "What do you mean you don't approve of them? What exactly do they do?"
She sighs disappointedly, "They make big bucks on scamming and stealing from people who don't deserve it. My own fucking parents take advantage of others just to make millions off their "amazing" company and they get away with it everytime."
She sounded a little ticked off. Maybe this was a sensitive topic for her, but I wanted to push further. "Really? What the hell kind of company do they work for?"
The elevator stopped and the doors opened in front of us. As we stepped out, she replied, "A company called Blume. You ever heard of them?"
I thought back. The name did sound familiar. "I've seen their logo a few times."
"Well they built this thing called the ctOS which basically spies on people through their phones, computers, hell even kid's toys. Blume learns about their habits and finds ways to charge them more money."
"Damn. That sounds nasty."
"It is. Once I move out, I'm thinking of starting a movement to protest this type of thing or at least join a group that does. There's got to be more people aware of this," she says looking determined.
"I'm sure there are."
As we talked, she led me to the living room and we were greeted by Clara and Josh chatting in the living room. Her face lit up once she saw me.
"It's about time you came. Did you get lost?" She asked with a small chuckle.
"Kinda. I mean this place is just...wow. I would never be able to live in a place like this."
"Me neither. Sitara's parents make quite the living."
"Yeah..." I remembered what Sitara told me about her parents not too long ago, "They do."
"Not that they deserve it," Sitara chimed in. "Anyways, Josh could you get everyone else inside? We're gonna be playing a game of would you rather and then we'll do some karaoke."
Josh nods before heading outside.
"And I'm gonna go fetch the pizza from the kitchen," Sitara said before making her exit.
As I looked around the living room, admiring the paintings and furniture, I didn't realize that Clara was watching me with a grin on her face.
"You can't seem to get over this place, can you?"
Snapping out of my reverie, I turned my attention to her. "Well it's not everyday I get to go inside a mansion."
"Same, but I've been here so many times that I'm kinda used to it," she said before patting the spot beside her on the couch. "You can sit down you know."
"Well I know that," I rolled my eyes and smirked before sitting down beside her. "So how long have you known Sitara?
She crossed her legs and made herself comfortable before replying, "For about a year now. I remember when I first saw this place, I had the same reaction as you. Even though Sitara is not a big fan of this place, I certainly wouldn't mind staying in a place like this. For a week at least."
"Wait, you know about her parents and what they do?" I said almost in a hushed voice, not entirely sure if I should be talking about it.
"Oh not just her parents. Her whole family is made up of people who are brainwashed by luxury. Don't worry, Sitara makes it pretty clear. She's told us before. You don't have to whisper," she laughs a little.
"Oh, so it is true."
"Yeah. Believe me, I've met her parents before and they look at me and everyone else like we're tv dinners. They almost remind me of our principal, Dusan."
"Rich assholes seem to be the running theme here in San Francisco."
"You won't believe how expensive it is to actually live in this city. Let alone the entire state. We're lucky enough to even have roofs over our heads," she then frowns. "There's a lot of people here without homes as well."
Her expression became sadder as if this were a sensitive subject for her. I was about to say something until we heard chatter from a distance. I turned to see Marcus, Wrench, and Horatio heading towards the living room with towels around their shoulders along with Josh following close behind them.
"Alright guys!" I hear Sitara's voice erupting from behind us. She had three pizza boxes with paper plates on top in one hand and two huge bottles of soda in the other. She set them down on a table before making herself a plate of pizza. "Gather around. We're gonna be playing a game of Would You Rather."
Wrench obviously was the first to snag three slices of pizza before we all could even begin to grab our plates. Afterwards, Sitara explained that each of us would take turns asking each other Would You Rather questions.
Sitara gave the first question to Marcus which was if he'd rather be in the movie Jurrasic Park or The Walking Dead. Marcus, being the movie geek that he was, went into depth about them and he finally decided on Jurrasic Park since he'd never survive a zombie apocalypse. Then it was Marcus's turn to ask Wrench a question.
A smirk appeared on his face, "I got a good one for Wrench."
Wrench gave him a skeptical look, but he let him continue any way.
"Wrench, would you rather pet a dog, or-"
"Second option," he interrupted. "I don't care what it is, but I am sure as shit not petting a dog."
I grew confused. Does he hate dogs are something?
"I think you wanna hear what the second option is," Marcus said.
"Go ahead cause I'm still not going to touch a fucking dog even if my life depended on it."
I glanced around the room to see if anyone else was just as confused as I was, but they all thought this was normal for him.
Furrowing my brows I raised the question, "Why don't you want to pet a dog?"
The symbols on the eyes of his mask turned into giant O's, before his head shot towards me. "Because they're evil!"
I heard Clara sigh next to me. "He has a fear of animals," she explained. "Which is kinda sad since dogs are really sweet."
"Oh, you think they are, but that's how they trick you. They, along with all the other animals, are learning our behaviors and one day, they're gonna find a way to get above us on the food chain."
"You're just being paranoid,"Clara argued.
"That's where you're wrong, Clara. They'll all dominate us one day."
"Anyway," Marcus barged in the conversation, "Let me ask you the question again and I mean the whole question. No interruptions this time," he said with a chuckle.
"Fine."
"Okay. Would you rather pet a dog, OR, kiss Principal Dusan's ass?"
Wrench's grumpy expression turned into three straight dots. He was clearly unpleased. Upon seeing this, Marcus bursted out laughing along with everyone else in the room. I even grinned a litttle bit.
"Marcus!" Wrench whined. "Why did you have to give me a difficult one?"
"Just to see what your answer would be," he replied.
Wrench then crossed his arms, contemplating his decision. "Do I have to answer?"
"You gotta pick one, man."
He was quiet for a few seconds before letting out a low groan and bowing his head down in defeat. "How long do I have to pet the dog?"
"Uh, for a second."
"That's too long."
"Come on, Wrench."
"How about a half a second?" Wrench offered.
"A second," Marcus repeated.
Wrench grew quiet once more before quietly saying, "Fine. I'll...pet a dog. As long as I don't have to submit to that asshole."
"Yes! Finally! I got you to agree to pet a dog!" Marcus cheered.
"Wait, I don't actually have to pet a dog, do I?" Wrench said, looking afraid.
"You might..." he teased.
"Marcus..."
"Chill," Marcus said while laughing once more, "I'm just playin."
He sighed in relief and the game continued on. After the game was over, Sitara pulled out her karaoke machine and sang a few songs along with Marcus and Wrench, who honestly sounded terrible.
Afterwards, everyone else wanted to go out to the pool. If I would have known that she had a pool, which I probably should have, I would have brought my bathing suit. Sitara took notice of me being the only one left out and she approached me, wearing her purple two piece bathing suit.
"Did you want to go swimming?"
"Well...it's a nice looking pool, but I didn't bring a swimsuit."
"My brother has a pair of swimming trunks you can wear," she offered. "Don't worry, I'm sure he wouldn't mind it. He's not even here anyway. Come on, I'll take you to his room."
Before I could even say anything, she gestured me to follow her, so I did. She lead me to what I assumed to be her brother's room, which looked just as glorious as the rest of the mansion. Sitara then rummaged through his closet and pulled out a pair of black swimming trunks.
"Here," she hands them to me, "I'll leave you alone to get changed."
She then walked out, leaving me standing kind of awkwardly alone with her brother's bathing suit. Guess I'd better get changed then. After putting the bathing suit on, I headed outside and the first thing I was greeted to was Wrench in a speedo. Definitely not a pleasant sight.
"Watch out guys, I'm gonna dive!" Wrench announced as he headed for the deep end. Almost instinctively, everybody moved away.
"I don't think you should do that," Sitara, who was in the jacuzzi, said from a distance. "You can't even dive."
"Watch me," he glared at her before making a run for the pool. He stuck his arms out in front of him in an attempt to dive, but when he jumped, he didn't curve his back far enough and he ended up landing flat on his stomach instead.
Ouch.
Yeah, I wasn't about to get in the pool with Wrench. I decided to stay in the jacuzzi for most of the time and once Wrench took a break, that's when I took the chance to get in the pool. Eventually I dried myself off with a towel and went back inside. I was instantly greeted to the bone chilling coldness of the air conditioning and I decided to go upstairs and change.
As I headed up there, something caught my eye. It looked to be a balcony that had a view of the backyard, which was where the pool was. I headed towards the glass door, sliding it sideways, I stepped outside towards the balcony and once I was close to the railing, I soon realized that it wasn't just a view of the backyard I was seeing, there was a whole city view.
As if this place couldn't amaze me enough, I stood, admiring the city lights and buildings along with the sound of cars passing by. I didn't even notice someone was behind me until I heard the glass door slide shut. I jumped a little at the sudden noise and I turn to see Clara wearing a white bathing suit coverup, which was see through. I could tell she was wearing the same bikini she wore when we ran into each other at the beach. Her raven black hair was slightly curled from the water.
"Sorry for startling you," she apologized, "I just figured you wanted some company."
"It's fine. I just didn't expect anyone else to come out here."
I watched her as she made her way beside me. Once she got close enough, she leaned against the railing and gazed down below.
"This definitely is a nice view from up here," she then turned to me, "You enjoying yourself?"
"For the most part, yeah," I respond, "Well minus Wrench in a speedo."
Her face scrunched up as if she was cringing at the thought, "I feel you." She then released a light chuckle before looking back down where everyone else was. After a few seconds of silence, I gradually leaned back against a wall and instead of looking down at the pool area like she was, I was watching her.
Well to be more exact, I was admiring her. Her ocean blue eyes definitely popped out at night and she wasn't wearing any makeup, which made sense considering the fact that she was swimming earlier. My eyes then trailed down to her lips, which had started moving, but I didn't comprehend all of what she was saying due to me being distracted.
She said something along the lines of, "Marcus really likes Sitara," "Usually good with women, but doesn't want to ruin his friendship with Sitara," and, "Just go for it."
When she said the last sentence, I interpreted it as something completely different than what she actually meant, as if she was telling me to go for it and I did. I really did.
"Hello?"
I snapped out of whatever daydream I was in to see Clara with a confused expression.
"Oh, uh...what?" I said stupidly knowing all too well I had no idea what she said before.
"You're not even listening. Are you?" She said before shaking her head. "I guess it's typical. You guys are usually not into love and romance. I must be boring you."
"Well..."
"It's okay," she smiled. "I'll change the subject."
After she said that, she went silent for a few seconds appearing to be thinking about a new topic. When she failed to do so, she sighed. "Sorry if I'm making this awkward. You were probably fine out here without me anyways."
"No, no," I say, not wanting her to leave if she thought of doing so. "I like your company."
"Oh...okay good," she said appearing to be mentally sighing in relief. "Well, what do you dream of doing in the future?"
I was often asked that question a lot by my mom and my teachers, but I never really thought about what I wanted to do after school was over. Since I didn't really have an answer for her I replied, "I don't know. I never thought about it really."
"Yeah, school doesn't really seem to help with that," she then rested her arms on the railing and took a glance at the city view, "I was thinking of maybe being a tattoo artist, or a model. I haven't decided on the two."
"No doubt, you'd make it into the modeling industry. That's for sure," I say, not really realizing that I basically just complimented her.
She turned to me with her eyebrows raised slightly and a small blush appeared on her cheeks. After a moment, a small grin formed on her lips. She then turned her whole body towards me before speaking, "Yeah, maybe."
I crossed my arms, "You mean definitely?"
"Hm," she mirrored me by folding her arms as well, "You're just full of compliments tonight, aren't you?" She says with a slight smirk growing on her lips.
"Well I say it because it's true. You'd definitely be able to do modeling if you wanted," I stated.
She seemed to be allured to my confidence. For a moment, I saw a spark in her eyes, something I couldn't recognize.
"Noone's really told me that before," she said while taking a step towards me.
I grew bemused, "Really?"
"Yeah, I mean I've never spoken about modeling really because I've always admired tattoos more, but...I'm quite flattered that you think that," she smiles before taking a few more steps towards me until we were just inches apart. My heart was racing at this point.
"Well...um...," I had trouble finding my words, "I'm...glad you think so."
Her smile widens, "You're too cute."
I wasn't sure how to take her compliment, but before I could react, she began to lean close towards me. Not even less than a second later, her lips were on mine. I was taken aback at first, but I quickly closed my eyes and began to kiss her back. Clara softly places her hand on my cheek as she deepened the kiss while I wrapped my arms around her lower back.
We began to kiss each other more passionately as she pressed me further into the wall I was leaned against. I felt her tongue brush against my lower lip almost as if she were asking permission to enter which I happily complied. I heard her moan beneath her lips and I could feel myself growing harder by the minute.
As for what felt like minutes passed, we were all over each other. Her hands started to slowly make their way down my bare chest and mine were preoccupied with pulling her bathing suit cover upwards.
"Woah," we hear a sudden voice as we immediately pull away from each other and turn to see Sitara with her jaw dropped to the floor.
Uh, oh! Looks like they got caught! What will happen next? Stay tuned to find out!