Between The Lines

six

Brooke pretty much blew her top when I told her I was getting dinner with Zach the coming Monday.

How we had gotten to that, I had no idea. My visit to his place had been awkward for the most part. But a little later we settled into a comfortable conversation and it was actually fun. We had been alone before but that was usually for projects and we had a purpose. But turns out our rapport extended beyond that and we actually had a good time. Unfortunately I had to leave soon after since it was getting late. All in all we parted with a promise to grab dinner together on Monday since I was going to spend my entire sunday with Brooke and Aaron.

To say that Brooke was pissed was an understatement of the century.

"What a wuss! He can't even man up and ask you out properly on a date."

"Because it isn't one. Much to my dismay. It's a casual thing. We're going as friends. He wanted to try Lebanese and there's this new place that's opened up downtown. So we thought we'd try it out."

"Yeah yeah. I just hope that you manage to remember that it's not a date. And don't even mention this to Aaron!"

Brooke and I were sitting in the food court at the mall after finally giving up on Aaron's shopping spree. He was still off somewhere, looking for God knows what. He had rejected pretty much every piece of clothing we had seen in the past hour when Brooke and I finally lost our patience and left him to his own devices. We didn't even want to shop but he he somehow managed to drag us here. Actually he dragged me, and I dragged Brooke because I was not interested in martyrdom.
Aaron had insisted that I accompany him on his shopping trips ever since we became friends, because he never actually made it out with anything in hand if left alone. So picky! I swear Aaron was like the airheaded girlfriend I'll never have.

"Well I don't see what's there to hide. Plus, he really shouldn't be complaining because they are friends. So if he can hang out with Zach he really can't object in my case. That's just hypocritical."

"Who's hypocritical?"

And there he was. The man of the hour.

"You..."

"Why thanks! I feel flattered!"

He rolled his eyes and took a seat next to me. I looked at him and then his hands which were holding a single bag too small to contain a piece of clothing.

"What's that?"

At that Aaron pulled out a brand new pair of shades from the bag. The guy really was hopeless. I gave him a blank look to which he responded with a mere shrug.

"Since you bought that instead of clothing I expect you're looking to create a scandal at school."

That was Brooke.

"And though I'm sure most girls will appreciate your new fashion sense, I can't guarantee the same would apply to the teachers, or even us."

That would be me.
Aaron let out a frustrated sigh and dropped his head on the table. I ran a soothing hand through his hair as we sat and chitchatted there. Me steering clear of the topic of Zach altogether. That can be dealt with later.

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Aaron