A Lifetime's Worth

Chapter 7

"sine of a plus b equals sin a cos b plus cos a sin b." Ariana muttered in her breath as she  solved trigonometry problems. It was Saturday morning and normally Ariana would either be sleeping or hanging out with Tash or Shay both. But Shay wasn't talking to her and Tash was out with her parents for the weekend. So Ariana decided to do the next best thing, drool over Parker. And study in between.

Between questions, she would steal an occasional glance at Parker who was seated opposite to her and was looking gorgeous as ever. If by any chance, Parker and her eyes met, she would blush hard, turning to the color of a ripe tomato. At least that was what she thought.

Ariana got annoyed when after a few minutes of her arrival, Lana walked in. The look on Lana's face made it obvious that the sentiment was equally returned. Lana obviously spared no chance to showcase her inner nerd. She solved all the problems taking half the time Ariana was taking. And every time Ariana raised a doubt, she would act like it was impossible to not know the answer to a question that simple.

"Calm down, Lana!" Parker finally retorted. "Just because you know the answer to a question does not mean everyone else does." This quietened Lana.

Ariana knew that Parker's reaction was owing to the fact that Lana's remarks made her feel less competent in some way. But the  Lord knew that Ariana looked slapped in the face each time because Lana made her feel stupid in front Parker. She really wouldn't have cared otherwise.

"I'm done!" Lana announced after some time. She handed her notebook to Parker for correction.

"Great. They're all correct." Parker beamed at Lana. She looked at Ariana from the corner of her eye with a victorious expression on her face. Ariana couldn't understand what her deal was. "You can go now." Parker added.

It was Lana's turn to look slapped in the face now.

" But she..."

"Ariana isn't done with her work yet, is she? Besides, you guys did not come together. I'll see you Monday, Lana. Or whichever day suits you." He replied with a smile.

Lana threw Ariana a disgusted look. What the hell is wrong with her, Ariana thought. Lana packed her stuff. "Bye, Parker!" She said unnaturally brightly.

"Bye!" Parker replied with a smile. "Hey, Lana, shut the door behind you, will you?"

"Yeah."

"She doesn't like you very much, does she?" Parker asked once Lana was gone.

"We don't like each other very much." Ariana replied casually.

"I can see. So you and Martha are friends?"

"Yeah." Why did everyone have to talk about friends, Ariana thought. There seemed to be no end to it. "How's college?" She asked, trying to divert the topic of conversation.

"Its good, really. Way better than high school, I can promise." He said with a laugh.

"Everyone says that. I can't wait to get to college. Me and Natasha and Shan..."

Ariana still hadn't gotten used to not being friends with Shannon. Most of her memories and activities involved her in some way. Parker sensed that something was wrong.

"Is that the school stuff you were talking about?" He asked.

"Yes." She replied shortly.

"Don't want to talk about it?"

"Not really, no." Ariana smiled apologetically.

"Boyfriend stuff?"

"Err.. yes and no. I mean its not my boyfriend stuff, but someone's boyfriend does come in the picture." Ariana explained.

"So..you are seeing someone?" Parker asked. What surprised Ariana was not the question, but the tone in which it was asked. It was almost as if he did not want her to have a boyfriend.  Or maybe she was imagining it.

"No. Err..I had a really bad breakup...the last time..so..I just thought I'd take a break from dating." Ariana replied slowly. She felt insanely awkward talking about all of that too a guy that she barely knew. It had probably shown up on her face because Parker immediately began apologizing.

"I am sorry I'm making you uncomfortable. I'll let you get back to your sums."

Ariana opened her mouth to say it was okay..."Hey do you like playing FIFA?" was what came out. What the hell.. The FIFA bit was pretty obvious. His living room was covered with football knickknacks. Posters of teams and player and logos and

"Love playing FIFA." Parker corrected me with a bright smile.

"So cool, man! I've always wanted to learn. Please teach me? Please? Please?" Ariana begged.

"What, now?" Parker exclaimed.

"Yes yes yes!" Ariana shouted happily.

"No. Finish your sums first." Parker said firmly. Ariana made her puppy dog face. Normally it worked on everyone. "Not gonna work. Sums first. Then if you really want to play, you can come tomorrow." He said with a smile.

"Fine." Ariana said disgracefully. "I'll do the sums."