I'm dreading home ec class. This will be the first time I've seen Scarlett since everything happened, and I'm not sure if Sophie knows what happened with Ross. Aiden walks me to class right before the bell rings, and the girls are already in their spots and at this very moment I despise assigned seating.
Aiden brushes a few loose strands of hair behind my ear. "You gonna be okay?" I look up at him, and grab the straps of his backpack so I can pull myself into his chest. "No." I whine, and it causes him to let out a small laugh. He kisses me on the cheek, and pulls away. "Talk to you soon." he winks at me before turning his back to leave. I instantly turn cold from the emptiness he left.
Scarlett has her back to me, while Sophie and Sierra are looking intently into their phones. I decide not to speak, set my binder on my desk and crawl up on the stool turning my body adjacent to Scarlett's and to the front of the class where the teacher is getting ready to stand. I can feel eyes burning on my back, and I hear a small voice beside me.
"Hey Mora." Scarlett whispers to me, and I wish I could act like I didn't hear her, but I don't have it in me. No matter how angry I am, I could never shun her.
"Hey." I turn my head over some to look at her keeping my body facing the teacher.
"I love your outfit." she says quietly choosing not to bring up our fight, which I'm thankful for. I stare at her for a minute before responding.
"You should. You bought this for me last Christmas." I faintly lift up the corners of my lips so I don't come off as a total snob, and she takes notice giving a greater smile than mine.
"I know. I'm glad you finally dug it out of your closet. I was about to give up hope on that blouse." she jokes, but suddenly Sophie interrupts us.
"So you're not even going to acknowledge me after this weekend?" She snaps, and my eyes grow large. Crap. She knows. I pause for a second thinking about what to say. I could act clueless, but then that makes me look guilty of something so I decide to just spit out the truth.
"It's not my place to acknowledge anything about this past weekend with you. It's your boyfriend's place." I snap back, and her mouth flies open before gasping out loud.
Scarlett's eyes get as big as saucers and she flings her curled hair behind her shoulder where she's fully facing me.
"The hell it's not." Sophie reacts fast while Sierra just sits there looking into her phone like we're not even talking. Scarlett cuts in.
"Calm down Sophie." she says and looks at me confused. I know that look. She's wanting more information.
"No!" Sophie yells back, then the teacher speaks up and tells us to be quiet, so Sophie lowers her tone, but keeps her whispers high. "Mora, you kissed my boyfriend." she hisses, and Scarlett can't hide her shock as she's the one gasping next, but in full and utter shock.
"You have it wrong. Your boyfriend kissed me." I express, and she leans back as if I just slapped her across the face. "If Ross said I kissed him, he's lying. It was not a two way act. He kissed me, and I told him to stop. He didn't want to stop so my brother made him leave. So, talk to him Sophie, not me!" I growl out then stop for a second, because the more I think about it the more furious I become. "So, wait. Did he tell you I kissed him?" I'm looking directly at her waiting on her reply.
Her answer comes out with zero hesitation. "No. Aiden did." She's cold and forward. What she just said infuriates me. I specifically asked him to let it go, but I guess he couldn't.
"So Aiden's exact words to you were that I kissed Ross?"
"Not exactly. He said that you guys kissed." her face keeps the same irritability as before.
"Well Sophie, yeah his lips touched mine, but he was the one that did it. I pushed him away after, so maybe you need to talk to him." I'm direct, and wait for a comeback but it never comes. She's silent. After a moment of staring at her I decide to turn my back to her again, and get my phone out to text Aiden.
I asked you to let it go Aiden. So did you call Sophie, or just meet up with her and tell her?
I put my phone back in my purse. In an hour we have to all go to the college fair, so as soon as class is over I go to the bathroom, and check my phone but Aiden hasn't text me back yet. Scarlett follows me.
"Mora, are you okay? What was that all about?" she asks but I ignore her plugging in my straightener. Now is not the best time to re-hatch things with Scarlett, but she just stands there and waits on me to say something.
"What Scarlett?" I huff at her, and she's taken back.
"I'm sorry. I just... I don't like not knowing what's going on with you. You could have called me and told me about Ross."
"Yeah I guess I could have and you could have called me and told me about Conner." I sigh, and start to curl my hair, but I'm too irritated, so I slam it down.
"Ross kissed me okay. I told him no, and pushed him away, but he tried it again, and Conner was there and got pissed and made him leave. That was it. I told Aiden because I didn't know what else to do and he got upset, and I guess he told Sophie." My patience is running so thin right now. I can't concentrate on my hair, so I just put my palms on the edge of the sink counter looking at Scarlett from the mirror.
A second later she is picking up my flat iron. "Here, let me help you." she grabs a section of my hair and starts to curl it. "Boys are so dumb." she chimes, and I automatically nod in agreeance not noticing until I do it. I realize my wall is slowly starting to fall.
"Why do they have to be so dumb though. Really!" I spit out, and we both giggle.
"Like they say, can't live with them, and can't live without them." she quotes, and I take a deep breath watching her section off my hair.
"I'm going to kill Aiden." I say, and quickly turn around where I'm facing Scarlett. "Why would he go tell Sophie, when I asked him to let it go."
Scarlett sighs loudly before answering. "I'm sure he's trying to get Ross in trouble. He's never liked Ross, even before he started seeing you. They are just in two different cliques and I'm sure he wanted to piss him off by telling her."
"What if it's because he still likes her." I admit my jealousy, but I can tell that Scarlett doesn't agree because as soon as the words left my mouth she let out the loudest snort. "No way Mor. I don't think he even liked her when they were an item. I'm sure he just wanted Ross to be held responsible in some way." she pauses for a minute, and a smile comes across her face. I know what she's about to ask, so I quickly turn back around to face the mirror and she starts fixing my hair again. "So..." she enigmatically says.
I roll my eyes dramatically, and answer. "I didn't kiss him back."
"Is he a good kisser though?"
"I honestly don't know, because like I said, I didn't kiss him back."
Scarlett looks around to make sure no one is in any of the stalls. "What brought it on anyway? I knew he liked you but what gave him the courage to finally do something about it?" she can't get rid of her furtive smile.
"I'm not sure. We had been drinking, and we were alone and he just spit out all his feelings. I don't know what made him do it because I wasn't treating him any differently then I have in the past." I honestly answer, and she just looks at me impressed.
"Well, I'm glad he finally made a move. Now it's something he knows he can move on from, and there's no secrets. I was starting to think that he would never do it once he left for college, and maybe that's why he finally did it in case he did get rejected. He's not stuck looking at you in school everyday." Scarlett is always the brutally honest one, and I missed her the past week. I'm glad I told her what all happened.
"Thanks for listening to me vent." I say.
"Thanks for letting me listen." she's gleaming as she sprays my hair with hairspray "Are you going to talk to Aiden about what happened?" she asks, and the comment makes me check my phone again. He still hasn't texted me back.
"Yes. I don't feel comfortable with him just going off telling my business to people."
"Well then..." Scarlett changes the subject standing away from me to admire her work. "you look great!" and she hugs me. I freeze a moment before finally letting go, and hesitantly hug her back.