A few days have passed since Ariella and Michael both thought about each other in their rooms.
A few days, but it seemed more like a million.
In those few days, Michael went to Erin's funeral, he met a new girl at the cafe he always went to, he signed up for community service at the library, and lastly, he has been staying at his friends Luke house for these few days because he, being the nice boy he is, let one of his other friends stay with him at his house, but he was kicked out of his own god damned house by some girl who attended therapy.
Ariella, well, her days were passing quickly.
All she did was sit on the floor, staring at the plain walls, rethinking her life, sighing, and most of all, wishing she was someone else.
Carter has been attempting to drag her out of the house, to try and get her to meet the boy who was oddly so interested in her. She would't budge. She had a set answer: No.
But today was different, she was strangely thinking about him, about his eyes and his strange hair. His pale skin and his cute smile.
Maybe today she pull herself together to go and get up, to actually go to the McDonalds.
So that's what she asked.
She got off the rugged floor in the living room and took a seat near Carter, who was on his phone, looking up when he felt her presence.
"Take me to the McDonalds." She said, straight face, but clearly gulping away some tears.
"Excuse me?" He said, pulling out an ear bud. He knew what she said. He knew for sure. He was just making sure she knew what she was saying.
"I said, Take me to the McDonalds." She said, quieter than she had the first time. "Please."
She was dressed already. Nothing special. Simple Jeans, simple black sweatshirt. Simple black shoes. She didn't want to be noticeable, she wanted to blend in. Which was, of course, different. Everyone wanted to be different. But Ariella, well, she didn't. She thought she was so different, in a bad way, that all she wanted was to be normal. She was normal though, side the fact she isn't even trusted in her own room.
Her eyes trailed down to the floor. Carter nodded, grabbed his keys, and he took her hand, where he began to lead her to the car.
There was no fuss. She got in the passengers side with no problem, buckling herself in, and even sitting there waiting for Carter. She wasn't whimpering. And she wasn't doing her normal crying. She sat up straight, looking out the front window.
Once Carter got in, he waited. He sat there for a good moment. He wanted to see if she would leave, or perhaps run off again. But she didn't. She sat, and waited.
When he started up the car, he was actually surprised. Here he was, with his normal sister.
It was something a little new for him.
On the way there, he drove slow. He thought maybe if he drove slow, she would have more time to think about what she is doing. She was interacting with people. She was inviting someone to lunch. She was going to make a friend.
They pulled in, and Ariella was still calm. She undid the seat belt and climbed out, patiently waiting for Carter, and then, walked in side.
She gulped again, letting out a sigh and closed her eyes, biting her lip. She almost felt all eye one her, when in reality, they were staring at their food.
She took a step up to the line. Michael didn't notice her until he was looking at her directly in the eye, face to face. She wasn't covering her face with her hands. She wasn't crying. In fact, Ariella gave a weak smile.
A smile.
"You should come and get lunch with me one day. Maybe we can get coffee..." She cleared her throat, looking around, breathing heavier than she should, but quickly collecting herself. "Get coffee sometime, or whatever you like."
The boy was shocked. She was talking to him. Not in the kitten voice. No, she was actually speaking in a normal voice.
Carter stood in the back, no helping her whatsoever.
She was doing something on her own.
"I'd....I'd love that. My shift is off in 2 hours. I'll...I'll, uh, I'll meet you at Perkins at 5?" He asked, kind of nervous. She, without covering her face . was actually a pretty girl. She didn't think so, of course, but Michael felt the little butterflies in his stomach, flying around, giving the little tickles.
She nodded, and walked to Carter, who was smiling, clearly proud of his little sister for doing something she hasn't done in the longest time.
"Ari, you actually have a date."
