- Don't Matter; Akon -

Aurora Holland

Switching books in my locker, I ignored the mumbles around me. I knew that Sarah seeing Carter and me in the common room the way she did was a bad idea the moment she gasped, but I didn't think it'd be this bad.

What am I supposed to do with all these horrible nasty rumors spreading around about me?

"Rora," The sound of a soft voice mumbled to my right. I shut my locker and looked over, rolling my eyes as I saw Paige standing on the other side of me.

"No," Was all I responded with. I turned and began walking toward the entrance of the school, ready to get out for the day.

"Please just hear me out, okay!" She exclaimed, running after me. I took in a sharp breath, knowing she wouldn't let this go very easily. Ever since homecoming night her calls and texts have picked up, and to say it was annoying was quite an understatement.

Of course, she'd been calling and texting before. But it was every once in a while instead of consistently, but it was like seeing Carter and me together rekindled that flame of trying to poorly apologize for the things she said at the party weeks ago.

Call me childish and immature for still not talking to her, making it hard for the friend group to be around each other. I don't care, though, as she's hurt me so much in my life that I can't get over this so easily.

Maybe I should've done this when I caught her and Asher together, or even before when she did things to me at Point Prep. I didn't all because I didn't want to lose someone I considered my best friend.

Poor me, however, didn't understand that Paige was nothing like a best friend.

"Aurora, seriously, this is getting old-"

"You know what's getting old?" I asked as I turned quickly, cutting her off. "What's getting old is you victimizing yourself. You did this to yourself, Paige. You said the things you said, being the reason everyone stopped talking to you the way they did before. You reacted the way you did, projecting your insecurities on me instead of owning up to your mistakes. I'm not saying I was perfect in everything that's happened between us, but half of the things wouldn't have happened had you been a true friend instead of a shitty one."

"We're cousins, Rora. I think you forget that." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, which makes the things you did ten times worse!" I exclaimed. My voice echoed throughout the halls, only causing attention to us. We'd already had more than enough attention before due to Paige being there and everything happening with Carter and me, but this only made it worse.

The last thing I needed was Paige confronting me, but I guess it's happening anyway.

"I understand that just because we're cousins doesn't mean you're required to like me, but you're the one that's been calling me your best friend all these years! You're the one that insisted I be just like you to get others to like me. I'm done with your shitty friendship, Paige. We're cousins and so I'll tolerate you when it comes to family events, but don't expect me to be your little shadow like I have been the last ten years of my life." I angrily told her.

"Aurora, look-"

"I'm not listening anymore," I snapped, cutting her off once again.

Her mouth clamped shut as she looked at me with sadness, her eyes pleading with me to listen. But I don't. Instead, I just turn and make my way through the halls, ignoring the looks and whispers around me.

I'm going to lose it if I don't get out of here. It's been all day with the rumors, and now the conversation with Paige is just getting to be too much.

Not to mention Carter had football practice, so he was going to be unavailable until later. This meant I was on my own getting home because I hadn't planned on another ride. It was too late to ask anyone, as I took my time getting out of class and everyone's up and left by now.

The air was chilly, which was expected this time of the year. I love this time of year when it's getting closer and closer to the spooky season.

I've never been fond of scary movies - simply because I always end up being alone after I watch them. If I'm not alone, I'm okay. But I love the time of the year when it's all fall-like, with warm apple cider and hayrides. There are constant activities to do during that time, not to mention the weather's not horrible so you can do more outside things instead of being stuck inside all of the time.

As I walked on the sidewalk, I looked at the scenery around me. It was beautiful here at Riverway, a lot prettier than it was at Point Prep. It made walking less annoying and made me want to walk more, honestly.

The sound of a horn honking brought me out of my thoughts, and I looked over to see a car with tinted windows pull up next to me. It was a car I didn't recognize, at least not out of my group of friends.

I stopped walking, watching as the passenger window slowly rolled down. Sitting alone in the car was a girl I'd seen often with Ashley Wilde. She had bright blonde hair cascading down her back, ending right in the middle.

This was the same girl that tripped me weeks ago after bumping into Ashley. She was one of Ashley's minions, one that constantly made comments about me and my body when I was around.

Her name is Gwen. She was the one Elijah mentioned the wart to, the one he embarrassed because she attempted to embarrass me along with Ashley and the other girl, Maya.

Wrapping my arms around my stomach, I just sent her a look. "Did you need something?" I asked. It was slightly rude, but I believe I have every right to be considering my circumstances. She's one of the people who's made life at Riverway a little harder than it should be.

Her mouth opened before it closed again, her full lips pressing together tightly as she probably didn't expect me to respond the way I did. "Do you need a ride?" She then asked, tapping her fingertips on the steering wheel. "Home, I mean." She added as I didn't say anything.

I probably looked stupid, staring at her the way I was, but I couldn't help but feel as if this was setting me up for something. She hasn't given me an ounce of kindness to me since I moved here, so why should I believe she's suddenly being kind now?

"I know I've been kind of a bitch, but please just get in the car," Gwen added, probably knowing exactly what it was I was thinking.

I glanced both ways to see if anyone was nearby - there wasn't. I then took a glance at her backseat, seeing the only thing occupying it was her backpack and purse. It seemed pretty obvious that I should just say no, but then again I do live quite the distance from here.

Going against my gut feeling, I got in the car. It smelled of spearmint and a perfume I'd never smelled before, along with a mixture of a cherry air freshener clipped to her air vent.

The cherry reminded me of Paige. Instead of thinking about it, however, I just clipped my seatbelt.

"Where's your leader?" I immediately asked as the car began to move, scratching at the palm of my hand.

Gwen let out a dry laugh, glancing over at me once before putting her eyes back on the road. "I guess I should've expected a comment like that." She told me, "Ashley doesn't know I'm giving you a ride if that's what you're wondering."

It was, but I won't tell her that.

"So why are you giving me a ride, exactly?" I asked.

"I saw you walking," She said.

"Okay?" I said, making it sound like a question. I told her to make a turn in the direction of my house, which she did, before responding.

"Sorry about what happened in the lunchroom. And any other time I've made a comment." She mumbled.

"You're sorry?" I asked, looking over at her. The scratching intensified, unsure whether or not to believe her. I couldn't help but laugh, "That sounds like a load of shit."

"I see why you think that," She said. "And I'm not going to sit here and force you to believe me. Just know, I am sorry whether you think it's true or fake."

It grew silent between us, except for every once in a while when I'd tell her which way to go toward my house. Part of me wanted to have her drop me off down the street from where I live so she didn't know where my house was, but decided against it. If anything happens after today, it's my own fault as I am the one that took the ride.

It was awkward between us. I waited for Ashley to pop out of the back of the car, or for Gwen to take me somewhere other than my house. I just waited for something bad to happen, but it didn't come.

She pulled up to my house, parking in the front the way Carter usually did. I was quick to unbuckle my seatbelt, grabbing my backpack from the floorboard.

I grabbed the door handle but just before I could open it and get out of the expensive-looking car, a pale hand grabbed my forearm.

I looked down at her hand, the green manicure complimenting her skin tone. My eyes shot up to hers, seeing her green eyes staring at me with a look I couldn't decipher.

It was intimidating, so I just let go and fell slack in my seat. She let go, looking ahead before back at me.

"You need to be careful."

"What?" I asked.

"With Carter, be careful." She warned, to which I just rolled my eyes.

I should've known this was going to end in a conversation about Carter, considering her friend group is the reason there's a load of rumors circulating around me at school. The last time I saw much of them was the night of homecoming, the night Sarah walked in on us kissing.

"I don't want to hear you go on a spew about how Carter's a bad person and about how-"

"I don't mean about Carter in general. I mean you need to be careful when it comes to Carter. Carter's not who you need to be worried about," She said, cutting me off.

I stared at her for a moment, her eyes sad as she looked at me. It was as if she felt bad for me, but instead of questioning it I just looked out of the window. If she's not warning me about Carter, then who?

"Ashley, Aurora." Gwen seemed to answer my question without me needing to ask, and it was then I realized why Ashley didn't know Gwen picked me up.

This wasn't a conversation to try and get me to stay away from Carter because Carter's a bad person. This isn't about a way to try and mess with me the way I thought. She's just genuinely trying to warn me, which is more than I can say about most people.

It made me realize her apology was probably more serious than I thought it to be, but instead of responding at first, I just grabbed the door handle again.

"Things are going to be okay," I told her as I hopped out of the car. She didn't stop me this time, and so I stood on the grass and looked at her. "Ashley doesn't scare me," I confidently said, almost as if I actually believed it.

"You don't know what she's capable of," Gwen tried to warn.

"Well maybe she doesn't know what I'm capable of," I said.

I didn't give Gwen a chance to respond and instead shut the door. I didn't look back as I made my way to the house, and I was thankful she hadn't run after me or not given up on the topic at hand.

Obviously, I was bluffing when I said Ashley doesn't know what I'm capable of. I won't even be surprised if Gwen knew I was lying, considering I'm not the best liar in the world. It's very easy to tell when I'm lying.

When I got inside, I was empty as I expected it to be. Jason goes to the activity center when he gets out of school, and since my parents are always working this leaves the house to me. I don't mind, considering it lets me be by myself and not have to worry about hearing my mother nag at me every other minute.

My room was chilly, as it usually was. I liked it, considering I liked to be cold over hot, but it was a little chillier than usual. I changed into something comfy before sitting down at my art desk, staring at the painting I've been working on recently.

I've had a lot more inspiration than usual. Maybe it's the new friends I've gained, painting things based on their likes, or maybe it's Carter. Or maybe it's both, considering I've somehow made paintings for everyone I know, hiding them away with the rest of my paintings for a rainy day when I needed to give a gift.

I played music as I painted, and my phone was on do not disturb so I didn't constantly check for texts while I worked. It helped me focus more, considering lately I've been more active on my phone thanks to constantly talking to Carter.

This was like this for a while. Me painting a painting that included bright colors, sparkles, and disco balls. It was very clearly inspired by Bailey and the look of her bedroom when I saw it on homecoming night.

I waited for the last color I used to dry, and in the meantime decided to check my notifications. There weren't many, which I hadn't expected them to be.

However, there was one from Carter, one that made my stomach flutter as I clicked on his name.

Practice is over, I'll be there within the next two hours with snacks :)

Looking at when it was sent, I saw that it already had been an hour and a half. This meant there were only about thirty minutes until he was going to be here. I still needed to clean up my room and change into something more presentable before he got here.

Ripping my earbuds from my ears, I jumped from my seat. Just as I turned to begin getting ready, I froze in my spot as I saw Carter standing in the doorway with a bag of snacks.

"An hour and a half, I'd say that's a record."

++

Hope you guys are enjoying this <3 If you haven't, please do apply to the story on my other account: -JUPITERSMELODY

It's a sequel as I've mentioned before, but it's my favorite story I've ever written <3

* This chapter is not edited *