A Beautiful Fate

by Cat Mann

Chapter 6

  It’s Over

  Friday: Mia at LAX. I was bursting at the seams with excitement. Not a whole lot of time had passed since we were last together, but it seemed like a lifetime. When we finally spotted each other through the crowds, I couldn’t hold back any longer. Fat, happy tears rolled down my cheeks.

  “I have missed you so much!” I yelled as I grabbed her in a hug.

  “I missed you more!” she yelled back. We hugged for a minute and then stepped back to assess one another. Mia, to me, looked better than ever. We laughed and hugged each other again, then started gathering various bags, totes and carry-ons.

  Arms full of the luggage, we crossed the sky bridge to the massive parking facility and found my car. We chatted as we walked and found our relationship unchanged; it was as if no time had passed between us. Eventually she got around to boys. Of course.

  “So what’s going on with that Rory guy?”

  “Rory?” I said, scrunching up my nose. “Nothing … we're friends and that's all; he really isn’t my type, Mia. He’s loud and drinks and I dunno … he is funny and generous but he just doesn’t do it for me.”

  “Ok, so what’s going on then? Something is doing it for you. You look different. Your cheeks are pink and you have this little curve of a smile on your face that won’t go away.”

  I knew my cheeks were pink; Ari and I had spent an amazing night wrapped up in my bed. We had talked and laughed together all night long.

  “Um … promise you won’t overreact?”

  “I promise!” Mia, queen of overreacting, assured me.

  I peeked at my friend from the corner of my eyes. She was going to freak.

  “What do you mean?” she yelled the moment I finished telling my story. “This jackass sneaks into your room at night, sleeps in your bed, hasn’t kissed you yet and won’t speak to you when anyone else is around?”

  “When you say it like that, it sounds seedy.”

  “That’s because it is seedy! I can’t wait to meet the guy! I am going to give him such a piece of my mind.”

  “Mia, you aren’t going to do anything. You probably won’t even see him. Now . . . deep breath, and tell me about Jack.”

  Mia giggled and smiled and I could tell my story of Ari was forgotten, at least for the moment. After the tales of Jack slowed down, she turned to face me in the front seat and asked, “Ava … are you doing okay? You know, about your mom and everything?”

  I shrugged.

  “I miss her so much, Mia. I'm having a really hard time. Anytime anything new pops up, I reach for the phone to fill her in … and then remember she isn’t there to answer. Every morning when I wake up, I list in my mind what I want to share with her before school and then it hits me. She is gone. I lose her over and over again. I hate that she died. I hate death – it’s so permanent and so unfair.”

  “Oh, Ava, I’m so sorry.”

  I nodded, pulled into the parking lot on campus and helped Mia bring her bags up to floor number twelve.

  The very minute we were settled Emily peeked through the open bathroom door. I introduced her to Mia and, as I had expected, they hit it off right away. Before long, Rory wandered in by way of Emily’s room, followed a few minutes later by Viola, Sam and Sophie. The five of them were planning to go to a rather large party at the home of a kid who lived a few minutes off campus and they urged us to join them. The floor had decided to take a pass on our regular Thursday night party and compensate with a huge party on Saturday in honor of Homecoming weekend. Evidently, the big party is an annual tradition for Floor Twelve, but Mia and I decided to hang back and do some more catching up.

  My door to the commons area opened and everyone turned around to see Ari standing there. He blinked at the crowd of people and then put on an award-winning smile. I looked at the clock. He was right on schedule. I looked at Mia. She was staring at Ari … and he was looking at her with some curiosity as well. I hadn’t bothered to tell him that Mia would be staying with me this weekend. He never seemed to feel the need to keep me informed about his life and so I had never even thought to give him details about Mia’s arrival. A sudden vision of Ari tiptoeing into my room to join me in sleep popped into my mind and the thought of disaster averted, now that he knew Mia was visiting, made me smile a little. But Ari was not usually in the dorm over the weekends, preferring to spend time with his family. Emily had told me so. And I had grown to hate Friday and Saturday nights with a passion for this very reason.

  “What are you doing?” Rory asked with a slight distaste in his tone.

  Ari ignored Rory and looked at me. His eyes were so beautiful.

  “Hey, Ava, sorry to bother you – can I use your notes from lit?”

  He hadn’t been in lit class the day before, so his excuse was valid enough.

  “Why weren’t you in class?”

  Without him sitting behind me for the hour, I had been forced to pay attention to the professor, and I had taken impeccable class notes. Not a tragedy; I just enjoyed his close proximity.

  “Optometrist,” he pointed to his eyes.

  With little success, I tried to erase my face-splitting grin. Ari wears reading glasses and whenever I see him with them on, I swoon. They make him look so yummy.

  “Oh, sure I’ll email my notes to you.”

  “Uh, I lost my charger and my iPad is dead. Can I borrow your Mac?”

  I pointed to my bag that was hanging from my chair.

  “Help yourself.”

  Ari walked across the room to my desk chair and unzipped my bag. It just so happened that Mia was sitting in my desk chair. I smiled at her. Her mouth was hanging open and I don’t think she had blinked at all since Ari had walked in the room.

  “I’m sorry to bother you; I didn’t realize you had company.”

  Ari looked at Mia when he said this and she blushed and her mouth snapped audibly shut.

  “It’s no bother. Ari, this is my best friend Mia. We lived in Chicago together.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mia.”

  “Uhh …” was Mia’s only response.

  Ari shook my MacBook in his hand.

  “Thanks, I’ll get it back to you. Later?” I knew what he meant by that.

  I handed him a post-it.

  “This is my password and don’t worry – I won’t need the Mac until Monday.”

  It was his turn to look surprised; his jaw dropped. He had grasped immediately the significance of my response.

  “Well, I should be able to copy these notes pretty fast. I can get them back to you by tomorrow night … ”

  “You might be pre-occupied tomorrow; lots of people are going to be around for the Homecoming party. Let’s just leave it ‘til Monday. I am okay until then without the computer.”

  Mia gave a snort and Ari whipped his head back at her then at me. I shrugged my shoulders. He had never told me not to tell anyone about our little rendezvous.

  “Ari, are you going to the party tonight?” Rory interrupted our private negotiation and Ari sighed, then pulled his eyes away from me to look at Rory.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Are you serious? We were all counting on you to give us a ride.”

  “Find someone else,” he said quickly, brushing Rory aside. Ari turned his attention back to me.

  “Ava, I’ll bring this back later tonight.”

  He left before I could respond.

  Rory and Emily also left once they talked Sam into staying sober. I told them they could borrow my car. Mia and I settled in and stayed up talking for a bit longer.

  “So that was Ari?”

  “Yep.”

  “Wow, Ava, I can see your predicament. He is the most gorgeous person I have ever seen.”

  “Mmm.”

  I smiled just thinking about him.

  “I know. I am going to end it though. Being ignored by him when anybody is around hurts my heart too much. That’s the most we have ever spoken to each other in front of people. When no on
e else is around, we talk for hours. I can’t keep up with it any longer.”

  “Your idea is a good one, then; you need some stability in your relationships. And I still think you are way too good for him.”

  Mia and I both tried to fall asleep in my tiny twin size bed. It wasn’t nearly as comfortable with her in it as it was with Ari. I tossed and turned and then gave up and tried to sleep in my fluffy chair.

  At two in the morning, Ari opened my door. Mia had been asleep for over an hour. He walked quietly to my chair and put out his hand. I looked up at him and then back down to his outstretched palm.

  I should tell him to go to hell.

  He wiggled his fingers and I put my hand in his. He pulled me to my feet and walked with me out the door and into his room. Ari led me to his bed and then walked back to his bathroom door and locked it. He pulled me down on to the bed with him and snuggled my face up close to his chest. I could hear the soft beat of his heart.

  “Ari, I … I think we need to talk.”

  “Ok,” he nodded his head. My fingers accidentally brushed up against his hand and he grabbed on and locked his around mine. He wrapped one of his legs around me too and held me tight and close to his body. My mind raced as I thought of what it was I wanted to say. I felt the tiniest kiss on the top of my head. My eyes closed with a flutter, and I was whisked away to a very happy place in my dreams.

  Ari woke with a jolt. We were completely knotted up in each other. Our fingers were still intertwined and my other hand was covering his face. Our legs were like pretzels. He jumped up, knocking my hand off his face and I gasped. He threw his free hand over my mouth to quiet me. Someone was pounding on his bathroom door. Ari wiggled our knotted fingers free with force.

  “Dude, what the hell? Let me in!” Rory sounded truly aggravated at having been denied access to his suitemate's space.

  “Ava, you need to leave, now!” Ari said to me through clenched teeth. I could feel a tiny sting of tears in my eyes. Rory pounded on the bathroom door again and Ari grabbed my arm and pulled me across his room to his door. He threw it open and nearly pushed me out in the hallway. I stood outside the door confused and hurt. I heard him unlock and open his bathroom door.

  “What do you want?” he snapped at Rory.

  “Nothing, relax. I was just wondering if you had seen Ava this morning. Her friend is looking for her.”

  “I just woke up, Rory, so what do you think?”

  “Dude, you’re such a jerk. It’s ten o’clock in the morning. Learn to wake up at a reasonable hour like the rest of us.”

  I heard Ari’s bathroom door slam and I rushed the two steps to my room and closed the door behind me. Mia rushed to my side and engulfed me in a hug.

  “Where were you?”

  Pointing at the wall, I indicated that I had been with Ari.

  “I am such an idiot.”

  I told her how I had gone with him to his room the night before, planning to talk with him and end our relationship, such as it was, but had instead curled up with him in bed and how, when he kissed my head, I melted and lost all my nerve and couldn’t go through with the breakup – or whatever it would have been.

  “He kicked me out this morning. I have never felt so rejected in all my life.”

  Mia let go of me and stormed out of the room. She slammed my door and threw open Ari’s.

  “Can I help you?” I heard him say.

  “Yeah, leave her the hell alone. She’s too good for you. You are nothing but a piece of shit.”

  She slammed his door and came back in a matter of seconds. I was in shock.

  “Don’t let him get to you, Ava. Clearly he is messed up.”

  I nodded. Something definitely was up with Ari.

  “I can’t believe you did that, Mia!”

  “Ava,” she sighed, “it needed to be done … you should have seen him, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I stormed in there and caught him completely by surprise and …”

  “Oh, God, Mia, please tell me he was still dressed.”

  She giggled. “If he hadn’t been, Ava, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did. He was sitting in his bed with his head in his hands. He looked … I don’t know, he looked so devastated.”

  “Well, that makes two of us.”

  “Oh, honey, don’t worry. This will work out, but you can’t allow him to treat you that way.”

  Mia and I spent the day at a spa for her birthday. I treated both of us to a mani-pedi, facial and massage. Sitting back while someone attended to me was relaxing and helped keep me from thinking of Ari. Anxiety had been building over the last couple of weeks and now all of it had hit home. Ari was not good for me. It was time to move on.