Jessi: can i go to Ari's house for dinner tday?

Mum: is it alright with her parents?

Jessi: yeah they said it's fine, pleeeease let me go!

Mum: fine, only till 6.30 because you have school tomorrow!

Jessi: kk thanks!

"What did she say?" Ari immediately questioned me once I put my phone back in my bag.

"She said yes!"

"And you're not playing a joke on me?"

I stared at her with a do you think I'd joke about this type of thing? face. She grinned as we crossed the road and headed towards her house.

. . .

"So why is the heart so important again?" I asked Ari, chewing my pen. She gaped at me and shook her head shamefully, looking back at her own homework.

"I'm joking, I'm joking! How stupid do you think I am?"

"Oh, very stupid," she said with a neutral expression on her face. I pretended to look hurt but I knew she was joking. Only, was she joking? She was actually a bit smarter than me but acted as if I had the knowledge of a three year old, which made me behave like one. I'd usually punch her on the arm, only playfully — sometimes I wish I could do it harder.

"Err... Ariana?"

"Yes...?" she asked uncertainly. I rarely ever used her proper name, and when I did it was because I was dying to ask her something that I wasn't sure how she'd react to. This was one of those moments.

"Your English poem was really good..."

She slightly stiffened, which would've gone unnoticed if I hadn't been watching her every move. I wasn't sure I should continue.

"Actually, it doesn't matter."

She sighed. "Just ask me."

"Well," I stared at my science exercise book which had answers to homework questions in already, "how come it only took you two minutes to write? Considering it was so good?"

I sniffed. She shrugged. I read another one of the questions. She wrote an answer to something. For once, it was awkward between us. And I didn't like it.

"Uh, what's the time?" I asked quietly.

"Only quarter past four. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"Okay."

Another two minutes and twenty one seconds of silence — yes, I counted.

"Is this homework really easy for you?"

While Ari was a walking textbook, I actually had to learn and memorise things to do well. It was unfair, she could complete homework in ten minutes tops, whereas the rest of us had to really think or Google it. And her test results always came back with high marks. I'd always be behind her, even if it was only five marks or so. Where did she get so clever?

"Can you help me on this question?"

She shuffled towards me on her bum and then read the question I was pointing to.

"What? That's easy!"

We heard footsteps coming towards the room and quickly put our heads down in our exercise books, pretending to scribble things down.

"Ariana? Who's this?"

It was an extremely deep voice, so I assumed it was her dad or something. Out of politeness, I looked up and smiled at the man. Like his daughter, he had dark skin and the same nose. How could I tell? Well, I've learnt to compare from doing it with my nose and working out if it looks more like my dad's or my mum's.

He had scruffy brown hair which was thinning at the top and a rough looking stubble which was too short to be called a beard. In a way, he was quite scary and I knew he'd be one of those dads you tried to avoid when you went round your friend's house.

"Oh, hi," he said without cracking a smile.

"Hi," I replied quietly.

"This is Jessi, dad. She's my best friend at school."

He took one last look at me and left the room, not bothering to close the door.

"It's okay, he is a pretty scary dad," Ari said, as if reading my mind.

"No he's not! He's just a bit..."

"Terrifying?"

"A bit..."

"Creepy?"

"A bit..."

"Like a brutal murderer who locks up his victims at night and repeatedly abuses them in his cellar while they scream for help but really they're in the middle of a forest and no one can hear her cries?"

It was terrible, I know, but I couldn't help giggling a bit. Ari could really over-exaggerate things and when she did, it was always ridiculously hilarious. She knew it, too.

"What? What did I say?"

I smiled and looked back at the final question for my homework.

"Can I have a lil' help?"

"Ugh, again?"

***

A/N ~ hope you're enjoying so far! Please leave a vote & comment, and share this with your friends! I really appreciate everything so far, thank you!

Jadey❤

• sorry for late update. Quite frankly, I don't know what happened. I just pushed the thought of updating out of my mind.. ugh I'm such a terrible person •