Chapter 39 Aria
By the time I got home, the sky outside had already turned dark and the house glowed warm from the inside. Mom had music playing softly—some old R&B song she always claimed healed the soul—and the smell of garlic and roasted herbs drifted from the kitchen. She was making our favourite sauce. Normally, that smell alone would have pulled me out of any weird mood but tonight everything felt tangled and heavy.
Sienna’s behaviour had been gnawing at me all day. She had insisted on sticking close to me, hovering in ways she never did when we first met. She was so protective, overprotective was the right word, making excuses to walk me to class or linger outside rooms she normally couldn’t care less about. And every time I asked what was up, she dodged the question with a laugh or an empty “just looking out for you.”
But it didn’t feel like looking out for me.
It felt like watching me. And the worst part? I didn’t know if I was being paranoid or if something had changed between us without her ever saying so.
Mom glanced over her shoulder as I stepped into the kitchen. “Hey, sweetheart. Something on your mind? You’re wearing your ‘thinking too hard’ face.”
I blinked. “I have a face for that?”
“Oh absolutely,” she said, stirring the pot. “It’s the same face you made at age eight when you realized Santa couldn’t possibly deliver presents to every house in one night.”
I cracked a small smile. “That was a traumatic year.”
She pointed her spoon at me. “Trauma builds character.”
I rolled my eyes but pulled a stool out and sat at the island. The warmth of the kitchen made everything feel safer like whatever I said would somehow be okay in the end.
Mom set the spoon down. “Alright, talk to me. Is it school? Tests? Teenage existential dread? Girl drama? Or boy drama?”
My throat tightened. “Mom…”
She raised a brow. “Boy drama it is.”
A groan escaped me before I could stop it, and she smiled like she’d just cracked a code. “Well,” she said, leaning her elbows on the counter, “start small.”
I tugged at the sleeve of my sweater. “I think I might like someone.”
Mom gasped dramatically. “A crush? My daughter has a crush and she didn’t tell me immediately? Criminal behaviour.”
“Moooom…”
“I’m so listening. Go on.”
I hesitated, fiddling with the ring on my finger. “It’s Luca.”
Mom’s expression softened immediately, but not in a teasing way—in a real, gentle way. “Luca next door? He came to our house some weeks back?”
I nodded silently.
“Well,” she said slowly, “he’s very polite and he looks at you like you’re the only person in the universe.”
Heat rushed to my face. “Mom!”
“What?! I have eyes.”
I groaned again, burying my face in my hands. “I shouldn’t like him. There’s a lot I don’t understand. He gets weird and brooding sometimes. Ugh, trying to figure him out is like trying to read a book with three missing chapters.”
Mom’s voice softened further. “Honey, teenage boys are ninety percent missing chapters.”
I peeked between my fingers. “That’s comforting.”
“It should be. What you’re feeling is normal. Messy, but allowed too.”
I let my hands drop back to the counter. “There’s more.”
Mom waited patiently, the way she always did.
“It’s Sienna, my best friend” I said quietly. “She keeps acting strange. She’s now hovering around me and I can’t tell if she’s worried or if I did something wrong. I asked her about Luca once and she shut down so fast it scared me. And now she’s changed.”
Mom exhaled, thoughtful. “That girl has been your best friend since you arrived in Silverpine. People change, Aria dear. Sometimes for reasons they don’t know how to talk about.”
“So you think it’s not me?”
“I think,” she said calmly, taking my hands in hers, “that Sienna loves you and maybe she’s afraid of losing her place in your life especially to a boy you clearly care about.”
I opened my mouth then closed it. Hearing it out loud made it feel reasonable not like the strange, prickling tension I kept noticing in Sienna’s eyes.
“Has she said anything? About feeling off or stressed?” Mom asked.
“No. She avoids real conversations like it’s a sport.”
“That sounds like a Williams family trait,” she muttered. “They’re terrible at talking when it matters.”
Despite everything, I laughed. I guessed Mom must’ve met her Dad at the hospital since he works as a surgeon.
Mom rounded the counter, leaned down, and kissed the top of my head. “Listen. Friendships get complicated and boy crushes complicate them more. But trust your heart. If you feel something is wrong, don’t ignore it and if you like Luca, there’s nothing shameful about that.”
I looked up at her. “But what if liking him makes things worse?”
“Then you’ll face it when it happens. You’re stronger than you think, my cupcake.”
The knot inside me loosened and it was easier to breathe around. Mom returned to her pot, humming softly again. “Now. Dinner’s ready in ten minutes, so no escaping. And Aria?”
“Yeah?”
“Please tell me you’ve at least flirted with this boy.”
I choked, mortified. “Mom!”
She grinned. “I’ll take that as a no.”
Despite the confusion swirling around me—Sienna’s behaviour, Luca’s secrets, my own tangled feelings—the warmth and assurance from my Mom grounded me. And for now, that was enough.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
I loved writing this chapter because it finally gave Aria a moment to breathe and then promptly panic about her crush like any normal teenager would. Moms always seem to know everything, and calling her out so gently felt exactly right. Meanwhile Sienna’s behaviour? Yeah. Something is definitely brewing beneath the surface and Aria is starting to feel it.
Crushes, best friends, and secrets—what could possibly go wrong? Stay tuned, because things are about to get messier, sweeter, and a whole lot more complicated.
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