Brenda paused, trying to digest all the information. "Wait, don't you think Aaron Walker had to do with something that happened in the woods? Do your really believe that he found you at his yard, unconscious?"
Getting up and pacing back and forth, I pondered her words. I couldn't tell if Aaron Rhodes was innocent or not since I've only known him for two days. And because of that, I had to hang out with him more to reveal his secrets. They could possibly have nothing to do with the situation I was dealing with.
I heard a giggle coming from outside, followed by a knock on the door. "Who is that?" Brenda questioned as I made my way to the window of my bedroom. Bringing up my fingers to the curtain, I pulled it to the side to take a look at the person who stood at the porch.
My eyes caught long brown hair and a worried-looking Aaron, who was holding Aubrey's small hand. It was funny how they showed up when Brenda and I were talking about them.
Letting go of the curtain, I faced Brenda while I spoke, "It's Aaron and his sister."
She huffed in irritation and followed me as I headed downstairs. Reaching for the door, I swung it open to greet both of them. Since they came back from the funeral, Aubrey was wearing her black dress and Aaron was in his black suit with a tie, looking undeniably attractive. I was too caught up with my thoughts at the funeral that I didn't notice they were there.
My face lightened up when I spotted the rectangular box of chocolate in Aaron's grasp. "We're sorry to interrupt, we just wanted to stop by to see if you were doing well. I understand if you want us to leave."
My expression twisted into a frown. It was nice of him to make sure if I was okay, but why did he care so much when he didn't even know me well?
"No worries." I put on a tight smile, opening the door wider. "Come on in."
I glanced over my shoulder to see Brenda giving me a 'What do you think you're doing?' look once Aaron and Aubrey got inside. I shrugged, looking ahead to see Aaron extending his arm to hand me the chocolate box. With a smile reappearing on my face, I grabbed the box after thanking him.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Brenda glaring at me. I ignored her as I headed in the living room with Aubrey and Aaron, putting down the chocolate on the coffee table. After a moment, Brenda finally walked in and took a seat with us. I had to assure Aaron that I didn't mind his sudden visit. He had stopped apologizing afterwards, which made Brenda roll her eyes. Aubrey didn't seem to be in a good mood; her pink lips were dragged downward and her eyebrows were knitted. Veronica's funeral seemed to have an affect on both of them, which brought up a question in my mind.
"Did you know Veronica well? I mean, I know she's popular at school, but did you ever have a conversation with her?" I asked out of curiosity, a surprised look etching on Aubrey's face for some unclear reason. However, Aaron had a blank expression. He appeared to be the type of person that would hide their emotions as long as someone was around him.
"We did talk a few times. She was a friend of my friend." Aaron replied. Instead of making eye contact with me, his narrowed eyes were glued to Brenda's. Thick tension was latched onto the air. Neither of us bothered to lighten up the mood with a topic until Brenda abruptly got up and said to me, "I got to go, my parents expect me to be home by now."
I asked her if she wanted me to drive her there and she declined. After giving her a nod, she left the house. I knew for sure that her parents had nothing to do with her leaving early. It seemed like it was because of Aaron Rhodes' presence.
My attention focused back on Aaron, who was already getting up and reaching out for Aubrey's hand to leave. "Wait, where are you going already?"
"I just came here to make sure you're fine. And I see that you look completely fine to me."
I stared at him, agape. No one would tell me that I was fine when I had red eyes and dark bags underneath. I knew it myself that I wasn't fine and I didn't bother to pretend not to be since I got tired of doing so.
I reminded myself of what I wanted to do and the reason why I allowed him to come inside. "I want you to stay a little longer." I almost rolled my eyes of how desperate I sounded.
Aubrey pulled on Aaron's hand to stop him from leaving. "Please." She gave him the puppy eyes.
He hesitated, "Alright, but we'll only take a few minutes." He struggled to maintain eye contact with me, which was so out of his character. Even though I met him a few days ago, I knew that confidence was a part of him. But today, his actions disapproved that trait.
My eyes averted to Aubrey, who still didn't seem happy like usual. And an idea popped in my mind to make her feel better. "You two can have a seat. I'll be right back." I went up the stairs and into my bedroom. Grabbing a few of my items, I went back downstairs to where they sat and chatted.
"I got this for you," I spoke up, grabbing Aubrey's attention as I wiggled the crown that had butterflies latched onto them. Kneeling down, I placed the crown on top of her head, her face brightening up as I did so.
"I feel like a butterfly princess," she giggled, a grin was erupting upon her lips.
"That's exactly what you are. You're smart, you know?" I faked my amusement, only to see the grin growing wider on her face.
I laid back on the couch next to Aaron, grasping my guitar tighter to my abdomen. Half of my guitar was covered in paint. I was that type of person that would paint on all my belongings.
"I'm going to sing a song that I've written about a girl who was walking in a garden, then butterflies attacked her. That was how she became a butterfly princess." I made that story up just then, which wasn't related to the song I was about to sing.
I started singing and playing the guitar. I got a little surprised when Aubrey got up and began dancing adorably. I kept on watching her until the song went into an end. She plopped back down on the couch, out of breath.
"Again, again!" She exclaimed. "You have a beautiful voice."
"Thank you, sweetie. Maybe next time, it looks like the butterfly princess needs some rest." I pointed out as she yawned. Switching my gaze to Aaron, I realized he was holding up his phone to my level, meaning that he was recording a video of me the whole time.
"Hey, no videos allowed here," I whined, trying to reach out and take his phone, but he quickly dodged with a chuckle.
"Come on, that was worth a video." He refused as I already gave up with snatching his phone. "I could replay it all the time."
I bit down on my lip, butterflies bursting in my stomach from what he said. Although, I was also confused of his mood swings. Just two minutes ago, he had a straight face and didn't seem to enjoy my company. Then, he chuckled and said that he would like to hear my voice in replay.
"Promise me you won't share the video to anyone else?" I muttered, clearing my throat.
"I promise, Crystal," He responded. The nickname he gave me made the corners of my lips stretch into a smile.
"Great. So, how is it like to be a young veterinarian?" I let go of my guitar and fully faced Aaron. It was the time for me to start digging into his life.
"It is quite hard, especially that I have to balance between my school work and veterinary work. But I have to keep going for Aubrey's future," He paused. "What about you? How come your parents are not around?"
"My parents are out of the country for business."
My parents were careless of Liam and me as if we didn't even exist. Liam and I never get to spend time with them because of how workaholic they are. I had never seen anyone so workaholic as much as they are.
They didn't even need to work for more money because they were already loaded. Although, we didn't appear like it since they didn't like to spend money at all. We were living in a middle class neighborhood with a two story house and an empty fridge.
"Anyway, how come you're the one paying for Aubrey and not your parents?" I twisted the topic about him once again.
"It's a long story. I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it," Aaron refused to answer.
"Go ahead, I've got plenty of time." I tried to encourage him.
"I need to use the bathroom," Aubrey interrupted, squeezing her thighs together, obviously unable to hold it in any longer.
"Where is the bathroom?" Aaron got up from his seat.
"Upstairs, by the end of the corridor, on your left." I instructed as he hurriedly picked up Aubrey, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck.
I sighed once they were out of the room. Getting information out of him was harder than I expected. The only way I could do it was to make him go drunk. Although, today wasn't the day for it since he had little, innocent Aubrey with him.
A bing filled the air. I searched the room for the source of the noise, until my eyes caught Aaron's phone on the coffee table. Reaching out for the phone, I held it up for me to see. Privacy wasn't in my dictionary today.
There was a message popped up on the screen from some guy named Caleb.
You must tell her the truth or else things will go bad, it said.
Her? Who is her? I though to myself.
That girl that the Caleb guy was talking about might not be me, but what if it was?
I put back his phone to its previous position. The last thing I wanted was him catching me reading his message.
After all, hanging out with Aaron wasn't a waste of my time. This message had to be something.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he came into the room with Aubrey.
"Yes," I muttered.
Even though I didn't know anything about it, I had an odd feeling about that untold truth.