A Beautiful Fate (10 page)

He was there right at seven, just as he said he would be. I had no idea what his parents did for a living, but Rory’s car was awesome. He drove a black 1983 jaguar xj6 in mint condition. A super expensive car, I was sure. I was under the impression that all of the students here at DPI were pretty well to do. It seemed as though everyone had a car... and all the cars were really nice.

One of my favorite things about my old school in Chicago was that everyone walked or took public transportation. We all had to wear uniforms, so no one really stood out…except me, of course. Somehow, I didn’t stand out here. People accepted me and then moved on. It was an odd feeling… nice but definitely surreal.

Rory’s house was about fifteen minutes away from school, but then again he sped the whole way there so I had no idea how long it would take me to get there. I do know that we passed Emily on the highway and beat her there by five minutes.

Rory’s home was just as beautiful as I imagined it would be. It sat right in front of the beach and was huge. He brought me inside and the place was packed with people. He introduced me to his mother, Gianna, and his dad, Thais. Gianna gave me a huge hug and pinched me on the cheek, telling me how nice it was to meet me. She was short with reddish brown hair and olive colored skin. Her nails were nicely manicured and she was impeccably dressed. Rory’s older brother, Nick, was there too and he gave me a one-armed-hug and told me it was nice to see me again.

Rory threw open the fridge and grabbed a beer and then we walked outside towards the beach swaggering just a bit in the way that some guys do. In fact, Rory reminded me of a frat guy -- he nearly always wears a baseball hat, khaki shorts and a hooded sweatshirt. He is stocky, but in the ‘I work out’ kind of way. No matter how hard I could try to like him, Rory would just never be my type. My thoughts faded to Ari and I immediately shook my head and concentrated on walking on the sandy beach.

The fire was blazing and the crowd around it was enormous. There were many people there I recognized from school. I saw Julia and some of the girls from the ninth floor that she hung around with. Collin, Nick’s friend, was there. I thought I saw Ari out of the corner of my eye but I refused to let myself look for him.

I hung around Rory for a while but branched off to talk with Emily after an hour or so. Viola had just officially started dating Sam and she ditched us as soon as he joined the party. I shared a seat with Emily on a beach chair and after a couple of hours of talking with her and her friends; I set off in search of the bathroom. I walked up to the house and it was quiet. All of the people, it seemed, were outside on the beach. I walked through the kitchen and into the hallway, trying to remember which doors Rory said were which. I opened a door at the end of the hall thinking it was the bathroom, but quickly discovered I was very wrong.

The room was dark but thanks to the moonlight, I could see Rory in bed making out with someone. He jumped up, still fully clothed, thankfully, and stuttered out apologies.

“Holy hell, Ava, I am so sorry. I swear this isn’t what it looks like.”

I put my hands up in a surrendering way and tried to back out of the room.

“It’s totally fine, Rory. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I said as I slammed the door shut behind me, I found the bathroom and then bolted back outside in search of fresh air. I was too caught up in the surprise to even notice who had been with him, and I really didn’t care. Rory and I were friends and that was all I had ever intended for us.

I couldn’t help but feel a little discouraged, though, discouraged and lonely. The only real people I had in my life were Margaux and Mia. Mia was half way across the country and Margaux was only in my life because she had to be; I am sure I would never see her again once I turned eighteen. I walked through Rory’s back yard and sat down on one of the two old wooden swings they had hanging from a tree. I found myself wishing I had not agreed to come to the party at all. I sat there for a while trying to talk myself out of crying when a soft, deep voice startled me.

“Hey, Ava, what are you doing out here all alone?”

Oh, pure wow
, I inwardly swooned. I loved hearing Ari say my name. It made me want to melt. “Um,” I said stalling, looking for words, “I’m just waiting for Rory to finish up in there so I can get a ride home.”

Ari laughed quietly as he took a seat in the open swing, sitting in the opposite direction so he was facing me. “You saw that, huh? Unfortunately so did I.”

I nodded, agreeing that finding Rory making out with someone in the dark had been an unfortunate discovery.

“Look,” Ari said rubbing the stubble on his cheeks. “Rory really likes you a lot, Ava. Don’t take that scene in there too personally.”

I rolled my eyes at Ari.

“Rory and I are just friends, Ari. He can do whatever he wants.”

Ari looked at me, realization lighting up his eyes.

“Ah...so... you really are ok?”

“Yes, of course I am. We’re just friends. Regrettably, tonight he is also my ride. Why? Are you ok?”

My tone was slightly sarcastic, but he answered me honestly anyway. Ari gave me his megawatt smile and said, “Ava, I have never been better.”

Ari stood up and grabbed my hand, sending a tingling flash of heat all though my body. He pulled me to my feet with ease and held me close to him. I breathed in his sweet scent just before he took a step towards the back gate, taking me along with him.

He didn’t let go of my hand as he led me through the crowd and down the beach. I didn’t really care where he was leading me. The fact that my hand was in his was turning my brains to mush. Ari walked me up to the back of a house and led me onto the deck. The house was enormous and the entire back was glass, ensuring a view of the ocean from nearly every room. The back deck was unlike anything I had ever seen. A beautiful pool took up the center space. An outdoor fireplace surrounded by cozy, intimate seating was to one side of the pool and on the other side was a full bar, a hot tub and more couches and chairs.

Ari slid the glass door to the house open and invited me in with him. The inside of the house was even more stunning than the outside. There were very few walls to break the vision, dark hardwood covered the floors, and various shades of creams and fawn softened the walls. The furniture was plush and comfortable looking. Everything was elegant, yet the overall feeling I got from the house was one of welcome. I took a cautious step through the door as Ari yelled, “Hello!”

In response, a beautiful, younger, girl-version of Ari appeared.

“What are you doing home so early?” the girl asked him...“And who is this?” she added with a sly smile.

Ari ignored her first question and said, “Ava, this is my sister, Lauren.”

Lauren strolled the rest of the way into the kitchen and actually gave me a hug; she caught me off guard but for whatever reason I was surprised to find that my usual aversion to being physically near other people didn’t kick in. I didn’t mind her being close to me at all. In fact, the hug was quite nice.

“Please, please tell me that you are Ari’s new girlfriend.”

I actually laughed aloud at her boldness, and my laugh turned Ari’s horrified expression into a relieved smile.

“No,” I responded, “I’m definitely not -- sorry to disappoint you.”

Lauren released me from her hug and shrugged then turned her attention back to Ari.

“So what are you doing then?”

“Leaving,” he answered her simply.

“You’ve got to be joking! You just got here. I’ve hardly even gotten to talk to you.”

“I’m not joking. I’ve been home all day; it’s not my fault you were grounded and couldn’t go next door.”

His response was in a sardonic tone, but a playful grin never left his lips. Lauren looked dejected at the idea of Ari leaving and the sweetness of their relationship made me smile. Most of the brothers and sisters I knew couldn’t stand to be around each other.

“Why are you leaving anyway?” She asked him.

“I am taking Ava back to campus and I don’t feel like driving all the way back here just to fall asleep. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Ugh,” Lauren pouted. “What time are you coming tomorrow then?”

“Jeez, what’s with the twenty questions tonight, Lauren?”

She just stared at him and waited for him to answer.

“Fine,” he started, “I’ll be here in the afternoon and I will be at your beck and call for the rest of the day.”

This seemed to appease her and she smiled up at him.

“Are you going to come too, Ava?” she asked catching me completely off guard for the second time.

“Uh, no, I’m not,” I said, looking at her out of the corner of my eye.

Lauren opened her mouth to make another comment, but just then, a gorgeous woman walked through the door to the patio, trailed by a clean-cut, handsome older man.

Oh, my gosh, I know this guy.

Well, I didn’t really know him but I saw him at my grandfather’s memorial service. He spoke from the podium. He and my grandpa ran a foundation together. My grandpa was an eager advocate in helping children get out of the foster care system and placing them in more permanent homes. After this man’s speech, I accidently bumped in to him, causing his coffee to spill out on to his shirt and suit. I hoped like hell that he didn’t recognize me.

I saw Ari sigh and tilt his head back in annoyance. The woman had a grin on her face that stretched from ear to ear.

“Ava,” Ari said, and once again, I felt as if I might melt, “these are my parents Aggie and Andrew.” Aggie came over and hugged me just as Rory’s mother had.

“Ari has told me all about you.”

Shocked by her comment, I peeked over at Ari to see him grimace at his mom.

“What are you two doing?” She asked sweetly before letting me go. Ari repeated what he had told his sister, explaining that we were on our way out and that he was taking me to campus since Rory had screwed the pooch, in other words messed up big time and he would be back tomorrow afternoon. “Ok, honey,” she said. “Ava, will you be joining us tomorrow as well?”

I repeated the answer I had given Lauren, but, unlike Lauren, Aggie did not plan to take “no” for an answer.

“But, Ava, we would absolutely love to have you join us,” she said in an honest, welcoming way, as if my coming to crash their Sunday afternoon of family time was exactly, precisely, what she had been hoping for.

Thankfully, Ari stepped in and told them that we had to leave. They said goodbye, each family member hugging him in turn, and he pulled me out of the house and into the garage. He opened the passenger side door to a white Range Rover and I climbed in his car. The whole car smelled like him and I felt as though I could wrap myself up in the delicious scent. The slamming of his car door brought me back to reality.

“Sorry about that. They can be a little overly enthusiastic.”

“Oh no, don’t apologize – they are really sweet.”

“Yeah, they are,” he said fondly as he pulled out of the driveway onto the street. About a thousand questions milled about in my mind. There was just so much I wanted to ask him, but I kept my mouth shut. The possibility of saying something stupid was too likely.

Ari had
Ra Ra Riot
playing through the speakers and turned up “Can You Tell,” a truly awesome song, and started to sing along with the tune. I couldn’t help but laugh while he hit his hands on the wheel along with the beat. I found myself liking him even more than I already secretly did.

“What’s so funny? This is a great song.”

“I agree,” I said with a grin. “I just didn’t know you were the
Ra Ra Riot
type.”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Ava Baio,” he said in a semi-playful tone.

We drove the rest of the way in silence. He held the entrance door to the building open for me and called for the elevator. We stepped on the lift together and this time, I was on one wall of the elevator and he stayed on the opposite side.

“Um...” I said trying to fill the empty silence, “...thanks a lot for the ride. I appreciate it, and you know- you didn’t have to.”

“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to, and you are most welcome, Ava.”

When we got to the twelfth floor, I found that I didn’t at all feel like sleeping. Ari and I were the only two on the floor. Everybody else was either still at Rory’s or had gone home for the weekend. I took advantage of the quiet hall and sat at the piano. Ari sat on the couch, turned CNN on and then muted it, preferring to read the running tape of news at the bottom of the screen. The very same thing my mom used to do. Suddenly I felt nostalgic and sad. I turned and faced the piano keys and began to play.

Whenever I sing along with the piano, I sing in French, giving in to a habit I could not shake. For me, songs rendered in English lack the emotion and beauty the French language can elicit. This time I played my favorite,
Coeur De Pirate
song “Place de la Republique,” and when I was done I stood up and turned back to go to my room. Ari had been watching me, staring at me really. Right away, I was self-conscious.

“That was incredible. How long have you been able to do that?”

“Thanks, but it wasn’t incredible. It was just ok ...and I started playing the piano when I was three.” I took another step towards my room and he spoke again.