Misplaced Words

I absently twirl my ring around my finger as I listen to Mrs. Jones go on about the history of jazz. I look down at it for a second and smile, before picking up my pencil and taking notes on the subject. I couldn’t stop thinking about the night Aiden pulled that stunt at Menu’s over a week ago. I was over the moon.

He really does spoil me; I’ve never been with a guy that giving, that romantic. Whenever I think of it, my favorite color drowns the scene, and I absolutely love it. Even the dress he gave me – I certainly felt like a princess for the night, though he makes me feel that way whenever he’s around. I take a quick peep at the ring again and blush, the night was really topped off with this. I have never seen such a ring in my life: it is silver with a peach crystal rose in the middle, two empty spaces that form leaves, and smaller diamonds decorating the rest of the ring. Then inside of it, the names Aiden and Aaliyah are inscribed. As if I needed a further reminder of who would present me with just a perfect gift.

I’m snapped out of my daze by the movement of the classroom, which means it’s time for group work. I put my materials into my bag and head over to where my group mates were sitting.

“Hey,” I smile, pulling a chair up for myself.

Jerry gives me a nod while messing around with a few chord progressions on his keyboard. Kari on the other hand eyes me suspiciously and sits up in her seat.

“Some boyfriend you have there,” she comments, staring at my hand.

“Oh,” I look down and twirl the ring again, “yeah, he’s great-”

“I mean, I’d prefer if my boyfriend showed his love emotionally rather than materially, but, we all have our own preferences, right?” She says this like nothing, brushing imaginary dirt off of her lap, as if she’s made some kind of point.

“Well, he does show me his love emotionally, and physically, actually. You wouldn’t know about that though,” I shoot back.

She looks taken aback and Jerry advises us to focus on our songs.

She rolls her eyes, “whatever, the only reason I don’t have a boyfriend is because I don’t want one. I know how to be single, but, you wouldn’t know about that, now would you?”

She gives me a cheeky smile before Jerry shoots her a look and tells her to mind her business. See, if she had said something like that to me a year ago, we’d be rolling around, clawing each other’s eyes out. Nowadays, I know how to keep it classy, thanks to Aiden. My thoughts haven’t changed much though – how disrespectful is this little freshie?

I watch her as she sings carelessly, trying hard not to glare. My anger fades away after a few minutes. I can’t really blame her; she reminds me of myself when I started here; confident, sassy, ready to show anyone up. It’s a bit irritating though, I can’t believe I was actually like that. Ever since I started dating Aiden, he’s shaped me into a respectful young lady, one that doesn’t just say anything that comes to mind. He’s helped me see that speaking without thinking first is never a smart idea.

I smile at the thought of his handsome face and go back to focusing on the song we were practicing at the moment. Besides me singing Beautiful, which I would play on guitar for myself, Kari and I had a duet for Fight Like a Girl by Bomshel. We sounded great together, then again, I’m sure I would sound great with anyone. It doesn’t beat my duet with Kellin though; that was great stuff.

After class, I push away my pride, something I’ve learned to do because of Aiden, and decide to talk to Kari. I sling my bag onto my shoulder and tap her on her arm. She looks up from tying her shoe and rolls her eyes.

“Yes?”

“Uh, I was wondering, why don’t you like me?” I try to look as sincere as I can.

“Who said I don’t like you?” she asks, faking a sweet smile. I put a hand on my hip and she sighs, “It’s hard to like you when all I hear about you is drama.”

“All you hear is drama? Who’s telling you-”

“Look Aaliyah,” she cuts me off, “I’d love to have a heart-to-heart with you and all, but then again, I wouldn’t. I need to go,” she pushes past me, leaving the room.

What’s her problem? I shake my head and sigh; I shouldn’t waste my time. As I walk across the classroom, I hear an acoustic guitar come to life from the smaller connected room. I pause for a second, struggling to hear the beautiful chords that were being strummed.

An all-too familiar voice sounds distant, singing the words: “I want to hold your hand so tight, I’m gunna break my wrist.” I roll my eyes as he starts over, wanting to perfect the line. He’s always been such a perfectionist when it came to his music, and I get it. Come on though, still singing that song about Lizzy? I thought they had their little closure session and it would be over with. Whatever.

I walk out and am startled by an unhappy Aiden.

“What took you so long?” He hissed, grabbing my wrist.

“I’m sorry; I was just trying to sort some problems out with one of my classmates, Kari.” I frown at him, hoping that he would see this as the mature thing to do, not a way to lessen my time with him.

“Oh,” he says, loosening his grip, “how did it turn out?”

He slides his hand into mine, instantly falling back to his sweet self.

I sigh, “not too well. She doesn’t seem to like me, and she won’t tell me why, either.”

“Then she is not worth your time, belle. Don’t mind her,” he kisses my hand, “she doesn’t hold a candle to you anyway.”

I blush and look away from him, flattered by his compliment. We get to the cafeteria and sit our usual spot: the two-seater table all the way on the other end of Menu’s. I had asked him once why he decided to choose this table as opposed to the one by the door. He said it was because he wanted to show me off, hence why we walk through the crowds. I thought it was sweet; someone wanted to show me off, for once. Not hide me or pretend that everything is alright, when in reality they feel ashamed by me. Aiden is proud to be by my side, and I appreciate him for that.

We place an order with the waiter and chat idly about our day. As he was talking away, I stared at his beautiful dimples and smiled, he makes the cutest faces when he’s talking about something he’s passionate about. Suddenly I get an involuntary flash in my mind. It was quick and fuzzy, nonetheless recognizable; I was by the hedge, shaking an unconscious Jack hysterically. Of all times to remember a thing like this? I tried not to make the discomfort obvious on my face; I didn’t want Aiden to worry about me. It’s been a whole two years since that incident, and for whatever reason, something is bringing it up. His bruised up abdomen was the last thing that flashed before the waiter came back, setting down our food.

“Alright, enough about my day, I’m ready for some dinner.”

I push my plate away, “I’m not so hungry anymore.”