Aria Matthews is in love with her best friend, Lucas Miller. It is the best kept secret since Area 51 and she knows she would take it to the grave. But things start changing in her senior year of high school when another of her friends takes it upon...
I stood nervously in front of Aria's front door, sliding a trembling hand down my tuxedo. My hand itched to rake through my hair as pinpricks of anxiety raced down my spine, but I did not want to ruin my carefully styled hairdo. I wanted to look perfect. For her. As her prom date.
After what seemed like an eternity, I lifted my hand and rang the bell.
Aria's mom opened the door almost immediately, as if she had been waiting for me just inside the doorway. Or maybe she had spied me lingering on the porch like a loser, through her window.
"Lucas! Come on in," she said, smiling warmly. At least warm for her. She had changed a lot in the last few months. After coming to her daughter's defense (five years too late, in my opinion) and standing by her during Brad's trial, their relationship had steadily improved. For Aria's sake, I was happy to see her get along with her mother.
"Thank you, Mrs. Matthews," I said, stepping in. I half hoped to find Aria standing right behind her mother but the room was deserted.
"Aria will be right out," her mom said, eyes twinkling like she knew where my thoughts were. "And please call me Dinah."
I nodded at her, a forced smile on my face. I was still wary of her. This woman had the power to hurt Aria like no one else and she had a history of doing so. I wasn't so convinced of the change. It would take me some more months. Or years. Or decades.
Dinah led me to the den and invited me to take a seat on the couch, while she herself seated herself on the armchair.
After a bit of nervous twiddling of thumbs, I realized that Aria's mother seemed to be just as anxious in my presence as I was. Probably more so.
"Lucas, I wanted to thank you."
Surprised, I stared at her. "For what?"
She sighed wearily. "For being there for Aria when no one was. At first, your presence in her life annoyed me to no end. But now... I couldn't be more grateful."
I didn't do it for you, I wanted to say but that would have put a damper on the evening. So, I just nodded.
Apparently, she wasn't finished. "I know you must hate me. I'm sure Aria did too—"
"She didn't," I interrupted her. She looked astounded at my words. "She has never hated you. She loves you."
Dinah beamed, her eyes warm and bright and I could see—for just a second—where Aria got her looks from.
Just then we heard soft footsteps and a goddess came into view.
The world ceased to exist. I hardly realized when I stood up.
All my focus was on the girl before me who held my heart in her hands. She wore a strapless blue dress that wrapped around her body like a dream and flared out from her waist to her feet clad in strappy silver heels. A petite diamond pendant nestled at her collarbone with matching earrings dangling from her ears. She had left her hair open, like she knew I was partial to.
Beautiful didn't even begin to describe her.
Vaguely I heard Dinah gasping and exclaiming over Aria. The girl who was waiting uncertainly for my response.
Say something, you idiot, I thought.
"You're... wow," I muttered, clumsily. All vocabulary seemed to have failed me. But Aria just grinned at me, looking relieved. I still couldn't believe she was my girlfriend.
I had to force myself not to keep staring. While I pinned her corsage. While her mother took pictures of us. While I led her to my car that was parked out front.
A shriek split the air when we reached the school as I was helping her climb out of the truck. "You look gorgeous!" screamed Cam.
Her date nodded at me like a dork trying to act cool. He was a football player, bulky with not much going on upstairs. Cam would crush his soul. He even had gelled his hair into spikes. Dude probably woke up that morning in the 90s.
"Thank you," Aria beamed at her. "You look amazing too!"
"Well." Cam just shrugged, with a small smile on her face. She wore a strapless black dress with her hair piled atop. She looked beautiful too. Not like Aria. But then no one could be.
As I watched her mingle with friends, I couldn't help but feel relieved that she was safe. Brad was faced with charges of stalking, kidnapping, child abuse, assault and battery. All in all, he was going away for a very long time. He would never be able to terrorize Aria ever again.
The police also found out that Brad had been keeping tabs by affixing cameras outside our houses. Thankfully—and the police checked thoroughly—there were no bugs inside the house. In spite of that, I knew that Aria had trouble sleeping, a part of her forever scarred by the fact that he had been watching her.
The night that Brad had been arrested, Aria's mom took the red eye back home when she heard the news. She hadn't left Aria since.
After being released from the fear of her uncle's shadow, I noticed Aria becoming freer as if some mental bonds had come undone. More relaxed and unencumbered. I loved seeing this side of her.
After ages of mingling and exclaiming, I had Aria to myself again as I led her to the dance floor. They had just started a slow number and I wanted this dance with her.
"You know I can't dance, right?" Aria asked, trepidation in her chocolate eyes.
I smiled at her as I pulled her close. "Neither can I. But we'll figure it out. Together."
She grinned up at me, her arms around my neck. Mine, I thought. I think I turned a bit into a Neanderthal around her. "Did I mention you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen?"
Her cheeks turned rosy. "No. But thank you. You're not so bad yourself."
I chuckled. "Such an shining endorsement."
Her laughter felt like a prism of colors, radiating in the deepest crevices of my heart.
"I love you," I said simply.
Her face glowed under the overhead twinkling lights and my arms tightened around her. She gave me a dazzling smile. "Ditto."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Author's note:
And there we have it. 'The Best Friend Equation' is officially done. Let me know your thoughts if this book was to your satisfaction or did it leave something to be desired. Any and all criticisms are welcome 😊
