Daylight, paul aron

chapter six

-Relief washed over me as I received a message from Belle, letting Ari and I know that Belle had landed in Melbourne. My best friend in the whole world (and Ari's cousin) was coming to watch our race. It was something we had planned months in advance and had been counting down since we rarely saw each other in person anymore.

"I'm so excited!" I jumped on Ari's bed, startling him a little. He had been trying to take a nap. Giving me a look, he turned the other way, covering his ears.

"I haven't seen Belle in so long. We're going to have to go shopping together and out to dinner. Ohh and I have to watch that new movie with her. It's going to be so fun." At that point I was jumping on the bed listing everything we would have to do together.

I had fallen asleep on the flight (which was unusual for me), whereas Ari had trouble sleeping on the flight. I guess if it was me I would have already pushed him off the bed, or kicked him out.

I stopped jumping and hopped off the bed, choosing to move back to my original seat and quietly read.

-

If it were up to me, I would have picked Belle up. But since she was here with her family and they were staying at another hotel, it wasn't "necessary."

They got to their hotel at noon. And per agreement, I wasn't allowed to bother them until 5:30 since we had reservations at 6:00 tonight.

Ari, Belle and I had picked out a fairly fancy restaurant when we planned this trip (months ago). Belle's parents and Ari's would be going with us, as well as Teddy.

I was looking forward to catching up with Belle's parents, Amanda and Josh. Since we had been best friends since we were in kindergarten, I knew Amanda and Josh very well.

I remember when my parents would fight, Belle would invite me over for the night. I remember when my dad moved out and Belle had invited me to stay for the whole weekend. Amanda and Josh had treated me like a second daughter of theirs.

I was there with Belle on her parents' 10th anniversary of their marriage. I had walked up with Belle to give them their gift. I had been there for many family meetings.

Once, when I was twelve, I had a complete breakdown at Belle's house when her parents were out walking the dog. The breakdown was because I thought no boys liked me. I thought it was impossible one could ever have a crush on me.

Belle comforted me. She made me a hot fudge sundae (it actually made the situation worse because I didn't know I was lactose intolerant and almost died from pain that night) and convinced me that this one kid from my class had a crush on me.

His name was Brad. Thinking back on it, he was not attractive whatsoever. I was just happy at the thought of a boy having a crush on me.

That night we watched many videos on how to get your crush to like you. I even asked her dad for advice because I was more comfortable asking him than my own dad.

These memories and many more were the reason I loved that family so much.

-

Ari and I both took showers and changed into nicer clothes. He was wearing a knit sweater and trousers with his favourite watch. I was wearing a midi dark blue dress.

I came up behind him and used his shoulders to jump up and down. "I'm so excited!" I exclaimed, yet another time.

We headed out and locked the door.

-

We both got a message that everyone was at the restaurant, so we drove there instead of their hotel.

"Maggie! Mags come here!" I turned around and saw Belle.

Since we were in a fancy restaurant we rushed over to one another and hugged. I took a deep breath then exhaled.

"I missed you so much Mags." Belle whispered into my ear.

"I'm so glad you're here. It's going to be so much fun!" I put my arm around her shoulders and guided her back to everyone else. I greeted everyone, giving them hugs and making some small talk before sitting down.

"So how are you guys feeling about qualifying tomorrow, Ari, Maggie?" Ari's dad asked.

"I'm feeling pretty confident," Ari said "I mean,
the track seems pretty compliant with the Prema cars."

"I don't know, it's very different from last year. I'm not sure how well I'll perform." I replied honestly.

The waiter got our orders and after that the conversation started to drift to more parent sort of talk.

"So, any new boys?" Belle asked with a knowing smile.

"I don't think so. I mean, there is this one guy, but he's Ari's teammate. I don't think it's a good example for me to date a fellow driver." I answered.

"Whatever. If he's cute, he's cute." She was doing a terrible job at convincing me.

"Well, what about you? Any new boys." I asked.

"College guys are so gross. I thought it would be better than highschool, but it's like there's something in the water." We both started laughing. Belle had pretty high standards.

The food arrived and that's when I saw him.

A/n:
hi guys, sorry for not updating for so long. school has been keeping me pretty busy, by the way, thanks for all the kind comments! i really appreciate all of it! hope you enjoy the cliff hanger 🤭