Living for the fat girl [Book 2]

Part 26

26. Arya

Days pass blurrily and the weather gets colder and colder with every passing day. People around here aren’t used to the cold at all so everyone’s freaking out a bit and you can actually tell that people are scared of the cold. I welcome it. It’s a nice change to the usually ever present heat.

Seth is staying at Sam’s as much as possible and only goes home to check on Paulina. His father has fortunately left the state to attend to whatever business he needs to attend to, giving us enough time to talk to Seth’s mother.

We’ve tried multiple times now to get her to leave Mr. Smith but she won’t have any of it. If one thing runs in that family, it’s their thick skulls. All of them are as stubborn as the other. Luckily Paulina is back to her light-spirited self now that Seth has been back for a while and her father is gone. I don’t even want to think about what’s going to happen to her once Seth has to go back to campus and I won’t have time to check on her.

We’ll need to find a solution for this.

Seth for example refuses to come meet Alexander Crawford of Baumgold gallery with me. I am supposed to meet him today to discuss a first commission and he’s actually coming here for the first time. We’re meeting at a restaurant downtown this evening and I would have loved to introduce Seth to him. For one because I could finally convince Seth of the fact that Alex is in no way a threat and only wants the best for me.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” I towel dry my hair as I have just finished showering.

“Is that Sam’s robe you’re wearing,” Seth tries to change the subject, looking up from his phone. He's wearing his soccer uniform and cleats.

“It’s comfy! Are you planning to go out and play? It’s freezing outside.”

Seth swings his legs off the bed he’s been resting on and chucks his phone into his duffle bag.

“Yeah, I’m actually meeting up with some of the guys. Brice hit me up on facebook earlier today and I thought I’d go for old times’ sake, you know?” He pecks my lips quickly as he walks past me, swinging the duffle bag on his back.

“Wait!” I grab his arm, pulling him back. “So you don’t want to come with me but you will go out to see your ‘friends’?”

Seth furrows his brow at me.

“Arya, you and I both know that if I go to meet that man, things won’t end well.” He sighs, pulling his arm from my grip and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “I don’t want to ruin this for you. Please don’t make a big deal out of this.”

I take a deep breath through my nose and let his words sink in. There are two ways for me to react. I could freak out at him, do exactly the opposite of what he’s telling me and make a big deal out of this or I could actually listen to what he’s saying, be rational and realize that he’s right.

“Fine.” I pout and start untying the belt that holds Sam’s robe tightly wrapped around my body.

“What are you doing,” Seth’s eyes are focused on my midsection. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

“Oh me,” I bat my eyelashes at him innocently, grinning like the cat that got the cream. “Never! I’m just going to get ready. Have fun with the boys. Say ‘hi’ from me.”

“You’ll be the death of me for sure, Arya.” He slaps his palm against the doorframe twice before fleeing the apartment.

I spend the next hour and a half getting ready. This time I dress in a simple black dress that doesn’t hug my body quite as much as the red one did. I pair it with a simple black blazer, opaque tights and knee length boots. My hair is pinned up into a ballerina bun, only a few stray strands framing my face. My lips are painted a dark red and my eyes pop with a thin line of black winged eyeliner and a generous coat of mascara.