Champagne's for Celebrating, I'll Take a Martini

When Arianna walked through the door of her home, she was only welcomed by darkness and complete silence. She looked at the time on her phone and saw that it was already passed one in the morning. Her sister and brothers were definitely already in their beds fast asleep and she guessed her mother had turned in for the night as well. Without bothering to turn on the light, she quietly climbed up the staircase. Once she reached her bedroom, she flopped down onto her bed feeling both physically and emotionally drained. Still, she couldn't get the smile plastered on her face to fade.
 
Suddenly the hall light flashed on, startling her, and Arianna sat up facing her door. Standing there was Stephen, with his arms folded stiffly over his chest. He did not look like he was in the greatest of moods—although he never really was anyway.
 
"Getting home kind of late…" he began, his tone even. Arianna sat very still and grew nervous as her eyes met his. She'd been through this hundreds of times before. It was the calm before the storm.
 
She shifted her eyes down to the floor and timidly replied, "Yeah—"
 
"Yes," he corrected. She gulped.
 
"Yes. I got a little lost along the way home…I'm s-sorry," she said quietly.
 
"What was that? I couldn't understand your damn mumbling. Care to repeat?" Stephen said gruffly, advancing towards her. Arianna wanted to flinch, but gritted her teeth and showed no weakness. She knew it's what he thrived off of, especially from her.
 
She looked him in the eyes and repeated firmly, "I got lost."
 
"Lost?" he asked incredulously. Arianna's body became even more tense and she worried the noise would wake her siblings. "How on Earth could you get lost? You have a damn navigation system don't you? Or did I just throw that money out the window? How stupid can you possibly be?"
 
"It wasn't working, there was no signal..I—" she tried, but was only interrupted again.
 
"Now it's not working? That's just great. You probably broke it. You ruin everything. I swear, why do I even buy things for you? It just gets ruined or broken in the end. Such a waste!" his voice was getting louder now and his eyes showed anger. Arianna looked passed his shoulder, hoping to see her mother's face appear from behind, but all she saw was Stephen's shadow cast out on the wall.
 
Arianna looked down, disappointed and sighed. "I'm sorry…"
 
She was always the one who had to be sorry. She was always doing something wrong. There was no pleasing Stephen ever.
 
"Well you can walk to get around for all I care. Until I see you acting more responsible you're not stepping foot into that car," and with those parting words, Stephen stormed out of the room and returned to her mother's bedroom. Arianna immediately sprang up from her bed and locked her door, sighing in relief. She had expected it to be much worse.
 
***
The next morning Arianna woke up and got ready for school. She slipped out of the house in a hurry without saying goodbye to anyone in hopes that she would miss Stephen. There was no doubt in her mind that he would try to start something with her the moment he saw her and she wasn't in the mood to fight. Starting down the street, she picked her phone up, out of her pocket and dialed the first number that came to mind.
 
"Hey, hey!" Jack's voice came through her speaker. Fortunately for her, they had exchanged numbers during their escape to the park the night before. "What are you calling me so early for?"
 
"I know it's last minute, but can you give me a ride to school?" she asked, biting her lip as she spoke.
 
"Yeah sure, where do you live?" he replied and a smile returned to Arianna's face. She gave him directions and thanked him before hanging up. When he finally arrived, she climbed into the passenger’s seat without a word and fastened her seat belt as Jack took off down the road. Thankfully most of the ride was filled with the sound of the Blink 182's Dude Ranch to supersede the silence. It wasn't until they reached the school parking lot that Jack turned to Arianna.
 
"You need a ride home?" he asked. Already going to unlock her door, Arianna glanced back at him.
 
"I'll let you know. Thanks Jack," she said stepping out of the car, shutting the door behind her. He watched her as she hastily walked towards the front entrance. There was something off about her today. Casting off the thought, Jack unbuckled his own seatbelt and grabbed his bag from the backseat before entering the double doors of Westridge.
 
***
As she entered the cafeteria Arianna's eyes immediately scanned the room for that familiar streak of blonde. When she'd spotted him she walked straight over to his table, not even thinking about the fact that she had never chose to nor had she ever been invited to sit with Jack or his friends. All eyes were on her as she approached the full table and although she hid it well, her heart was pounding.
 
"Jack," she said, brushing her hair out of her face. He looked up to her and tried to contain the thrilled expression taking over his features. He certainly hadn't expected something like this to happen any time soon. "Um…so can I sit here?" Arianna asked, her fingers gripping the back of the chair in front of her. She looked out to everyone sitting around the table, her eyes falling back on Jack's. Say something! She pleaded silently.
 
"Sure thang, friend," he smiled. Arianna pulled the chair out and sat down next to him. Before it would have bothered her that Jack was calling her his friend. When she had first moved, Arianna promised herself she wouldn't make any new friends. She figured she would stick it out until graduation and then move back to California and pick up where she left off. Now though, having a friend didn't seem so bad. In fact, it was kind of nice having someone to talk to in person rather than through a text or video chat.
 
Arianna took her lunch from her backpack and pulled out a sandwich, and grimaced. In her hurried attempt to get out of the house before Stephen woke up, she had ended up grabbing the turkey and cheddar cheese; her least favorite combo. Jack noticed her discomfort and nudged over his cafeteria-bought fries. "Here, trade?" he offered and the rest of the table stopped and stared, looking on in silence. Jack never shared his food, ever. Barely even with his girlfriend.
 
"Yeah thanks," Arianna passed over her sandwich and began picking at the French fries. The two carried on with their lunches casually as the others still looked on with immense curiosity. Arianna felt their eyes on her and finally looked up, meeting their probing gazes. "Do I have something on my face or…?" she trailed off, a pang of annoyance in her voice. She didn’t like being stared at like some exotic animal in the zoo.
 
"It's nothing, you're just the newbie," Julia spoke up and the rest of the table went back to what they were doing before. "I'm Julia," she smiled and Arianna nodded, giving her a small smile in return. “Did Jack’s begging finally get to you?” she joked. Clearly everyone had picked up on Jack’s persistent attempts to befriend Arianna.
 
“Guess so,” Arianna shrugged and looked over to Jack for a moment. He had his headphones in and was happily enjoying her sandwich, completely oblivious to anyone else in the entire cafeteria. She turned back to Julia and resumed eating the fries Jack had given her, happy that she decided to sit here today.