Impurity; Jaded (BOOK 1)

Chapter Two

"They're here, Ar." My attention was torn from my notebook.
"Already?" I had invited Micah, Lola, Winston, and Charlotte- my other set of friends. For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to classify Ashley in with the others, which made me think of them as two separate friend groups, despite Ash being by herself.
"Yeah. I heard them outside." I started towards the door. I felt like I needed to say something.
"You're not mad- are you?" She looked up from her phone, for once being more observant than me.
"No- no. I'm not mad. I'm just- concerned."
"Concerned..?
"It's just, you know."
"Actually I don't know-"
"Ari ,it's fine. Everything's fine. I'm just nervous. And normally, it's you who wants to stay. It's just-"
"Paradoxical" She nodded slowly. "You're staying for dinner, right?" I received a more dominant nod for that question. "I'll meet you in the gaming room." I walked into the hallway. For once, I didn't feel like I was falling apart. This is it. This is my redemption.

-
"I was able to contact my mom- barely." I glanced at Micah. He frowned slightly. The topic of the Academy resurfaced quickly, but I could tell it wasn't going to carry on for much longer. Ashley was too busy trying to set up the gaming stuff. Lola and Winn were in the middle on an intense foosball match, which left the 4 of us; Ashley, Charlotte, Micah, and I.
"What'd she say?" I sighed.
"Didn't have a problem. You know, I really thought that she'd be more concerned about losing another child, after Hunter."
"At least she's letting you go."
"Yeah, at least. I shouldn't be complaining. I guess I was just expecting her to be all like 'Oh Aria! How could we lose you too? But we need to let you go someday' or something like that." My voice trailed off, and Winn shot me an amused look from across the room.
"Alright. What are we thinking- Mario? Kirby? What's happening."
"I'm feeling Mario Kart, since Micah's so bad at Super Mario Brothers."
"Hey! I'm not that bad. Lola's worse."
"I HEARD THAT MICHAEL"
"Michael's not my name~" I giggled. Taking the Wii remote from Ashley, I launched us into the game.
-
"RUDE!" Charlotte launched her remote at me, but it hit Micah instead. He let out an airy giggle in protest, clutching his arm.
"Owwww-ahahaha"
"It's not my fault you so incredibly bad at video games." I spat. But Charlotte ignored me.
"That's what you get for trash-talking, Micah."
"I WAS NOT TRASH-TALKING ANYONE."
"Ahahahaha. I'm Charlotte, and I'm innocent." Lola mocked from across the room. Winn covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.
"I am THIS close to-"
"Alright alright, break it up you two." Thankfully, Winn stepped in.
"Who made you in charge." Charlotte hissed.
"Actually, it's kind of a given, considering that he's the closest person to an adult here."
"Where are your parents anyway-" Lola asked. I cut her off.
"Business. It's always business. Quinn's in town for once, but he's not officially home yet. Cora will be back before him though, in the next few days." Silence filled my ears.
"What..?"
"You you're here by yourself, all the time? Isn't that illegal?" Char had a valid question.
"I have no idea. I'm fine by myself."
"But don't you get lonely, without Hunt-" I turned to Lola once more.
Never, in all my life, have I ever had a reason to be genuinely mad at her. But here we were.
"I'm going to make dinner." Without waiting for a response, I turned around.
-
"Are you okay..?"
"Micah, I'm fine. I'm just sensitive about the topic. My parents were more careful back then, and now it feels like I don't even have them anymore. You'd think they'd care more than this."
"When's Cora coming back?"
"I called her. She said tomorrow."
"And Quinn?"
"No idea. Genuinely, he probably cares as much as my parents." I sat down on the couch, letting out a choked sigh. I allowed him to sit beside me.
"Part of me doesn't want to leave. But I know I have to." I felt a tear roll down my cheek.
"It's alright. You've done what you can. This will be good for you. And hey," he turned my head towards his, making sure I soaked up everyone signal one of his words.
"You'll see me so much you'll be sick of my face within a month. I guarantee it." I laughed.
"I'm not so sure about that, Micah."
"Come here." He lifted me off the couch and directed me towards the kitchen once again. "About that dinner."

Within a few minutes, we had dinner made, more or less. It mainly consisted of snacks, but we decided to play it off like we knew what we were doing, instead of just throwing chips into a bowl and calling it good.
"Ready?"
"Oh, you say that like I'm not about to beat you 5 times over on rainbow road." He snorted.
"Aria, please. If you keep making jokes like that I'll drop the food." I shoved him a little with my food.
"You're such a child. Micah." He protested at that remark, and Winn must've heard him yelling because he had to assist Micah so he actually wouldn't drop everything.
"By the way, my sister is about to beat up Ashley, and I'm sure she'll squash Lola like a bug if she tries to stop her."
"And you're up here helping him..?" Winn laughed.
"Oh come on. We all know that they love getting into fights." I trailed behind them, trying not to think about everything I'm going to miss here.