Something Beautiful (An Aaron Carpenter Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

**Cali's POV**

"Sick party Cali!" Gavin yelled as he jumped into the pool. I laughed at him and gave him a thumbs up. I sat on the patio talking to Maia and Zoe, another girl from school. I was in my bathing suit, but I hadn't gotten in the pool yet.

"CHICKEN FIGHTS!" Someone yelled from the pool, interrupting our conversation. Now, I like talking with people as much as the next person, but I am the champ when it comes to chicken fights. I set down the drink I was holding and ran over to the pool, diving in.

"I call first round!" I yelled. "Who wants to go against me?" Just then, Aaron appeared at the edge of the pool. I had barely seen him all night.

"I'll take you down, Laker." He said with a smirk. Well, at least the awkwardness from earlier seemed to be gone. And if it wasn't, he obviously didn't want to talk about it now.

"You're on, Carpenter." I hopped on Gavin's shoulders, and Aaron hopped on one of the other guys' shoulders. Hayley played referee, sitting on the sidelines with a whistle.

"Ready, set, GO!" She shouted, blowing the whistle. I grabbed Aaron's arms and he tensed up, grabbing mine. We pushed back and forth, trying to knock each other into the water. Finally he reached down and tickled my side, catching me off guard. I practically jumped off Gavin's shoulders, into the water. I popped up and Aaron was laughing hysterically.

"REF!" I yelled. "That's not fair! Tickling isn't allowed!" Hayley thought for a second.

"Yes it is."

"No, it isn't."

"Is too."

"Is not."

She gave me a look, obviously not budging on her decision.

"Fine, next time I'm making Maia referee." I said with a groan. I climbed out of the pool and grabbed a towel. Someone came up behind me and rested their head on my shoulder.

"Are you mad at me, Cal?" He asked.

"That's your favorite question, isn't it?"

"Yes, because I know you can't be." He smirked.

"Aaron you're so annoying. You cheated, and I win. I am the chicken fight champ, now and forever." I said, lightening up a bit.

"I have a question. Why can't you be mad at me?" He asked. I thought he was teasing, but he looked pretty serious. That caught me off guard. I didn't really know. Why was it that I was never mad at him?

"Your smile I guess." That was the best I could come up with.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"It's hard to be angry when you smile. It's contagious." I turned away, realizing that it sounded stupid.

"I think you should get back to me when you have a better answer." He said. Then I heard him walk away. I sighed. So much for it not being weird. I went back to the patio where most of the girls were chatting.

"Cali, is something wrong?" Maia asked quietly.

"Nothing really. Have you noticed Aaron being a little strange lately? Like just the past day or two?" I questioned. She bit her lip for a second, trying to think.

"Hm. Now that you mention it, yeah. He's been a little different. Especially today. He was weird this morning." She replied.

"I've noticed it too. What should I do?"

"Right now? Nothing. Enjoy your party, Cali. Forget about him right now. Go have fun." I smiled.

"Thanks Maia." I said, giving her a hug. Then I jumped back in the pool, determined to win back my chicken fight champ title. I played for a while, then Hayley shouted my name.

"Hey Cali!" Hayley called from her spot on the sidelines. She was still playing ref.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"Can you run up to my room and get my flip flops?"

"Why me? It's my party!"

"It's my house!" She said, tossing me a towel. I laughed.

"Good point." I told her, grabbing the towel. I dried off a little and ran inside. My parents and Hayley's parents had ran to pick up pizza, figuring a bunch of 15 year olds couldn't get into too much trouble. They're probably wrong. I went upstairs and opened the door to Hayley's room. Weird, because she usually keeps the door open, even when she has guests. I went into the room and my jaw dropped in shock.

Aaron and Zoe were making out. In Hayley's room. At my party. For gods sake, they were both in bathing suits, which made it worse. I didn't even know and I that they liked each other. They looked as surprised as I was.

"Cal..." Aaron started.

"DONT YOU 'CAL' ME." I screamed at him. Zoe just stayed quiet. I slammed the door and ran back outside as fast as I could, back to the poolside. I could hear Aaron and Zoe running behind me, trying to catch up. I was faster though, and I ran immediately to Hayley, yanking her up. By now, Aaron and Zoe had caught up and were standing next to me.

"What's going on?" Hayley asked. I turned to the two next to me.

"Want to tell her what you guys were doing in her room?" I asked them. They just looked at the ground. Hayley narrowed her eyebrows.

"Why were you guys in my room?" She asked angrily.

"They were making out." I tried to not explode.

"THEY WERE WHAT?!" Hayley shouted. She looked at them, then at me. "Both of you. Leave."

"What?" Zoe asked, speaking for the first time. Hayley glared at her.

"You heard me. Go home. Get out of my house. Don't come back." Zoe walked away, but Aaron didn't.

"Guys...please..." He tried to explain. And that's when I lost it.

"GO HOME!" I cried. Everyone stopped and looked at me. "Just go home, Aaron." I mumbled. Finally he turned away and walked out of the yard.