Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 63 - Hints

You suppose Ari's gone back to the others outside Bodhi's room. For you to go back now would be embarrassing - it would be clear as day something was going on between you, and trying to explain would be impossible, especially as neither of yours or Ari's mums knew anything about your relationship in the first place. You hope, anyway. But where else are you meant to go? They'd come looking eventually and that would require an even bigger explanation.

After rubbing your eyes dry, you make your way back to the group in the corridor, trying to act as natural as possible.

"Hey, Y/n, we're going to go get pizza and then head back to the campsite," Marlon says - everyone's stood up, getting their things together. "Hey, you okay?" he asks you quietly.

"Yeah, I'm good." But you're not too thrilled about having to spend the evening with Ari.

Poppy ends up going and getting food with Manu, before bringing it back to the hospital to eat with Bodhi and keep her company until her dad arrives, whilst you and the others get a ton of pizza in town and take it back to the campsite.

Your mum and Marlon booked a static caravan for the night right next door to the one Ari and Abbie are staying in, which is adjacent to the one Poppy and Manu are supposed to be staying in with Bodhi.

As you take a seat next to Marlon on the table outside the caravan with the others, Abbie lays all the pizza boxes out. You're sitting across from Ari, and it's difficult to move without drawing attention to yourself, so you stay where you are, avoiding his gaze.

"Anyone want Soda?!" Summer calls, bounding out of the caravan holding a bottle of Pepsi. She sets it down and takes a seat next to Ari, but to your surprise, he immediately gets up and moves begrudgingly around the edge of the table to sit on the other side of Marlon.

"What's up with him?" Marlon whispers to you.

"I've got no idea." you lie, making a mental note to tell your brother about the whole Ari situation later.

As much as you hate to admit it, it feels kind of satisfying to see Ari give Summer the cold shoulder like that, but your happiness is short-lived when Ari refuses to even look at you from his side of the table.

"So, I thought we could stay for tomorrow and support Shorehaven," Abbie starts, giving a warning look to Ari as if to say 'this doesn't mean you can surf'. "Then we'll head back home when the comp is finished, okay?"

Ari and Summer nod reluctantly, and you feel obliged to as well, despite Abbie not being in charge of your schedule too (although your own mum probably has something similar in mind).

"So mum, let me just check," Ari starts, and you can sense his sarcastic tone right away. "You're not going to just like...randomly leave half way through this really important thing."

Abbie looks incredibly confused, but you can tell instantly what he's doing. "Erm, no I'm not going to leave halfway through the comp, Ari, why would I do that?"

"I don't know," he replies, shrugging and trying to act unbothered. "Maybe you might just think that you're more important than the thing, and just walk away."

This time Ari looks right at you, confirming your suspicions. It's a cold glare, probably supposed to make you feel guilty, but all it makes you feel is blinding rage. So much so that you cut off Abbie's last answer to Ari's question.

"But Abbie, what if you being there disrupted things? Like...if it ruined your friends' lives?" You ask. "Would you leave?"

"Well, I..." Abbie starts, but Ari cuts her off again.

"She wouldn't be disrupting anything," Ari replies coldly. "And it wouldn't matter anyway, not if she wanted to be there."

"Maybe she does want to be there, but it's complicated." you shoot back - hopefully no one is understanding any of this, and you seriously doubt it because you barely understand what this petty argument even is. Ari's lack of hesitation to bring this up in front of everyone, however, has made you extremely uncomfortable.

"Maybe it's only complicated because she made it complicated." he replies.

"You were the one who...!" You start, then trail off, not wanting to blurt out that Ari and Summer have kissed.

You catch a glimpse of Summer's face: she looks alarmed, perhaps because she's realised that you and Ari haven't actually sorted things out, but made them worse. You hope she hasn't figured anything else out though.

"Okay, let's calm down and eat, please." Abbie says authoritatively, and you do what she says as the whole table is plunged into silence.

After only a couple of slices of pizza, you make your excuses and head back to the cabin. Your room is in the back, and as you head inside you notice Marlon has made your bed as well as his, and you smile fondly. It's been a while since you and your brother were kids and shared a room, but it brings back good memories.

As you begin unpacking the few items of clothing you brought with you, footsteps in the doorway catch your attention.

It's Marlon, leaning against the doorframe as he raises an eyebrow at you. "So what was that about?"

"What was that about?" you try to act innocent, but there's no denying the tension between you and Ari. It's pointless to try and ignore it.

"C'mon. You and Ari?" He sits on his bed opposite you. "Has something happened?"

Obviously, you want to say. But you try to keep your composure.

"Yes. Well, actually a lot happened." you say with a sigh.

"Involving...Summer?" Marlon guesses, and you narrow your eyes at him. He seems very informed about the situation, and you wonder if he even needs to ask any of these questions.

"How'd you know that?" you ask.

"Did you not see her face just now? She looked so guilty it was insane," he laughs incredulously, then goes quieter, more serious. "So, what happened?"

You sigh, slumping onto the bed behind you. "We sort of ended things." You shrug, as if it was nothing.

"What?" He exclaims. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." You reply, and it's the truth, right? You broke it off; you don't get to be upset.

"So...how's Summer involved?" Marlon asks, and you're kind of glad he asked - you're not sure how you would bring this into the conversation otherwise.

"Her and Ari kind of...kissed." you say, placing your pyjamas on the bed as you continue to unpack.

"Oh," he says, making a face as he realises exactly what you said. "Well, I get why you ended things then."

"Yeah." You respond but it basically just comes out as you taking in a deep breath.

"Just get some sleep before tomorrow, yeah?" he says, and to your surprise, he hugs you before leaving the room. You melt into the embrace you haven't felt for so long, then head to bed ready for tomorrow.