Close My Eyes,and Fly

It was official. Facebook official. “Madison Riviera is in a relationship with Jack Mathess”. Aaron flinched at the site and shut the window. She didn’t want to think about her best friend dating someone she thought she knew.
“I’m just gonna ignore them” She thought. She was on her lunch break, sipping a lemonade casually as she surfed the internet provided free of charge by the restaurant. She was in the comfort of a booth in the corner of the Cafe and had made a great effort to not be noticed by customers who were looking for a booth when there were only tables left in the center of the room.
She had plans to hang out with Scott after work that day, and she was excitedly looking up activities for them to fulfill while they were in the midst of their summer. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she glanced at it, new text message. “Can we talk?” the text said, it was from Madison. She didn’t answer, instead she browsed through her contacts until the name “Jack” was highlighted.
She pondered texting him just to apologize and she if she could savior any remainder of their friendship but she didn’t dare to. She figured with any apology she could muster up Jack would have some stupid sarcastic response. She didn’t bother to waste her time or his.
Instead Aaron she scrolled down till she reached Scotts name. “ I miss you.” Was all she sent “I miss you too baby” a text message on her phone said a few minutes later. Aaron smiled and shut her phone, anticipating seeing him in just a few hours.
“So I was thinking we could go ice skating” Aaron said, her fingers were laced with Scotts and they were driving to some undetermined destination. “Ice skating in the middle of summer?” Scott laughed, he was driving, and today he had her favorite hoodie on, the one that fit the muscles in his arms perfectly. Aaron smiled as she watched him drive, hoping that moments like this would be an common occurrence for her this summer.
she had ran home and replaced her work uniform with a sun dress, a yellow flower sat in her hair just above her ear, and her blonde locks were blowing wildly about as the wind touched her face.
“I was thinking we could go on an adventure” he said, tightening his grip on her hand. Aaron smiled and nodded. “An adventure sounds good to me as long as i’m with you” She said, gazing out the window at the fast moving scenery.
The two of them were driving out of the city limits when he turned off the road and down a tree lined path. The branches hung over the edge of road creating a canopy of shade and Aaron stuck her hand out the window, admiring the way the breeze easily slipped though her fingers as if she were running her hands through a sheet of silk.
She glanced over at Scott who was staring back at her, smiling. It was a beautiful afternoon and as they drove across the countryside the hum of the radio grew louder and louder as they sang passionately and jokingly to the tunes that turned on his ipod.
“You’re gonna kill me.” Scott said, not glancing away from the road, he had a smile on his face. “Why’s that” she said, brushing her thumb against the back of his hand. “ I have no idea where we are” he said, looking in the rear view mirror.
“Scott!!” She said, slapping him playfully on the arm. The scenery was beautiful, rolling hills of lush green grass and full tall trees. There was a silent sereness that Aaron couldn’t help but enjoy. She hadn’t even noticed that she had no idea where she was either.
The two of them drove around in search for a familiar sign or landmark but were unable to find one. Finally they pulled off a road at a gas station for directions after much proading from Aaron.
“Excuse me sir but could you tell us how to get back to the interstate?” Scott said, leaning over the counter. Aaron watched him from the car, admiring his smile as the man waved his arms wildly when explaining the route.
In her pocket her phone buzzed, vibrating against her thigh. She glanced down at the illuminated screen. It was another text from Madde this time when she opened it she promptly replied. 
 “ I’m with Scott right now.” She sent the text and without a thought slid her phone back into her pocket. Her phone buzzed again, “Where are you?” the text said. Aaron groaned and texted back violently, “We’re on a drive out in the country side” .
Aaron could see out the window Scott wandering around the convienience store. She called out the window “Get me a snack!” playfully and Scott smiled, waving a bag of chips up in the air for her to see.
Here phone buzzed again.
“Call me when you get home” Madison said. Aaron didn’t respond, instead she shut her phone off and slid it back into her pocket, glancing over out the window. Scott was leaving the store with an armful of snacks, a grin on his face.
“Here ya go babe” He said, handing her a bottle of water and a bag of cheetos “I’m afraid the interstate is a few miles back that way” He said, motioning over his shoulder. Aaron laughed and rolled her eyes.
“Well it’s a good thing I’ve got plenty of time then” She said, playing with her hair so it was draped around her shoulders.
Scott smiled and started up the engine, the two of them lacing fingers and starting down the road once again.
When Aaron returned home there was a text waiting for her, from Madison of course. “Don’t forget to call” It said. Aaron sighed as she pushed the dial button on her cell phone. She had no desire to talk to her best friend but she knew that eventually she would have to break her silence and give in. The phone only rang once before Madison picked up.
“Hey” Was all she said. Aaron sat silent, she really had no clue what she was going to say, and was more anticipating whatever it was that madison needed to talk to her about. “Hey” was all she said back.
Aaron walked over to her refrigerator and pulled out a water, holding the phone between her shoulder and her ear. “You needed to talk to me?” she said finally, after a long moment of awkward silence.
“ Yeah.. I’m assuming you already heard the news” Madison said, pausing for response. “Yeah.” Was all Aaron said, if this is what she wanted to talk about she certainly didn’t feel like having this conversation at leat not after spending such a wonderful day with Scott. “Is that all you had to tell me? That you’re dating the guy I introduced to you after only a week of knowing him” She said bitterly.
“No.. i just miss you” Madison replied, her voice was quiet and weak, a very startling tone for her usually strong and assertive best friend.
Aaron didn’t know what to say, she wanted to tell Madison that she missed having someone to talk to, someone besides Scott, but she was angry that she had been so easily abandoned by both of them. She finally muttered a quiet and unenthusiastic “I miss you too”.
“Well, Jack and I were wondering if you and Scott wanted to maybe go on a double date with us sometime this week, ya know somehow clear the water or something” Madison said quickly. In the background she could hear Jack for the first time in their entire conversation.
“No I don’t want to go to dinner with that Jackass” she heard him say. Aaron smiled despite herself, It was good to hear his voice, the voice she remembered not the bitter cocky tone he used when they had first met.
There was shuffling on the other line and Aaron assumed Madison was convincing Jack to do this small favor for him. She must of won because shortly she was back on the line, reaffirming her invitation. “We would love it if you would join us for a double date sometime this week” she said out of breath.
“I uh, I’ll have to check back with Scott, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.” Aaron said finally, biting her lip. “Can I call you back?” There was silence on the other line and then Madison responded “Yeah I guess that would be alright.”
The two of them hung up after another awkward silence and Aaron pondered whether or not going to dinner with them was something she even wanted to do.
The idea of sitting crammed in a booth with Jack and Madison cuddling on the other side was enough to make her sick. She idea of them even being together made her sick, she didn’t know if witnessing it first hand would be worth an evening with Scott.
Not to mention she was almost positive that the two of them would argue the entire time. Scott and Jack hated each other, there was no chance on earth the two of them could sit down and have a civilized dinner together, this was something madison had yet to learn.
Finally mustering enough courage to call Scott, she picked up the phone. The three rings before he answered were the longest most agonizing seconds of her life, and when he answered in his friendly boyish tone, She froze. “Whats up babe?” He said, he was panting and Aaron assumed he had run to pick up his phone. “I called Madison” She said, they had talked about it in the car and Aaron had expressed her un-enthusiasm to have a conversation with her.
“I’m proud of you honey, what did she want?” he said. Aaron paused and sighed, she wanted to phrase this in the least awkward was possible. She was afraid that by suggesting anything to do with Jack at first, He might take it the wrong way. “Madison was wondering if we would like to go on a double date with her sometime this week” she said. She decided to leave out the fact that Jack would be there before he even considered it.
“Yeah that would be fun babe, who is she going with?” Scott said. Aaron sighed and mumbled his name. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch that” He said. Aaron repeated it, this time louder, “She dating Jack..” Aaron said, trailing off at the end of the sentence. There was silence on the other end.
“Yeah I guess that would be okay..” He said after a long pause. Aaron let out the air she had been holding in, she felt dizzy and afraid. “We’re gonna get through this together.. I promise” she said. biting her lip again. “Just make sure he doesn’t talk to me.” Scott continued. His normally warm inviting voice had turned cold and bitter. Aaron was grateful that he hadn’t taken his anger out on her. “I really appreciate this..” she started. “I know honey, anything for you”
Aaron smiled, she never appreciated Scott as much as she did at this moment. “I’ll talk to you later to let you know whats going on, I need to call Madison back and tell her the happy news” She said, hanging up the phone.
She hesitated before calling Madison back, pacing around her living room to delay the time. Finally she dialed the number and waited. “Hey..” Aaron said as Madison picked up.
“So what’s the prognosis?” she said, in the background she heard Scott yelling at the video game he was playing. “Sorry about the noise the boys are over” she continued, trailing off.
“So, we’re in I guess” Aaron said hesitantly. She wasn’t quite sure if she was fully in herself, but she wanted to see Madison before she left for the second half of the summer. “Okay, then we’ll see you tomorrow lets say around 6:30 at the Green Bean” Madison said excitedly before hanging up. Aaron pondered whether or not she was excited for the next days events. She found herself more excited to see Jack than anyone else, and hoped that after dinner the two of them could enjoy each others company once again.