Ariel
It was a wrap. I packed all of my stuff and moved out into Celeste's house. Her parents were quite understanding. Her mom, Janice, was going to be the one who got the house. She told me how Howard, Celeste's dad, just couldn't be there anymore. All they were waiting for was for Howard to get approved and then he'd move out. They let me stay in their guest bedroom. I was only staying until it was time to go away to college.
I got offered a full ride to college in California. It was UC Irvine and I would fly there after graduation. They gave me the honor of going into a summer program for six weeks. It was perfect. I would live in a shared dorm on campus and as long as I upheld a 3.0 gpa or higher, it was free. The only down fall was how much I wished I could share my good news with everyone I loved. How much I wanted to tell Josh we'd only be a couple states away.
Janice wasn't the best cook but she tried. I eventually ended up cooking for the both of us since we mutually agreed I'm the better cook. Every morning she would have coffee and I would have tea. We would sit on her front deck in lawn chairs and watch the sun rise from the trees.
"You know I never thanked you," Janice says.
"I should be thanking you. You're the one who took me in after all," I tell her.
She gives a muffled chuckle.
"You were my angels only friend," she has a small smile. One of those that look sad but happy at once. "Before you, she was always alone. Except that stuck up girlfriend." She chuckles. "She was something else!"
"I hope you know she was the greatest best friend I ever had. The first two fucked the guy I loved. I was thankful Celeste was a lesbian," I chuckle and take a sip out of my tea.
"Well ain't that some shit," she laughs. "I'm serious though, thank you for helping her out. I know she wanted to kill her self for a while there. Her therapist warned us and at first we thought that's what it was," she pauses to take a drink out of her coffee. "Now Howard's gone mad and I've got nothing. No daughter, no husband, no other family, no love really."
"You have me," I grab her hand. "We're family now." I smile. She smiles back.
"We're family," she says and extends her pinky. And we pinky promise like the way Celeste and I used to.
~
Flashback:
Celeste, Josh, and me were having our typical movie night. We were watching "It" the original one. Josh was terrified of clowns so when the bathroom scene came on, he volunteered to make us a snack. When he got up Celeste scooted closer to me. Bugging me yet again to give Josh a chance.
"He's so into you!" She punched my shoulder lightly. "You need to hop on that before I'm no longer gay and hop on it myself." I laugh at her.
"No offense babe but he's not into alternative goth sluts," she laughs at my comment and smacks my shoulder hard.
"Oh screw you!" She says. "I turn these losers heads."
"You do," I nod and chuckle. She giggles. Her mom comes downstairs and into the living room.
"Hey girls. How's the movie?" She asks. "Who's your friend Cel?" She comes closer so we can see her.
"Mom this is Ariel, Ariel this is my mom, Janice." She pops popcorn into her mouth.
"Nice to meet you," I shake Janice's hand. She shakes it back.
"So are you a friend friend or a girl friend?" She tries not to sound awkward.
"Mom!" Celeste shouts. "Not every one is gay."
"You just never know these days hon," she kind of had a southern accent. "Sorry sweetie. Can I get y'all anything?"
"No were good. Our friend Josh is in your kitchen making us a snack." I say.
"Ah, well help yourselves. I'll be upstairs," she begins to walk away, "It was a pleasure."
"I like your mom. She seems nice," I say to Celeste.
"Yeah she's kinda cool. Man can she bake. One day I'll have to make her bake you a cake or a pie." She brags. "Now I'm hungry. Josh!"
"Coming," Josh shouts and he brings out sandwiches with chips on our own plates. He runs back to the luchen to get his own and finally sits.
"Thanks," Celeste says.
"To being friends forever," Josh says holding up his sandwich like a champagne glass.
"Forever," Celeste and I say at the same time and we toast with our sandwiches.
The next time we went over, Janice left us a home made chocolate cake with strawberries and butter cream frosting.
~
If I was being honest, I missed Aunt Cheri. I wondered if she had made enchiladas for dinner and I wasn't included because I'm not there. I wondered if Sarah and her would be moving in together. Would Cheri sell the house? I'd hope not but it wouldn't make sense for her to have all that empty space. I think about Anne and how disappointed she'd be if she were here now. I knew that Sarah and Aunt Cheri lied their way out of the cops together. Josh warned me with a text but other than that, no talking.
School was hardly a concern at this rate but I had already missed so much, I asked Janice for help. She home schooled me from where Cheri left off. She was an amazing teacher, she sure knew her math which I struggled with most. I loved living here and I felt like I had Celeste with me at all times. Like she was still in my presence, teasing me about my life choices. I sometimes talk to her. The other day, I circled her room and rummaged through her school bag. I found all of our exchanged notes that we shared in class. Making fun of our teacher to talking shit about our class mates.
Shortly after our morning drinks, Janice and I are inside. She's watching television in the living room and I'm making some soup in the kitchen. The door bell rings for the first time in a while.
"Ariel!" Janice shouts from the living room.
I quickly give my soup a stir then lower the flame and cover it with a lid then run out. I see a familiar face. She's pregnant too, only bigger.
"I was hoping you could get a hold of Josh for me," she smiles. She has a cake with her, freshly baked.
"There's no way that's Josh's baby," I laugh.
"And if it is?" Alice smirks. "Looks like I win after all."