Grown ish: Zoey and Aaron's Story (BOOK 1)

Part 33: Avoid

Zoey narrates.

A few days pass, and I haven't seen Aaron for a while. We've texted, of course, but only small talk, like Aaron asking how I am.

That morning, I head downstairs to the kitchen.

'I made pancakes!' Ana says excitedly, as I sit down.

I smile, as she hands me a plate.

'How are you feeling, Zo?' Jazz asks.

'I'm....good.' I say, smiling.

'Although...I feel like Aaron is avoiding me.' I say, frowning.

'Why?' Nomi asks.

'I don't know. Since everything happened he hasn't really spoken to me, apart from checking in on me every so often. Also....' I pause, as they look at me intently.

'We kinda sorta kissed a few times....' I say, as they gasp.

'Zoey! What does that mean?!' Jazz says, passionately.

'I don't know...we've confessed our love like...so many times...and yeah, I really do love him. We've just been through something huge together...I really feel like it's our relationship...it's stronger?' I say, as they nod.

I suddenly recall something, and quickly get up, jumping in my place.

'Zoey?! What's wrong?' Ana asks, concerned.

'I just remembered something! The day of the accident, just before it happened....' My eyes water, as I smile.

'I was going to tell Aaron how I felt about him...' I add, as Jazz responds.

'Zoey, that's amazing!' She says.

'I decided that I wanted to be with him. I wanted the life that we'd dreamt of...full of love...and our little family...' I say, as I place my hands on my stomach, but feel oddly okay.

'Zoey...you should tell him how you feel!' Nomi says, as the others agree, and I pick at my food, thinking.

_____

Later that day, I'm walking on campus to my next class. I keep glancing around for Aaron, but there's no sight of him.

I enter the class room and sit down before getting my notebook out of my bag. As I look up again, I see Aaron enter the room.

He stops in his track when his eyes meet mine, and we stare at each other for a few minutes, before the professor asks everyone to take a seat. Despite the empty seat beside me, Aaron makes his way over to the back of the room, looking down and avoiding my gaze any further.

I'm now certain Aaron is avoiding me, and so as the class begins, my mind wanders with all these thoughts about why he's not talking to me, what I may have done, and most importantly, whether or not I should tell him how I feel.

The class ends, and as I'm packing my things, I see Aaron pace out of the room, so I quickly run after him.

_____

He's walking really fast, and since I'm still recovering from the accident, it takes me a while to catch up with him. I finally do, in a quiet place outside Hawkins hall.

'Aaron!' I call out to him, and he stops, turning around to look at me.

I walk over to him, and we're face to face.

'Hey.' I say.

'Why didn't you talk to me today?' I ask, confused.

He sighs, and doesn't respond.

'Why are you avoiding me?' I ask, exhaustedly.

He notices this, and takes my hand, leading me over to a table outside, as he pulls out a chair for me, before sitting opposite.

'I'm...sorry. I didn't mean to shut you out. I'm just...confused.' He says, looking down.

'Hey! It's fine. I know that you're dealing with all this stuff in your own way. I get it.' I say, reassuringly.

'Thank you for the letter.' I add, as he finally looks at me.

'Zoey...I'm sorry I couldn't be the guy you deserved.' He says, defeatedly, much to my shock.

'What do you mean?' I ask him, surprised.

'I mean...I'm sorry...for hurting you...that time...' He says, shuffling his feet awkwardly.

God, I love this man.

'Aaron, look at me.' I say, as he looks at me, and our eyes lock again.

'The day of the accident...I was going to tell you that...' I start to speak, before pausing and taking a deep breath.

'I was going to tell you that I wanted to be with you. Again.' I say, as his eyes widen in surprise.

'You what?' He asks, shocked.

'I...yeah...I wanted to be with you. No. I want to be with you.' I say firmly, as he gets up and steps back.

'Zoey, we can't be together.'

_____