Page 14 of I Shouldn't Feel This Way

I took a deep breath and felt a little guilty for lying to him as I wrote,

Thanks. I’ll be ok though.

Ten seconds later:

I love you, angel.

I took a moment to read his last text over and over, feeling this surge of happiness before I texted him back with a line of X’s and O’s.

Our conversation ended, and my mom eventually came in my room (without knocking, as usual).

“You left the table so abruptly, but you still have dishes to wash. Come on, get up,” she nagged. It seriously sucked being a house slave.

****

I stepped out of the double doors of my high school, walking beside my best friends, Jade and Ally. It was a Thursday afternoon and we were heading out to lunch. I went to a public school, which meant that uniforms weren’t mandatory and the quality of my education was generally poor.

“You are so lucky, Aria. If I were you, I’d be guilt-tripping my dad until he handed over the credit cards.”

I laughed. “I’m still getting to know him, Jade.”

“Hey, I’m just saying that he’s got a lot of making up to do.”

We strolled off the school premises and stopped on the sidewalk, waiting for Ally to light a cigarette. I didn’t smoke and neither did Jade.

“So, the usual place, ladies?” asked Ally.

I looked at her and nodded. I still wasn’t used to her pixie cut, or the pink streaks in her blonde hair. Ever since we were little Ally always had long locks, like Goldilocks. Now she was rocking a punk hairdo and piercings but it didn’t take away from her beauty. Jade was mixed race. Her mother was of Cuban descent and her father was half Puerto Rican and African American. She looked gorgeously exotic and I was envious of her dark skin and hazel eyes. There were times when I didn’t want to be me anymore. If I could have body switched with anyone, I would have chosen Jade in a heartbeat.

The three of us refused to eat the oily fried crap that was offered at our cafeteria, which explained why we usually went to Subway for lunch. I was walking in between my friends when we heard loud music blasting down the street.

Jade stopped and turned around. “Damn,definitelynice whip—probably some rich kid driving Daddy’s wheels.”

I looked in her direction and saw a black BMW pull up to the curb next to us. The windows were tinted, so I couldn’t see who was inside. All I heard was loud dubstep playing from the car stereo. The mysterious driver turned down the music, and we watched in curiosity as the passenger window slowly slid down. My jaw dropped when I saw who was sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Noah …”

My girlfriends glanced at me, and then they leaned downward to get a better look at the handsome man.

“Are you Aria’s dad?” Ally asked, stomping out her cigarette.

“Yes, I am.” He put the car in park, stepped out, and walked around the vehicle so that he was standing on the sidewalk with us. I watched him extend his right hand and properly present himself to my friends. “Noah Hunter”—he smiled—“Pleased to meet you.”

I was too shell-shocked to even introduce them. But Jade and Ally were more than capable of doing that themselves. The girls clearly had stars in their eyes, swooning over him. I so needed to snap out of it.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, adjusting my schoolbag over my shoulder.

“Well, after what you told me last night, I thought I’d pick you up for lunch and cheer you up. But I guess you three already made up?”

Ally arched a pierced eyebrow at me, looking confused.

“Uh … yeah, we did,” I replied, sensing an air of awkwardness.

“We did?” Jade smirked. She was giving me a hard time on purpose.

“We were just going to Subway, Mr. Hunter,” said Ally. “But I think Aria’s getting sick of that routine.”

“Then I guess I came at the right time. Let me take you out for lunch. You girls can come along too, if you like.”

---