His Girl #Wattys2016

19. Easy-peasy

By the time we covered the short distance between the café and his neighborhood, Aaron had pretty much asked me everything about myself. From my favourite colour to my favourite poet, he had covered everything. When we stopped in front of his building, he killed the engine and smiled at me.

"You know, I already knew the answers to all the questions I asked you."

"Really. Why did you ask me again then? Don't you have faith in Drake?" I asked, mocking him.

He laughed. "How can you be so sure I asked Drake and none of your other friends?"

"Only Drake knows me so well. After my Dad. But certain things, especially about my first favourite superhero, I've made the mistake of confessing that to only Drake." I said, blushing to myself.

"Well, I had a good laugh at it when he told me. Not because I think Spiderman is uncool, don't get me wrong," he said, putting his hands up, palms out, in front of me. "But Drake told me you used to get into fights with people over that. Like, real fights."

I nodded, abashed. It was one thing to let your best friend know about your preteen superhero crush, but it wasn't something you tell your celebrity crush about. I made a mental note to kick Drake's ass for this.

"You both seem to spend a good amount of time laughing at me," I pouted.

"No. Drake is still reluctant, you know. It's hard to get him to talk about you. He doesn't trust me with you yet." Aaron said, shaking his head lightly.

"He's always been that protective of me," I said with a sense of pride.

"So, I got to know you've a sister. Tell me about her."

"Well..." I stalled.

For a sick moment, I couldn't recall Emily's face and it reminded me of the times when we barely saw each other.

Those times are over now, you live together, a tiny voice reminded me and I sighed.

"Emily, my sister, she's a doctor. She's taken after my mom, making her the prettier one of the two of us-"

"Impossible," he muttered and I blushed.

"We live together, and she makes sure I'm fed and looked after well even between her busy schedule, so she's one hell of a sister." I beamed.

"That's nice to hear, I'd love to meet her. Drake seems to like her a lot, too."

"That's an understatement," I laughed. "Drake loves Emily. You should see how well they both get along, it's like they forget I exist."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating. Anyway, tell me more about yourself. You know so much about me, I feel like I'm being kept away from things."

"Yeah, right. Half my school knows so much about you," I chuckled. "Anyway, that's enough about us, let's go see what Drake's been up to."

"As you wish, I know how to get things out of you, so, yeah. Let's go."

When Aaron knocked on the door, Drake answered and was shocked to see me standing there. I could see that he was trying hard not to show his disbelief, but I knew him quite well to catch his reactions. I slid my hand around his neck and winked at him.

"I heard you were unwell, Drake? I was so worried about you that I couldn't stay at school for an extra moment," I mock-pitied him.

Both Aaron and Drake burst out laughing. Drake wriggled out of my embrace and poked me in the gut, where I was the most ticklish, and tutted.

"You only need reasons to skip school, Sarah. I might have to talk to Emily about this soon."

I nodded. "You only need reasons to talk to Emily, Drake. I might have to talk to Theo about this soon." I reached Aaron to whisper in his ear, "Theo is Emily's boyfriend."

Aaron wrinkled his nose at Drake, and I mirrored his face.

"This is so wrong, Drake. And here I thought you'd be good enough to make Sarah's day better. Very bad."

Drake, who'd been laughing along, glanced at me. His expression shifted a little, and I saw his look of questioning.

"Oh, it's just Melanie again. Apparently, she has been texting Vaughn in my name and he was pissed at her. They were creating a ruckus in the parking lot. Aaron brought me out, the end." I shrugged in the end, to add to the effect.

"Brought you out of there? That's all that was?" Aaron asked, sounding almost offended.

"As much as I want to, I wouldn't call it a date. Not in front of you, at least." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Wait, let's rewind a little. Melanie was texting him in your name?"

"Yes, grandpa deaf-ears. Have you forgotten to wear your hearing aid?" I rolled my eyes.

"Sarah! That's outright mean!" Aaron half shrieked, trying not to laugh.

"What's wrong with her?" Drake continued to speak, clearly unfazed by my joke. When I shrugged in response, he spoke again. "I mean, why your name? She would've had a better chance if he'd known it was her." He chuckled.

I crossed my arms against my chest. "So, now you want Melanie to have Vaughn?"

"Yeah, I mean, why not? You're clearly over him, so why do you care?" Drake said, nonchalantly.

Aaron, who had been clearing the living room to make space for us to be seated, looked up at us curiously.

"Well, I don't care who he goes out with. I haven't in, like, two years. But it can't be her. That's all I'm saying." I said, getting more stubborn by the minute.

"Why not, is what I'm asking." When I chose to not answer, he sat me down beside himself on the recliner, and continued. "Darling, being over someone means, coming to terms with the situation no matter how grave it is. So, if you're actually over him, you should not be bothered about him going out with her."

"Yeah, you're right," I muttered.

"As much as I know Vaughn, he wouldn't do that. Not for you, but for himself. He's smart enough. But if they do end up dating, I want you to look at them and smile. Be happy. Yeah?"

I smiled. "Yeah."

"So everything's cool now? You're not gonna go back and scratch Melanie's face for this?"

I burst out laughing. "Drake!" I punched his shoulder.