It Started With a Whisper

"You were right," I said as I walked into the apartment, tossing my keys into the bowl that was on the coffee table. Amelia was sitting in the middle of my couch with a big bag of chips resting on her lap. I sighed and plopped down next to her, running my fingers through my hair.

"Of course I was. What was I right about?" She asked, pausing whatever movie she was watching. Amelia loved to be right. It was like her favorite thing in the world, so I'm sure you could just imagine the smile on her face when I admitted the one thing that I really didn't want to.

"About Mr. Franco." I was expecting an "I told you so", but the words never left her lips. She just smirked and nodded her head once.

"So I'm assuming he told you."

"Found me in the hospital parking lot when I was getting ready to leave."

"So are you guys dating?" I should have expected that from her. I don't know why I was shocked by what she said. I've heard worse things come from her mouth.

"No. What would give you that idea?"

"That's usually what happens when two people like each other," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Not when those two people happen to be a teacher and a student. He doesn't want to jeopardize his job, and I don't want to jeopardize my schooling."

"So you're just going to spend the rest of this semester lusting after our incredibly good looking teacher when you could have him in your bed?" I rolled my eyes. Logic was not going to get through to Amelia now or ever. This wasn't a conversation I could have with her.

"Basically."

"You're psycho. I'd take advantage of this opportunity," she said, shoving a chip in her mouth and pressing play on the remote.

"I guess it's a good thing we're two different people then." I reached for the chips in her lap and pulled out a handful, stuffing the salty potatoes in my mouth. My phone began ringing extremely loud from my back pocket, and I groaned. Daniel's name flashed across the screen, and I almost wanted to launch my phone to the other side of the room.

"Who is it?" Amelia asked as I shut the ringer off.

"Daniel." She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Is there a reason you didn't answer?"

"I'm not really in the mood to talk to him right now." She seemed surprised by this, seeing as I spent the majority of my free time with Daniel. The only reason I really got to see Amelia is because she was constantly in my apartment, eating my food or stealing my movies. It didn't really matter which. She practically lived here. I didn't understand why she wasn't living with me in the first place.

"Did you guys get into a fight or something?"

"No. I just don't have the desire to talk to him...or anything with a penis for that matter." The situation with Mr. Franco was starting to stress me out, and it hadn't even been a full 24 hours since the information had been passed between the two of us.

"Do you know why he's calling?"

"Probably because he wants to see me." I said, stuffing another chip in my mouth. I just wanted to fall asleep and completely forget about today. If it was possible to erase parts of my memory, I would totally do it.

"Don't you think you owe it to him to at least let him know that you just don't want to be bothered right now? What if he thinks something is wrong and decides to show up." Amelia had a point, and it definitely wouldn't be the first time Daniel randomly showed up at my apartment. The other two times it happened, I thought the gestures were rather sweet, but I definitely did not want to see him right now.

"I'll wait until he calls back," I said, glancing down at my now black iPhone screen.

"How do you know he's going to call back?" As soon as she finished her sentence, my screen lit up, Daniel's name flashing across the top.

"Because he always does," I slid my finger across the screen and held the phone up to my ear, trying to hide the irritation in my voice, "Hello?"

"Hey, Aria! Are you busy right now?" I bit my lip, debating on whether or not I should just do whatever he wants. Maybe it would help me get my mind off the fact that I had a humongous crush on my teacher and that my teacher had a humongous crush on me.

"I am, actually. Amelia's going through something with her boyfriend so we're having a bit of a girl's night." I could feel Amelia glaring at me, so I kept my eyes promptly on the TV.

"Oh. Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. Just a bit upset. It's a chick flick and ice cream kind of night." Amelia was burning holes in the side of my head, and I began to fidget.

"I understand. I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Sure." I hung up before he could get another word out and put my phone on Do Not Disturb before setting it on the coffee table.

"I said to let him know that you didn't want to be bothered. Not use me as an excuse to get out of a date," she growled, pinching my arm. I slapped her hand away from me and snatched the bag of chips from her lap.

"Sorry. Quick thinking. You're sitting right here. It only made sense."

"I think I liked you better when you were just fucking around with Brandon. At least you were honest." Her words stung, but I chose to ignore them and focus on the shitty movie that was playing. Minutes turned into hours, and eventually Amelia left, saying that I needed to "get my shit together" as she so politely put it. I sighed and trudged into the kitchen to make myself some dinner. I really needed to go grocery shopping and made a mental note to do so after I got out of class tomorrow. My phone ringing stopped me from turning on the stove. I walked over to the annoying thing, glancing down at the screen. Brandon's name was staring back at me, and I had half a mind not to answer. However, it had to have been important because he hadn't really tried to contact me since I ended things with him.

"Hello?" I held the phone up to my ear.

"Aria?" Just by the way he slurred my name, I could tell that he was very drunk.

"What's up, Brandon?" I asked, exhaling loudly.

"Can you come pick me up please?" I could hear music in the background, letting me know that he was at a party. I figured his ride left him, or he drove and was too hammered to do anything.

"Where are you?" He rattled off some random address, and I hung up and grabbed my keys. It didn't take long to find him. He was sitting on the front porch. I could hear the music coming from inside the house along with people screaming and laughing. I got out of my car and walked over to Brandon, helping him off the floor.

"Up you go," I mumbled, putting one of his arms around my shoulders.

"Aria!" He yelled loudly in my ear. I cringed a little, moving my face away from the alcohol infused breath he was blowing in my direction.

"Stop screaming," I said, helping him down the driveway.

"I've really missed you." I ignored this statement and put him in the passenger seat of my car.

"Don't take me home!" he yelled frantically, placing his hands on the dashboard as I turned down his street.

"Why? You can't come home with me." I didn't feel like nursing his hangover in the morning.

"Why not? It can be like old times. I can make you feel good. Don't you want to feel good?" He placed his hand on my thigh, and I quickly slapped it away. I watched Brandon frown, but I didn't care.

"Why don't you want to go home?" I asked, pulling off to the side and shutting the car off.

"My mom is there."

"Brandon, you're an adult, and you live on your own. She can't really say anything to you," I pointed out, running my fingers through my hair. I was growing more irritated by the second. I really just want to go home.

"I told her that I wouldn't drink while she was out here. If I come home smashed, she's going to be pissed." I rolled my eyes and placed my hand over my forehead.

"You still can't come home with me, but I'll take you to get food. Hopefully you'll sober up by the time we're done," I grumbled, turning the car back on. I drove a couple blocks to a small restaurant that had amazing tacos.

"Aria, why did you break things off with me? Is it because I didn't ask you to be my girlfriend?" Brandon already didn't have a filter to begin with, but alcohol made everything that much worse. I sighed loudly and tugged at the roots of my hair. I really didn't want to deal with this. I had half a mind to just drive him back to his house and leave him to deal with his mom.

"No, Brandon. I didn't want to be your girlfriend just as much as you didn't want to make me your girlfriend." I grumbled, dragging him inside.

"But that's the thing. I wanted you to be my girlfriend." I stopped walking immediately and stared up at the boy that made me want to literally rip my hair out.

"You can't be serious."

"But I am. I wanted to ask you for weeks."

"Why didn't you?" Not that it really mattered because I would have said no anyway, but I was curious.

"We both know I didn't deserve you, Aria. You want to be a doctor. You're going places with your life. I'm just a trust fund baby that's had everything handed to him. You didn't need me to bring you down." I didn't know how to feel about his confession, so I just didn't say anything and walked up to the counter, ordering food for the both of us. I knew I wouldn't feel like cooking once I got home, and I was starving.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Brandon said when I returned with our food. He seemed to have sobered up a little, but I knew he was in no condition to face his mother right now.

"You didn't. Eat your tacos." We ate in silence, something I was thankful for. I could feel a headache coming on, and I had every intention of falling asleep the minute I got home.

"Do you feel sober enough to go home?" I asked once we were both done eating.

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about this." I shook my head as we walked back to the car.

"Don't even worry about it." Our silence continued on the way back to his house, and he mumbled a thank you and a goodbye before getting out when I pulled into his driveway. I sped home, locking myself in my room. Today had been too much for me.