Whatever It Takes

Arianna sipped her morning latte, as she pulled her wool coat further up to cover her face from the harsh November air. Marissa walked besides her, sipping an iced coffee. They were walking around the block of Marissa’s house, taking her dog Chloe out for her morning round.

“So how was your date with Jordan?” Marissa asked, as they intertwined arms to keep warm. Arianna sighed, thinking back to the events of the previous night. “Interesting…” she began, as she tried to figure out where to start.

She finally caved in to giving Jordan a chance, even though almost three weeks had passed since he had sent her that text. She had no intention of going, until she realized she needed to move on with her life.

The realization occurred when she saw a missed call from Patrick one day. She called him back when she finished her shift at work, excited to hear his voice. All her excitement vanished when he picked up though. She could tell something was off; he didn’t sound the same. He kept his answers very one worded and vague, making it impossible for Arianna to understand anything that was going on. She was going to ask him about it until she heard it.
A girl’s voice in the background, giggling and telling Patrick how cute he was when he wore that shirt. That’s all Arianna needed to hear for her mind to be made up.

She couldn’t spend her days pining after Patrick; he was in Chicago doing God knows what with God knows whom. She doubted he felt the same about her, and even then they were nothing but friends. This was the first step in getting over him, something she knew she needed to do.

Jordan had taken her out to supper and then to see a movie, being nothing but a perfect gentleman all night. She loved being around him; it was so natural and easy between them. She found herself laughing at his jokes, enjoying his quick wit and captivated by his charm. At the end of the night, he dropped her off at Marissa’s after she explained she was spending the night there. Marissa’s parents were regularly out of town for business purposes, leaving her home alone in her big house, a thought that scared Marissa. Arianna explained to Jordan that she would always go and spend the nights there, keeping her best friend company. He told her he loved how she was so compassionate as he opened her door and walked her to the front porch.

It was the perfect date, and he sealed it off with a perfect kiss. Arianna knew she should be floating on cloud 9; any other girl would have been swept off her feet. She had actually managed to convince herself throughout the date that this would be easier than she thought; she could actually fall for him.

Yet the minute his lips touched hers, in a soft warm embrace, she knew it would never work. She felt him pull her in, and she tried her hardest to feel that spark, but all she could think about was her last kiss with Patrick. How she had been left momentarily breathless, how butterflies had appeared in her stomach as they connected. This kiss with Jordan paled in comparison, leaving her unsatisfied and disappointed.

“That great huh?” Marissa said sarcastically as they finally reached her house again, running up the front steps. “I really tried Rissa” Arianna said as they walked threw the front door and took off their shoes. “I just can’t ruin our friendship over this. Dating your friends never ends well. His friendship means too much to me” she continued as she went and lay down on the leather couch.

“Or maybe this has something to do with a certain hockey player?” Marissa said as she shot her a knowing look. “I have no idea what you mean…” Arianna objected, even though her face showed how guilty she was. Suddenly her phone rang, causing her to jump up and grab it. “Look who it is,” Arianna said as Marissa came and sat down next to her.

So, I just got this great idea…so great you wont be able to say no

Arianna laughed at Jon’s message, getting ready to respond. She had kept in contact with his as well since she left Chicago. Not as much as Patrick, but enough to form a better friendship with him. She knew him and Marissa spoke often, as she assumed they had some little thing going on.

What’s this oh so great plan?

She hit send and turned to face Marissa, who sat with a huge grin on her face. “Look at how happy you suddenly got” she commented, causing Marissa to blush. Arianna’s phone vibrated again, causing them both to look back down.

Well its Kaner’s birthday coming up, which im sure you already knew…did you know it lands on a Friday?

Arianna scrunched her forehead, suddenly growing suspicious of where Jon was going with this.

Of course I knew it was his birthday. He only mentions it everyday lol…no I did not know that…

“Why do I feel like I’m about to get sucked into something?” Arianna said to Marissa, who had gotten up and gone to the kitchen. “Probably because you are,” Marissa laughed, as she returned with two glasses of water.

I remember you saying you have Fridays off from school… How about we give Kaner a nice birthday surprise?

“Oh God” she said out loud as she read his last message. “What is it?” Marissa asked as she sat down beside Arianna, reading the message.

Johnny, I doubt that me coming down there for his birthday would be a great birthday surprise for him

She was about to complain to Marissa, when her phone vibrating again, startling her. Jon is really becoming persistent, she thought as she opened the message.

A, he would flip out if he saw you here. He mentions you all the time to everybody. Trust me when I say, he would be freaking if he saw you here. It would mean everything to him.

“How can you argue with that?” Marissa asked as she read the message over Arianna’s shoulder. “Ugh, I don’t know” she responded, as she shook her head. “I mean of course I want to go and see him for his birthday, he’s become such a good friend of mine…” Arianna continued, as she saw Marissa raise an eyebrow at the friend comment. “Don’t start” Arianna said, cutting off her friend from speaking, “we are just friends”.

“But I don’t want him to think I’m crazy” she continued, as she got up and began to pace. “I mean who goes across the country to visit someone they’ve only known for like 2 months?” she argued as she stopped to face Marissa.

“Technically, its not half way across the country” Marissa began; she suddenly stopped talking as she saw Arianna shoot her a look. She looked back down at her phone, trying to figure out what to say.

Even if I agreed with this plan, it’s the 12th. How am I supposed to find a ticket in less than a week?

Arianna showed Marissa her response, as she sat back down again. “There’s no way I can find a ticket,” she said. “There’s no way Jon is going to let you get out of this so easily” Marissa responded. The two girls starred at each other in silence for a few seconds, suddenly looking at the vibrating phone.

Don’t worry about that, I’ll figure it out. You just get ready to come down. Oh and tell Marissa she’s coming with you.

Arianna started laughing as she showed her phone to Marissa, “looks like you’re not getting out of this one either”.