Another City Of Lights.

Chapter 7.

Samantha's POV:

I could sense the change in Aaron's demeanor as soon as those words left my mouth.
Dash and Hailey bombarded me with multiple questions, but Aaron, he never said a word.
It was almost like he couldn't hear us at all. He had this look on his face...one I couldn't comprehend. And he wasn't looking at us. It was as if he was lost in his own thoughts.

I didn't want to tell them like this, I really didn't. I had been waiting for some sort of a right time for it, I guess.
I knew they would be surprised, but I never expected Aaron to be so mad about it. I wanted him to actually say something about it, so that I could understand what he was thinking about. But that didn't happen, he didn't say anything.

Time passed, and Dash and Hailey had already moved on to further topics of conversation.
It was around 4pm, when we were all ushered back in to the buses, trying to find space to sit.
We sat exactly in the same seats, with Dash and Aaron infront of us. But this time, it was more awkward.
Aaron didn't look at either of us, he was blankly staring out the window.
And when Dash leaned in to whisper something in his ear, I thought he was going to punch him in the face. But he sighed deeply, and continued to stare back at the road again.

Hailey, Dash and I decided to ignore him. We didn't have another choice in that matter, because we all knew better than to talk to him in this state.
We had learned from experience. Aaron had a nasty temper, and once it took over, he didn't care about anyone. He would insult, hurt, and probably dismantle you if you got in the way.
So the usual strategy for this was to ignore him until he cooled down. Kind of lame, but it actually worked.

We continued to talk and babble all the way, discussing everything we had missed out on.
I was looking forward to getting in bed and starting the new book, trying not to let this Aaron situation get to me.
He probably wasn't going to talk anytime soon, and I suppose it wasn't such a big deal. But I had a habit of stressing a lot, I was trying not to do that.

It had been a long day and I wanted to go home as soon as possible, so I was the first one to suggest the idea of leaving as soon as we were back at school.
We all walked together ofcourse, with Aaron trailing behind, like a loner.
I knew Dash and Hailey felt uncomfortable as well, but none of us bothered to start a conversation with him. Not even Dash.

When we had to part ways, I clung to Hailey a bit after giving her a hug, kind of nervous to be around Aaron alone. Dash also gave me a sympathetic look but grinned when I thanked him for the gift.
After those two were about a mile away, I broke in to a run. Not exactly run, but I did try my best to walk faster, just to get away from him. I expected him to leave me alone and walk back to his house, but ofcourse he didn't do that.
He grabbed my bag from behind, pulling me to a stop.
"You're going to run away?", He spat at me, giving me that glare of his.
"I'm not running away, I'm moving away", I answered back, surprised at my own sarcasm.
"Why? How..how are you moving? What happened?", He asked, his tone returning back to normal.
"Mum decided it was time. You know, she's...kind of had enough", I muttered, vaguely aware that we were having this discussion on the side of a very busy street.
Aaron sighed, pushing his hands deep in to the pocket of his jeans. I decided to take this opportunity to ask him what I had been meaning to ask for a while now.
"Why are you so bothered by it?", I asked, watching him for a reaction.
His eyes widened and his mouth slightly fell open, clearly he wasn't expecting me to ask this.
However, he recovered quickly, and shrugged.
"I'm not. I was just surprised", He replied coolly.

It felt as if we were just standing on the road, not looking at each other, and somehow talking about this awkward situation. Maybe he was just taken aback because everything was happening so fast. To be honest, so was I.

"I was just surprised, because..we won't see each other as often. I mean, all of us", He said, correcting himself.

I nodded, I knew what that felt like. I hated changes too, more than anything else.

"I guess I'm holding you up, get going then", He said, dramatically gesturing towards the street that led to my house.
"Yeah", I mumbled, unsure of what to say to reassure him.
There wasn't any reason to reassure him, reassuring would mean lying. Because, it was a fact that we would be separated in less than three weeks.
Exams were next month and school would be over before that, to provide us students with some time to study. And with school over, I wouldn't be allowed out of the house, neither would Hailey.
And after exams, who knew what we would do for the next two months. Summer vacations were always spent looking forward to school starting, but not this time. This time, we would all be applying and possibly attending different schools in the fall.

There was no hope of meeting and continuing to meet like we did for the past so many years.

"What are you thinking? You look like you're going mad", Aaron spoke up, and I realised I had zoned him out completely.
"You're right. I won't be able to see you all", I said, sounding gloomier than ever.
So much for reassurances.
He watched me, studying me carefully, before saying;
"Don't sweat it. We'll figure it out. We always do".

But there was no guarantee in his words.

How could there be? He wasn't sure either obviously.

But I calmed my mind as I walked home. Thinking that it wasn't something to fret about. It was a normal thing that was going to happen, and we'll just adapt accordingly. Like we always did.

And that night, I found all the reassurance I needed in that silly dog necklace and that book, believing that everything would be alright.