I do, I don't [under major editing]

e i g h t

Arden rolled over to the other side of her bed, her eyes swollen from crying herself to sleep. It had only been two days since Ryan told her about Kyle, and she still had to make the decision on whether or not to believe in what Ryan was telling her. Her head throbbed as she picked up her phone on the bedside table next to her. She debated on asking Kyle for an explanation, but finally decided against it.
Arden dragged herself out of bed, not having the appetite to eat anything. She ruffled her hair as she walked to the living room to turn on the television. To her surprise, her parents already sat on her tiny couch, watching The Price is Right.

"Mum? Dad?" Arden's eyebrows pulled in together in confusion. "What're you guys doing here?"

Her mother laughed, her cheekbones rising towards her moonlight arched eyes. "We thought we'd keep you company today because we're going somewhere tonight."

"Good morning to you too honey," Her father chuckled, leaning towards her glass coffee table, to grab his cup of coffee. "We'll be eating out tonight, so get prepped up nice and pretty tonight."

Arden walked cautiously towards her parents, as if they were setting off some trap. "What's the occasion?"

"Something special-" Arden's mother was cut off, by her father who placed his palm over her mouth.

"Shh, it's meant to be a surprise." He shushed. They both gave her a grin before standing up to make themselves more coffee. Arden followed them into the kitchen, wanting to know what the surprise was.

"Please tell me."

"If you want to know, you just have to put on your prettiest dress and wait for tonight." Her father winked at her not giving anything away. Arden silently groaned, and braced herself for whatever the special occasion was. She had a bad feeling about it, and it was not a good mix with Ryan's bad news.

*

Arden sucked in a deep breath, as she sat down on the table that was reserved for them.

  Kyle had promised he would explain whenever he got the chance, assuring her that Ryan was lying to her. At this point, she didn't know who to believe. As Arden looked up, she saw Aunt Luci and Uncle Wendell walking towards them. If they were here, that could only mean one thing. Ryan would be here as well.

Arden felt the presence of Ryan sinking nervously in his seat. It surprised her how she knew those things. She sat opposite of him, completely ignoring his presence by fake admiring her manicured nails. She definitely did not want to be in this place right now, but she had no other choice. If she had to avoid Ryan the whole night, then she would.

Someone's cell phone rang, and Arden glanced up to see who it came from. Aunt Luci's smile turned into a frown, and her eyebrows scrunched up, making it look like she had a unibrow.

"What's wrong, mum?" She heard Ryan whisper. Arden fought the urge to look towards his direction.

"Your brother can't make it tonight." Aunt Luci sighed, placing the napkin on her lap. Even though Arden didn't want to face the truth about the whole cheating thing, she felt relieved and upset that Kyle was not here to sort things out.

"Well since he's not coming, should we order?" Wendell took his menu and flipped through it, a tiny smile on his face threatened to show.

The sound of the menus being flicked by everyone on the table gave Arden the opportunity to text Kyle as to why he could not come tonight.

"Arden." She heard her mother hissing softly through her teeth, wearing a fake smile. "No phones at the table. Show some manners, please." Arden rolled her eyes, but obediently placed her phone back down on her lap.

"What are you ordering?" Her father asked.

"I'm not hungry." Arden mumbled. She didn't have the appetite to eat anything, even though she saw one of her favourite dishes on the menu. It reminded her of the good memories in L.A were she would always eat out with her best friend, Aileen.

"Get her some pasta, honey." Arden's mother placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, and he nodded.

A waitress came to take their order, pouring them all a glass of red wine. Arden took her glass, giving it a hearty swig,  nearly choking from the unexpected sweetness.

"Take it easy, there." Ryan jokingly gave her a smile from across the table. His lips curled, unsure of whether Arden would reply to him. This was the first time she ever looked at Ryan for the whole night. She took a few seconds to scan him, and concluded that he looked pretty decent in his worn out navy blue sweater, spiked up hair and huge, bright eyes. Apart from that, she was still upset and Arden decided not to reply to him.

After their food were placed down on the table, everyone dug into their dinner, and instantly discussed about business and current events. Her parents talked about her brother who worked overseas, and how he would be visiting USA very soon. Arden poked at her pasta with her fork, creating random shapes. From the corner of her eye, she could see Ryan throwing quick glances at her.

"Take a photo, why don't you?" She snapped. "It'll last longer!"

Arden watched as Ryan's cheeks began to turn a rosy red, and he quietly stabbed a carrot on his plate. The adults look at her in shock and confusion from her sudden outburst. Even she could not believe those words came out of her mouth. It was not like her to do things like that.

"Sorry." She mumbled, biting her lip.

It was an agonisingly long time for the parents to finish their main course. After a dessert of two ice cream bowls, and embarrassing stories the parents exchanged about Arden and Ryan, Arden's father cleared his throat and smiled at everyone around the table. She fiddled with her thumbs, impatiently thinking about how she would jump straight onto her bed and fall into a nice deep sleep once she got back to her apartment.

"As you know, Wendell and I have been friends since high school." The fathers both exchanged a secretive, excited grin. Although they were already of age, Arden thought that they were more childish than she was.

"Yeah, so?" Arden gave them a look to hurry up and get to the point.

"Well, they both have an amazing surprise!" Arden's mother clapped her hands, and Aunt Luci clapped along with her in the same giddiness. Arden swore that the parents around the table were acting stranger than usual. It was like they were teenagers who just found out they were getting tickets to a One Direction concert.

"Just get to the point please." Ryan muttered. Arden thanked Ryan in her head, but remembered that she was supposed to be mad at him.

Arden decided to pour herself a second glass of wine just as Ryan's mother declared the big announcement and apparently both mothers were itching to say.

"Arden, this is Ryan your fiancé." The words came out of Aunt Luci's mouth so quick, Arden didn't even get the time to blink or react at the announcement straight away.

Ryan started to cough uncontrollably, while Arden was left choking on her drink. She had to pause again for a moment to let the announcement sink into her. Was it April fools day or something? She gave her parents a begging look, expecting them to say that this was all a horrible prank they were pulling. Unfortunately for her, they didn't even glance her way. They were too busy clinking glasses in celebration of arranging a marriage she didn't even want,