11 #2
“She made you cry.” She freezes. “I can tell why you were crying that day, Butterfly. I was watching.” That day when I was comforting her in the bathroom, I didn’t feel this way, but now if I see her crying again, I’d confront the person who made her cry. No one makes Lara cry.
Danny comes back with two cheeseburgers and fries.
“Your food is served.” He places our dishes down in front of us.
Lara is about to open her mouth before I cut her off. “She doesn’t like pickles,” I tell Danny.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” He grabs the dish and rushes off to the kitchen to fix it.
Lara has always hated a lot of foods, such as tomatoes, pickles, and onions, which is everything typically found on a burger.
One year for her birthday, I bought her a jar of pickles as a joke. She cried. I still feel slightly bad.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Lara says quietly.
“You don’t like them.” I wouldn’t want to watch her gulp down something she doesn’t want to eat. Danny arrives back with a pickleless cheeseburger.
“Sorry about that.” I nod, then shoo him away. I just want to be alone with Lara. I watch her neatly take a small bite of her burger.
“Stop looking at me.” She swallows. Lara has never liked people watching her eat, especially messy foods like spaghetti and tacos. “I will stab your eye out with this fork if you keep watching me.” I cover my eyes.
“Is this better?” I ask her, staring into the darkness of my hands.
“Very,” I uncover my eyes and dig into my meal.
We spend the rest of the time together chatting while eating our food.
After that, we pay the bill, she offers to pay for her meal and split the bill, but I shake my head and put the card in the reader before she can.
I don’t think anyone besides her parents have taken her out to lunch before.
“Thank you for today,” she says as I drive us home. I glance over at her. She’s beautiful. Has she always been this beautiful? I’m going insane.
“You’re welcome, Butterfly,” I say back, staring at the road because if I keep looking at her, I’m going to end up crashing. I park in her driveway, and she doesn’t get out at first. She turns to look at me.
“I had fun,” she says softly. I smile a big, wide grin, because I had loads of fun too.
“Me too,” I say quietly, not wanting this day to end. I almost forgot about my mom being pregnant and her talking to Isaac the whole damn time, but today makes up for everything. Maybe it will be a good thing, having a sibling.
“I still hate you.” I laugh.
“A little less?” I ask teasingly.
“Maybe a lot less,” Lara says. She doesn’t let me respond before she gets out of the car, so I make sure she gets inside safely before I begin driving away.
5 years later
‘The Great War’
— Taylor Swift
Lara
“Someone's at the door!” I hear Aurora call out as the doorbell rings.
“Answer it!” I call out from the bathroom, trying to finish plucking my eyebrows. I pause when I hear Ashton’s voice from the door. I drop the tweezers on the counter and rush out to the living room.
Ashton and Danny are standing in the foyer. “You guys!” I run over to hug both of them. Aurora stands off to the side awkwardly. I pull back from the hug. “Why are you here?”
“We wanted to surprise you and Scott.” My smile fades at the mention of Scott; he isn’t what I want to talk about right now, especially because of our argument.
Danny turns to look at Aurora, whose messy curly hair is pulled into a bun. They stare at each other for so long, I almost think they know each other. “What’s your name?”
“Aurora.” She shakes his hand teasingly. I can feel the tension between them, which I didn’t expect there to be.
“She’s a player, don’t go for her.” As much as I love my best friend, I can’t have her hurting my day 1. I can tell when Danny likes someone, and it’s very prominent right now.
“Hey!” Aurora slaps me on the arm. I don’t trust her with Danny, though; she uses men for money and dates a new one every week. It’s not what Danny needs in his life. I can still feel the tension between them in their eye contact.
“What are you doing for work?” I ask them both, trying to change the subject.
“I’m an RN at the emergency room,” Ashton says, I haven’t really caught up with them about their lives; I’ve been so selfish, focusing on my own. It makes sense that he works in healthcare; he is the type of person to save lives.
“I’m a first responder,” Danny adds. I can basically see the heart eyes pop out of Aurora’s eyes. “I’m thinking about moving here to get a job in the city.”
“Me too, I love New York.” Ashton smiles.
“New York is beautiful. I fell in love with it during college. Best place ever.”
“What are you, Aurora? What’s your occupation?” I’ve never heard Danny use the word occupation in my life.
“I’m a paraeducator at a preschool. I love kids.”
“That’s amazing.” Now, heart eyes are bulging out of Danny’s eyes. Gross.
“How about you guys get a room?” Ashton stands there awkwardly.
“Right.”
**