Pretend (3 page)

"Of course it was. And
 
the guys a moron, he deserved it," he
 
replied with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, well that was just the beginning," I
 
said in the hope that he would instantly know what I was asking of him.

"So this means that I'll be playing the role of the boyfriend for the rest of the evening doesn't it?" Aiden
 
asked as though he had a heavy task ahead of him.

"It sure does
baby
," I replied sarcastically.

"Great," Aiden and Crystal both muttered in unison.

“
Only to Kyle, don’t worry I won’t cramp your style with the ladies,” I said as a chuckle escaped my lips.

“Good,” he said as he smirked at me.

“Thank you,” I said in an excited tone.

Suddenly I felt the best that I had in weeks. Somehow the ball was back in my court...

It wasn't long before my nerves
had
returned
again
. The excitement that had previou
sly engulfed me
had diminished as I began to think about Kyle and Rachel again. The knowledge that they were just in the room next door was not at all comforting.

"Hello, are you even listening?" Crystal asked as she waved her pale, dainty hands in front of my face.

I was so caught up in my own situation with Kyle, that I hadn't even remembered that this was supposed to be her night.

The dress that she wore, screamed Crystal. It was red, with a bow that sat just below her chest area. It was a beautiful satin material that fell to just above her knees and fit to perfection. Every curve in her body was exposed, which, knowing Crystal was the exact reason that she would have chosen it. She of course had on red, matching heels with a silver
diamante
buckle. She also wore a three piece, silver jewellery set that matched nicely with the buckle on her shoes. Her silky
,
blonde hair was tied up tonight.
I suspect
that this
was cleverly thought out when considering the style of her dangly earrings. All in all she definitely looked like the birthday girl.

"Sorry, I was just daydreaming," I replied, now giving her my undivided attention.

"Number one, daydreaming is for the day, not the evening
. N
umber two, I hope that your daydream had nothing to do with Kyle?" She asked as she glared at me with her bright, green eyes.

Instead of answering, I let out a big sigh and slumped myself onto the counter. Instantly I felt a pair of hands pull me right back up.

"Well stop, it has taken me weeks to get my best friend back and I am not about to let you, let him,
ruin
you again. April, this is an order, stay away from Kyle," she demanded as she stared directly into my eyes, causing a feeling of discomfort to come over me.

"Ok," I mumbled back, feeling rather sorry for myself.

I knew that what she was saying was right but my heart was telling me a completely different story.
 

Suddenly a girl stumbled into the kitchen, singing a song that was completely unrecognisable to the human ear
well my human ear anyway
.

"He...y
Aaaa
....
dddeeeennn
," she slurred as she moved towards him. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched him attempt to dodge the kiss that she was
 
trying to plant onto his lips.

"Who the hell has been supplying people with alcohol? Mom is going to freak!" Crystal growled as she stomped over to the intoxicated girl.

"Who is she?"
 
Aiden asked in a state of shock.

             
"Hayley, I think it's time for you to go home," Crystal said
,
gently as she tried to help her to stand upright.

             
"
Hooooommmme
?"
She began to shout as she lost her balance and stumbled
,
head first into Crystal's chest.

             
"Yes, home!" Crystal shouted as she pushed the girl away from her in disgust.

             
"Do you know this chick?" Aiden asked with a still shocked look spread across his face.

             
"Yeah, her name's Hayley Gardener, she's in my
 
chemistry class. Believe it or not, she's a straight A student," I said as I allowed a quiet giggle to escape my mouth.

             
"Wow," he replied.

             
"Ok, I'm going to help you outside now. Who
did-
"

             
Suddenly Crystal was interrupted as Hayley began to throw up all over the kitchen floor.

             
"You have got to be kidding me! Mom is going to kill us Aiden!" Crystal screamed with a completely serious
look on her
face.
It took everything I had not to laugh at the whole situation. I hadn't been out in weeks and to tell you the truth, it was nice to just laugh and loosen up, even
if it was just for a couple of
minutes.

             
"Ok, just calm down. You take her upstairs and I'll clean this up," Aiden said as he
headed towards the pine cabinet
, above the toaster in search of a cloth.

             
"Great! She better not throw up on my dress. Come on Hayley, this way," Crystal said as she began to lead her towards the stairs.

             
"Need some help?" I asked as Aiden began to fill up the sin
k with warm water and dishwashing
liquid.

             
"Are y
ou any good with sick?"

             
"Not really," I replied.

             
"Then no," he said as we both giggled at the previous situation. I watched as Aiden removed the cloth from the warm water,
wrung it out and began to tackle the puddle of sick that was now beginning to leave an unpleasant
odour that
was making my stomach do mini back flips.
 
 

             
"Crystal must be freaking
out
up there, maybe I should go and see if
she needs help," I said
as I began to rise from my stool.

             
"She'll be fine-"

Suddenly the phone began to ring as he attempted to finish his sentence.

             
"Sorry, do you mind?" He said, staring at the phone.

             
"Sure," I said as I headed towards the phone and picked it up.

             
"Hello, Daniels
’
residence," I said as both Aiden and
 
I began to laugh at my rather
 
formal telephone voice.

             
"Hello, Crystal is that you?" The voice replied.

             
"Oh, no Mrs Daniels, it's me, April," I began to stutter as
the
embarrassment started to turn my cheeks red.

             
"Oh, April
,
sweetheart it is so lovely to hear your voice. How are you?"

             
"I'm great thank you Mrs Daniels," I replied.

             
"Oh that is wonderful, we certainly have missed you. How
are
your m
om and Bob?"

             
"They're both great.”

             
"Lovely, lovely.
Look
,
you must come
a
round for dinner one day, I'm sure
that
Crystal would love that," she said in an upbeat tone.

             
"Yes, that w
ould be really nice, thank you.”

             
"Well how about Monday?"

             
"Y
es, I'll have to check with my m
om, but that would be great," I said, feeling rather happy that she was still as nice as she'd always been.

             
"Lovely, well you just let Crystal know. Now is Aiden or Crystal there please?"

             
"
Erm
...They're just entertaining some guests," I said.

It was a stupid response, I could tell from the look on Aiden's face but I wasn't very good at lying, and it was the best thing that I could think of in such a short space of time.

             
"Oh, ok, well
 
ask one of them to call me back as soon as they get the chance. I hope
that everything i
s ok with that party?"

             
"Oh yes, it's lovely," I said, in the hope that I would sound convincing.

             
"Ok, well you take care
and don't forget to pas
s the message along to Aiden or
Crystal.”

             
"I won't, bye.”

             
"Bye now," she said before hanging up the phone.

             
"Entertaining guests?" Aiden asked as he began to wash his hands in the sink.

             
"
It's all that
 
I could think of.”

             
"Yep," he replied sarcastically.

             
"Right, all evidence of sick has been removed," he said
,
staring at the clean patch on the floor, where the sick had previously been.

             
"Yeah, you did a good job, well done," I replied with a slight hint of sarcasm in my voice.

             
"Thanks," he replied.

             
"So, you and that Kyle kid?" Aiden said as he began staring out of the kitchen window.

             
"What about us?"

             
"Was it serious?" He replied, now facing me as he leaned against the marble surface.

             
"I guess so, yeah," I mumbled.

Just as I had forgotten about Kyle for a minute, suddenly it was all brought back
again
.

             
"I don't get it," he replied.

             
"Don't get what?"

             
"Just, you could do better," he said in a gentle tone.

             
"Yeah,
I sort of guessed that by now,” I said in a flat tone.

             
I felt a warm, salty tear start to fill the corner of my eye as my thoughts drifted back to Kyle once again. I held it back, cleared my throat and looked up
 
at Aiden.

             
"What about you?" I said in a bid to take the attention off of myself.

             
"What about me?" He said as a smile spread across his lips.

             
"Haven't you met the future Mrs Daniels yet?" I asked.

             
"As a matter of fact, I have," he said as he walked over to the refrigerator to take out a can of Pepsi. He had a mysterious smile on his face, which told me that I wanted to know more.

             
"Who is she?" I asked now feeling
 
rather intrigued.