Fifteen: Free Fallin'

Chapter 50: Bad Liar

"Wake up, buttercup! It's time to head to Jaden's." Faye said sitting on Aria's bed. Aria looked at the clock and couldn't believe it was 6pm already. Sophia Kate walked into the room with a scowl. "You want to tell me why I had to lie to the Dragon Lady about your absence?" Sophia Kate questioned. "Wait, you didn't go to class today?" Faye questioned.

It was then that Sophia Kate and Faye finally got a good look at Aria and noticed the red eyes and tear stained cheeks. "Aria what happened?" Faye asked concerned. Aria shook her head and sat up. "Let's just go to Jaden's. The sooner we get this night over with the better."

Sophia Kate closed the door and sat on the other side of her. "What happened?" Aria looked from Faye to Sophia Kate and broke down for what seemed like the eighth time that day. She eventually pulled herself together enough to tell them what she found out and then cried once more.

"We don't have to go tonight. We can just stay in and watch movies or listen to sad love songs. Whatever you want." Aria shook her head and wiped her face. "No, I want to go. He had somewhat of a black eye when I saw him this morning, so I'm sure the guys all already know and I want to chew them out for keeping this from me as well." Sophia Kate nodded upset that Gracia didn't tell her.

Faye knew JT was probably indifferent about the whole thing, but she would have liked for him to tell her regardless. "Okay, we'll meet you downstairs by my car." Faye offered before heading out of the room. "I'm here for you, Aria. If you want me to help you kick his ass then I will."

Aria chuckled at that and gave her best friend a squeeze. "I'm sure Quincy would want in on that action, so we'd have to conference him in." They both laughed and Sophia Kate was happy to see a smile on her tear stained face.

Caleb tried calling and texting Aria all day, but she wouldn't respond. He had a strange feeling in his gut, but he told himself it was just his body not catching up with the good news. Things were back to normal. They could go back to how things were the night they made love for the first time before Janelle stopped by and attempted to ruin everything.

He watched as the girls all entered the house and gave kisses to their respective men. Aria was the last to come in and her appearance had everyone looking at her. She wore the prettiest white dress with cowgirl boots and a denim jacket, but that's not why they were looking at her. Her long black hair was swept into a bun at the top of her head, which made it easier to see her extremely red eyes that were wet with unshed tears.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" The question was the first thing he had heard from his girlfriend all day and it was not what he expected. "What?" Caleb was taken aback by the anger that seemed to roll off of her. "Don't play dumb with me Caleb! Were you ever going to tell me?"

JT stopped the music that was playing from his phone as they all took seats trying their hardest to look inconspicuous. "Aria, I..." She walked past him and further into the living room. "Who all knew?" The guys all looked around. "Which of you knew?!" Aria's voice rose a level. The guys and Gracia all raised their hands. "Knew what? What's going on, Aria?" Olivia asked looking at her and then her boyfriend.

Aria smiled sarcastically at Caleb as there was no joy or happiness behind it. "Caleb got the girl from his one-night stand pregnant." The girls all gasped except for Sophia Kate, Faye and Gracia. "She's not pregnant, babe." Caleb reached for her but she backed away quickly.

"Oh, I know. She's not pregnant, guys. They just took a test on Monday and for a week they thought they were pregnant until they could get a professional test this morning that confirmed she wasn't in fact pregnant." She turned cold eyes back to him and Caleb visibly shivered. "You knew for a week. You treated me like crap for a week. You kept me at arm's length and gave me the cold shoulder just like before for a week all because of your dirty little secret."

"Aria, I just wanted to handle it. I was going to take care of it and then we would be fine." Aria shook her head. "How would we have been fine if she were pregnant?" Caleb ran his hand through his hair. "Janelle didn't want to keep it if she was pregnant. It wouldn't have been an issue." Daisy shook her head, while Faye did a facepalm.

"Do you hear yourself right now? You were going to be completely fine with keeping a child from me? Your child!" The tears had broken free at this point. "You promised I would be safe with you. You promised that my heart would be safe with you, but I guess that was just another lie in a sea of lies."

Caleb reached for her once more but she stepped away. "Aria, I'm sorry for lying I just I didn't want to lose you. I can't lose you, Ace." Aria looked at him as if he was a stranger. "Well look at that...you lost me anyway."

Aria walked back out through the front door with Caleb staring after her. Sophia Kate and Faye got up to run after her closing the door behind them. "So, you punched him?" Daisy asked Stefan with her eyebrow raised. He sighed and nodded.

"You lied to me." Stefan made up some story when he came back to her room with a swollen hand. "I'm sorry." She shook her head and walked away towards the kitchen for a drink. "How could you guys know and not tell us?" Elsa asked perturbed. "It wasn't our secret to tell, E. We told Caleb to be honest with her." Avery offered with a shrug.

Sophia Kate and Faye walked back into the house looking somber. "Where's Aria?" Daisy asked. "She took an Uber. She said sorry to everyone and that she didn't want to ruin the party." Stefan chuckled quietly. "Just like Aria to be thinking about everyone but herself." They all nodded and thought back to what transpired in front of them.

Jaden could see Caleb breaking down internally. "Hey," Jaden whispered to him. "Come with me." Jaden led Caleb down to his basement where his gym was. He handed him boxing gloves and pointed towards the punching bag. "Have at it, bro. You need this." With that Jaden headed back upstairs where he could hear the music had resumed.

He didn't know how Aria and Caleb were going to find their way back to one another, but for the sake of their group he hoped they'd figure it out sooner rather than later. It was obvious the boys knowing and not telling their respective ladies was causing a rift in all of the relationships.

Brooke was giving him the silent treatment with a very kissable pout to match. He had every intention of being stationed between her legs that night begging for forgiveness if she'd have him.

Gracia knew Sophia Kate was pissed. She wouldn't even look at her. Whenever she tried to get close Sophia Kate would just get up and leave the area. Gracia sighed and plopped down on the sofa. "Give her some time." Avery offered handing her a drink.

"You guys are all in a relationship, but we were all friends first. They were lied to and that stings. Plus, Aria is her best friend and she's hurting now and there's nothing she can do about it." Gracia heard him. All the guys sitting in the room heard him and knew he was right. The girls found themselves outside on the back porch eating fajitas and worrying about everything that unfolded.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Olivia asked no one in particular. "I honestly don't know," Brooke sighed. "I don't know what I would do in her situation." They all nodded in agreement. "They're both hurting." Daisy looked out into the backyard thinking about her friends. "Caleb brought this on himself. He deserves whatever he gets." Sophia Kate spat angrily.

"SK, I know you're upset for Aria but Caleb is also our friend." Elsa didn't know how to navigate these waters, but she knew choosing sides wasn't the way. "You didn't see her, Elsa. You didn't see how broken she was. He's done this to her before and we all thought it'd be different now that they were together and she'd given him a second chance. It seemed like he had finally chosen her, but we were wrong. Caleb doesn't choose anyone but himself."

They couldn't have known that Caleb was standing hidden by the open door listening to them. He didn't mean to eavesdrop and secretly wished he hadn't after Sophia Kate's admission. He was a selfish and stupid bastard. He knew it and he had lost the girl of his dreams. Aria was perfect and he practically threw her away due to his fear. It was all a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Come on let's get something to eat." Avery pulled him over to the kitchen and handed him a plate. Caleb couldn't lie as his stomach grumbled. He was starving. He had worked up a major sweat down in the gym and now stood shirtless in jeans piling food on his plate. He took to the living room where the guys and Gracia sat watching DJ AudiTory's segment on Warrior TV.