Chapter 9
1260words
He embraced her before she could say another word. Her entire frame stiffened underneath his touch, eyes wide in shock. When he pulled back, he had a soft smile on his face,
"Hey, I'm glad I caught you." He extended the bouquet towards her and she looked between him and the flowers, "I heard your favourite was lilies."
Her nose scrunched instinctively but she accepted the flowers, pretending to smile. The truth was, she hated flowers, especially lilies. She'd never known why but that was how it'd always been, a natural distaste for them. But nobody knew that,
Nobody except her mother. And her mother had always told her that beautiful women were supposed to like flowers, so she made her lie and pretend like she liked flowers.
"Thank you." She said softly, balancing the heavy bouquet in her hands. She didn't miss the way his eyes kept flickering to Louisa or the way her cheeks pinkened at the attention.
A flare of jealousy shot into her heart and she slid sideways, blocking his view of the blonde. "So did you come all the way here to give me flowers or what?"
Matt blinked a couple of times, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "I-uh, I wanted to take you to lunch."
She arched a skeptical brow, "How did you know our lunchtime?"
The tips of his ear reddened, an obvious indication that he was about to lie or he already, and he coughed awkwardly, "I guessed?"
"You guessed?"
He hastily bobbed his head, grabbing her hand gently, "Let's just go out, I'd really love to eat with you."
Although his tone sounded sincere enough, it was glaring who his eyes were on. At that moment, Aurora wanted to scream and yell at him for being so blind to her true feelings, but on the other hand, she wanted to be petty,
She wanted to show Louisa that even if she had his attention for now, Matt would always belong to her. They were a match made in heaven.
The choice was easy.
"Sure," She faked a huge grin with lovey-dovey eyes, "I would love that." Her voice was high-pitched and sounded too girlish even to her ears.
People were beginning to come out of their classes, passing them inquisitive looks. She took that as an opportunity to move closer to him,
"Let's go." She whispered into his ear and he nodded. As they walked out of the hall with everyone's eyes on them, she couldn't help but feel giddy at the feeling. But then, Matt looked back and when she followed his line of sight, she noticed he was staring at Louisa,
She made a disgruntled noise at the back of her throat but faced forward. At least, she had her proof. He walked her to the dormitory where she was able to change into a black cami top with a matching tennis skirt, she quickly slipped on white sneakers and grabbed her purse along, after making sure both her phone and credit card were inside, she motioned for him to follow her, linking their arms once more.
When they got out of the institute, she shrugged her hand off his, rubbing her palm against her skirt. He gave her a curious look but she ignored him, heading towards the parking lot,
They walked towards a red Bentley and he brought out a car key from his pocket. He helped her into the passenger seat, smiling softly before closing the door. Aurora watched him as he walked over to the driver's spot,
The engine sputtered to life and soon, they were driving out of the parking area. His fingers kept drumming against the leather wheels, eyes anxiously darting to her every now and then,
"So, um, I saw a steak place when I was coming and heard that their meals are fantastic." She shifted to face him fully, "You eat meat, right? Your mother never said anything about you being a vegetarian," He seemed to realize what he said because his eyes widened, "Oh shit!"
Aurora puffed out a breath, running a hand through her hair, "My mother put you up to this, didn't she?" She sunk back into the leather chair, chewing on her bottom lip.
It made sense, they hadn't contacted each other since the day of her father's birthday and he just showed up, deciding to whisk her away from lunch when it was very obvious whom he wanted to take.
"You know you can turn back around, I don't want you to do something-"
"No," He cut in quickly, eyes flickering between her and the road, "No, I do want to have dinner with you. It was one of the things I wanted to do once I get back," He looked at her then, smiling softly, "To have dinner with my best friend."
She tried to ignore the hurt that speared through her, "Best friend?"
He nodded, smiling brighter than before, "You're my best friend, Aurora. That didn't change because we grew up."
"Right," She muttered under her breath, her fingers tightening around each other.
They arrived at the restaurant, parking just outside. The place was fairly busy and she appreciated the decor. It turned out that Matt had booked a table earlier and she loved the privacy of the table he'd chosen.
"Thank you," She said to Matt as she slid into the chair he'd held out for her. He bobbed his head once and slipped into the opposite chair.
They made their order and as they waited, Matt tried to strike up a conversation with her, asking about her ballet classes, how she'd managed to maintain being Prima Ballerina for three years, even asking if she had a boyfriend.
Aurora tried to match his jovial attitude, she really did but not when his words kept ringing in his ears. Best friend. That was what he thought of her,
"I heard you danced at the international arts festival in Washington, I watched the video and honestly, I'm proud of you Aurora." She lifted her gaze to meet his, "You've come so far from being that little girl that used to dance around in her tutu." He chuckled and she couldn't help it. She laughed back, eyes crinkling softly as they stared at each other,
"You were always meant to be a star. This was inevitable and soon, you'll be the greatest ballerina the world has ever seen."
The way he stared at her. The spark that elicited from their conjoined hands, Aurora desperately wanted it to be true. That he felt the same way she did.
"Matt?" She called softly and he nodded gently, motioning for her to speak. She swallowed tightly, pushing the ball past her throat. "Who am I to you?"
His golden eyes flashed and she caught sight of it. Uncertainty. He licked his lips, squeezing her fingers gently, "You're family, Aurora. My best friend."
The ball in her throat constricted until she could barely draw breath. Her eyes blurred with unshed tears and she shakily rose to her feet. Her legs stumbled from the sudden motion, sending her crashing forward, plates and bottles crashing to the ground,
"Shit! Aurora, are you fine?" Matt shot to his feet and rushed towards her but she shrugged his hand off.
"I'm fine. I just-I need to use the bathroom." She sprinted away from him, aware of the many eyes trailing after her.
When she got to the bathroom, she sank to the ground and broke down, sobs muffled by her hands.
