Split

by Alicia Rades

  An elbow connected with my face, and then everything went black.

  CHAPTER 18

  AARON

  I wasn’t surprised when I awoke Saturday morning and saw that my bedroom was flooded with light. Aaron was right; I needed my sleep. I glanced over at the clock to see that it was already ten a.m. I groaned as I rolled out of bed and headed to the shower.

  After blow drying my hair and slipping into something comfortable, I texted Alaina to confirm our plans for the day. I’d missed dress shopping with my friends, and I didn’t want to miss out on the prep with our hair and makeup, too. Even though Aaron would be picking me up at my house later, I planned to get ready with my friends at Alaina’s house.

  I greeted her parents when I arrived and then headed down the hall to her bedroom. I knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open. Six eyes stared back at me.

  “Come on in,” Alaina greeted. She sat on the bed behind Emily and helped twist her hair into some sort of knot. Holly sat next to Alaina’s mirror and attempted to tame her natural dark curls.

  “Hey, chica,” Emily said to me. “Whatcha got there?”

  I held up the bag I’d brought. “This? Just my dress, shoes, and some hair pieces I thought some of you might want to try out. Didn’t you say you were wearing a green dress, Alaina? I found this cute green bow in Kayla’s room.” I held it out to her.

  “Thanks, but I already have a green headband.” Her eyes drifted to her desk where the headband sat.

  I set my bag on the floor. “Oh, cool. I like the color.”

  “Thanks,” Alaina said with a smile.

  I inhaled a deep breath. I’d worried at first that she’d still be harboring some ill feelings toward me for missing her art night, but she seemed to be over it—or at least pretending to be for my sake. At the very least, she welcomed me into her room, and that helped ease my anxiety.

  “Want to see my dress?” Emily cut in. Before I could answer, she pulled away from Alaina and leaned over the side of the bed to reach the dress she’d laid out on the floor.

  “Hey!” Alaina had to practically dive to keep ahold of the knot she was twisting in Emily’s golden hair.

  Emily looked back at her. “Whoops.” She sprang back up and held the white dress out in front of her.

  I sank to the ground and crossed my legs. “Cute. What’s your dress like, Holly?”

  She didn’t look up from the mirror. “It’s hanging on the back of Alaina’s door.”

  I gazed over at the door and noticed it for the first time. It was a gorgeous royal blue cocktail dress with a halter top.

  “Show us yours,” Emily insisted with enthusiasm.

  I pulled it out of the bag and held it up.

  Emily’s eyebrows came together. “That looks familiar. Have you worn it before?”

  “It’s Amy’s dress, so you probably saw it on her or in pictures.” I folded the dress back up and placed it in my bag.

  “Right,” Emily said. “I think I do remember her wearing that, was it two years ago?”

  I shrugged.

  “Did you hear the good news?” Holly asked, shooting a glance at Alaina.

  A blush rose to Alaina’s cheeks.

  I glanced between the two of them. “No, I didn’t. What’s up?”

  Alaina shrugged like it didn’t matter. “I got second place in that art show. It’s not a big deal, really. The awards are just for fun.”

  Alaina made it out to sound like it didn’t mean anything to her, but I could tell it did. It sent that guilty sensation back into my gut for missing it. I hadn’t even gone later in the week to check out the art like I said I would. I kind of hated myself for that.

  “Hey, do you want me to do your hair?” Emily asked me, breaking the awkward silence that had followed Alaina’s announcement.

  “Don’t let her!” Holly cried in jest.

  I relaxed and laughed back. “It can’t be that bad. What were your ideas, Emily?”

  She pointed to her bag on the floor. “I brought a curling iron. Maybe I can curl your hair.”

  “Oh, uh.” I reached up to run my fingers through my hair. “I can curl my own hair.”

  “Oh, come on,” Emily encouraged. “Alaina’s doing my hair. I want to do someone’s hair.”

  I sighed and shifted until my back rested against the bed below her. Then I twisted to look up at her. “Fine. Do your worst.”

  “My worst?” Her jaw dropped open in exaggerated offense. “Girl, I’m a miracle worker. Watch me work my magic.”

  Alaina pulled at Emily’s hair. “Does any of your magic involve sitting still?”

  Emily didn’t waste any time reaching over to grab one of Alaina’s decorative pillows to lightly toss it at her face.

  I spent the next couple of hours laughing with my friends and letting Emily doll me up. Eventually, it came time for the festivities to begin.

  “Aaron’s picking me up at home,” I reminded my friends.

  Alaina glanced out her bedroom window. “Did you ride your bike here?”

  “Um, yeah,” I answered as I gathered the rest of my belongings.

  “You’re going to ride back in your dress?”

  She had a point, but I just said, “It’ll be fine.”

  Emily frowned. “But what about your hair?”

  Before I could answer, Holly piped up. “Why don’t you and Aaron just come with us tonight?”

  I gazed down at my shoes and newly painted toenails. “He wanted to take me to dinner, for it to be just us.” When I lifted my eyes, all three of them were starting at me intensely. “But I’ll see you guys at the dance.”

  Alaina sighed. “At least let me drive you home real quick. We’ll take my parents’ van and put your bike in the back.”

  A half-smile formed across my face. I hated ditching my friends again—that’s what it felt like even though we’d discussed the plan—but at least Alaina was being nice about it. “Thank you.”

  She turned back to Holly and Emily. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes, girls. Unless either of you wants to come along?”

  Emily shrugged. “Nah. It’s a short drive. We’ll stay in case the guys show up a little early.”

  “Okay,” Alaina said, grabbing her purse from the floor and digging inside it for her keys.

  The drive back to my house wasn’t long, but it seemed longer than usual in the silence. It was the first time Alaina and I had been alone since the night I’d missed her art show and found her waiting at my house to chew me out for it. By the time she turned onto my street, neither of us had said anything. Usually we never ran out of things to talk about, so the silence left me wondering if she had truly forgiven me or if she’d just been playing along in front of our friends. Only, if she was still mad at me, why had she offered to drive me home?

  My hand rested against the door handle when she stopped the van in my driveway, but I couldn’t bring myself to exit without saying something. “Alaina,” I started.

  She looked up from the cuticles she was picking at. I could tell she was trying not to mess up the nail polish Emily had painted on her earlier. “Yeah?”

  I took a deep breath and decided it didn’t matter how uncomfortable I made things. I had to spit the words out. “Are you still mad at me?”

  “What?” She laughed like the idea was ridiculous, but I could tell the laugh was forced.

  I dropped my hand from the door, realizing this might take longer than I’d anticipated. “You are, aren’t you? I don’t know how I can show you that I’m sorry for missing your art night. Do you want me to admit I was a total jerk? Because I was.”

  She gave a half-hearted smile without looking at me. “That’s a good start.” Her words stung a little, but I deserved them.

  “I know it meant a lot to you.”

  Finally, she lifted her gaze and spoke slowly. “You don’t even realize what I’m mad about, do you?”

  Didn’t I? My whole body tensed. “Well, I missed your art n
ight, and that meant something to you.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, but the art night isn’t what the big deal was.”

  I furrowed my brow. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s you, Maddie,” she emphasized. “I’ve been mad because you’ve stopped being you. I thought that if I acted like things were okay, then maybe they would be, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep pretending. It seems like you’re still trying to be someone you’re not.” She sighed and dropped her gaze again. “I wish you’d hang out with us more like you used to.”

  Tears rose to my eyes. “I already made plans with Aaron tonight.”

  “I know.” She forced a smile again. “Just don’t cut me out completely, okay?”

  “Alaina.” My stern voice got her to look up at me again. A line of tears had settled along her lower lid. I could tell she was trying to hold it back so it wouldn’t mess up her makeup. “I will never stop being your best friend. Next week, I’m back to sitting by you at lunch, back to our after school hangouts, okay?”

  Her lips twitched like she was fighting a genuine smile.

  “I mean, you’ll still have to share me, just like I share you with Jordan,” I told her.

  “I know.” Her voice cracked as she blinked away the water in her eyes. “I just don’t want to lose you. You’re my best friend.”

  “Hey,” I said softly. I leaned across the space between our seats to pull her into a hug. “I promise you’ll never lose me.”

  She sniffled. “Thanks, Maddie.” She pulled away and dabbed her fingers at her eyes, careful not to mess up her makeup. “Now, go have fun. I’ll see you at the dance.”

  I blinked and sniffled just like she had. “You, too. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Bye.” She waved as I stepped out of the van and headed to the back to get my bike.

  It was only a few minutes after I placed my bike in the garage that Aaron showed up on my doorstep. “There’s my gorgeous angel,” he greeted with a kiss.

  “Come in, Aaron!” my mother called from behind me. I turned to see she had her camera ready for a photo shoot.

  My hands reflexively shot up in front of my face. “No, Mom!”

  “Oh, come on,” my father encouraged as he entered the room. “You need to cherish the memories.”

  I dropped my hand. “I’ll remember the night without the pictures.”

  “Nothing’s wrong with taking a few pictures,” Aaron encouraged. His hand settled on my waist, and he pulled me into him.

  I had the sudden urge to push him away, but I didn’t. Instead, I stared into the camera and put on the most genuine-looking smile I could muster. Would my parents be doing this if I had any other boyfriend? Or are they just acting like this because they like Aaron? Somehow, I knew their excitement stemmed from their adoration of Aaron and the entire Harding family.

  “There.” My mom shut off her camera. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”

  I kissed them both goodbye and then took Aaron’s hand as we headed out the door.

  My father waved. “You two have fun! Don’t stay out all night.”

  Before we even made it out of the driveway, Aaron asked, “So, are you having fun yet?”

  “The night hasn’t even started.” I didn’t like the way my voice came out sounding, so I tried again in a softer tone. “But you’re here, so I have high hopes for the rest of the night.”

  Aaron beamed at me.

  “Where are we going for dinner?” I asked.

  His gaze drifted over to me without turning his head. “You’ll see.”

  “Ugh,” I complained. “I hate surprises.”

  The corners of his lips turned down. A wave of guilt hit me like I’d said something wrong. He didn’t take his eyes off the road, but he shifted his hands on the steering wheel.

  “You really don’t like surprises, do you?” he asked.

  I knotted my hands in my lap. “I really don’t.”

  Aaron sighed, but his expression told me I wasn’t being as annoying as I felt I was. He almost looked amused.

  I reflexively tucked my hair behind my ear. “What?”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “But you’re thinking something you’re not saying.”

  The grin he’d been holding back broke across his face. “I think it’s cute.”

  “Cute?” I guess I should have taken it as a compliment, right?

  “Well, you have a thing, you know?”

  I didn’t answer because I wasn’t sure I did know. My hair was cute. My dress was cute. My attitude? Not so much.

  “We’re almost there. Think you can hold out?”

  “I guess so,” I answered dully. I didn’t know what else to do with myself, so I rested an elbow on my door and stared out the window. Though I was looking outside, I wasn’t really paying attention to where we were headed.

  “Hey,” Aaron said softly, reaching over to touch my left hand. “What’s wrong?”

  I didn’t realize I had been chewing on my lip until I opened my mouth to speak. “Nothing’s wrong.” I threw in a good shoulder shrug.

  “You just seem kind of … I don’t know … disengaged. Uninterested. Is it the surprise thing? I’ll tell you where we’re going. Actually, we’re almost there already.”

  Aaron pulled into a parking space alongside the street. When I finally took in my surroundings, I realized we were in the older part of town. I scanned the shops in front of us and saw we were parked close to the pizza place we’d visited a few weeks ago.

  I shot Aaron a smile to help lighten the mood. “Pizza sounds perfect. Thank you.”

  “See? Surprises aren’t that bad. Stay here for a second.” He hopped out of the car and rounded the front side to open my door as if to prove his point.

  This time, my smile was genuine. “You’re such a gentleman.” I intended the statement to come out lighthearted and silly, but I spoke so much truth that it didn’t sound at all like I was teasing him.

  He shrugged as he shut the door behind me. “I try.”

  I giggled and took his hand as we walked to the pizzeria. There weren’t a lot of people there, just a group of students in their homecoming dress near the window and a family of four in the booth next to them. Aaron led me to the back table where we sat the first time we ate here.

  “Half Hawaiian and half pepperoni?” Aaron asked.

  I pressed my lips together in thought. “Surprise me?”

  “I thought you didn’t like surprises.”

  My eyes dropped to the napkin I’d already begun twisting around in my hands. “Well, they aren’t all that bad.”

  Laughter erupted from Aaron’s lungs.

  My heart skipped a beat in surprise. “What’s so funny?”

  “I—I don’t know,” he said between giggles. He quieted by the time he spoke again. “You’re just amusing, is all. Okay. A surprise it is.”

  Not long afterward, I was chewing on stuffed crust pepperoni and sausage pizza while admiring the crane I’d made from my napkin after following Aaron’s tutorial. His watchful gaze made my cheeks flame, but I tried to pretend like it was nothing. Hopefully Emily slathered on enough makeup that it didn’t show.

  Just as I was about to break the silence with some stupid description of how good the pizza tasted, something warm touched my leg. My heart skipped another beat, this time for good reasons. Aaron’s ankle slithered its way up my leg. By the time his foot reached my knee, more nerves had overtaken my body than I could handle.

  I playfully shoved his foot back to the floor. “Behave yourself.”

  “Hey,” he teased, “I can’t always be a gentleman. It’s a lot of hard work, you know.”

  I couldn’t contain my laughter, but of course, it had to be just as I bit into my pizza, so a string of cheese ran between my mouth and my food. By the time I managed to swallow, pizza grease covered my chin. Aaron reached across the table to hand me a new napkin.

  “Thanks.” I wiped at my chin
, hoping my makeup wasn’t too messed up. When I glanced back up at Aaron, I stopped everything. Laughing. Moving. Breathing. I looked into his eyes and saw all the good times we shared together. This is where I’m meant to be, I thought. A moment later, I snapped out of my trance. “Thanks for bringing me tonight. But I’m afraid that if I eat more pizza, I might explode. That wouldn’t be good for my dress.”

  “No, we certainly wouldn’t want any clothing exploding tonight.” He bit his lip lightly and looked across the table at me under his dark lashes.

  Did he mean what I think he meant?

  “Well,” he said after composing himself, “I guess we can split the rest and each take some home. Are you ready for the dance?”

  “Yes!” I answered with more enthusiasm than I’d felt all week. It was like Aaron had the magic power to make me feel all better again. And that’s why I love him so much.

  When we stepped into the high school gymnasium, I spotted my friends immediately. I took a step in their direction the same time Aaron headed toward his friends. He didn’t seem to notice the split second where the distance between us grew. I quickly realized my mistake and followed him, my hand entwined with his. I didn’t like this, though. Hadn’t I just promised Alaina I’d hang out with her more? Why did Aaron’s friends get priority over mine?

  “Oh my gosh!” Dani raved as soon as Aaron and I were within earshot. “Your dress is so pretty.” She wore a deep red dress with see-through lace sleeves.

  “Yours, too,” I told her.

  “Here, I saved you a seat.” Dani gestured to the chair beside her, and I sat.

  Aaron took the empty seat next to me. “Anything interesting happen yet?” he asked the group.

  They all shrugged.

  “They’ve only played one slow song since we got here,” Dani complained.

  “What’s wrong with fast songs?” Aaron gestured to the small crowd jumping up and down on the dance floor. I noticed Jordan in the middle of the mix busting his moves.

  Dani’s mouth hung open for a second before speaking. “I’ll make a fool out of myself!”

  Her boyfriend, Brandon, sat back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. He scowled toward the dance floor. It’s like he thought he was too good to be caught dancing.