Faded Lines

Chapter 7.

*Aiken*

I threw my bag on the floor, before taking my shoes off, and going to find my parents. "Mom, Dad, where ya'll at?"

"Kitchen, sweetie!" I heard my mom yell. Of course she was there. That was her favorite place. Shaking my head with a small smile, I made my way to the kitchen. Seeing my mom and dad at the kitchen table talking seriously, I wondering what was going on.

"Aiken, honey, how was school?" Mom exclaimed as she saw me enter.

"It was good. I have a paper to show you though. I have a project that I have to do with a partner. It explains on the sheet, but we have to get to know one another. And an hour a week, spend time together at one of the persons house. This week we are doing my house and next week, we were going to do hers. Is that alright?"

Dad slowly raised an eyebrow, "Her? Who is this partner of yours? Is she pretty? Did ya'll get to choose your own partners, or did the teacher choose for you. Michelle, Aikens never brought a girl home before, this will be fun!"

I groaned, running my hands down my face, "Dad, I promise it's nothing like that. And no, we did not get to choose our own partners, because I definitely would not of chosen her, thats for sure! We hate each other. The only reason why either of us are even putting up with each other is so we can graduate!"

I watched as my mother's face slowly got a huge grin on it, "Its Eva, isn't it?"

Confused, I asked, "How do you know her name?"

Before my mom could utter a word, dad quickly took the lead. "Son, you have been griping about this girl since freshman year! What is so horrible about her, that you don't ever want to be around her?"

Sighing to myself I retorted, "Dad, ya'll just don't understand. Maybe when you meet her Friday, you can see my side of this. She is a stuck up, conceded, rich girl. That has anything, anyone can want, and acts like she deserves more."

"Aiken, maybe you shouldn't judge people so fast."

I went to intervene to tell her I had known her for the past three years but she stopped me when her hand shot up.

"As I was saying baby, was maybe you shouldn't judge her so fast. Maybe this project will be what's best for ya'll. Maybe ya'll could become best friends, or maybe after this ya'll will still hate each other. All I am saying is that you of all people know that nothing is ever as it seems."

I winced knowing what she was talking about.

"Alright mom, I'll try. But don't be mad when this is over and I say 'I told you so' okay?"

"Alright honey. Now sit down. Your father and I have some good news and want to share it with you!"

Sitting down, I waited for the news.

Dad was the first one to break, jumping from his chair and throwing his hands up, I couldn't hold in my laughter. "We made the deal!!"

"Yeah, son, can you believe it! Brant Enterprise signed the deal. Now we are going to be working together as one company!" My mom added.

"Wow, guys. Thats great! I'm happy for ya'll. Wait.... did you just say Brant?"

My dads ecstatic expression quickly turned to confusion, "Yeah, why?"

"Because thats Eva's last name."

The confusion turned to understanding in the snap of a finger, "Oh, huh, strange. I guess more than one set of Brant's live here in Prairie. Either that, or they are somehow related, because they don't have any children, I'll make sure to ask tonight though."

It was my turned to be confused, "What do you mean, tonight?"

Mom jumped up from the table and grabbed her purse, "That was the other thing we were going to talk to you about sweetie. Your father and I are having dinner at their place tonight. So I'm going to leave you some money to order pizza. Is that alright?"

Nodding my head up and down, "That's great. You know I can't turn down pizza!"

"Alright then, well we are leaving at 6. But we have to go get ready now, so shoo! Go do whatever teenage boys do!"

I laughed while walking away and headed for my room, "Yes mom. Ya'll have fun!"

After eating my pizza and watching some tv. I decided to go to my room to finish up my homework until my parents got back home. I wanted to know if Eva was related to them or not. I mean, if she was, then that explains all the nice things she gets. I stopped thinking about that, as I remembered what my mom said to me. She was right. With everything I've been through, I shouldn't judge her without knowing her story. Don't get me wrong. I don't plan on being nice to her at all. The plan on getting her to leave me the fuck alone, still stands. Because when I find out that I'm right, and she is nothing but a rich brat, I won't have to deal with her during second semester. She will stay clear of me. And that's all I've ever wanted. She just puts me on edge so much, and pisses me off. But we can never seem to stay clear of each other, and we can never keep our words to ourselves. Take today for example, I pissed her the hell off with what I said. I just don't understand why. I mean, I know it's true. How could it not be. I don't know. Maybe she's one of those girls, where the parents are never home, so they buy her whatever she wants. I stopped thinking about it when I heard the front door open. Getting up from bed, I headed down the stairs.

"Hey guys, how was dinner?"

Mom gushed, "Oh, it was fantastic. I even ask Mrs. Brant for the lasagna recipe, but she told me, she'd have to get it to me later."

"Well that's good. I know how much you enjoy cooking; so did you figure out if Eva was related to them or not?"

I don't know why it was bugging me so much, but I just had to ask.

My dad gave me a knowing smile before stating, "I did ask son. But it seems my first guess was right. They don't have any relatives around here. So there must be another Brant family living somewhere here in town."

"Hm, alright. I was just wondering. Well im glad that ya'll had fun. But I'm going to go ahead and go to bed. Today felt like a long day. Love ya'll" I said before giving them both a hug, then heading back upstairs. I heard them both yell 'Love you' back to me by the time I got to my room.

Crawling into bed. I just hoped that I would be able to sleep the whole night, nightmare free.