Chapter-7

Althea.

November 2011

"Prokaryotes are unicellular organisms." Our science teacher started.

"Ali... please say yes babe," It's Ray now.

"They are divided into two domains," that's Mr. Rogers again.

"It happens once in two years Ali," Ray said.

"Archea..."

"Biggest ferry wheel..."

"Bacteria..."

"Icecream..."

Their words kept competing with each other making it impossible to concentrate on either. However, both were equally persistent in irritating the hell out of me.

"Is there a problem Ray?" Mr. Brown asked making me flush red in embarrassment at being caught.

"This girl here doesn't want to come to the annual fair sir. I am trying to put some sense into her head," Ray said nonchalantly, pointing me with tilt of his head making me glare at him.

"Oh the annual fair. Trust me Althea, you don't want to miss it. It's the best I have seen in my lifetime. It's the best our little town can offer. Give it a try," Mr.Brown said with a big smile making most girls, including me swoon.

Mr. Brown is one of the youngest teachers of our school. At age of 32 with a body which belongs to a model, and his geeky spects made him perfect material for girls to go crazy for him. I would be lying if I say I didn't have a thing for him. His passion for science and his oh so sweet smiles made him even more desirable.

With him saying it so nicely, I think I won't be able to say no, even if I try. So I simply nodded with a shy smile dropping my head. I can carryout a debate with him about the Darwin's theory but when he is all sweet, I can't help but turn into a blushing mess.

"Now that it's solved, will you stop disturbing my class Ray?" he asked.

"Yes. Thanks for the help," Ray answered.

When I turned towards Ray again, he was glaring at me.

"What?" I mouthed.

"I was asking you for a fucking hour Ali," he grumbled with a cute pout. I simply shrugged my shoulder and turned back to Mr. Brown's class with a smile

.....

"Don't say you are still mad at me for morning Ray. I know you are a child. But still, this is a bit too much even for you. Don't you think?" I said during lunch when Ray dint take his usual seat beside me.

"Wait. What happened in the morning? What did I miss?" Joe, the drama lover, asked.

Aaron nudged my shoulder and raised his eyebrow. I shrugged my shoulder knowing quite well that Ray would be narrating the whole incident in no time.

"I was asking her to come to annual fair for whole second period. All the time she gave me no. That science guy said once, and she fucking accepted. Just like that," he said making me roll my eyes again, and the guys laughed at his theatrics.

"He is our teacher Ray. Of course I wouldn't argue with him," I said.

"Oh shut up girl. You were all blushes and shy smiles. Don't give such lame ass excuses," he countered.

"Stop being an ass. It's not my fault that he is so cute," I said defensively making them groan.

Being with boys all the time has its own disadvantages. I don't get to talk about my little crushes like I did with my girlfriends anymore.

After that, lunch went by in a pretty normal mood. Ray finally 'forgave' me after bribing him with Kay's cookies. However, Aaron was in a weird mood throughout. I kept sending worried glances in his direction, but he bluntly ignored them. It happens whenever Mr.Brown comes into our discussion. Or for that matter, any guy who succeeded in gaining my attention. All these guys had a protective thing going on, but with Aaron, its whole new level.

"So who are all in for evening?" Ray asked once we were done with lunch.

"I am not," Joe said.

"Nor am I. We passed the kid stage you are going through right now long back Ray. Leave us out of it," Mason said making Ray glare at them.

"You are all ass holes. I have my Ali with me this time. I don't have to go alone. What about you Ron? Are you going to ditch me like they did?" Ray asked Aaron who sat beside me.

I immediately looked up at him and pleaded him with my eyes. It's not like I can't handle Ray. I just like the thought of having Aaron beside me while I get over another fear. The one with my parents was my last fair.

That's the main reason I was reluctant to go with Ray. I was not sure if I could handle it. But well, I think its time to face another of my demon.

Aaron took once glance at my eyes and immediately nodded his head making me smile brightly at him.

"Wow. I love you Ron. You are my true friend. You are the only one who said yes as soon as I asked. Even though you ditched me last two times, I still love you," Ray said making me chuckle and Aaron to roll his eyes

.....

"Ali. The guys are here," Kayla called out. Ray and Aaron were sitting on the couch and chatting with Kay by the time I got down the steps. It's basically Ray saying something with all his dramatic actions while Aaron and Kay listening. The guy never lets anyone speak, not even Kay and believe me; it takes a lot to get Kay to shut up.

"Hello guys. What did I miss?" I said walking towards them making all three pairs of eyes turn towards me.

"Oh my god Ali! That dress suits you so well. You look hot baby girl," Kay said with her eyes shining in excitement. Kay loves to dress me up. I am like her personal Barbie.

"I don't know Kay. Is this dress ok guys? I mean I have never been to a fair. I mean not recently. It's not too much or too less right?" I voiced out my concerns. The last time I was in a fair, I was a nine-year-old kid who is more concerned about the Colour of candy than the dress I wore. So I am not sure if this dress is appropriate.

It's a white spaghetti strap dress which flared at my waist and ended a little below mid thigh. I bought it during my visit to Uncle Jake's little town. It's not a party kind of dress nor is it school type, which made it to sit at the back of my closet until today.

"Ok? God Ali! Those legs could give a 'hard time' to any guy with eyes," Ray said with air quotes making me turn red. God, this guy just can't help himself with his stupid flirting. However, I know it's harmless.

He had his eyes on a girl called Melissa. Poor guy did everything in his power, but that girl never saw him as anything other than a neighbor. Her dad is a church father and she goes to all-girls school which makes her totally blind to Ray's efforts.

"Shut up Ray. Your lines are getting old," I said to Ray making him fake a hurt expression.I turned towards Aaron raising an eyebrow at him. Aaron didn't often compliment me in front of everyone. Most of the times, it's in a word or two, but when he did, he made sure to let me know he meant it.

He slowly got up from his seat and stalked towards me with a strange expression on his face. Whenever he looked at me, all I could find on his face was tenderness. However, this strange expression makes its way once a while making my insides jump up and down.

"I am going to have a hard time keeping all the guys away from you tonight Muneca," he said, slowly bending down to my eye level and tucking my hair behind my ear.

"God, I suck at parenting," Kayla whined making us turn towards her. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow not understanding what she meant.

"What? I was supposed to kick Ray out for his 'informal language' and kick Aaron in his butt for looking at you like he is about to eat you. But here I am, wishing you would ship with one of the guys," she said with a sigh making me chuckle.

"Shutup Kay. You don't mind because they are just joking around," I said rolling my eyes.

"And also because you love us Kayla," Ray said.

"Anyway, let's get going now," he added, already making his way towards the door.

Whenever Aaron is in the car, he would never let another soul to drive. He has got a serious obsession with driving. Since there is no point arguing with him, I raced with Ray for shotgun and well, I won. I may be short, but I am fast.

Within 15 minutes, we reached our destination. This fair isn't like any other I saw until today. It's huge. Huge in every sense. Even the entrance is as big as our lane.

Every year, they had a different theme. This year, its Titanic. The entrance was made of cardboard shaped like a huge ship. Shops looked like cabins of ship. The organisers, vendors... they were all dressed like the ship crew. Together, it was all like a feast to eyes.

For almost an hour, I ran around and around, stopping at every small stall, chatting with the crew, greeting cute little kids and trying various games. It's been ages since I had so much fun.

"Oh my god! She is here Ali," Ray shouted suddenly.

"What? Who Ray? And why are you shouting?"I asked.

"Mel is here Ali. Look, the girl in the blue top over there. She came for little brother probably. Fuck! Why dint I think of asking her earlier?"He panicked.

"Ray. Ray, babe relax. She is here now. You can go, catch up with her and then pretend like its a date," I said smiling widely. Ray may be the most popular player of our school. With his words, he can make any girl drop her panties, but with Melissa, he turns into this nervous shit who has no idea how to proceed.

"Yep. You are right. God Ali you are so smart. I ll go to her now. You guys enjoy without me," he shouted already running in Melissa's direction.

"God! This guy has it bad for her," I said turning towards Aaron.

"He does," Aaron agreed with a smile playing on his lips.

"So it's just us again," he said with his eyes sparkling under the bright lights of fair. I nodded my head enthusiastically with a big smile on my face.

"Where do you wanna go next?" he asked.

"I don't know. Game zone? Or wait. Aaron I am hungry. My tummy needs food," I answered patting my belly making him chuckle.

"Alright then. Hot dogs or pizza?" He asked again.

"Oh no. That's not fair Aaron. You already said hotdogs here are to die for, and now you are giving me a choice between hotdogs and pizza. How can a 'no for pizza' come from my lips? Don't do this now," I stated dramatically with a fake pout.

"You are such a kid Thea. Come on. It's hotdogs then," Aaron said while taking my hand in his and guiding towards food court.

After stuffing my belly with world's best hotdogs, we were back on the mission of exploring all the stalls.Among varying big and bright stalls, a cute little stall filled with stones of different colours and paintings from different ages caught my attention. 'Fortune stones' read the name of the store.

"Aaron, that one," I pointed towards the store.

"You sure Thea? That place looks like one of those fortune teller's stores where you will be creeped out about your future,"he remarked as we are walking towards the store.

"Oh! I don't think so Aaron. It just says it is a store selling engraved pendants in the description," I shrugged.

As soon as we stepped an elderly man with huge wire rimmed spects and curly blonde hair, made his appearance.

"Welcome kids. How can I help you?" He asked with a cute smile.

"How about starting it with explaining your stall sir," Aaron queried with his characteristic head tilt.

"Well son. It's basically a store which sells engraved pendants. You can get anything you want engraved on the pendant you choose. But then, what makes my store special is this little box," he said pointing towards an old red box which looked like it came out of 80's movie.

"This box holds your future kids. It contains different phrases... or you can call them various possibilities of your destiny. Pick one and get it engraved on your chosen pendant along with your names,"he announced.

"Wow old man. That's a cool business trick," Aarom smirked making the old guy laugh.

"Yes son. It is. But believe me, this box has its own power. Word travels fast in small towns and my red box is quite famous around here. I am surprised you didn't hear of it. However, if you do not believe in such things, this will just be another of the booths where you can get engraved pendants. So what is your choice kids?" Old man asked.

"Red box," my answer was immediate. Aaron turned towards me with a raised eyebrow, and I gave him my famous puppy eyes making me groan.

"Alright then. Here... pick one beautiful. Let the box decide future of you guys," the shopkeeper guided me towards the box.

It's funny I know, but can't stop myself from praying. The box held several small closed hearts. Probably, message lies inside them. After shuffling it for sometime, I finally picked a heart and placed it in old man's waiting hand. He opened the box, and a big smile graced his face.

"Read it for yourself kids," he said showing the opened heart.

"Together forever... Aaron, it's saying we are gonna last forever Aaron," I shouted jumping into his arms.

"Ofcourse Muneca. I could never let go of you. We didn't need those little hearts to say us what we already knew," he laughed holding my jumping self.

"You make me remember my days kids. May your relationship last long. Now look around and choose a pendant suiting the other person," the shopkeeper said pointing the walls which hosted various huge paintings. On examining closely, each painting had a small pendant sitting below it.

The paintings are nothing but beautiful descriptions of the pendants lying under them. A few lines describing the pendant is written to one corner.

Slowly, I started moving to my right with my eyes trained on paintings. They were all beautiful. A dragon, a butterfly, an albatross, an eye, a bottle with message... and many more.

Even though each of it had a story of its own, the one which caught my attention was a pendant with bloodstone. It was beautiful. A beautiful tear-shaped stone with a carved angel's wing attached to it's side. The description above it matched perfectly to Aaron.

Angel's wing is supposed to bring love into person's life, provide protection in all situations and guide you in tough situations while bloodstone is believed to keep the person wearing it safe in all kinds of dangerous situation. Along with safety, it also helps the person to be grounded in times of insanity. It helps in suppressing the negative energy around you. Aaron needs all of them and most importantly, the safety it can provide. And the angel's wing ensures guidance and protection.

With the pendant in my hand, I returned to the shopkeeper to find Aaron already waiting for me.

"You chose already?" I asked.

"I did. It wasn't hard to find something suitable to you Thea," he smiled.

"Good kids. Now let's see what you have. You first Bella" the old man said, and I held the pendant I selected in my opened palm for him to look at.

"A bloodstone with angel's wing. Do you know what this means Bella?" He questioned.

"I have read it in description over there," I answered.

"Your girl here is very smart young man. You are one lucky lad. The bloodstone here, will be your protection against all kinds of dangerous situations. It's generally seen with warriors. And the angel wing gives you guidance. Giving it to someone would mean giving them a guardian angel. So yes, I would say this is the most thoughtful gift one could ever get son. You like it?" He asked looking at Aaron.

"I love it," Aaron answered with a heavy voice, and his eyes glistened with intensity.

"And this guy chose a butterfly for you Bella. He said that it described you perfectly. Unique in all senses, free spirited, beautiful, fragile but resilient and perfect. I can see why he chose it though. So you want your names on it kids?" He asked. I nodded at him smiling so wide that it started to hurt my cheeks.

Soon we were out of the shop with our pendants in our hands. I was excited beyond control and couldn't stop myself from jumping all the time while Aaron was yet to speak a word.

"Aaron. Are you alright? You liked it. Didn't you?" I asked. He halted his step midway bringing me to stop along with him. Even before I could process it, I was engulfed in a hug.

"Thank you Thea. I can't even say it muneca. This is the best gift I got till date. I... I was just surprised to see someone think so much about me muneca. It's a bit overwhelming," he spoke in a small voice.

I was in loss of words, so I simply nodded my head and enjoyed the comfort his arms provided.After that, we were back to our usual selves bickering about little things and trying everything we saw.

Several fun rides later, we were tired to bones but the adrenaline inside me didn't subside. I kept jumping up and down unable to contain the excitement inside me. Finally, we settled on a rock beside the lake so that I can calm down a little before we go back.

"You look beautiful today Thea. You always do, but with this twinkle of happiness in your eyes, you look like an angel. My angel," he said touching the pendant around his neck.

"I am happy Aaron. I don't remember the last time I was this happy. Thanks for giving today to me. I thought today could help me get over another of my fears but today turned out better than I could ever dream of," I smiled.

"And you know Aaron. I wasn't sad even for a second. I was afraid everything here would remind me of them. Even though it did, it didn't make me sad Aaron. I was smiling thinking of all the things I did with my parents," I added, leaning into him.

"I want to know them Thea. If you want to talk that is?" He asked softly. Am I ready to talk about my parents? Not getting sad on thinking of them is one thing. But can I speak about them without breaking down?

"I don't know Aaron. However, I will try," I said firmly. If it's not with Aaron, then it cannot be with anyone. I think it's time for another new step.

"There is a lot Aaron. I have no idea where to start,"I said genuinely confused."Start with good things Thea. The best memories," he suggested.

"Every moment with them was best Aaron. It was beautiful. Just like them.You have never seen them. Kay thinks that seeing them would be hard for me. I mean it was back then, but I don't think its the same now. Whatever... I meant to say that they were beautiful Aaron.

My mom, she is the prettiest thing I saw till date. Resisting her beauty was impossible Aaron. She had anyone she wanted at tips of her fingers in no time. My dad wasn't immune to her charm either. They had a beautiful story Aaron. You want to hear?" I asked looking up at him.

"Ofcourse Thea. I want to know everything," he answered.

"My dad is 4 years older to my mom Aaron. They were neighbours. He always knew he loved my mom, but mom was this innocent little girl totally blind to the effect she had on dad.

Even though she had a tiny crush on my dad, she never acted on it. She looked at him with stars in her eyes like every other girl in the town. After all, my dad was golden boy of their area. Perfect parents, single son, studying in one of the best universities, but dad, he had his eyes only for my mom.

On my mom's prom night, her date ditched her. Or I think I should better say my dad threatened him to do so. And then, like an innocent best friend, he came to her rescue. That night mom realised she couldn't hide from her growing crush anymore and acted on it.

Within a week of his spring break, he introduced her to the world of real happiness Aaron. Mom thought she was going to be another of his conquests but at that point, she didn't care. She wanted to enjoy the bliss when it lasted.

On the last day of their week together, they went to a party. They had a little too much to drink and well, here I am," I said smiling at his shocked face.

"What?"He asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes Aaron. I am an 'oops baby'," I answered with air quotes.

"Ahh now I see why Kayla looks more like your sister than your aunt. Your mother had you when she was 17?"he asked again making me nod.

"Kay is 7 years younger to my mom. Which means, she was 10 when my mom had me," I cleared.

"God, I am sure your grandparents panicked," he said.

"Oh they did. My mom was this perfect child who never got herself into trouble. So this was like a shock to them.However, my mom was sure they would support her decision no matter what.

She was more worried about my dad's reaction. She was expecting his anger or resentment but instead, she had to see him on cloud nine. He was shocked but happy. He stood by her in all times. Even though he expressed his feelings and his undying love for her, she didn't believe him in the beginning. She thought he was being a gentle man. Blamed herself for getting him bound to her. It took her months to believe that my dad truly loved her. I was born, they got married later and after that, there was no looking back. Mom got into university, became a professor while dad took over family business." I ended.

"Wow Thea. This is all so... so perfect,"he said.

"It is. Isn't it? The way he looked at my mom Aaron. I know it's too much to ask for, but I wish I would meet a guy who will look at me the way my dad looked at my mom," I know it's wrong to wish for something so big but their love raised my expectations.

Suddenly, I was turned in his arms making me face him.

"Never say that Thea. You deserve everything this world can offer and even more," he spoke taking my face in his palms. I never thought happiness could be part of my life again but today, I am happy. I never believed I deserved something good but if Aaron is so confident, may be I did.

Since my voice failed me again, I simply nodded my head.After that we fell into a comfortable silence lost in our world of thoughts under starry sky. ...

...

AARON.

A blood stone with an angels wing.

A pendant my angel chose for me.

Love and protection.

Is what she gifted me.

To have someone who knew you better than yourself may be the best feeling in this world.

But to have them give you the very things you didnt even knew you needed was more.

She gave me that.

Along with a forever.

That day I promised.

That I would make sure the light in her eyes never dulls.

That I would take care of my butterfly forever.

That I would sort out mess of my life soon and then, I could look into her eyes without masking the love they held.

That I would make sure we were,

TOGETHER

FOREVER.