Ch. 2 - Aria

Updated

She wasn't sure where she exactly was, but did she really care?

No.

In fact, she didn't care about any of the minute details because all she needed to know was the fact that she was happy—so incredibly, indescribably happy. It was the fulfilling type of happy that made her wonder what she did to deserve it. It was something so surreal that she couldn't help falling in love. Of course, she knew that this moment, this absolutely gorgeous moment, could exist only in one place: her mind.

It was bittersweet, and like always, she did her best to appreciate the beauty of the situation. Nevertheless, Aria couldn't help but overanalyze certain aspects of her dreams and the illusions until it broke. It wasn't like she wanted to overthink the situation, but the logic and the outcomes of the events simply didn't add up.

A stream of sunlight seeped through the blinds, and like always, she would fight against it. That morning was no different, except for the numerous notifications on her phone that never seemed to stop.

Eventually, she relented and opened her eyes before she cursed the blinds for not doing their job properly.

Summer was ending, and so were her days of loafing around.

Aria continued to lie on her bed as she silently wondered who the hell had the audacity to text her so early in the morning. She grabbed her phone and opened her messages.

Hey–7:00 AM

Hello?–7:15 AM

Yooooo–7:45 AM

Are you still asleep?–8:43 AM

Aria groaned. They were all from the same person—Mira.

She texted back.

Why are you up?–9:50 AM

The replies came in quicker than she imagined.

Just woke up?–9:51 AM

Let's go somewhere–9:51 AM

I finally quit my summer job–9:51 AM

I'm FREE–9:51 AM

The message bubbles kept coming in rapid succession. Aria didn't even had the chance to send in her own message as it continued.

Shopping?–9:52 AM

Now?–9:52 AM

Aria finally pressed Send for her one message.

I'm broke AF–9:52 AM

The messages continued to dance on the screen before they disappeared, only to reappear a moment later.

I have to buy a dress–9:55 AM

Instead of actually typing in words, Aria sent a saucy-looking emoji along with the laughing face.

Jerk–9:56 AM

I'm on my way–9:57 AM

20 min–9:57 AM

Wait a minute. Aria typed quickly.

I didn't ask yet!–9:58 AM

No response.

She quickly rushed to the bathroom, in the hopes of making herself presentable for the day, and blasted through her morning routine.

Face? Washed.

Teeth? Brushed.

Hair? Bun.

She returned from the bathroom before she rummaged through her closet. Knowing the heat would be the killer of the day, she had to choose wisely.

August was arguably the worst month in Nevada. The heat, sweat, and butt burns from sitting on the hot leather seats in the car . . . It wasn't her favorite month to say the least.

She hopped down the stairs and was immediately greeted by a familiar sight.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey," her father greeted back. "Where are you going?"

"To the mall with Mira. Is that okay?"

He hummed in approval. "Is she picking you up?"

"Yeah." Aria went to the kitchen and grabbed a few frozen waffles from the fridge before she popped them into the toaster.

"That's fine. Just don't get arrested," her father said.

"Tell that to Mira."

He snickered into his coffee cup.

"So, what are we doing for dinner?" she asked while she waited for her waffles.

"That's up to you. I'll be working late today."

"Okay," she said and used a paper towel to grab the hot waffles. A honk from the outside signaled Aria that Mira was outside, and she immediately made her way to the door.

"I'll see you later then."

"Stay safe."

"Okay. Bye, Dad!" she called out before she left the house.

A familiar old yellow jeep was parked on the road in front of her house. Aria quickened her pace while she made sure not to drop the waffles.

After she opened the door to the passenger's seat, she hopped in and then buckled up before Mira could say a word.

"Hey," she greeted before taking a bite of her breakfast.

"Hey, hey." Mira smiled and then looked at her waffles. "Don't make a mess."

Aria took another large bite and chewed thoughtfully. "Hmmm, that would be a shame if all the crumbs suddenly went in between the seats."

"I'm serious. I just cleaned the car yesterday," Mira said as she started to drive but not before she turned on the radio.

Aria hummed in acknowledgement.

The drive was a peaceful one, where it allowed her to finish her two-waffle brunch. After taking the last bite, she made sure to wrap the paper towel neatly into a square before she stuffed it into a cup holder.

No crumbs, no problem.

"So how was Canada?" she asked.

"It was okay," Mira replied. "We didn't really do much because we were way up north."

"Kinda like in the boonies or something?"

"Yeah, like that. It was really woodsy and foresty."

"Well, did you have a strong Internet connection?" Aria asked.

Mira shook her head before she turned left. "The connection kept dropping so much, that's why I didn't video call at all."

"It was only a week."

"Yeah, but still. It was a really boring week."

"So much for summer vacation, right?" Aria joked.

"You're telling me. Anyways, I have this get-together with family friends, that's why we're . . ." She entered into the parking lot and immediately whizzed them straight through into a parking spot. "Here," she finished.

"Jesus Christ, I hate it when you do that." Aria held on to the car for dear life.

"But it's so swift."

"Yeah, yeah. Swift like the bringer of death." She exited the car. "So why do you need to buy something?"

"It's kind of important."

She slammed the door before Mira locked the car.

"Again, why do you need to buy something?" Aria asked as they walked into the first shop.

"It's a really big party with like family friends."

"It's just family, isn't it?" She took a dress off the rack and gestured for Mira to take a look.

"Too old. I'm looking for something more . . . red."

"You always buy red, or black, or gray," Aria pointed out.

"I look good in those colors."

"You look good in any color as long as you wear it like you own it."

Mira continued, "I can't just own it. I need to like it too."

Therefore, the search continued.

Although Aria knew it wasn't bad to be picky when it came to spending their money, she noticed that Mira was being extra difficult. She honestly couldn't figure out why. It was just a family get-together, and Mira wasn't the type to put effort into finding something nice to wear. Either this wasn't a normal family get-together, or Mira was about to be engaged to the next drop-dead gorgeous billionaire.

Whatever the reason was, Aria was going to find out.

"So this party," she started, making sure her tone was as casual as possible.

"The party."

Aria contemplated on her next words carefully. "What's with all the effort? Is this some sort of inheritance party or something?"

"Pffft, I wish. There's just going to be a few old family friends who are going to move down here, and I haven't seen them in ages."

"Wait . . ." Aria paused. "Are you trying to impress someone?"

"What? No!" Mira exclaimed as she made a face.

"Do you have some old childhood friend moving down here too? Some cute high school romance starter pack or something?" Aria teased.

"No!" Mira replied.

"M'kay."

"I'm serious!"

"M'kay," she repeated.

"Aria!"

"What?" She raised a brow, then she added, "I've never seen you try so hard to impress anyone really. Not since Chance."

Mira made a face, then she replied in a gravely tone, "I thought that we agreed to never speak of him again."

"I wasn't aware," Aria said as Mira pulled out another hanger.

"It's girl code."

"I didn't read that book. Can I have it in manga form?"

"You're so difficult."

"Just love me, 'kay?" Aria held up another dress to show to Mira.

"Too pink. Let's go to a different store."

And they did, before they went to three other shops.

Aria thought that she was a relatively patient person, especially since this was pretty important to Mira. But that was before they went to three other shops with zero success. It was't until her stomach began to give the telltale signs of hunger that she started to feel slightly annoyed, especially since her best friend was being stupidly picky. She even had to listen as to why the last dress wouldn't work at all, with a minimum of fifteen different reasons why. She was almost convinced that Mira really was about to meet some multibillionaire bachelor.

"How about this?" Aria showed her the nth outfit option for the day.

"It's so bright." Mira shook her again.

Another rejection.

"It's summer," Aria pointed out.

"Nearly fall."

Aria scoffed, "Uh huh."

"Why did I bring you here with me again?" Mira sighed.

"Because I'm honest?"

"True," Mira agreed before she checked the price tag. "Why is everything so expensive?"

Aria looked at the tag and made a face. "That outfit is not worth fifty dollars."

"You're telling me."

"I am."

Mira took a good look at her. "Food break?"

"I do require that, yes."

"God, you sound like a robot."

"AR-51 at your service."

"God, you're such a dork. Let's go."

Eventually they made it to the food court.

After they grabbed something quick and easy to eat, they sat down in one of the many booths available. Neither of them spoke much, too busy focusing on the food in front of them.

Eventually, Mira sped through her meal while Aria preferred to take her time. Indigestion, heartburn, and a stomachache were not her ideal versions of fun.

"What am I going to do?" Mira groaned into her hands.

"Didn't you like that one dress?"

"Which one?"

Aria raised a brow at her. "There were multiples?"

"Sort of. I didn't love them, but I didn't hate them either."

"Hmmm . . ." Aria mulled over this, then she continued, "Why don't you just wear something you already have?"

"I don't want to be boring."

Aria was taken aback. This was new. Mira, for as long as she had known her, was never one for high fashion. In fact, she was pretty much the opposite and was the jock with the lazy athletic style. It wasn't a bad thing of course, but the words "Mira" and "trendy fashion" never really mixed. Aria even suspected that Mira wouldn't dress up for anything except a funeral. Whatever this meeting was, it was clearly important.

But why?

"Who's coming down again?" Aria asked before she finished her meal.

"Like I said, some old family friends."

Aria clearly wasn't buying it, so Mira decided to give her another sales pitch instead.

"There are going to be some people who are coming to our school, and—"

"Do you like one of them?" Aria interrupted.

"What? No!"

"Are you sure?"

"I haven't even met them!"

"Then why are you trying so hard?"

"I don't know," Mira admitted with a frown.

"Then don't worry so much about it. You don't have to dress to impress. Literally."

Mira groaned.

"What?"

"I was just . . . really looking forward to it."

This interrogation clearly wasn't going anywhere. Aria didn't really understand why Mira was trying so hard for a family gathering. A part of her itched to know the truth about what made her best, and first friend in Reno, so nervous. But the other part was willing to wait until Mira was ready to talk about it.

The internal debate continued. But the minute she saw her friend's face, Aria decided to try a different approach.

"How about we try to find some necklaces or maybe a new jacket?" she offered.

Mira seemed to contemplate on the idea.

"It's easier and cheaper than buying an entire outfit. Plus, you could do something classic like wear a jean jacket, white top, and maybe some cloth shorts," Aria continued.

"I don't have cloth shorts."

"Then, why don't we look for one?"

"Maybe."

"Well"—Aria sipped the last dregs of her soda—"when is this party?"

"On Friday."

"So you have a few more days. You don't have to get something today."

"Watch me end up buying something online."

"You could. There's two-day shipping," Aria encouraged her.

"Maybe . . . Wait, how about that?" Mira sat up quickly and pointed at something.

Aria followed the direction to where she was pointing and immediately saw a very bohemian‑style blouse. It was earthy and a little more whimsical than Aria would peg Mira to wear, but it was definitely cute enough for her to get dragged into another store.

The sales associate was a little ruder compared to the others, but Mira was so enamored with the blouse on display that Aria dealt with it. Besides, she was getting tired of the mall.

"Try it on," Aria encouraged her.

"Which color? Green or—"

"Green. You do not need any more red."

"But red is—"

"Yeah, I get it. Red is your color, but over half of your closet is red!"

"I like red."

Aria gave her a look. "You basic b*tch."

"Fine," Mira huffed but Aria could tell that she was happier than she led on.

No more than ten minutes worth of confirmation and a size change that the two were finally out of the store with a success story. It wasn't like Aria didn't enjoy hanging out with Mira, but a moody Mira was definitely something else. Thankfully, that phase was long over, and Mira was back to her usual sassy self.

The drive home was filled with impromptu karaoke, and they even made a pit stop at a café to grab a smoothie.

Right before Aria left the car to go back home, Mira called out.

"Wait! Can I borrow your bangles?"

"Sure, which pair?" Aria asked as she opened the door. "The silver or the bronze ones?"

Mira contemplated on it for a second before she answered, "Bronze."

"Alright."

It didn't take long for Aria to run inside and grab the accessories before she handed them over to Mira.

"Be careful with these, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll bring them back safely."

"You'd better!" Aria pretended to threaten her friend.

"Hey, do you wanna meet up for lunch on Monday?" Mira asked.

"What? Oh right, dammit. School," Aria groaned. "How could I forget?"

"It's the start of senior year!" Mira's smile was so wide that it was slightly concerning.

"What joy," Aria said sarcastically.

Mira merely rolled her eyes. "I'll see you later."

"Have fun!" Aria yelled as Mira drove off.

Once she was long gone, Aria went back inside her own home. The silence of the house wasn't something she liked. It was always isolating and sad compared to what it used to be. There wasn't much warmth she felt when she grew up, and she thought she would've gotten used to all of this emptiness by this time.

As the years passed, she came to realize just how wrong she was.