Hot Chocolate and You

8. Pink Roses

Ava's POV

I use my fork to take a bit of the slice of lemon cake in my front and taste it.

"Well?" Peyton asks from where she is sitting opposite me and I look up at her.

"I love it. But I think it should go for the first layer of the cake, then the pink champagne flavour for the second layer and the chocolate for the last layer." I say and Peyton nods in agreement.

"Sounds good to me. But I still can't pick between the Italian meringue vanilla icing or the cream cheese frosting." She says, taking a sizeable bite out of the chocolate cake in her front.

"Go with cream cheese. Italian meringue is good but trust me, cream cheese hits the spot, especially for the flavours of cake we chose." I say as I get my iPad out, going through our plans for the day and checking if we are still on schedule.

"Soooo......." Peyton says slowly, drawing my attention and I look up at her.

"What?" I ask and she sighs exasperated.

"Oh, come on, Ava. Tell me what has been happening with Aaron. Are you guys still hooking up or did his blind date with Brenda change anything?" Peyton asks with eager eyes and I just roll my eyes and turn back to my phone.

"There's nothing to tell." I say.

"There's always something to tell! And I've been starving for details." She whines and I sigh as I turn back to her, trying to keep my expression from betraying me.

"Well, details don't matter anymore because he has a date with Brenda. In fact, it's almost noon so I'm pretty sure he is on his way to pick her up." I say and Peyton's excited look wipes clean off her face.

"Wait, what? They're going on another date?" She asks and I suddenly can't hold it in.

"Yeah, they're having lunch. So why should I care about details? Why should I care about how good he is or how funny he is? Why should I care about how he is always putting my needs before his? Why should I care about how we watch games together or how he took care of me last night? Why the hell should I care about how he spent the night with me or how he cuddled me?---" my voice breaks at this point and I realise my face betrayed me.
I'm almost close to tears.

I look away from Peyton's shocked expression, trying to control my restless emotions.

That's enough crying for Aaron.

"You like him." She whispers in shock and I let out a laugh.

"No I don't." I say and turn back to her but she doesn't seem the slightest bit convinced.

"Yes you do."

"I don't Peyton. We just had a lot of fun but I don't like him okay?" I say but Peyton's expression doesn't change

"Why is he on a date with Brenda?" She asks and I shrug.

"Why not? He likes her. She's definitely not too toxic for him."

"AJ, stop it. Don't do this. I want you to communicate with me, I'm concerned about you. You're my best friend." Peyton says and I sigh.

"There's nothing to tell, Pey. I don't want him and he definitely doesn't want me. So I'm not surprised that he accepted to go out with Brenda." I say and Peyton sighs.

"Oh, AJ. Why would you say that? That he doesn't want you?"

"We had an argument over breakfast this morning and he gave me a pretty clear message. Then Brenda came over and asked him out on a date and well...." I let my voice trail off as I shrug and turn to Peyton.