Crash

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4TH

Aaron drives them to the mall, and Journey can't help getting butterflies. What if he mentions what happened yesterday night? Would he care? Would he see her as a scaredy-cat? Was she a scaredy-cat? Journey looks over at Aaron who is smiling at her, silently telling her it's okay. Could he read her mind? Journey smiles back, and relaxes a little. They finally reach the mall, and the step out the car. "So princess, who are you gifting first?" "I guess my mom. And please don't call me princess!" Aaron smirks to himself. "She really wants a cookbook for Christmas, so we should go to Barnes and Noble." Aaron nods and they walk silently into the mall. "So Aaron." "Yeah?" "What's your last name?" Aaron stops abruptly, looking at me. "I'm sorry, just ignore that question." Aaron starts walking again. 'Did I overstep our boundary? I mean, we did just meet.'

They arrive at Barnes and Nobles and Journey ventures through the aisles. She spots a romance novel by her favorite author and puts it under her arm. She finally finds the Gordon Ramsey cookbook that her mother so dearly wants, and goes to the checkout. She feels a hand slither under her arm, and it grabs her book. "Nicholas Sparks? Nice." Journey blushes as she turns around and sees Aaron smirking at her. "I like his novels," Journey says. "That's cool. So, after this, can we shop for my mom and sister?" "Sure! Is that book for your dad?" Journey eyes the book under his arm. Aaron has a pained face, and waits a second before saying, "No. It's a book for me." Journey slowly nods and turns back around, confused by what just happened. 'Did his dad hurt him? Oh god, was that his dad at the dorms?'

"Apparently you're the talk of the school," Journey says in a unintentionally rude voice as they leave Barnes and Noble. "What are they saying?" "You're mysterious, no one knows who you are, you're a nerd, no one knows your last name, etc. I instantly knew they were talking about you because.. well you know. But they don't know." "Good... I don't want them to know." Journey looks over at Aaron, trying to figure him out. 'He doesn't want everyone to know that he's the mystery guy?' "Do you mind me telling why?" "They'll bother me, they'll find out i'm actually kinda hot, and they'll ask what my last name is." Journey looks away. 'Is his last name orange? Or something long? Does it have to do with his dad?'

They finish shopping and head to the car. After driving for a while, Journey notices that they aren't driving to the dorms. "Where are we going?" "I want to surprise you. And, I want to tell you everything. For some reason, I... trust you." Journey blushes all the way to her ears, and she turns the other way. She must look like a tomato now! After a few minutes, a car starts speeding to theirs. Journey doesn't notice it until the sounds wake her up. She sees headlights, and she feels her world turning upside down.

Journey wakes up. She attempts to sit up, but notices there is a tray of food on her lap. She looks around, Aaron is laying next to her with a similar get up. He's slowly eating his sandwich, staring at Journey. "You're awake." Journey starts tearing up softly, and nods her head. What's going on? "Are you hurt?" Aaron asks. Journey shakes her head and asks, "What happened?" Aaron sighs, trying to collect his thoughts. "I did this to us. To you." He continues as he sees Journeys confused face. "I was going to tell you my story. About my last name," Aaron winces in pain, he must be hurting, "But my dad's spies heard. He sent them to warn me. I'm not allowed to tell anyone." "Its okay, I don't have to know." "But I want you to know," Aaron adjusts so he faces Journey, "Journey... you don't know what I felt when I saw you on the Zoom meeting yesterday." Journey takes a second to process what he said. "My secret is-"

Then, the doctor comes in. They both look over at her. She gives Journey a check up and starts talking, "Hope he wasn't too much of a bother. We gave him this special medicine but the side effect makes him speak his heart. You doing okay hun? You look flushed." Journey doesn't know what to say so she nods her head. She thought he was really opening up to her, and she feels embarrassed that it was because of medicine. She decides that whatever happens, he can tell her on his own time.

They arrive at the dorms, and Journey thanks Aaron. They decided that based on everything that happened, it was best if they postponed the rest of their night. Plus, it was at least six pm. Journey makes it back to her dorm, and her back slides against the door. Her heart was already crying to spend more time with Aaron. What was he doing to her? "You're back late." She heard someone playfully pouting. Journey spots Ava on her bed, playing on her phone. "I'm sorry, didn't know I had a curfew," Journey laughs. "But really, where were you?" Ava puts her honey hair in a loose bun. "I was Christmas shopping." "With who?" Ava questions suspiciously. "Why did I have to be with someone?" "Okay, you're off the hook. Now cmon, look through this website with me. I can't find a good extension color." "Your hair is already naturally pretty and long." Ava smirks, "I just like to try new things." Journey sits beside Ava, looking at her phone.

"Ava, imma go to bed." Journey says after half an hour. They went from hair to makeup tutorials, and Journey was scared for what would come next. "Alright, night girl!" "Night!" Journey lays down, her dreams consuming her. She finds herself dreaming of her future with Aaron. A nice house, two kids, and both of them have really good jobs. Then, Aaron's father comes in with his spies and kills Aaron and their children. Journey wakes up, in cold sweat. She needs to know everything she can about his father. She wants to protect herself, and maybe even Aaron. 'Does he need protecting? And why do I care about his life so much..'

Before this day, Journey Augustine didn't care about anyone except for Ava, her parents, and herself, but since Aaron entered her life, she feels like that's going to change, along with other things.