Saved by the Bell: A New Generation

Chapter Eleven

Sweep mascara to middle of lashes, hold to set curl...count to...three...

Friday night as she got ready for the concert she was going to, Ariana found herself reciting the directions to applying mascara to her eyelashes. She was never one to go into make-up. Sure, she owned the necessary supplies of make-up but that's all it ever was for Ariana. She didn't go in too much to wear a whole lot of make-up because she didn't need to-as she was often told by her friends and mother.

She was fortunate enough to behold a naturally healthy glow and clear complexion to her skin that allowed her to go without wearing excessive amounts of make-up. She often found her friends jealous of her natural good looks whereas they'd go all out applying make-up to have the naturally shimmering look Ariana showed every day.

One thing, Ariana was almost certain of was that she was sure her father was thrilled to know that she never wore half as much make-up as her friends did. He was always too exceedingly vigilant and wary of how fast his only daughter was growing up beyond his eyes. Ariana was sure that if he had his chance, he'd have her stay his little girl forever where she only recognized boys as having 'boy' disease, played with dolls and wore frilly party dresses.

As a little girl, it was the only time she'd be caught dead wearing a frilly party dress courtesy of her mother's dress sense and once Ariana knew of the term 'fashion trend,' the party dresses soon ceased to exist-much to the consternation of both her parents who began to grasp the concept that their little girl was developing her own form of individuality.

Somehow she had to have her father persuaded to allow her to leave home tonight wearing her mini sliver sequined dress teamed with black leggings. He hated to see his daughter wearing something that showed off her figure in a sexy way. It was something he didn't want to have to think about to know that the little girl who loved to play with dolls and was the perfect image of purity was now finding attention from the boys around her at school.

There was bang on the bathroom door followed by Jackson's tiny voice, shrilling with enthusiasm.

"Mummy told me to come get you. Your friends are here."

"OK. Tell mummy that I'll be down in a second," she responded to her little brother through the door and at her decree, she heard the sound of his little feet pitter-pattering away.

She quickly finished applying a little of make-up, gathered her things together and then rushed back into her bedroom for one more look in her full length mirror. She wanted to get downstairs to her new friends as quick as she could to risk having her father embarrass her with his interrogation questions to maintain his knowledge of knowing who she was friends with.

But she also wanted to make sure that she looked good enough to go out. This was her first outing with people who could possibly be her social circle of friends. It was an essential time for her-she couldn't dress dowdy.

Not bad, she thought as she examined her appearance in the mirror. Teamed with her sequined mini dress and black leggings, she wore heeled, black ankle boots and swept her luscious chocolate hair over her shoulders to let it fall into place. She knew that her hair constantly worked well when she let it fall down her back and around her shoulders.

Once she was completely satisfied with her look, Ariana grabbed her black patent purse containing her cell phone, extra cash and a wad of clear gloss for a late touch up to her lips and walked out of her room without looking back.

Heading downstairs, she could overhear her dad making an embarrassment to her as he grilled her friends with the usual parental questions.

Oh, God, she thought. He's going to embarrass me and they'll never want to be my friend. We need to get out of here NOW!

Ariana walked into the living room where Chase, Sierra, and Chase's friends Luke and Tristan were waiting with her parents and brother.

"OK, I am ready to go," she announced, hoping to steer away from the imminent banter.

Chase, Luke and Sierra all gave eye contact to Ariana while Ariana stood off to the side and blushed slightly as Sierra quickly glanced to Chase and saw him take note of Ariana's every curve in her outfit, trying to make it as unnoticeable as possible.

Before he could interrogate any other questions, Kelly stepped in, perceiving Ariana's embarrassment and assisted her daughter. She knew what it was like to be strung in the middle of your father and boy you like which she coincidently picked up on. It was obvious to Kelly that this boy possibly had a thing for her daughter and she was particularly thankful for the fact that her husband hadn't picked up on the sighting then again he always tried to play a blind eye to most of Ariana's boy friends-when he could anyway.

She gave eye contact to Ariana. "You look great," she whispered to her daughter who smiled in return with a hushed thank you.

"Have fun," Kelly said, hugging her daughter. "But play it safe and be careful."

"Concerts can be dangerous," Zack input with caution to Ariana's new found friends. He was a teenage boy once and if these kids were anything like he was when he was their age, he had a right to be concerned for Ariana's wellbeing.

Ariana rolled her eyes. "I know dad."

"Yeah, my parents gave me the 'safety lecture' too. I'm sure we've all been told to be careful," Sierra spoke up, looking to Chase to say something too to assure Ariana's parents they were cool. After all, this concert was all his doing. The least he could do was let her parents know she'd be safe with them.

"We'll be good Mr. Morris. I've got too much riding on this concert to misbehave," Chase concealed with a lie. Okay, so he didn't have anything riding on the concert that he'd risk losing except maybe for football if his father wasn't always too busy work wise but he'd say anything to have Ariana's parents agree to allow her to go out with him-well as a group of six to be concise.

"Well, we've raised you and love you so we only want to make sure you're going to be safe," Kelly replied.

"We were-"

"Young once too," Ariana finished Zack's sentence. He was far too easy to read his mind. He read the same speech to Ariana every time she went out with friends. "I know. I get it and don't worry. I'll be fine."

She hugged her mother and moved towards her dad, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. "Bye," she said before she and her friends headed out of the room to the door.

"Shotgun!" Luke called, leading the way out the door to head to Chase's SUV.

Sierra opened the rear door. "Ariana, your parents are really nice. And oh my god, you and your mum are so alike. It's unbelievable!"

"Oh, you think? I think they're too overly protective of me," Ariana screwed up her nose.

"No, they're really cool. At least you know they only want what's best for you," Chase said. "I wish I had that with my dad."

Chase rounded the car to the drivers' side. Ariana was about to question the topic of his dad when Sierra spoke to her leaving Chase to get into the car.

"Your little brother is too cute for words."

"Most. Of. The. Time." Ariana unleashed, getting into the car and closing the door.

Luke stepped out of the car and stretched his arms over his head. "Nice parking Lanyard," he said.

"Thanks," Chase said, patting the hood of the black SUV. "I knew there had to be a space up here somewhere. I have to go pick up the tickets from the reservation window. Does anyone know where that is?"

Ariana looked around at her friends' blank faces. Surely, they knew where the place was. They had been living here longer than she had and she knew more of her surroundings than they did.

She hesitated for a split second before answering. "I do," she said. Chase's eyes flicked at her. "My dad gets tickets for the basketball games from his company sometimes. I went to a game with my family during the summer..." They were the best and only plans I had considering I knew no one. "...That's where you pick them up from."

"Great!" Sierra said. "You can show Chase where it is while Luke buys me some food."

"Hey! Who said I was going to buy you food. You've got money," Luke protested, holding up his hands in justification.

"Aw, but you know you want to...because you can't resist me," Sierra playfully batted her eyelashes at him. "Besides, you should know how petulant I can be if I'm living on an empty stomach."

"So it looks like I'm buying," Luke gave in without interest. "Anyone else want anything?"

"There's a vending machine over there," Tristan said. "I could use some grub."

Ariana looked over to Chase. She was sure he wouldn't want her company since he hadn't spoken two words to her during the entire car ride here. Was he avoiding her because of the whole boyfriend fiasco?

"So let's go," he said.

"Okay," Ariana glanced at Claire who shrugged. "We'll be right back."

"C'mon, Claire," Tristan said, crooking an arm around her neck. "Luke will buy you something really unhealthy." Luke shot him a scathed look. "Dude, you offered."

Chase started walking so Ariana fell into step with him.

"I'm so psyched for this," he said suddenly. Ariana was shocked. She had expected the same silent treatment he had given her in the car.

"Yeah, me too-believe it or not but this is actually my first concert," Ariana admitted.

Chase looked at her with wide eyes like he was surprised. "What, your boyfriend never took you to a concert? I find that hard to believe."

So he brought up the boyfriend word again. Didn't he hear a word she had said to him yesterday? "Why?" she asked. "Because I had a boyfriend and you'd think he'd take time out of his egotistic life to take his girlfriend somewhere?"

Conner stared at her with a confused expression.

Ariana laughed it off. "No, actually, I wasn't allowed to go to any concert unless I attended them with my parents. Up until now, they considered me too young to go alone with friends. I know they love me and they're just trying to look out for me but sometimes it had an impact on my social-"

"Watch it!"

Ariana tripped over a curb and Chase reached out to steady her. He grabbed both her elbows. Ariana gripped back reflexively. "I'm such a klutz."

Chase released her. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, straightening her dress.

"C'mon," Chase replied. "I think I see the window." He strolled ahead of Ariana and then glanced back to her. "So, your boyfriend-he was a jerk."

"Pardon?" Ariana was taken by surprise.

"Your boyfriend," Chase repeated. "You said he never bothered to take you anywhere because he was too wound up in his own. He's a jerk. Was that why the two of you broke up?"

"Because he's a jerk?" Ariana asked, a small laugh emerging from Chase. "No, we broke up because it'd be too hard to maintain a relationship when we're in two different places and so young. It'd be alright if we were older but I'm still in high school. I don't think neither of us wants to be tied down to a long distance relationship. It was a mutual thing."

"Being, your first concert, I'm glad I'm able to commentate it with you," he smirked.

Ariana blushed from his grateful maneuver when they joined the line. Did he really mean that? Was he happy to take part in her first concert experience alongside her? Instead of smirking at her, Chase began to talk about the bands that were playing tonight. She'd never heard so many words come out of his mouth in one breath. She almost pinched herself to see if she was having some bizarre dream.

"Chase, can I ask you a question?" Ariana asked as the line inched forward.

His eyes clouded fleetingly. "What?"

"What...what was up with that comment you made back at my place?"

"What comment?" Conner asked, looked fazed. "I made many comments-to you and to your parents."

"No...the comment...about your dad...and how you wished your dad was like mine. What was that about?"

Chase looked away. "It was nothing...nothing you need to worry about anyway."

"Okay," Ariana wrapped her arms around her waist. "It's just sounded like you meant something...well I picked up on it."

"God! What is with you?" Chase's eyes flashed. "Why do you have to make everything a big issue?"

"I'm sorry," Ariana said. "But I was only trying to help. I like helping people. You don't need to jump down my throat."

They reached the window and Chase gave his name. "I don't want your help," he said calmly. The man behind the window slid the tickets across the counter. Chase picked them up and shoved them into his jeans pocket. "Let's just go back and find everybody."

Ariana nodded and followed Chase as he wove through the crowd.

So much for having fun! If there was any chance of her getting to know Chase better, there was also a possibility she had just been given a one way ticket to no where.