Chapter 3

Chapter Three

                                                                               

“Ariel, wake up. You’re going to be late for school.”

“ARIEL..... You better get your ass down here after ten minutes or I swear to God, I’ll drag your sorry ass to school wearing your pajama. “

I groaned in annoyance and tossed around, a big yawn escaped my lips. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking, then shrugging, and again drifted back to sleep.

“ARIEL.”

“Damn it, just calm down woman, I’m awake,” I shouted back at my mother that woman doesn’t chill.

I stretched like a cat and turned around, my face buried into my pillow; I inhaled deeply and sighed. Closing my eyes, I smiled softly and rubbed my face all over the soft fabric, enjoying its sweet masculine smell. I sighed again, enjoying the sweet feeling.

After two seconds I shot up looking around frantically searching for the stranger who I found yesterday. Just as I was about to get out of bed, my bedroom door swung open and my angry mom’s face greeted me.

“So I’m gonna drag you out of bed, then.” She said, putting her hands on her hips.

“Dammit Rose, what’s wrong with you? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?” I said, standing up, matching her stance.

“Actually, I didn’t sleep yet, so you are totally wrong.” She smirked.

“C’mon Rose, you don’t need to be sarcastic.” I yawned again, scratching my head in the process.

“OK, you have ten minutes. I’m making you breakfast so I can catch some sleep after. I need to get back to the hospital in the afternoon, so don’t be late for the school bus.”

I looked at her with a grimace on my face and headed to my bathroom. My mom stopped me by wrapping her arms around my waist, hugging me, and kissing my head.

“Happy birthday, my sweetheart. I’m sorry I’m not going to be here today. Even though you don’t like to celebrate your birthday, I should be here and spend the day with you. But I have a night shift today, but I promise I didn’t forget your present, at the end of the month you gonna get it. “

I smiled softly and wrapped my arms around her. “It is ok mom, I love you.”

She kissed my head again and left the room.

As soon as the door closed, I ran to the bathroom looking for the stranger. When I didn’t find him, I went to the closet. Even though I felt so stupid for doing this, but still went there and looked for him, but there was nothing. I sighed in relief and annoyance at the same time. He just left without saying thank you. I huffed ‘ Men’.

I finished my daily routine, took a shower, brushed my teeth, tamed my stupid curls, and wore my clothes. When I was about to get my sneakers, my mom yelled again.

“ARIEL.”

“I’m coming woman, calm your tits down,” I yelled back, opening my room’s door.

“You better behave, young lady. You’re not that old for a spanking.“ She gave me the _ don’t you dare even breathe _ look.

“Geez, Rose relax.” I kissed her and sat down. She put a plate in front of me full of waffles, and I licked my lips and dug in. I love waffles so much that I can eat them every day, all day.

I took a sip of milk and looked at my mom; she was a gorgeous thirty-six years old woman, and so sweet and kind. I don’t know why she doesn’t have a man beside her. My mom got pregnant when she was eighteen. It was a white boy, a one-night stand.

To be exact, a hit it and quit it type of thing. When she found out that she was pregnant with me, she decided to keep the fetus, even though it was hard for her. She was in high school, for goodness’ sake, but her aunt helped her to continue her studies and take care of me, too.

Unfortunately, her aunt, the only family she had, passed away and left her alone with a mixed girl. Technically, not all alone, she has me. But yeah, and that’s it. We just have each other and that’s enough for me. My mom is my sister, my best friend, and my whole family.

“So, what’s up?“ She glanced taking a sip of her coffee.

I shrugged. “Nothing, the same boring life, nothing new.”

She didn’t say anything, just hummed.

“Ok, Rose, I gotta go now.” I jumped, took my backpack in the process, and opened the house door.

“Take care, baby, I love you,” she shouted.

“I know you do. Bye.”

I ran to the bus stop waiting for the school bus; I took my iPhone and played the piece I was practicing; it was a hard one. Classic music is always hard to learn and master. I got on the bus. Ten minutes later, I was in front of my school. I sighed. Another day in hell.

Suddenly, I was tackled from behind. I shrieked, and then Rine giggled like an idiot.

“Dammit, Catherine, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Chill bitch, I called your name so many times that people flipped me off.” She said, pouting.

“That’s because your voice is so annoying.”

“Oh shut up, that’s not what Rick said yesterday. When we were doing the naughty. Dammit, now I’m all tingly again.” She sighed dreamily.

“Dear Lord, I don’t wanna know anything about your sexual life. That’s disgusting.” I felt my cheeks heating.

“Ariel, honey, you need to loosen up a little. Trust me when I say that’s not normal.“ She looked at me like I was the weirdest creature on this planet.

“What do you mean?” I looked at her from the corner of my eyes quizzically.

“I mean, you need some testosterone in your life, like a man to be naughty with. In other words, you need to get laid.” She said in a duh tone.

“What the heck does that have to do with anything?” I asked in annoyance.

“Everything, making love, is the best thing in this world. The feeling of soft lips kissing you, hands touching every inch of your body. A tongue that caresses your most sensitive spots... “ She moaned “... The feeling of a hot thick, lo.........”

“Jesus Christ, Catherine, for the love of God just shut up.” I stopped in front of our lockers, feeling so embarrassed that I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself in.

“Making love or doing the naughty with your boyfriend is a private matter; you shouldn’t talk about it so openly.”

“Oh shut up, it’s ok besides we don’t make love we fuck hard.“ She winked and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Not interested Mr. Christian Grey.”

I covered my burning cheeks with my hands. That girl is shameless. I don’t know why I’m a friend of hers.

“Because you’re too shy to make friends and technically I was the one that made the effort to be your friend. In other words, the only one who noticed your existence, no one was interested.” She said as if reading my mind, but she was right though.

“OK, my so-called only friend, let’s go to the class.”

I sat down next to Rine and rolled my eyes when I saw Rick coming towards us.

“Hey,” he said, hugging Rine tightly.

“Hey,” she said, and then the two started to suffocate each other with their mouths.

I turned my face and looked at the other side. My mind went back to the last night thinking of my stranger. I can’t believe I did that. I know it was stupid and reckless, but when I looked into his eyes, I just couldn’t help it. It was like I felt the need to save him, protect him. It’s just happened.

The morning went by quickly and it was lunchtime. Me, my hoe of a friend, and of course her jock boyfriend, who was still, by the way, sucking her face, headed to the cafeteria.

I wasn’t one of the popular girls, but my friend was a cheerleader and her boyfriend was one of the football team members. As cliché as it seems, they weren’t that awful. I wasn’t a bullied nerd, and she wasn’t one of the Queen bees. And Rick wasn’t a douchebag. Actually, he was, but not with me, or else Rine would castrate him.

We sat down, the three of us, and after a while, some of the jocks came to join our small group. They didn’t bother to look my way. They knew I was not the social type, only Blake the quarterback was the one who gave me a warm smile, which I returned it back.

“Hi Ariel, how are you?“ He said softly.

“Oh......... Hi Blake, I’m fine, thank you.“ I replied shyly.

The thing is, I’m not antisocial, but I’m not the social type either. It’s like I’m just not interested. No one intrigued me enough.

The day passed by quickly and it was time for my shift; I love my job so much. I love the people I work with. There, I can read my favorite books, and I can play the piano. Daniel, the owner loves music too, so we have drums, a guitar, and a piano so anyone can play. As I said before, you can drink your coffee while reading your favorite book and play music as well.

“Hey Ariel, wait for me. I’m coming with you.” Rine shouted.

“And your boyfriend?” I asked, cocking my eyebrow.

“The coach is frying them in the field. He will join us at the café after a couple of hours.“ She snickered.

“OK, but please don’t flirt with Jason. The poor guy was hyperventilating last time, and he has a girlfriend.” I said while I was buckling up my seat belt.

“C’mon, it was hilarious. Besides, I think he’s gay, but in denial.” She said thoughtfully.

I scrunched up my nose but said nothing. This girl is weird, yep I’m sure.

We entered the café; the bell rang indicating that a new customer had just arrived. Jason looked our way. I walked to him and gave him a hug, which he returned it softly; I like Jason. He’s like a sweet, cuddly big brother. It’s been three years now since we knew each other. I looked around for Daniel, but he wasn’t there.

“Where’s Daniel?” I asked curiously.

“In the kitchen making some cupcakes I think,” he said releasing me then stiffened when he noticed Rine.

“Hello, Jason.” Catherine purred to the crimson red 20-year-old co-worker of mine.

“H...Hi...“ The so-called boy/man squealed, running to help someone next to the bookshelves.

I glared at my friend, who batted her eyes innocently at me.

I pinched my temples. “Just sit your ass anywhere; I’ll get you something to drink.”

“Don’t forget getting me one of those amazing eclairs Daniel’s make.”

“Ok just please stay away from the poor guy.” I threw my hands in the air.

She huffed and pouted. “He’s gay, I’m telling you.”

I didn’t bother even looking at her. She’s driving me crazy.

I said hi to Daniel and stole one of the hot cupcakes, then wore my apron. There were not that many customers in here. It was a little bit boring today, but between my Pickering with Rine and laughing at the flushed poor guy, as she kept torturing him. It was bearable.

After two hours, the bell rang, and a bulky man entered. I stiffened. He reminded me of those three men of yesterday, especially when his eyes landed on me. I held my breath and stood behind the island.

“Good afternoon Miss Evans,” he said in a deep voice.

“Umm......good afternoon?” I said shakily.

He just nodded and put a bag in front of me, then bowed his head and left. I was stunned for a couple of minutes, just staring at the bag, not daring to touch it.

“Ariel, who was that man, and what did he want?” Rine asked, looking behind me.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

“So? Aren’t you going to see what is it? “

I kept looking at the bag for a couple of seconds more, and then tentatively grabbed it. When I opened it I found a square black velvety box. I held it with my fingers and caressed it softly, savoring the feeling of its smooth texture, then opened it. My gasp alerted Rine, but I couldn’t stop it when I saw what was inside.

“What? What is it?” Catherine asked eagerly.

I held the necklace with my fingers to show her; it was a big black cross with amber stones on each head of it. A three-headed dog was snarling viciously with open mouths showing sharp teeth. Their eyes were crimson red.

 The body of the three-headed dog swirled around the cross along with its tail at the end. It was so detailed and gorgeous; that I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Rine whistled. I blinked at her when she snatched the necklace.

“Oh my gosh, do you know how expensive is this? You have six little rubies and four amber stones on the platinum cross, making a masterpiece. A custom made masterpiece, if I might add. It must cost a fortune.” She gawked at me. I just gaped in response. She must be right. That is her family business.

“Who sent this?” she said, giving me the necklace back and snatched the bag to search for clues.

“I don’t know.” I stared at the gorgeous piece of jewelry and the realization hit me. That dog looks just like the tattoo on my stranger’s chest. My heart fluttered, and I felt butterflies in my stomach.

“Are you going to wear it, or are you just gonna stare at it?”

I headed to the ladies’ room. In front of the mirror, I put the necklace around my neck. It reached my breasts. I caressed it softly and smiled again. It was gorgeous.

No one ever gave me anything like that before, not to mention a very expensive thing, too.

After a while, Rine left with her boyfriend, so I took the chance and walked towards the piano. _ I don’t play or sing in front of people I know_ I touched it gently and sat down and started to play and sing......

“How long will I love you?

As long as the stars are above you,

And longer, if I can.

How long will I need you?

As long as the seasons need to

Follow their plan.

At home, I couldn’t sleep. I just kept staring at the ceiling with a soft smile on my lips and touching the necklace that was under my shirt from now on. And then I sighed heavily and pushed my face back into my pillow and inhaled deeply.

It smells like him still, a masculine smell mixed with cologne. I closed my eyes and sighed for the thousandth time today.

This is the best birthday ever.