Play For My Heart

[PFMH] Six

Justin and I talk for almost an hour, and I eventually get him to understand my dilemma. When I finally get out of his car, he gives me his phone number and a quick hug. And when I lock my bedroom door behind me like I always do, I'm actually happy. It's nice to have a friend here. Especially someone who understands how irritating this is for me.

Just as I send Justin a text that says, 'Finally home and free', Aubrey comes storming into my room. How she managed to pick my lock is beyond my understanding, but it's too late to wonder. I scramble up onto my butt and shove my phone under a pillow behind me right before Aubrey throws herself onto my bed. I lurch back and then put my hands up in self-defense.

"Did you skip with him? Tell me everything! We've been wondering what happened all day!" she squeals.

"Woah." I say. My thoughts are suddenly like a train wreck. What should I tell her? Or.. more importantly, what should I not tell her? "Slow down Aubrey."

"Slow down?" she squeaks. She opens her mouth to argue, but I interrupt her quickly.

"Sorry, I know you're just excited. I just... gosh, things were crazy today... I'm not sure what to tell you and what to not tell you."

On the outside, I chuckle nervously. Mentally, I'm punching myself. Stupid! I think.

Aubrey's mouth forms an almost-perfect O and then I have to slap my hand over her mouth to keep her from literally screaming her reply.

After a second of hesitation, I tell her, "I'll tell you everything, but only if you promise not to tell Lexi. She'd kill me."

Her eyes widen. Slowly, she nods and I move my hand. For once, Aubrey isn't speaking. Instead, she waits eagerly- a little too eagerly- for my explanation.

Right as I open my mouth, my cell phone buzzes from under my pillow. I freeze, and Aubrey's eyes narrow suspiciously.

"That's not Aaron, is it?" she asks.

Dang. This girl is smarter than I'd thought.

That's why I sigh, and give in. I tell her everything, from my feelings about Aaron, to my "feelings" about Justin, to how amazing the hot chocolate was.

She drinks in every word.

~~~

The next day's Saturday, so I don't bother to set my alarm once Aubrey leaves like I usually do. My stomach churns while I wonder what she'll do with everything I told her. Can I trust her with this? And if she does tell everyone, could I just blow it off as part of the dare?

I guess I just don't know.

All I know is that Justin makes me laugh. I text him until I fall asleep, which was who-knows-when. I dream of dumping hot chocolate all over Aaron Jaxter and then skipping away, hand-in-hand with Justin. Just as I'm blowing a kiss behind me at Aubrey and Lexi, I snap awake. It takes me a minute to figure out why.

Another rock hits my window and I almost fall out of bed. (Let's just say I'm not very oriented in the morning, or any other time really..) Heart thudding painfully, I rake my fingers through my hair, thanking all of goodness that it's not too bad, and then go over to my window. Am I just imagining things? Was it just a tree branch hitting my window? Surely I was just...

Nope. I wasn't imagining things. When I pull my shades aside, I see Justin in my yard with a handful of pebbles. When he sees me, he puts a finger to his lips and pulls out his phone. For a few seconds I stare at him stupidly, but then my phone goes off and I dart away from the window and across the room to get it.

16 texts from Justin. 4 missed calls from Justin. 1 text from Jaxter (probably because he's required to text me goodnight like a good little boyfriend) and no calls.