#1: Welcome Back
It’s senior year; a lot has happened since the trip last year. We had our fun and my relationship with Brielle became stronger and so did Adrien and Jordan’s. We had our ups and down’s but, in the end, we worked things out, made up, and everything was ok.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you felt that way.”
“No, I’m sorry, you shouldn’t be sorry. Come here.”
After the trip, Jordan took Adrien to meet his parents.
“I’m so excited for you to meet them.”
Jordan was driving, Adrien sat next to him. He had a nervous expression on his face. Not a very “I’m so excited to meet your parents!” Kind of look.
“I don’t know if I’m as excited as you are.”
“Don’t be nervous, they’re gonna love you.”
Adrien sighed, rolled the window down and continued to look out the car window. He admired the tall trees and forest beyond. He closed his eyes and let the cold wind hit his face.
Summer was great. But also, not that great. Brielle, Adrien and I visited Sicily. We played in the shimmering cool water, ate some amazing food, and had the most peaceful nights together. Just the three of us. I even learned the guitar so I could play for them. I wasn’t a professional, but I could play some tunes; Adrien helped me out sometimes; he played guitar when he was little. “Middle finger on that string.” He spoke. “Ok, I got it.” “D string not A.”
“Oops”
Sometimes when he fell asleep, Brielle and I would sneak into each other’s rooms and have little dance parties, read books together, smoke, talk, and sometimes do a little bit more than just talking. You’re probably wondering why Brielle and I had different rooms since we’re together. We liked the idea of everyone having their personal space. It’s nice to have time to yourself sometimes. I love hanging out with my friends, they make me happy, and I hope I make them happy too. The night before we left, Brielle’s dad called her letting her know her grandma was diagnosed with cancer.
“What stage is she.” Brielle asked her dad with a nervous face.
“One. Stage one.” He replied.
I know it’s probably hard for her to hear that someone she loves and cares for is sick. I’m sure everything will be ok though. We can only hope for the best. We flew back home with dejected faces and the sound of babies crying in our ears. I chose the window seat. I looked at the clouds; they moved slowly, so delicate. They change every second, forming new shapes. Shape shifting into different things only our minds come up with. Brielle slept with her head on my shoulder during this long flight home.
A month passed and the new school year was about to start. I decided to wake up early; 4 am to be exact just to get ready. I said good morning to my dog. She’s so sweet; the only children I’ll have in the future are dogs. I will be a dog mother. “Who’s my precious Lily?” She makes the cutest little noises ever. I love her so much.
After that, I took a steamy hot shower. I used my new body wash I got the other day; It smells like sweet vanilla cupcakes. The best. I love vanilla scented things. It’s so good. After my shower I did my 5-step skincare routine, put my outfit on and went downstairs. I walked into the kitchen to a whole feast on the counter. Pancakes, bacon, mini breakfast sandwiches & smoothies.
“Happy last-first day of senior year my love”
“Mom, you know you didn’t have to make all this.”
“Well, I wanted to do something nice for my one and only daughter. Look, you’re all grown up. You’ll be going to college soon. The least I can do is make you the best breakfast ever, right?”
“Aw mom, I love you.” Since I had some time left, I got to sit down and enjoy my breakfast.
-Adrien’s house, the same morning-
Adrien’s parents open his bedroom door singing and clapping bringing in a breakfast table with food on it. “Good morning! Happy first-last day of senior year!”
“Mom, dad, it’s only 6 why are y’all busting in here making all this noise?”
Adrien’s parents walked over, set the food on the bedside table and sat on his bed. With Adrien lying in the middle. His mom sat on the right side while his dad sat on the left.
“My son, you are getting old, soon you’ll be like me” Adrien’s dad chuckles with a slight tear in his eye.
“He’s right. We just want to celebrate a big day for you. Growing up and getting old.” Adrien’s mom said while pinching his cheeks.
“I’m not getting old.” Adrien swatted his mom’s fingers off his cheek. “I’m literally not old guys.” His parents looked at each other and laughed. “You guys aren’t funny I hope you know that.”
“Ok ok we’ll let you get ready and eat your food, we love you.” Adrien’s parents slowly exited his room closing the door.
“I love you guys too.” Adrian got ready, ate his food and texted Jordan until it was time to go.
-Brielle’s house, the same morning, a bit after 6-
“Oh my god I’m not gonna have enough time to do all what I need to do to get ready.” Brielle rushed putting her clothes on and went downstairs to eat a bowl of cereal. Her dad was on the big couch while her grandma sat in the armchair next to him.
“Bri, remember your grandma and I will be out this afternoon; I’m taking her to the doctor for a checkup. You can invite your friends over if you want, I don’t mind. Have a great day.” Brielle looked over at her grandma and slightly smiled. “Ok dad, I love you, see you later. I love you gran.” “Love you too Bri.” Her grandma said with a smile on her face.
Brielle walked outside the house and got in her car. She checked the time, adjusted the rearview mirror, put on music and started driving. It was a nice day. The sun was out, neighbors were doing neighborly things like watering plants or sending their kids to the school bus, and even walking their dogs. Adrien’s house was the first stop. As he finished up breakfast, he heard a car honk coming from outside.
“Adrian, Brielle’s here to pick you up!” His mom said. Adrien got his stuff together and walked outside to see Brielle sitting in the car.
“I’ll sit in the back and let Ariana sit up there with you.”
“Aww thanks, how sweet of you. You know, if you wanted, we could pick up Jordan too.”
“That’s ok, he has his nice car he loves to drive. Wouldn’t wanna take that away from him.”
“Are you saying my car isn’t nice?” She said as she laughed.
“I mean- “
“Oh, shut up!”
Adrien was such a jokester; always messing with somebody. Brielle and Adrian continued talking while Brielle drove to pick me up. I was gathering my stuff and heard a honk followed by a holler.
“Ariana!” Brielle and Adrien hollered out the car.
“Mom that’s Brielle and Adrien. I’ll see you later, I love you!”
“I love you too Hun!”
I grabbed my bags and walked out the door, Brielle was sitting in the front while Adrian took the back seat. I hopped in, greeted them and gave Brielle a kiss and we took off!
“So, are you excited?” Brielle asked with a smile on her face.
“Oh, I am so excited. We have lots of things to do this year don’t we?”
“We sure do. The year went by so fast I can’t believe we’re seniors already.”
“I know it’s crazy how we just grow up like that.”
We pulled into the school parking lot. “You guys get out I’m gonna find a spot.” Brielle said. Adrien and I got out the car and started walking towards the entrance of the school. Adrien spotted Jordan walking ahead of us. He ran up behind him and gave him a big hug. “Oh my god you scared me.” Jordan said while laughing. “Good. You should be scared.” Adrian said. I laughed shaking my head. We continued to walk inside, and Brielle caught up to us. There was a huge banner hanging from the ceiling saying, “welcome back.” We got out our schedules and headed to our lockers. “Ok so I have calculus first, gym 2nd...how bout you guys?” I looked over at Brielle and Adrien’s schedules. We each had at least 2 classes together.
Dominic came walking up behind Adrien and me. Maya followed behind him. “What’s up guys! We all had a good summer?” Dominic asked. He put his arms around our shoulders. “Yeah, it was great.” Adrien said. Brielle nodded her head. “Yeah great!”
“That’s what’s up.” Dominic said. “You guys are going to Noelle’s Party tonight, right?” I was so confused. Why was he asking us this. Who the hell is Noelle? What’s a Noelle? Did Bri and Adrien know who this Noelle was? “Of course, we are” Adrien said looking at Brielle and I all confused. “Can’t wait to see you guys there!” Dominic and Maya walked away; he had his arm around her; She waved bye at us. Then the bell rung. Some hours past and I was now in my English class. I honestly never found this subject hard at all. I find joy in writing sometimes. The teacher walked in as we took our seats. I sat in the middle. People in front of me, people beside me, and people behind me. I felt safer in the middle. If I was in the middle, I wouldn’t be that noticeable. “Ok everyone my name is Ms. Moore and today we’ll be annotating the book ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’.”
“Do we have to read the book Ms. Moore?” A girl in the back of the class asked as she chewed her light pink bubblegum.
“Yes, you have to read it in order to annotate it. What’s your name?”
“Cleo, my name’s Cleo.”
“Well Cleo, how would you like to start us off with the first paragraph.”
Cleo rolled her eyes, popped her gum in her mouth and began to read. An hour passed and it was finally time to go home. I walked outside the classroom to find Brielle and Adrien waiting for me.
“You guys wanna come over my place before we get ready for the party tonight? Adrien asked. Of course, I said yes, but I also had to ask my mom first before I went over.
“So, you want to go to Adrien’s to get ready for who’s party?” My mom asked while putting up dishes.
“Noelle’s. Noelle’s party.”
“I’ve never heard about a Noelle.”
“Yeah, me either, but I just found out today so can I please go.”
“Yeah, yeah you can go. Just don’t make any dumb decisions, ok?”
“I won’t, thanks mom, love you!” I went up to my room, got a big tote bag & stuffed it with my makeup and the outfit I was going to wear to the party. I decided to go with a white silk above-the-knee dress with a leather jacket on top, some tights underneath and these cute black platform boots. I had to add accessories, so I added some rings and necklaces to it. Brielle was already at Adrien’s, so my mom dropped me off there. I walked in. “Hey guys”
“Omg Ariana, what are you wearing to the party?” Brielle asked. “You’ll just have to wait and see.” I said with a grin. Brielle, Adrien and I grabbed some snacks and watched some TV as we waited for time to pass so we could get ready. I put on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’. I needed to catch up with the show after watching it out of order as a child. Michelle Gellar being an icon wasn’t the only reason I put it on. I mean, her role in ‘Cruel Intentions’ was phenomenal, but I like vampires too. Time passed and it was 7:00pm. “Time to get ready!” I said. Brielle and I went in the downstairs bathroom to put our outfits on. We stood in front of each other in front of the counter undressing ourselves. I grabbed my dress out of my bag and put it on.
“Can you help me zip this up?” I asked Brielle.
“Yeah.” She responded.
I caught her blushing before I turned around with my back facing her. She slid her hand down my back to the zipper, sending chills down my spine. “You’re so beautiful” she said. She zipped up my dress and I slowly turned around facing her. She had her pants and bra on, didn’t get to put her shirt on yet. I caressed her face, leaned in, and kissed her. We kissed slowly but each time it just got more aggressive. More passionate. I felt her smile against my lips. I slipped my hand down her pants. She moaned into my mouth. “Fuck.” She said under her breath. Our heavy breathing synced together, and I started kissing her neck. Then we heard a knock at the door.
“Bri, Ariana, You guys almost ready?” Adrien already had his fit on waiting outside the bathroom door. “Shit, yeah we’re almost dressed, give us a second!” Brielle and I quickly put the rest of our clothes on, and Adrien came in. We started doing our makeup and fixed our hair.
“What were you guys doing in here?” Adrien asked.
“Getting ready?” I said. Brielle and Ariana glanced at each other with nervous flushed faces.
“Mhm ok”
The three of us finished getting ready and headed outside to Brielle’s car. I sat in the back and let Adrien sit up front with Brielle. Brielle adjusted her rearview mirror and our eyes met. My heart started to beat faster as I remembered what just happened. Adrien cranked up the radio and we were off.
