"Hey did I leave my fake teeth at your house?" Is the first question Aaron asks me on the phone seconds after I see Omar's picture on Instagram.
I sit up from my bed, unsure what to say, my thoughts still on the picture. Aaron from what I've known, has always been a straight up person so I can understand why he would lie.
"Hello? Lux? I'm still on the phone you know."
His voice sends an unnerving feeling to my stomach and I snap out of my daze.
"What?" I say.
"My fake teeth," he says slowly, "did I leave them there?"
"Um, I don't know. Give me a second to check. Where do you think you left them?" I get up and walk out of my room.
"In the living room probably, in a cup."
"In a cup?"
"Yeah didn't want them to get dirty."
"Okay," I say once I reach downstairs. I walk to the living room and sure enough there's a cup with fake vampire teeth in it.
"Found them," I say.
"Great, I'll go tomorrow to pick them up."
"I can just throw them away, I don't see why you would use them anymore."
"No don't throw them away! They're the only ones I have."
"You can get more at like the party store or something. These are probably really dirty already."
"I want those," Aaron says, and the way he says it reminds me of a young boy claiming his toy.
I roll my eyes. "Whatever," I say and walk back upstairs.
"Okay well I'll see you tomorrow then. Unless you're working. Do you work tomorrow?"
"Oh," I say, "no I'm not working tomorrow. I, um, actually got fired."
"Fired? What the fuck? For what?"
"It's a long story, kind of."
"Okay when I go you'll tell me."
"It's not a big of a deal--"
"See you tomorrow Lux," Aaron says before hanging up.
That night I continue to think about the picture and reasons of why Aaron would lie. My mind gets the better of me and a part me thinks--no wishes--he came because he wanted to spend time with me. But as soon as that thought crosses my mind I immediately push it away.
I keep trying to figure out what Aaron is thinking when I don't even know what I'm thinking. With a mess in my mind I decide to clear it so I can stop thinking about things. I lay in my bed, pushing any random thoughts out of the way, and sleep.
I lay in my bed, pushing any random thoughts out of the way, and sleep
The next morning I am awaken by a buzzing sound. I try my best to ignore and finally find peace when the buzzing stops. That is until it starts again and I lift my head up and realize it's my phone.
"Hello," I say sluggishly. I try to open my eyes but they burn from the bit of the sunlight that is shining from the edge of my window. I close them and press the phone closer to my ear.
"Hey it's me."
"Julian?"
"Who the hell is Julian?"
"I don't know, it's the first name that popped in my head."
"You sure you don't know a Julian?"
"I don't think so," I say.
"Better not. Just a small little suggestion though, next time you answer, maybe say Aaron instead of Julian."
"That's not a small little suggestion."
"Sure it is. Aaron is not a hard thing to say."
"It is when it makes you gag."
"Good thing you're totally in love with me."
My eyes bulge out and my heart pounds immensely when I hear his words. I know he was only joking but I can't help but feel like I've been caught. I don't say a word, afraid I might say the wrong thing.
"Are you still there?" Aaron suddenly says. "I was only kidding, you don't have to give me the silent treatment."
"Why did you call me so early," I say sharper than I intended to.
"My teeth remember?" he says.
"Oh," I say and sit up, "what time are you coming for them?"
"Actually, I'm already at your house. Your dad invited me in but I decided to stay outside until you let me inside. I remember last time I just came here unannounced you practically killed me with your glares."
"What? You're here? Already?" I say and look at the time and see its only half past eight.
"Yeah," he says sheepishly.
"What time did you get here?" I question.
"Like twenty minutes ago."
"Give me a sec to change and I'll be down," I say and hang up as I throw my blanket off of me. I look in my closet for something to wear but I let out a frustrated groan as I see that I don't have anything. I turn my head and see the dirty pile of clothes on the corner of the floor. As I mentally scold myself I go to my drawer to see what I have. I'm not even sure why I'm panicking so suddenly but I force myself to calm down and I grab the first clothes I see.
I run downstairs and swing the door open.
Aaron stands up from the steps and gives me a weird look.
"What?" I say.
"Nice shirt."
I give him a confused expression and look down. My eyes widen when I realize it's the shirt Sage gave me as a joke. It says MY PEN IS HUGE but looks like MY PENIS IS HUGE. I bite the inside of my cheek, annoyed because I actually liked this shirt when I first got it, mostly because it would make my mom mad. But now in this situation, in front of Aaron Reeves, I wish I would've thrown it away like my mom wanted me to.
Aaron lets out a laugh.
"You should definitely let me borrow that," he says with a wink.
I roll my eyes at him.
"At least wear it more often then," he says taking a step closer to me and I take one back.
"Let's get your teeth weirdo," I say and let him inside the house.
We walk in and head to the living room where my dad is sitting on the couch watching TV.
"So she finally let you in," he comments, talking to Aaron.
"Yes sir," Aaron says and they make this face at each other, as if they were communicating without talking. I give them a weird look and walk passed my dad to grab the cup where Aaron's fake teeth are and give it to him.
"Thanks," he says.
I nod and we stand there awkwardly with my dad staring at us. I expect Aaron to walk toward the door but he doesn't, he just stays there.
"So I need to use the restroom," Aaron suddenly says cutting the awkward silence.
"Oh," I say as he hands me the cup and walks away. I make a confused face, unsure of what the awkwardness was all about and instead set the cup on the table and sit on the couch adjacent to my dad.
"So," he says, "the wedding is tomorrow."
"I know."
"Have you found a date?"
"Don't plan on bringing one just because mom wants me to."
"Sage is taking Ethan."
"Ethan is Sage's boyfriend so of course he would take him to the wedding."
"What about Aaron," my dad suddenly says and I almost choke.
"What?"
"Ask him to go to the wedding with you."
"Are you joking? I would never. We're just friends."
"So? Friends take friends to weddings," dad says.
"I'd rather not."
"Why?"
"He's probably busy."
"And if he isn't?"
"Doesn't matter, I'm not-"
"You can either build up the courage to ask him, I mean there's nothing to lose. Or you can go alone with your mom scolding you the entire wedding. It's worth the try," dad says cutting me off.
"Can I ask you something?" I say.
"What is it?"
"Why are you going with mom to the wedding? Isn't it weird or awkward? You guys haven't been together in a long time so I'm just not sure why you suddenly act like you are together just to impress mom's family."
Dad gives me a small smile and shrugs.
"I've known your mom for such a long time. And when you know someone for so long it's almost impossible not to be, in some sort of way, a part of that person's life. And there's just things about your mom and her side of the family that you just don't know so you don't realize how important this wedding really is for her. And don't tell her I told you this but just because we're not together doesn't mean that a part of her still isn't in my heart."
I open my mouth to say something when Aaron walks in. My dad gives me a look and I roll my eyes before giving the cup back to Aaron and walking him outside.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" I ask.
Aaron smiles. "Nothing, why?"
"I'm going to a wedding, it's a family wedding, the chick that is getting marries is my cousin or something and so anyways my mom really wants me to take someone because you know going alone kinda looks bad and-"
"I'll go with you Lux," he says cutting me off with a small chuckle.
I bite my lip then smile. "Thanks. Do you want us to pick you up or something? I think my mom is planning to go early though so I'm not sure if you'd like to come with us. It's only thirty minutes away and so it's not that far of a drive."
"What time should I get to the wedding?"
"Well I don't think the ceremony itself starts until four so," I say my voice trailing off.
Aaron nods. "I'll be there, just text me the address. Also what happened with your job? You said you'd tell me today."
"Oh yeah," I say and sit on the steps Aaron was sitting on earlier and wait until he does the same.
"I got fired because my boss thought I stole money from the register this one night that I worked for closing time."
"And you told him you didn't right?"
"Yeah but he didn't believe me. Ultimately he had to blame someone and since all of the evidence was pointing towards me, I was the one who was fired."
"I can go talk to that boss of yours right now."
"What? No!"
"Why not? You did nothing wrong."
"I know but I don't think it's worth it. I loved working at the diner mostly because my coworkers were my friends, but that's it. Now that I got fired I realized how much I actually didn't like the job itself, maybe that's why I don't want to do anything about it. Besides I'm pretty sure at some point or another the truth will come out and everyone will know that it wasn't me who stole the money."
Aaron sighs. "When something like that happens, you should call me. I don't care if you don't care. Okay?"
"Fine," I say and smile.
Aaron bumps his shoulder next to mine and looks back at my shirt.
"I really love that shirt, you sure you don't want to let me borrow it?"
"Shut up," I say pushing him away and we laugh.
Authors Note:
Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long since I've update. Reason has been bc school has just started again and the first weeks are always the hardest to settle in. But finally I've had time to update. This is pre-wedding so I hope you guys get ready for the wedding bc it's gonna be great ;) p.s. wedding is next chapter. I'm not sure when I will update again but just be on the look out. Also pls don't forget to leave comments and suggestions for Me!
In case you're wondering what Lux's shirt looked like lol here's a pic