Wanted (34 page)

“Well….lo
ok
at you all ready to start your day!” Ari said as she came and sat down on my bed. She was already dressed herself i
n a pair of white shorts and
a navy blue sleeveless shirt. Her hair was in two braided pigtails and she
had on a pair of cowboy boots.

“Shit Ari….how do you put these outfits together like this? You lo
ok
adorable! What the hell are you doing up and dressed so earlier anyway. I heard you come in last night. Why did you leave the hospital? Jefferson wanted to see you.” I said as I sat down on the bed next to her. I saw her eyes light up when I mentione
d Jefferson wanting to see her.

“Why did he want to see me?” Ari asked
trying to sound disinterested.

“I think he just really wanted to talk to you, apologize for everything. He said he has been trying to call you but you won’t return his calls.” I said as Ari closed her eyes briefly
before opening them again
.

“I’m sorry I skipped out on you yesterday but once I heard he was fine I figured it would be for the best if I just left. I ended up calling Brian back to the hospital for a ride home. Once I got home I went with my mom to the club to play a game of tennis and I ran into Jason Reed
from high school
. We talked for a bit, he asked me out to dinner so I figured why not. I came home and left to meet him at Hula Hut.
We ended up going and shooting some pool and then I came home.
I actually enjoyed myself for once.
I forgot what a nice guy he was
.” Ari said as she stared down at the floor.

“Oh….um….wasn’t Jason a few years older than us, he played football and hung around Jefferson and them rig
ht?” I asked as I
got up and
started
lo
oking
for something to wear
again
.

“Yep…that’s him. Anyway, he called me this morning and asked if I wanted to have lunch with him. I told him I would see what your plans were and call him back.”

“Oh, well….Jefferson is taking me to get my graduation present today along with Gunner.”

Ari sat up a little straighter. “Do you know what he is getting you?”

“YEP and you won’t believe it! I hardly can!” I said as I jumped up and down.

Ari threw her head back and laughed. “Well…..what is it bitch? Don’t just leave me hanging here!”

I cleared me throat and l
o
ok
ed at her. “He is getting me a
CAR!”

Ari jumped up and screamed “WHAT THE FUCK?!
A car?
He is getting
you a god
damn car?! Oh
my gosh
!! W
hat kind of car or do you get to pick it out? Is there a price max? How the hell can he afford to buy you a new car?”

Gesh
this girl…..”Ari if you would just take a breath I could fill you in!”
I said with a laugh.

“Oh yeah….sorry…go…fill me in….I’m all ears!” Ari said as she sat back down on the be
d clearly trying to keep quite.

“
Okay
well…he to
ld me he had
some
money saved up from working and
that this was my graduation present. Yes
,
I get to pick it out and no….he has not told me a max price…YET! I was really hoping you would come along with me to help me pick it out but if you made plans with Jason that’s
okay
.
”

Ari’s smile faded. She star
ted fiddling with her shirt. Was that tears building in her eyes?
When she lo
ok
ed back up at me a single tear started
too
slide
down her face.

“Oh my god Ari what’s wrong?” I asked as I pulled her towards me and hugged her.

“Oh Ellie…..I want to go but I don’t think I
could see Jeff
, not today anyway
. He left
a voice mail this morning asking me to please call him back
and for me to stop acting like a baby
. I don’t know why I did it but I called him back
and I shouldn’t have because I was so pissed
off with him calling me a baby
. I
t was his voice mail so I left him a message.” She started to cry hysterically.

Oh no…….”What did you say sweets?”

She was now just sobbing and shaki
ng. W
hat the hell?

“Ari….
WHAT
did you say?” I asked her as I pushed her away from me to where I could lo
ok
in
to
her face.

“I….I just said…..I said that I accepted his apology and
that he was right,
I needed to grow up. I told him he didn’t need to worry about my virginity anymore because……beca
use…..”

Oh.My.Go
d
……I knew where this was going.

“Ari just tell me
what you said in the voice mail!
”
I yelled at her
.

She started to settle down a bit. She to
ok
a deep breath and started talking again. “I told him he didn’t need to worry about my virginity anymore because I gave it up last night to Jason Reed.”

No……
oh
please G
od no!

I felt like I was going to throw up. I had to stand up and go into the bathroom and splash water on my face. I was leaning up against the counter listening to Ari crying. Oh my god how could she do this? Why would she
do this? This was all so wrong!
I to
ok
a deep breath and walked back into the room. I was so mad at her for doing this.

Ari lo
ok
ed up at me with
tears streaming down her face.

“Of
all the
stupid ass fucked up shit you have ever done! How could you be
so stupid Ari! I am so
disappointed in you right now you have no fucking idea!” I was shaking from head to toe.

“WAIT! Ellie wait! Let me tell you…..” Ari jumped up and started to walk over to me.

“I can’t believe you would sleep with some guy you barely know just to get back at Jefferson. What the fuck is wrong with you two
anyway
?
Does fucking other people help you two solve your problems?
You probably just ruined everything Ari….
.everything!” I shouted at her.

“No wait….ELLIE
please
just let me talk.” Ari begged.

I just stood there and waited for her to
start
talk
ing
. Nothing she was going to say t
o me was going to make any this
better.
Jefferson was probably devastated thinking he drove Ari to have sex with someone.

Ari wiped the tears away frantically. “I didn’t have sex with Jason! I was just so angry and hurt that all I wanted to do
was hurt Jeff
back. I know it was a childish thing to do…..believe me I know! I just…..shit I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I stood there for a second taking every bit in that she just said.
I felt li
ke I wanted to slap the shit out
of her.
“You bitch! I don’t know what is worse. You making me believe you lost your virginity or the fact that you just hurt Jefferson
like this
. How could you do t
his?
I’
m so mad at you right now I don’t even want to talk to you!” I shouted at Ari. I picked up my cell phone to call Jefferson.
It went straight to voicemail.

“GREAT! It’
s going to
his
voicemail. You have to tell him the truth.” I said as I lo
ok
ed at Ar
i with pure disgust on my face.

“No….”

“What do you mean no? You can’t make Jefferson think that you slept with Jason just because you got your feelings hurt. You are behaving just like he did Saturday night.” I said as I walked to my closet. I needed to get dressed and ready before
Jefferson and Gunner got there.

“I think this is for the better. If Jeff thinks I have moved on then he will
be able to move on as well. It’
s pretty fucking clear Ellie that Jeff never had any intention of taking things past friendship. This way maybe we can somehow be friends again later on down the road. He can date whomever he likes….I need to move on and I think Jason might be the guy I need to move on with.” Ari said as she walked into my closet and pulled out a
pair of white
Capri pants and a black
sleeveles
s shirt. “I have a pair of
black flats
and a
belt that will lo
ok
really cute with this.”

And just like that….she was moving o
n.

“Do you really think that
telling Jefferson you had sex with a
nother
guy last night
is going to make him just……
move on? Ari, I
know
Jefferson has feelings for you. Why don’t you….”

“I said NO! I’m done with
all of this;
I’m not talking about it anymore
. I’m going to get you the shoes
and belt
then I’
m heading out to meet my mom for breakfast
and then I’
m going to call Jason
. Tell Gunner I said hi.”

She turned and walked out the door.
I put on the pants
and shirt and walked back into the bathroom. I tried messing with my hair but nothing lo
oked good so
I ended up pulling it
back
up into a ponytail. I put on
a
little
bit of makeup and
ran my fingers over the daisy necklace. I had to smile at the memory of our first kiss. Good God how I wanted to kiss him
again
so badly. To feel his warm breath against my face, his hands wrapping around my body to hold me close to him. I closed my eyes and dreamed of that kiss. Everything about it was perfect. He was perfect…….but did he truly want me? Was I good enou
gh to keep someone like Gunner?

I sho
ok
my head to clear my thoughts. This is why I needed time.
I needed to get my feelings and thoughts in order.

Here I was pushing Ari about Jefferson and I was too damn afraid to admit my own feelings for Gunner. I heard the bedroom door shut so I walked out to see
if Ari had c
ome back. She
had left a pair of black flats
and a black bel
t lying at the foot of the bed.

I lo
oked at the clock. They would
be here any minute. I tried to call Jefferson again….right to
voicemail. I tried Gunner’s cell next.

“Hey sweetheart we’
re almost there.” My goodness my heart stopped beating for a second
when I heard his voice
. I would never get tired of hearing him call me sweetheart.
Never.

“
Okay
great. Um, I’
ve been trying to call Jefferson. Does he have his phone turned off do you know?” I asked.

“Yeah, um about that…
.we
have
to stop and pick Jeff up a new phone. He kin
d of, well he kind of br
ok
e his
phone
earlier
so….
that’s why it’
s going straight to voicemail.”

“I see…..I take
it he got Ari’s message then?”

“Oh yeah……” Gunner said in a hushed tone.

“Right….well I guess I’
ll just meet you out front. Ari might still be here and she was pretty clear she didn’t want to see Jeff today.”

Gunner laughed a nervous laugh, “
Okay
Ells we will see you in about three
minutes
.”

I hung up and grabbed my purse and headed downstairs. Sure enough Ari was still home. I heard her on the phone as I walked to the front door.

“Lunch sounds great Jason. Do you want to just pick me up or should I meet you?”

I had a terrible feeling in my stomach. What was this about? I p
ok
ed my head into the library where Ari was sitting and waved goodbye to her. She smiled up at me but the smile was so lost and insincere. She then lo
ok
ed out the window and her smile
quickly faded. She lo
ok
ed back at me and I could see the tears building in her eyes as she tried to gi
ve me another smile and a wave.