"You might be the sweetest person I have ever met."
✧˖°.✧˖˚▹ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ༺༄ؘ 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 12 ༄ؘ༻ₓ˚ .୧ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୭˚▹ₓ˚.✧˖°.✧
"Really?" Jahleel smiled to himself. "That's nice."
"Yeah."
The pair stayed silent and Jahleel continued to drive. There was a silence for about two minutes, and Ariani felt awkward the whole time.
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨? she thought. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦? 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩? 𝘈𝘳𝘨𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥! 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦... 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳! 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭-
"Do you like to listen to music?" Jahleel asked.
Ariani snapped out of her delusions as soon as she heard the deep, calming voice of Jahleel. "Um, yeah, a little bit."
"What type?"
Ariani liked to listen to J-pop a lot, but she thought of Jahleel as royalty, and she thought that royalty liked classical music.
Ariani rested her head on the palm of her hand and thought about the question that had been asked to her. 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰? 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘑-𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯! 𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘑-𝘱𝘰𝘱 - 𝘶𝘨𝘩! 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴.
"I like classical, slow songs but I 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 J-pop."
Jahleel looked like he was quite surprised. "Classic? Like instruments? Like violins and stuff? And you hate J-pop?!"
"Mhm!"
"Are you for REAL?"
"Um."
"I'm guessing that you haven't been introduced to J-pop, else classical music wouldn't be your favorite genre of music."
Ariani tried to hide her disappointment.
𝘖𝘏.𝘔𝘠.𝘎𝘖𝘚𝘏, she thought. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦! 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵! 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘭? 𝘑-𝘱𝘰𝘱? 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭! 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘈𝘕𝘠𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦?! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌 𝘑-𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳! 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯! 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵? 𝘜𝘳𝘨𝘩! 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴.
Ariani plastered a giant smile on her face to try to hide the frustration she was feeling. "So, um, what does J-pop sound like?"
"Well, there's some slow songs that I think you'll like but the ones I like to listen to are mostly upbeat. Do you wanna play some?"
Ariani nodded her head.
"Connect the aux cord to my phone and go to the music app on there. It's unlocked." Jahleel fished his phone from his pocket and handed it to Ariani.
𝘞𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, she thought. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. Ariani did exactly what Jahleel ordered her to do.
She was itching to play her favorite J-pop song but decided to be consistent with her lie. "What song do I search up?
"Any song that you want. Don't worry about me and J-pop."
Ariani immediately tapped the phone so it could play a J-pop song.
Jahleel raised an eyebrow maybe three seconds after the song started to play. "Wow, I've forgotten about this song even though it used to be one of my favorites," he said. "But wait, I thought you hated J-pop."
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨?! 𝘜𝘨𝘩! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘞𝘈𝘚 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, Ariani thought. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘑-𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘑-𝘱𝘰𝘱? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯? 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵.
"𝘖𝘩, I just saw the song in your playlist and didn't really care what song we played."
"Um..., that song was never in my playlist."
𝘖𝘏.𝘔𝘠.𝘎𝘖𝘚𝘏! 𝘐 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘈𝘎𝘈𝘐𝘕! 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘙𝘌𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘔𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘌𝘋 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮! 𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣?
"Oh, um..."
"So you 𝘥𝘰 like J-pop."
Ariani was nervously sweating so much that if you took a look at her armpits, you may have seen a waterfall. "I don't, um, I hate it."
"So be it." Jahleel shook his head at Ariani as he stopped at a red light.
As he looked back at the road, Ariani took a deep breath and prayed that her face wasn't as red as the stop sign five feet away. This was the most embarrassing thing that had happened to her ever since she fell down the stairs on live television or the time when she peed herself on the runway after holding it in for too long. Yikes. At least the dress was made of latex.
A silence started to grow, and Jahleel decided to break it. "So, I know this is a bit fast, but if we ever do date, I'd love for you to meet my father," he told Ariani. "I think you both would be friends..., since you both like classical music and all."
"Oh, that's nice. Isn't your father, like, a really, mega, super-rich entrepreneur?"
Jahleel grinned. "Aha, if you want to call it that, then yes."
"I would feel like the most famous girl ever if I met him," Ariani said. Right after those words came out of her mouth, Ariani smacked her teeth.
𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵! 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? she thought. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦! 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘯𝘰𝘸!
"Are you okay?" Jahleel asked.
"Oh, yeah, of course," Ariani replied. "But I was just joking about me feeling like the most famous girl ever if I met your father because I already 𝘢𝘮 the most famous girl ever!"
"Oh, that's... nice."
"Yeah, it is. I've met countless famous people."
"Like who?"
"Like..., um, like,... 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯!" Ariani blurted out.
Jahleel almost gasped. "𝘞𝘩𝘰? You're joking, right?"
"Um, no! I mean, yeah!"
Jahleel took a deep breath and accelerated the car when the red light turned green. "You're quite imaginative, then," he decided to say.
"Um, thanks," Ariani muttered.
Jahleel glanced at her. "Well, I'm not trying to make it seem like your joke wasn't funny, I mean, it was - ha, ha, ha!"
Ariani buried her face into her knees, letting the fact that Jahleel was lying (very badly, too!) to make her feel less awkward sink in. Unfortunately, it did not make her feel less awkward, it just increased the uneasy feelings.
Jahleel continued on. "But, like, have you met any famous people that... 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 dead?"
"Um, yeah, I've met... you!"
Jahleel chuckled quietly. "That doesn't count!"
"Never mind the subject, then," Ariani replied.
𝘗𝘩𝘦𝘸, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥, she thought.
Ariani's favorite song ended and another J-pop song came on.
𝘜𝘨𝘩, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸! she thought. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵... 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴? 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴? 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪, 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘚 𝘐𝘚 𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘊𝘛! 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤.
Ariani felt at ease once the chorus of the song started to play, and she was having a great time listening to it.
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥, she thought, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰, 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.
The song continued to play, and soon after, Ariani forgot Jahleel was even there. She felt so content that she started to sing along with the song, word for word, bar for bar!
"Habata itara modoranai to itte! Mezashita no wa aoi aoi-"
"Hold up, I thought you didn't like J-pop!" Jahleel called out. "How do you magically know the melody and lyrics of the song now?"
Ariani froze. She was so embarrassed, that she considered calling the police and telling them that Jahleel had kidnapped her, but she decided she wasn't 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 crazy. Plus, she wasn't too stoked about the idea of lying AGAIN. Fortunately, she didn't have to do so if she wanted to keep the last drop of dignity that she had so dearly held on to throughout this whole mess. Unfortunately, Ariani did not realize this.
"Um, I don't know, I just guessed. I'm good at guessing."
"Listen, not anyone can guess to save their life. I know you've been lying. About everything."
Ariani was practically shaking in her seat. She had never felt so gauche in her life!
"About your net worth, your song interests, and how famous you really are," Jahleel continued. "You understand I can search all of that information up, right?"
"Oh, um-"
"Look, I know you see me as some type of legendary sexy king-"
"Whoever said that?" Ariani asked as her face turned the color of a bright red.
Jahleel grinned. "Anyway, I know you see me as way better than you-"
"Never that!"
"Shush for a second, damn," Jahleel said as he turned the steering wheel. "I know you see me as a person of a high status," he stated as he side-eyed Ariani, "but I'm a regular human, just like you. You don't have to pretend to be some type of goddess when you're with me, 'cause I don't care what you are, it's just what's on the inside that matters."
Ariani smiled, which felt amazing to her then. "Ugh, you're so cliche!"
"But it's true!"
"I guess so. Now shut up so I can listen to my J-pop!"