The Boy Next Door > jariana (ON HOLD)

one

Ariana

Had I really nodded off, drool dripping out of the side of my mouth? Kill me, yes, I do. I quickly looked around to see if anyone noticed. Mr. Chapman, my Calculus teacher, looked like he was dozing off himself. His hand propped his head up. He'd allowed us the last half of class to study for our next exam. I could hear Nicole snickering while she kicked the back of my chair. I turned and glanced at her over my shoulder, frowning. Looking at the clock, I was relieved to see we only had fifteen minutes to go.

Nicole kept tapping at the back of my seat and she whispered, loudly. "Late night?" She giggled. "How was the Skype sex?" '

Without turning around, I waved my hand at her, hoping she'd shut up. My eyes darted in every direction, hoping no one heard her. Geez. What the hell? Nicole Hamilton and I had been best friends since practically Kindergarten, and now we were finally seniors. I would be eighteen in six weeks and I had big plans. BIG plans.

I'd kept these secrets from everyone in my life, except Nadine. She was now attending Cal State Long Beach. Nadine Lewis was my rock, my confidant in every single way, much more so than Nicole. Nicole and I had never fully recovered our friendship to the level prior to my Justin meltdown. It was totally catastrophic, like movie shit, like put-me-in-the-loony-bin crazy, for real. People would pay to watch the shit that went down with Justin and I.

It was hard for me to believe Nicole's sincerity, since she'd chosen sides (in a number of ways), and had decided not to hang out with me while I was chilling with my other dear (and gay) friend Marshall. Nicole had thought it would damage her rep if she hung out with him, since he was different. Even after apologies and tears, for two years we were distantly cordial to each other.

The bell rang, shaking me from my memories. I bolted out of my seat, shoving past everyone. I was desperate to get home before my mother. I'd absentmindedly left the envelope that held the passport application documents, laying on the coffee table, along with the scribbled notes of where Justin was staying in London. I wasn't ready for her or my dad to know about Justin being back in my life, and it would be immediately obvious what I was planning if she got a hold of that envelope.

"Ari! Wait up," Nicole hollered. "Dude, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

I smiled. Nothing could upset me these days. "No worries. I just have to get home. I left something out in plain view I don't want my mom seeing, yet."

"Dish! What?" Nicole shuffled alongside me and nudged my shoulder.

I slung my backpack over to the other side. "That passport application I told you about."

"Why would you care if she saw that? She has no idea what you've been up to. Just tell her you're thinking ahead or something. Like we're planning a graduation trip to Mexico."

"She wouldn't care, really, but I stupidly wrote Justin's address in London, and like an idiot, scribbled little hearts and his name over and over again all over the envelope."

Nicole laughed. "Aww, how cute." She breathed in heavily, shaking her head. "I still can't believe you guys are getting back together. I thought he had a girlfriend, that girl in all those pictures with him. What's her name? Sophia something."

My heart lurched. I hated hearing her name. We strode through the parking lot to my car. "For the record, I don't know if we're getting back together. I have so many mixed emotions. Like, are we really right for each other? But I want to see him. I want to see how I feel when I'm with him. We've been talking for so long and so much has built up. You know, we kinda owe it to each other. And as far as this girlfriend, he says she's more like a companion, and he told her that he couldn't make any serious commitments." I shrugged, trying to convince myself. "Who knows if he's telling me the truth, but he's never lied to me before."