Unexpectedly Bad

15: Candies, Milkshake, Cigarette

                                                                          L U N A

The next day, I went back to Alyssa's place after school. I felt guilty about what happened yesterday. I shouldn't have brought up that sensitive topic about her brother and father. I bought her some candies and strawberry milkshake as an apology.

I rang the doorbell and the door opened a few seconds later. There stood Alyssa with her sparkly pink dress and a tiara on her head. "Luna!" She squealed before I bent down and hugged her.

"Hey. what I've brought you." I handed her the candies and milkshake. She jumped excitedly while accepting it.

"Is this strawberry?" She asked while looking at the milkshake and I nodded. "Thank you so much, Luna!"

"Anytime, princess."

"Okay, well, come in!" She lead me inside her house. The house was so quite, the only sound that can be heard was the TV that was playing Sofia the First.

"Where is your mom?"

"She's working on some papers in her room. Do you want to meet her?" She asked while putting down the candies on the table.

"No, I don't want to disturb her."

I wondered how lonely she must had been. She lived with a single parent who must had always ben busy working to maintain her and Alyssa's lives. I was very amazed of how Vivian was dealing with her situation. The house was very clean, she managed to cook meals for her and her daughter, she even had time to braid Alyssa's hair and dressing her up, and cleaning up her toys.

I had been living without a dad for as long as I can remember. It was hard to deal with such a difficult situation. When I was in kindergarten I had always been jealous of my friends. They would have both of their parents dropping them to school and showering them with kisses and coming to parents meeting. They would draw themselves standing between their parents, holding hands with a smile on their faces, picturing a perfect family. I always wondered how easy their lives must had been to them.

We both were spending our time watching disney movies, playing with her doll, and her plastic tea set. It was 7p.m. when Alyssa fell asleep on the couch, holding her favorite princess doll. I covered half of her body with blanket and decided to leave.

I was walking home when I spotted Aiden leaning against the hood of his car while smoking a cigarette. "Hi." I greeted him.

"Hey." He greeted back.

"So...What are you doing here alone?"

"Am I not always alone?" His tone was bitter. I gulped and leaned beside him against his car.

"Well, you're not alone now." I smiled. He turned his head to me and smiled. It was a genuine smile, his eyes showed amusement, and his voice was now soft.

"You do really know what to say, don't you?" He chuckled.

"One of the few things I'm good at." I laughed softly. "You haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing."

"Hey, you can trust me. Besides, you helped me dealing with my problem when we were in New York. I'd like to help you too."

He sighed. "It was my dad." That had always been the reason of why he was always pissed off. I wondered what did his father do so bad that made Aiden seemed like he didn't like his father at all.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked and he shook his head. I didn't want to push this topic any further if it was the last thing he wanted to talk about.

"Since when did you smoke?"

"I don't even remember." That was a simple answer, but it held such a deep meaning. Everything happened for a reason. One of the reasons that made someone forgot the bad things that happened to them was because their minds were always too occupied with something even more worse.

"You do know that it's not good for your health, right?" I asked.

"Here comes the lecturing." He grinned.

"Hey! I was just concerned, you know."

"You're concered about me?" He smirked while dropping his cigarette and stepped on it.

"Ofcourse, I am. I'm always concerned about everyone around me." Yet no one had ever cared enough about me.

He chuckled. "Have you always been that concerned about me that you have to follow me around like this?" There was a hint of teasing in his tone.

"I wasn't following you. I was walking home from a little friend's house when I saw you here."

"A little friend?"

"Yup. She's six. She just moved here and our moms are a partner in work."

"Sounds...cute." He grinned and I glared at him.

"I think I should go. It's getting late, my mom would be mad if I came home too late."

"Do you need a ride, cutie?" Cutie?

"Sure."

He drove me home and we bid goodbyes. For the hundredth time, I fell asleep thinking about a boy with a blonde hair and light brown eyes that took my breath away whenever he was by my side.