Miss Grande

Chapter 42: In The Eyes Of The World

*Ariana's POV*

I stood still within the locker room. I wasn't sure what to do. I wanted to talk with her and explain my side of the story, but I knew that chasing after her wouldn't help anything.

She was obviously more than mad, and she had every right to be. Even with her anger, she did her best to stay composed and still be respectful. Her yelling at me really put things into perspective though, leaving me frozen in place while she marched off.

I hadn't realized all that I'd been putting her through. I'd been taking anything willingly given to me and not stopping to consider how those involved would be affected.

I sighed and made my way into my office. I plopped into my chair and laid my head on my desk. Everything about the situation was exhausting.

Maybe you should have thought of that before getting involved with a student.

I rolled my eyes at my inner voice, annoyed that it was right, and pushed my hair back. Regardless of my personal issues, I still had a soccer team to coach for the next few hours. I stood and quickly got to work setting everything up on the field.

Throughout all of practice, y/n was the topic of conversation which made it harder to keep her off of my mind. The girls were talking about how she never missed practice and how something must have been wrong.

I was what was wrong.

I knew that I was only pushing her away because I was trying to protect her, but I knew that it wasn't my place to make that choice for her.

I was frustrated with myself. How did I end up here?

Without thinking, I opened my phone and shot her a message. I prayed that she wouldn't ignore me because she had every reason to.

I want to explain myself. Will you give me the chance?

I checked my phone several times throughout practice and never got a message back from y/n. Instead, I got a message from Justin asking if I wanted to grab dinner.

I accepted his invitation and immediately felt guilt settle into my lower stomach. I was still pinning after y/n, but I was also testing the waters with Justin. It wasn't fair to either of them. I decided I needed to do something before things went too far with Justin or y/n got too comfortable thinking she was better off without me.

After practice, I went home and quickly showered and got dressed for my date with Justin.

   He asked if I wanted him to pick me up, but I turned him down, knowing the car ride home would be awkward after what I was about to do. He texted me the address, and I made my way over.

   I pulled up, and he quickly made his way over to help me out of my car. He helped me as I stepped out, purse in hand.

   "Wow," he breathed.

   I blushed and felt the guilt sink deeper. "Thank you."

   He smiled and gave me his arm to hold as we walked in.

   It was a very nice place. Most of everything within the dark, candlelit open floor was black or velvet. The people were dressed up nicely, even the servers who were all in suits. We were escorted to our table and given our menus before hostess left us be.

   Through the night, everything went smoothly. We were having good conversations and laughing, despite the dirty looks given from other people. We got slices of chocolate cake for dessert, and I felt the mood shift.

   "Ariana," his usual confidence was missing when he said my name.

   I looked up at him and gave a confused look.

   "I know we haven't known each other long, but I really like you. We clicked together so well to begin with, and I feel we can both agree that this is a special connection between the two of us. I don't want to let it go to waste, so...Will you be my girlfriend?"

   My breathe caught in my throat, and I was positive he saw my face flush.

   His smile fell as he realized that I still hadn't said yes, and I nervously rubbed my arm.

   "Justin," I sighed and felt his mood drop completely. "I really do like you, but realistically, I think we are better off as friends. With us already breaking the rules against teachers being together... I don't want to give them the push to permanently remove either of us from our positions. I know how hard I've worked for this, and I assume it's the same for you. It would be a shame to let all of that time and hard work be for nothing. If we had met another way, maybe not as coworkers, maybe we could have made this work. Unfortunately, this is our reality. I'm so sorry if I've been leading you on."

   He looked at me and shook his head slightly. I sat in silence, waiting for him to react. He chuckled quietly and removed his napkin from his lap. "It's okay. I obviously wouldn't force you into a relationship with me. Forgive me for laughing; it's just that finding a girlfriend has not been going very well for me with this job. The last girl I was seeing... Maybe I should switch to another school."

   He laughed and I joined him, glad that he had took it so well. I was also intrigued with the other girl he had brought up, but decided against mentioning her, knowing that it wasn't my place to ask after I had just turned him down. "I'll pay for my half of dinner."

   "Don't even worry about it. Even if the evening didn't work out the way I had planned, I still invited you, so I'll still pay for your meal."

   I sighed and wished silently that I could have liked Justin more. I knew he would have been the better choice in the eyes of the world.