Chapter 5

“Are you sure about this?” I asked Aaron.

“I’m sure,” he replied, grinning at me.

We’d been at the diner, up until Aaron came up with a ‘brilliant idea’, as he had called it.

Now, we were staring down at a river. We were on the sidewalk, on top of a bridge. Aaron was telling me we should go for a swim. I didn’t mind that part so much. What was bothering was the jump we had to do from the bridge down to the river.

“It’ll be fine, I’ve done it before,” he said, holding out his hand for me to take. I took his hand, but that didn’t make me feel any better.

It was past midnight, so no cars were passing by. Even if they did, I doubted they would notice us.

Aaron began taking off his shoes, and putting his wallet next to them. When he took off his shirt and pants, I realized he wasn’t kidding.

“What if someone comes and steals your things?” I asked him.

“They won’t,” he replied, shrugging.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m not, but I’m just thinking they won’t and that makes me feel better,” he said, smiling at me.

I looked down at the river. It was calm, but that didn’t make it look any less deadly.

“I’m not a good swimmer,” I admitted.

He looked deep into my eyes. Now that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, his eyes had shifted to a different color. It was dimly lit outside, since there was only one street lamp at the end of the bridge.

“I’ll hold you,” he said. The way he said it made my heart skip a beat.

He convinced me to move to the other side of the rail. Even as I stood there, holding on to the bars for dear life, I felt relieved that Aaron was next to me.

“Now!” Aaron yelled, jumping off. I was holding his hand and he managed to drag me along with him.

I didn’t really feel much on the way down. The wind was attacking my face all the way, until we hit the water. Aaron hadn’t let go, so when we landed in the water, we both sunk down.

I’d been holding my breath, but I still drank water and some of it went up through my nose.

I would’ve stayed underwater if Aaron hadn’t pulled me up.

“Are you okay?” He asked me, putting his hand around my waist. He was softly propelling his other hand on the water.

I nodded, looking up at the bridge we had just been on.

“The water’s cold,” I told him, my teeth slightly chattering.

Aaron smiled, nodding his head.

When he was sure I wouldn’t sink down, he let go of me. He was swimming in the water on his own. First, he did a few laps without purpose. Then, he began floating on his back, keeping his gaze on the bright moon in the sky.

I didn’t move from where I was. I could only stare at Aaron, as he moved around the water.   

By the time we got out, it was already 3 in the morning. My body felt exhausted. I’d woken up early and it was already really late.

When we were finished getting dressed, we headed back to the city. I had just taken a few steps, when I felt Aaron wrap his hand around mine. He intertwined our fingers, looking up at me. I knew he was waiting for me to object. When I didn’t, he smiled and we continued walking.

We were just holding hands, but all the way back, my heart was beating out of control.

I was surprised when Aaron started moving us toward an apartment complex. I was assuming it was where he lived.

Something in the back of my mind was telling me to stop him. I couldn’t go with him to his apartment.

Heck, we weren’t even dating. He was just a boy I met that made everything in my world now, make sense. When Matt died, he took everything from me. Now, Aaron was giving me part of that back.

That thought was enough to make me follow Aaron.

Aaron didn’t say anything on the way, but he had a thoughtful expression on his face. I didn’t feel like disturbing the silence that was surrounding us. There was noise from cars passing by, or simply from how loud parts of the city were. Not even that disturbed the bubble created around Aaron and me.

“This is my place,” he said, motioning me to go inside his apartment.

I walked in slowly, feeling a shiver run through my body. Parts of my clothes were still wet from the swim. When the AC hit my skin, it made me feel even colder.

Aaron walked toward a room, and I followed after him.

He came out of the closet in the room with a towel and a shirt, which I was assumed were his.

I took both and made my way to the restroom.

I’d left my messenger bag on his bed, which was where I’d been sitting.

When I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw my light brown hair drying up. It was looking messy, so I ran Aaron’s brush through it a few times.

I quickly took off all my clothes, looking at my naked self in the mirror. When I slipped on Aaron’s shirt, it reached me mid-thigh.

It didn’t feel right to just be wearing that. I was thinking on not coming out of the restroom, when Aaron knocked on the door.

“Do you mind wearing one of my boxers? It’s all I have,” he asked.

When I opened the door, I noticed he was wearing boxer shorts too, with a white under shirt.

“It’s fine,” I told him, taking the shorts from his hand.

He turned back, walking over to his desk and turning on another light. I took the opportunity to slip on his boxers.

They fit me loose, so I grabbed a band from my bag to tie them on the side. The boxers felt awkward, but having them tied was enough to keep them up.

The light dimly lit the room. When I climbed in the bed, I assumed that Aaron would start working on something.

He didn’t.

He walked toward the bed, climbing in after me.

We were lying down, facing each other. He was running a hand through my hair, tucking some of it that had fallen on my face, behind my ear.

“Annabel,” he said my name softly.

I kept looking at him, wondering what he was going to say after.

“Beautiful Annabel.”

After that, he pressed himself closer to me, and closed his eyes.

I wasn’t sure when I drifted to sleep. The last thing I remember was feeling Aaron’s fingertips lightly running up and down my back.

When I woke up the next morning, Aaron wasn’t in the bed with me. I looked around, wondering where he might’ve gone.

On the edge of the bed were my clothes. When I grabbed them, they felt warm- like if they’d just been in the drier.

I got dressed in Aaron’s room. Just as I was pulling down my shirt, the door to the room opened.

“You’re awake,” Aaron said.

He was fully dressed, wearing an aqua blue plaid shirt with a pair of dark jeans. His hair was messily styled, like it was most of the time.

“I am. Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

He chuckled, stretching out his arm to give me a cup of coffee.

“It’s only ten. Besides, you looked really peaceful sleeping.”

I’d spent the last few hours at his apartment. We hadn’t been doing much.

When it came time for me to leave, Aaron didn’t want me to go. He’d told me that either way, I’d see him later in the diner. Might as well and stay all day together.

I didn’t stay though.

“If you want to get together earlier, call me or text me,” Aaron said.

We were both standing next to the open door of his apartment.

“I will,” I told him, with a fake smile on my face. I needed to get out of there.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you there? It’s not that far.” It was the third time he’d offered to take me to my apartment.

“I’m sure. I need to stop at the store before heading to the apartment and I could really use the walk,” I told him.

“Alright, then I’ll see you tonight. I’ll be there earlier. I’m ready for any equations you want to throw my way,” he said, grinning at me.

I smiled, putting my messenger bag over my head.

Aaron leaned closer, his face only inches away from mine. I knew what he was going to do, yet I was still surprised when I felt it.

I didn’t move when his lips touched mine. He only pressed his lips to mine for a second or two, but it was enough to make me blush.

All afternoon, I couldn’t stop thinking about my kiss with Aaron. I didn’t know if it was right or wrong.

Would it be considered cheating on Matt? Could I do this to him now? His parents were moving on. I couldn’t do that to Matt too.

If his parents were leaving town, someone had to keep Matt’s memory alive. If I was with Aaron, I couldn’t do that.

When time came for me to meet Aaron at the diner, I couldn’t find it in me to go.

I wanted to. I wanted to see him. The only moments of peace I ever found were when I was with him. Not even that convinced me to get up from my bed and get ready.

As soon as the clock hit 10:30, my cell phone started beeping. First, it was just a text. I got a few, before the texts turned into calls. They were all from Aaron.

All that night, I spent it hating myself.

The morning run helped clear my thoughts. When it was time for me to get ready for class, I didn’t even want to go. I didn’t want to go to class, or face the other people that would be in them.

I was sitting down in the cafeteria in between two of my classes.

There were hardly any people in there. It was mainly because it wasn’t a popular time for people to be out of class.

Matt’s journal was on the table. I’d been rereading the last few pages over and over. When I read them for the first time, I cried- for hours on end. The few times that I read them after that- it was always the same thing.

Now, there was only a numb feeling that would take over my body every time the words from Matt’s journal rang through my mind.

“Mind if I take a seat,” someone said.

I snapped out of my thoughts to find Aaron standing in front of the table. He was only carrying his laptop, and he had a white hoodie on his other hand.

I shook my head, and grabbed Matt’s journal from the table.

“You didn’t show up last night,” Aaron said.

I just then noticed he was also carrying a coke on the hand where he had his hoodie.

“I was busy,” I replied, looking away from him.

With the way he was looking at me, I felt like he would realize why I didn’t show up last night.

“Yeah, I thought you would be. Especially when you didn’t answer any of my calls or replied to any of my texts,” he said, shrugging.

I looked at him, not knowing what to say.

“I was, really,” I told him. When I heard my own words, I noticed how obvious it was that I was lying.

“Okay,” he simply said.

We both stayed quiet for a while. Aaron was staring at me intensely. His gaze was making me nervous, so I began messing with the hem of my shirt.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later,” Aaron suddenly said, getting up from the table.

It looked like he was waiting for me to say something.

“I’m not going to the diner tonight,” I told him. My voice came out shaky, showing how nervous I felt.

“I won’t wait for you then,” Aaron said, before giving me his back, and walking away.

I thought I was doing the right thing. But when I watched him go- an ache formed in my chest. I felt like I couldn’t breathe and my eyes automatically got teary.

I wasn’t sure what it was that made me get up and chase after him.

“Wait,” I called out. Aaron was about to open the door to the cafeteria. I assumed some classes had just ended, because a flood of students began making their way in.

I wasn’t sure if he’d heard me, or if he would even pay attention. The second time I called out for him, he stopped.

I smiled at him, knowing that wasn’t enough to excuse me ditching him last night or how I’d just treated him only seconds ago.

Aaron walked back to me, a stoic expression on his face.

“I’ll buy the pancakes,” I said, my voice still shaky. This time, it was out of fear that he’d turned me down.

The moment Aaron’s playful smile took over his face, a sigh of relief escaped my body.

“Only if they come with the coffee,” he said, giving me a mischievous grin that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.

Comment and vote if you'd like =)