Illicit Affection and Unrequited Love

2.

Minutes seemed to pass like hours for Aurora and eventually, the rest of the team showed up at Sebastian's house, ready to leave for the cinema. The group of 7 pooled in one van, with Sebastian's mum and Cody in the front seat, Aurora, Michaela and Sean in the back and Troy, Sebastian and Scarlet in the middle. Aurora buckled her seatbelt in and rested her chin in the palm of her hands with a sigh.

"What's up with you?" Michaela, who was sitting next to Aurora, asked with a raised eyebrow and an almost invisible smirk.

"Nothing" was all Aurora said in return, and Michaela became more curious than ever. 

This so-called 'nothing' was obviously something.

"No, seriously though, why do you look like that?" Michaela snickered.

The brown-eyed girl pretended to be offended. "Look like what?"

"You have your resting-bitch-face on."

As much as Aurora loved her partner-in-crime, she wouldn't tell her about her current love-sickening crisis. Not just yet, anyway.

Aurora rolled her eyes and grinned "I always have a resting-bitch-face."

Michaela laughed fondly, "As true as that may be, I can tell that something is up."

"I spent about an hour and a half to get ready for this stupid movie." Aurora laughed, "I just want the day to be over." Michaela gave a simple nod in response and continued to scroll through her phone.

Aurora looked down into her lap and fumbled with a loose string at the hem of her jumper, as the music pierced her ears. There was one noise she could hear above everything else. The noise was an echo of laughter, coming from the seats in front of her. The laughter of Sebastian and Scarlet.

Aurora spent most of her time trying to ignore the surge of jealousy that swarmed in the pit of her gut.

There would be times when Aurora and Sebastian would laugh together until they couldn't breathe. There would be times where they would tease each other non-stop.

There would be times when they'd lock eyes and Aurora would forget about everything and everyone around them, like only the two of them existed.

But there were also times when Scarlet would laugh with Sebastian, just like Aurora did. Their playful exchange of smiles was just another painful reminder that Aurora wanted something she could never have.

Aurora didn't ask to feel this way about her best friend. She knew if she fell into this treacherous void of love, that someone was bound to get hurt. And yet, here she was.

All she could do was wait and hope the unavoidable heartbreak that was soon to come would be quick and painless.

***

"Jesus Christ, I shouldn't have come out here to hang out with you guys tonight. It's windy, my nipples are freezing, and Sean, I swear to god if you try to trip me over again I'll take your eye out with my straw." The crew laughed while their friend, Cody, continued to rage.

"Okay- I'm sorry!" Sean replied breathlessly, through fits of laughter, "I won't do it again!"

"Why are we even here, walking outside in the cold?" Michaela spoke up, while sipping on an iced mocha latte she bought not long ago.

"Because someone thought it was a good idea for all of us to be dropped off 785 kilometres away from the cinema." Troy exaggerated and rolled his eyes. Aurora and Troy chuckled. The group all turned around to face Sebastian.

Sebastian groaned "Are you kidding me? I'm not letting my mum drop me off at the cinema, do you know how embarrassing she is? The cinema is so popular! If people in my classes were there and saw us, I'd become the punching bag of the school!"

"So, you decided that being dropped off 4 blocks away in the freezing cold was a better idea?" Michaela asked as she skipped backwards, facing the others and Sebastian. Sebastian mumbled something incoherent underneath his breathe as the corner of his lip pulled upwards into a cheeky smile. Apparently Scarlet heard him, because she giggled.

"Are you seriously that cold?" Sean asked the raven -haired boy, gently nudging him in the shoulder.

"Hell yeah, it's like 4° out here." Cody fixed his stare on the concrete below his feet, tucking his hands into his elbows.

Cody was a friend of Sebastian's. He had perfect jet-black hair and was shy around strangers, but when it came to his friends, he swore like a drunken sailor and said absurd things that would usually make a normal person uncomfortable. Luckily, no one in their group even knew the definition of the word 'normal'

Sean snickered as he untied his own jumper from his waist and wrapped it around the latter "Well take my jacket then, pussy" Cody chuckled at the oddly-sweet gesture.

"How romantic." Aurora commented. An echo of laughter trailed around the group.

Sean was also Sebastian's friend. He had baby blue eyes that contrasted well with his bronzed skin and the smile of a Colgate model. About a month ago had he been introduced to Cody. Ever since they met, they hit it off. They immediately became best friends.

Michaela slowed her pace so that she was walking side-by-side with Aurora.

"They seem close, those two." Aurora suggested casually.

Michaela snickered "Maybe a little too close"

"Yeah, their relationship is kind of questionable at times." Aurora slipped her hands into the pockets of her jumper, breathing in the heavy aroma of the midnight breeze. The moonlight was powerful enough to put her to sleep. She let out a muffled yawn before rubbing her eyes.

"Are you tired? You can't fall asleep now, we're not even at the cinema yet." Sebastian whined from the back. Aurora grinned and gave a small shrug in response.

"I'm just cold. That's all. Cold makes me sleepy"

"Well then hurry up, sleeping beauty."

"Sleeping beauty?"

"Yeah, you know, Aurora from sleeping beauty?" Sebastian repeated with an expectant look. His jaw dropped "You've never seen the movie?"

"No?"

Sebastian shrieked in response. "Have you watched any Disney movies at all?"

"No, I mean, kind of? I never really grew up with princess movies and all that when I was younger. My parents didn't like me watching them. My mum thought they were too 'unrealistic' and that they set ridiculously high expectations for love."

"What! You're kidding me, right? Disney was like the biggest part of my childhood." The green-eyed boy exclaimed. He tapped his chin in thought for a moment.

"Tomorrow, after school, you're coming to my place. I'll get together a bunch of Disney movies, and we can sit on my couch and watch them all while we drink hot chocolate in this cold-ass weather. How's that sound?"

It was a tempting proposal, very tempting indeed, but Aurora also had an atrocious pile of homework, sitting on her desk, waiting to be completed at home. Being a teenager meant that the latter had to get her priorities in check first, before she could make time for friends.

But what was Aurora gonna do? Say 'no' to her best friend and pass an opportunity of potential romance? She could already picture everything in her head: her and Sebastian, curled up next to each other underneath a heap of doonas; sipping on their mugs of chocolatey milk while watching movies and giggling whenever a funny scene came on; locking eyes and inching closer to the other ever so slightly until-

"So, is that a yes or no?" Sebastian asked again, yanking Aurora from her embarrassing thoughts.

"Sure" Aurora confirmed with a soft smile, as she mentally slapped herself for putting off her homework again.