chapter 7

 Erica 

My name is Erica Earhart and I think I've completely lost my mind.

"Erica, where are you going? Do you realize how late it is?"

"Mom, I'll only be thirty minutes or so."

"Come on don't give me a hard time while your father's away.  Who are you going to see at this time? We just moved here a week ago."

"It's not anyone in particular mom."

"Well, it can't just be anyone sweetie. Did you make a new friend?"

"Something like that. I just have to check something with him."

"HIM?! At this time?!"

"Mom, I'm not a kid. And trust me we are definitely not what you're thinking. He's not that type of person at least."

"Your birthday might be exactly two months from now, but that doesn't mean I'll let my seventeen-year-old daughter run to some boy's house. Especially one I don't know and while it's getting dark out."

"Mom, can you just let it go this time? Please."

"Step away from the door young lady."

"Mom."

"Now Erica!"

"Mom, it's Aaron, it's Aaron Wheeler. Ok, that's who I'm going to see."

My mother stood there in shock. A huge smile came over her face and shooed me away. I stood there a moment completely embarrassed because I could tell what she was thinking. "Oh my God, it's Aaron!"  "He's such a sweet boy!" "Oh, I don't mind at all if it's him." Yuck. Mom, it isn't like that. And oh my God, why are you so popular everywhere I go, Aaron?

I've been chasing Aaron for a long time. He's always been so far ahead of me that it seems unreachable. Until now. But today at school during gym I heard him say something about me. I thought he completely had forgotten, but that line hit me. He was pretending.

"She's nothing more than an annoying leech that you can't shake off."

I was standing near the boy's locker room waiting for him. That's when I heard it. I think he was talking with the kid named Marcus. They seem pretty close and yet he says he hardly talks to anyone. He just seems like he's putting on a big show. So I've decided I'll ask him in person about something very important. 

"Still, I don't understand why I'm walking to his house." 

Well, it doesn't matter. I know he can't lie to me, he gets so clumsy. I think it's quite cute the way he tries to be calm about everything. I'm just surprised he was able to create a name for himself. Let alone become so popular. He was always so smart, but the sports thing really surprised me.

"Hm. I'm only seven minutes away now. I should have just taken the car."

"Huh, who is that? M-mom?"

"Sweetie, get inside I'll drop you off. Your father's plane just landed and I'm going to pick him up. I'll drop you off at his house."

"Fine. Thanks, I guess." 

"So, are you going to have a sleepover?"

"HUH?!  Mom stop that! I told you it's nothing like that. Besides, it's a school night."

"Ha-ha. You should see your face, you're redder than a tomato."

"Don't make fun of me! You're embarrassing me."

"Ok, ok I'm done."

Still, just what type of person are you Aaron? What is that you hide for everyone else? Something about you that I can't read at all. My gifts have never had this problem. And it's not a bad feeling, but more like it's something sad. Just what are you carrying on your shoulders that you won't let others near? Hm. We're about a minute away. I just hope my mom doesn't come out with me. She will make things very uneasy. Why am I stressing about this so much? I was with him basically all day until he ditched me. All because his little sister wanted help with her assignment. I wasn't trying to be a creep, I simply wanted to check on him after what happened in gym class. I wonder if he knows that it was Marcus, his friend, that threw the ball. 

"Well, here we are, honey."

"Thanks, mom."

"Wait, what time will you be back? Or at least time me how long you'll be?"

"I told you thirty minutes or so."

"Be more specific, young lady. I don't want your father yelling at me later." 

"I don't know mom. Maybe an hour."

"Erica."

"Ok, an hour."

My mother drives off with a huge grin on her face. She really is something else, isn't she? Well, for one thing, mother, I'm actually here on important matters. Not some romantic, I don't even want to think about it. 

Aaron's house is pretty big. I didn't expect all this, but it even has a fountain in the middle of the driveway. That's a lot of coins, I estimate there is at least two hundred dollars worth of it in there. 

"Alright now I just need to go knock on the front door."

Actually, it's already late. But Erica why did you come here then? Ugh. What do I do? Wait, I still have his number. Maybe he's still up. Actually,  he is definitely up and I bet he's studying or something. It wouldn't surprise me at this point. So after my inter conflict with myself, I had the courage to text him. I'm telling you when we were at school it took a lot of thinking to text him as well. It wasn't easy. I wonder if he bought my lie about his number? Or did he completely forget?

"Ok, Erica just type the message. Everything will be fine. What's the worst that can happen? Hm. I can't think of any. Here we go."

EE_… Are you able to come outside for a moment? I'm at your house.

[~~~]

AW_… [typing]

"Oh, awesome he's typing."

I just hope he isn't mad that I came to his house this late. He'll probably have a lot of questions for me. I'm the definition of creep and he's probably been calling me that. I just have to know if he knows. I just have to. Please let it be. 

AW_… Um...I'll be down in a moment. 

"YES!"

EE_… Alright.

[]

Alright, Erica let's not mess this up. Just ask what you need to and leave. I only have an hour so I need to be quick. Well, we still have school now that I think about it. No, that's a bad idea people might overhear our conversations. 

"Hello."

"Hey, Aaron. I wanted…"

"So, you decided to come to my school after all these years."

"What are you talking about?"

"But the whole day I kept thinking. It's not a coincidence we had the same classes, part of the Gifted Program, and my teacher asked me specifically to show you around. I was nice and respectful. "

"So you do remember? The whole time you were just pretending as usual."

"Pretending? No, seeing you immediately made me think and feel things again. But the whole day I kept thinking, who is she? Why do I feel like I've met her before?  Then it hit me. Middle school, no it goes back farther."

"Look, the things that happened are in the past alright. I just wanted to start a new slate."

"New slate? Don't make me laugh. You're nothing more than a leech. That's what you've always been."

"So is that what you're calling me now after all this time. Spreading names about people is really nice."

"…."

"Just like you told your friend Marcus in the locker room?"

"Marcus? Oh, so you think he and I are friends. You'd be wrong. He's trash."

"Excuse you."

 "Your leech. Valerie is a bitch. Jasmine is a trustworthy friend. And me and the boys, well, were teammates."

"So that's how you've categorized everyone huh?"

"No, everyone else in that school only cares about status or themselves. Hence there are some good ones. I've got a good list of names in my head. "

"So you profile people now? You really have changed from when we…you used to be…"

"Weak, pathetic, unpopular, or as you once said a nobody and easy. But just like everyone now, you never knew who my family was. You started to treat me harshly when you found out about how powerful my family was." 

"That's not true and you know it."

"Then what was it, Erica?"

"I-I started to have...well the reason I treated you like that back then was...because I…"

"See? You yourself can't even tell me why. Just like that day. Oh, don't worry I'll continue to help you out and be respectful. But when we were outside of school. You're leech to me. Nothing more. And don't even think about telling anyone at school. After all you and your family like that nice house you're living in right? Yeah, I know about that."

"Aaron please just…"

"I'll be taking charge of both my family's companies after college. Tell your family to enjoy the next four years. Get off my property...leech."

And that was the end of that. After he shut the doors and went back inside his house. I stood there a moment just shocked and flabbergasted. I wasn't expecting all this. He's changed so much. I looked up at the house and saw his little sister was listening. 

"It's good to see you Andrea."

"Is that so? Hm. Well, definitely not for my brother. I see so he was talking about you from before. Just so you know I saw you were peeking at us. You're a creep."

"Huh. So, you saw me? Then is that why you…"

"Oh, so you're actually smart. Bravo. You'll never have him as long as I'm around just so you know."

"Is that so? I think Aaron's big enough to make his own decisions."

If you say so, but just to let you know the person most likely to get a chance is that Jasmine girl."

"Ah, good to know. You're still sneaky as ever. You definitely haven't changed."

"Is that so? Hm. Just what did you do to him? He absolutely hates you."

"It's a long story. He won't ever give me a chance to explain...never has really. And I kinda did do something to him way back. Hey...I just want you to know that- that I am serious."

"Is that so? Hm. Well, goodnight."

"Night." 

That girl is smarter than she leads on. That fox.

Afterward, I walked home feeling like crap as usual. I still can't believe he's still holding on to all that. Which I can understand, a little. Well, at least it was nice to see the nice side of him at school when he didn't recognize me. Still, I kind of regret everything I did and said back then. I wish he'd give me a chance to explain things. Whatever. 

"But at least I know something about him that he doesn't know. I'll wait until the right time to corner him. Then he'll listen."

End of Episode 8