Dawn

Seven hours ago, I'd received a call from Aria, at five-thirty in the morning. She had been practically hyperventilating, whispering 'Oh my gosh, it's today' and 'I don't think I'm gonna be able to go back to sleep'.

Hanging up after listening to three seconds of her blubbering, I had fallen back into Dreamland.

Thirty minutes ago, she'd called me again, asking me if I could tell her whether the dress was too small 'right freaking now' (to put it in her words).  I'd replied, after seeing a photo, that it fit perfectly and that 'could you please not call again, I'm a little preoccupied with something called suspicious parents'.

And then, fifteen minutes later, I'd run to the phone, seen Aria's name, groaned, then gotten a headache listening to her worry that Jason would cancel the date and go out with another girl.

And I was currently still talking to her.

"It's going to be fine," I told her sternly. "It's not in Jason's nature to ditch girls just like that, and plus since he's the one who asked you anyway, he can't exactly back down."

"B-but what if he's just found another girl and likes her more than me-"

"Aria," I sighed. "I have to go, but just stay calm and even if he does ditch you for some stupid reason, you've got to know that you're worth way more than he'll ever be-"

"Hey! I have an opinion on Jason as well, you know-"

"Okay! Fine. But don't let a boy break you. That's what I'm trying to say."

Silence on the other end. Then, "Thanks Dawn. I mean it. I'd be a mess without you."

"That's what friends are for," I told her.

Then my mum came and told me that I had to 'study right now and stop wasting time on your phone' and I thought, this is what parents are for.

*

"Mum," I said, flicking my pen from hand to hand. I pointed at the clock and leaned on the kitchen bench. "Can I go out for lunch?"

She looked up from the salad she was making. "Don't you want to eat this instead?" 

I shrugged. "Kathleen called me and asked if I could go out and eat with her."

Actually, she hadn't, but mum didn't need to know that. I just didn't like being cooped up in the house all day long. And I knew I could call her and ask her to join me for lunch. She loved food. Aria just liked chocolate. 

And more chocolate.

"Oh... you should've told me she called. When did she say you could go with her to eat?" Mum placed the salad in the fridge and went to wash her hands. 

"She said at one-thirty we could meet at the park?"

Ugh. Why was I talking in questions now? 

I saw my mum raise her eyebrows, and felt my shoulders droop, but all she said was, "Be back by three." 

Beaming (and not trying to hide the big smile either) I went upstairs to ask Kat if she was free from one-thirty to three.  

She answered on the second ring, and I could hear loud banging noises coming from her end. 

"Hey! Is that you Dawn?" 

Bang. 

"I-" I barely got out one word before I heard a male voice yelling from wherever Kat was at the moment, "Goddamn it!" 

"Sorry," her voice was faint and crackly. "We're outside playing basketball because of my mum. Wait a sec."

I sat on my bed impatiently and sighed with relief when I heard her say, "What's up?" 

The noises now gone, I asked, "Who's 'we're'?" If she was hanging out with a guy-

"Oh. Just my two brothers and I."

"Right," I laughed. "I just wanted to know if you could come eat lunch with me from one-thirty to three?"

"That's in twenty minutes." 

"Yeah. If you don't mind?" 

"Well... I guess I can. Mum's out shopping and dad doesn't give two craps so sure." 

Thank god. 

I thanked her dad mentally, then said, "Meet me outside the park in twenty minutes then?" 

"Okay, no problem. And it's nineteen minutes now, by the way." 

"Shut up." 

Hearing her laugh, I hung up, then got ready to leave the house. 

*

"This place does chocolate, and chocolate only." 

Kat and I stood outside a cozy-looking cafe, staring into a mound of chocolate that seemed to come in all shapes, sizes, and colours. 

"So?" I replied. "It seems like an Aria kind of place, and we need to wish Aria good luck today." 

Kat sighed. "Whatever you say." 

We headed inside, and the door had one of those tinkling bells to announce our arrival. 

At first glance, the cafe was empty. Then, I gradually noticed people lounging on couches and soft-looking seats. 

"I think this place would be heaven for Aria," I joked as we headed towards the counter. It was cool inside, a nice change from the unforgiving heat of summer.

After we'd ordered, we sat at a small two-seated table, with Kat complaining that this wasn't an actual lunch and me pulling faces at her until our order came.

We'd just done a toast to Aria to wish her luck as my watch's hands hit two when the door tinkled once again and a couple walked in. 

I ignored it, but the look on Kat's face was enough for me to take a peek. 

Holy. 

Shit. 

It was-

It was-

Aria.

...and Jason.

They hadn't noticed us.

...Yet.

And they took the table right behind Kat. 

*

"Did I ever mention how terrible friends we are?" 

I tried to ignore Kat whispering at me and hid behind her bag she'd brung, which was conveniently sitting on the table.

"Can we leave? Please?" I whispered back. 

"No!" 

"Why?"

"Because if we get up we'll attract their attention and they'll recognise us!" Kat sounded as panicked as me.

"Oh man, we are so screwed." 

"You don't say." 

"Shut up Kat!"

I peeked a little and ducked back down as Aria, who was facing in my direction, looked up from the table. She seemed nervous, and Jason wasn't really saying anything at all either. 

After praying for Aria, and for myself and Kat, I whispered, "We'll just not listen. We can do that. I mean, as long as we don't listen to what they're saying, then it'll be like we were never here, and we won't be any wiser."

"What if they start kissing?" Kat whisper-yelled.

"Dude, I didn't need to know that." 

"Oh. Okay. Right." 

I suppressed an angry groan. 

Why did I have to be facing Aria? I didn't think Aria wanted an audience. 

"So... what were you doing before... this?" 

I jumped a little at Aria's voice- and at how close she was from recognising us. 

"Uh... I was just hanging out at Noah's. You?" 

Noah. Ugh. Why did Jason have to bring that up? And why did Aria have to have the worst conversation starting ideas in history? 

"I was getting ready."

And panicking. 

I didn't say that out loud though.  

So I blocked my ears from the conversation. 

But whenever you hear your name pop up, you automatically start to listen to see what they're talking about. Because you think you have a right to know. It's you after all.

And so when Aria said, "Dawn is hopeless with Noah", my ears magically became unblocked and I started listening to every single word that came out of her mouth.

And every single word that came out of Jason's mouth too.