The Stranger I Met

Let it be him

* photo of Jason*

I change into my uniform in the mall's bathroom and get into the elevator. I press the button for the fifth floor and wait for the following annoying minutes to pass until the door finally opens with a ping! Heading towards the stalls, I try my best to push the image of what happened 30 minutes earlier out of my head. When I reach the stands, I see Jason handing out a small tub of popcorn to a little girl who is smiling at him. He squeezes her cheek lightly and she leaves giggling to herself. I keep gazing at him not realising that I am smiling, when it suddenly clicks. It isn't Tyler's who has this crazy effect on me. It is Jason. I had been imagining Jason during our whole kiss. He was the reason why the situation had gotten out of hand.

While kissing Tyler, I had given into the temptations that I had for Jason. I had been beating myself for loosing my control with Tyler, cursing him for the way he pushed me. But it was never his fault. I was the one who couldn't stop him. I was the one who replaced him with Jason during our little exercise. This is not bad at all. This is worse.

Jason's eyes meet mine and his face mirrors mine. Utter shock. He advances towards me." Aurora, are you okay. You have gone all pale." For god's sake even when he is not touching me, his voice sends me into the same numbness that Tyler's kiss had. Why the hell am I comparing them? He comes closer. No I can't be with him right now, I am not myself. My emotions are all over the place and I might actually push him against the wall and crush my lips on him. Molly. I can't do this to her. Her name makes the decision for me.

Before he can reach me , I take a step back and bring my hand in front of me stopping him in his tracks. The concern on his face almost kills me." Did something happen Aurora? Tell me please." I take more steps backward. I want to tell him' You happened' but instead I say," I can't Jason, I need to go." I almost beg. I turn around before I can change my decision and go towards the elevator.

I want to cry, so hard. What am I going to say to Tyler? What am I going to tell Molly? Why can't I stop fantasizing about my best friend's boyfriend? Ugh. When did it get so complicated.

~~~•

I step out of my car after calling Mrs Hall and requesting her to cancel today's evening rehearsals. I definitely can't talk to Tyler right now. I reach the main gate of my house and turn the key in the lock but it doesn't open. Someone had put the latch on the door from inside. That is not normal, my mom never does that. I ring the bell. After a few minutes I hear the latch move and the door opens.

I make my most cringed face when I see Tristen standing there to welcome me in. He is the last person I want to see today. " Well hello to you too." He says , clearly reading my disappointment. Ignoring him, I squeeze around him and get inside." You can at least pretend not to hate me, Aurora." He calls from behind. I hate the way he pronounces my name and he knows that which leads him to deliberately do it anyway." Why strive when you already know the truth Tristy." I try to do the same with his name. I go inside the kitchen to fetch myself a glass of water and calm down. " You know," Tristen enters the kitchen. I don't turn around. He continues," Even though you try to make my name sound like poison, it comes out like a poem from your mouth." I turn around in disbelief." Why are you talking to me?"I say raising my voice a little." Ouch! That hurt." He places his hand on his chest and rubs it as if I literally bruised him. I give him an eye roll." Don't we have an unspoken agreement to ignore each other till Doomsday."I resist every bone in my body from punching that hideous grin off his face." Come on, no need to be so blunt. I am hear to call a truce. I know we both want that." He inches towards me." Woah woah, hold your horses Clement Barker. What I want is to put a hundred miles between us but for now I'll live with you staying down here and me up in my room." I leave the kitchen and go to my room before I lose it and break the glass in my hand on his head.

I call Naisha as soon as I lock the door of my room and sit on the bed and ask her to reach home as soon as possible.
Considering her hesitant yes, I decide to sleep off some of my anger until she comes.

~~~•

"You need to stop worrying, Aurora. Everything will be fine." His smooth voice wraps around me like silk." Tyler will understand, eventually." " But what about you." I look into his light blue eyes." What about me?" He asks." You know you are the reason for everything that's happening." I turn my head towards the grassland that streched in front of me, breathing in the air that carried his sweet fragrance. He takes my hand in his and places his other hand under my chin and makes me face him. I look at him again. His every single feature is magnified . The small strands of his dark brown hair falling on his perfectly smooth skin. I wanted to touch his forehead with my lips. When my gaze falls down to his blue eyes, I see that his eyes have a little green in them which I had never noticed as it was so insignificant.

" I know I am the root cause of all this." He continues, looking straight in my eyes, unwaveringly." But we will be together, I want to be with you as much as you want to be with me, maybe more." " But what about Molly." I sigh, still not looking away." I don't know what to do." I shake my head." He takes his hand which was holding mine to his chest and leaves my hand there. I could feel every single rhythm of his heart. He places both his hands on my cheeks." But I know what we should do." His eyes look down at my lips and he inches closer. I close mine and wait for the contact to happen."

~~~•

Thump, thump....

The continuous pounding on the door wakes me up." Aurora!!" Naisha is almost screaming." Have you died in there, open the freaking door." I jump out of my bed and open the door before she breaks it.

It wasn't Naisha's furious face which made me flinch. It was the person standing next to her. Molly was here too." Finally, at least you are alive." Naisha says." I'm sorry, I was just taking a nap." I say huskily." I will continue this with you later. Right now Molly needs to talk to you. Until then hope that I calm down before you see me." She storms down the stairs. I would prefer to bear her wrath rather talk to Molly now. I look at Molly who gives me a comforting smile." May I ?" She asks me. I nod shifting a little to let her in my room.

I take a deep breath before turning around to face her. Her face is covered with concern." So , what did you want to talk about?" I say hurriedly. She smiles" Why don't you come and sit next to me." She says patting the chair near her . I go and sit where she asks. She takes my hand." Is everything okay ?" I look down, not meeting her gaze." Yeah, it's all fine. Why would you ask?" " Because Jason called me and told me what happened. He was sounding so worried that it scared me." How am I supposed to tell her what's wrong. That I was imagining kissing her boyfriend. That I was dreaming about her boyfriend a minute ago." I- I kissed Tyler." I finally say." Yes, I know." She says so calmly making me feel that she misunderstood." No, I mean not like a practice Erica- Aiden kiss."" It was a passionate Aurora- Tyler kiss." She completes my sentence." Yes, but how do you know?" I look up at her." Tyler told me."

" What? Why?" I say , surprised." Because he is going through the same emotional turmoil as you. He too needed to talk to someone. And after you cancelled the rehearsal, he got all the more jumpy." She explained." But how come you of all the people?" I ask her. " Who else?" She shrugs her shoulders." Caroline and Ryan would get all excited and encourage him on taking this further. Stella doesn't care and Jeremy always hated the idea of you two together." She completes."Well, so did you." I say. She sighs." It doesn't matter." She takes a small pause. She gets out of her chair and pulls me up with her. " What happened?" I ask a bit confused. She doesn't reply. Instead, she engulfs me in a hug. The comfort released from her arms around me make me choke. I want to let it all it all out. I always have with Molly. But right now, I need to collect my raging hormones, for her. For the one person who loves me unconditionally.

That is it for now. Next chapter coming soon. Love you all.