Stay Awake

Part 2

Justin didn't know what to say to that. Shocked that the girl who had taken over his mind showed any kind of interest in him. Silently,  he turned to make her drink. He cursed himself for not saying anything as she walked to the end of the counter waiting. She was watching him knowing it made him feel uneasy. 

Justin placed a coffee mug filled with ebony coloured liquid on the end of the counter. Aria looked down at it then up at him and smiled.

"I'm off in ten minutes, if you want to stay." She raised both eyebrows up at him, amused. 

"Sure." Turning with her mug in hand and went to find a place to sit. 

Monet's was winding down for the day as she nursed her coffee and checked through her phone. Justin looked at her every so often making sure she didn't disappear on him like she had before. Once he had clocked out he grabbed his hoodie and went to sit with her. What he didn't notice was Jess sitting with Alex on the other side watching them.

"Hey."

"Hey." Aria said looking up from her phone. She clicked it shut and placed it on the table. They had made casual small talk then the conversation suddenly moved onto the freshman ball. Justin didn't know how it got there but the look on Aria's face told him that she didn't remember it. Damn. Eventually, when he explained it clearer she remembered bits of it and he was relieved. He wasn't surprised that she hadn't remembered; he didn't think it was such memorable moment - lies.

On the other side of the romm, Jess turned to Alex, "Who is that?"

"That is Aria. Aria Salvatore. She's in our year." Jess looked bewildered.

"She's in our Math class." Alex reminded Jess. 

Nothing. 

Jess hadn't noticed Aria before. Maybe, it was because her own life was too much for her at times that she wanted everyone to disappear. Yet, now, sitting here in Monet's, she cursed herself for not knowing the dark haired girl before. Especially now, since she was laughing at something Justin had said while he smiled back at her, Jess tried to push down the envy erupting inside of her.

"What do you care anyways?" Alex had asked her. 

Alex loves Jess. He had been there for her before she was with Justin and throughout the trial. They had gotten back together and somehow he still didn't think he could compete with Justin. He was still there lingering in their relationship like a shadow Alex couldn't escape no matter how far he'd run. It was something Alex hated because Justin wasn't good enough for Jess especially after what he had let happen to her. He just wished Jess would look at him the way she looked at Justin.

"I don't," Jess shrugged, "I just wondered who that was." Jess tried to seem normal. Tried to suppress the jealousy that was soaring through her veins. She had wanted to go back to Justin. Things between her and Alex hadn't been going so well recently. The sex was bad. The passion wasn't there and she wasn't enjoying any of it. All she could think of was Justin. She knew it wasn't right or fair to Alex. He deserved better. Better than her. So, she had decided to leave Alex. She had asked Justin if he wanted to hang out again and prayed he would say yes. He seemed hesitant at first and told her he would think about it. She was waiting for him to call her. To ask her. To tell her he loved her. Again. Yet, looking at the scene before her, she didn't think that would happen now. So she smiled across at Alex. Changed the subject to something irrelevant and washed away the thoughts of breaking up with him. He was nice. He cared about her. Supported her. Was with her through everything. She had to make it work with him. She had too but all she could think of was Justin with the blue eyed girl and what they could be talking about. What she didn't notice was that Alex had caught on quickly to what was happening and let's just say it didn't end well between them.