Theatre Geek - (R.B.) - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

JULIA TOOK a sip of the drink that Aaron had been kind enough to bring her the morning after the party. She had woken up that day to the sunlight literally blinding her eyes. What followed after was a sharp pain which shot through her head. Her throat felt dry and her head was throbbing uncontrollably. And it was at that moment that she knew two things: one, she was experiencing the side-affects of a hangover.
And two, she was officially the worst date ever.
Anyway, after she had managed to somehow control her hangover, courtesy of the drink, she decided to let Aaron stay over for breakfast because her aunt wasn't at home because she had an early shift at the hospital that day. Plus, in the utterly infatuated way the woman was speaking to Julia that morning about him, she knew it would be okay to invite him.
"I bet I went completely crazy last night..."
"Actually, it was kind of funny," a familiar voice interjected from her right, and she turned to see Aaron plopping down into the seat next to her on the dining table, taking a bite of his toast nonchalantly.
She sighed, rubbing her forehead as she gave him an apologetic glance. "Um, what exactly happened last night? Please tell me I didn't end up throwing up in front of anyone."
He shook his head, chuckling a little. "Don't worry, Lo—Lia. I took you back to your home before you did anything too drastic."
Julia raised her eyebrows in surprise, taking in what he'd just said. He had taken her back to her house? Gosh, she didn't remember a thing, but it made sense now that she'd woken up in her bed, without any recollection of how she'd got there. She had to admit, that was quite sweet of him. Now that she thought about it, it suddenly struck her how in the few weeks she'd known him, Aaron was pretty much always there to look after her when she needed it. It made her wonder if he actually genuinely cared for her, in his own infuriating way, of course.
He furrowed his brows, giving her a questioning look. "So...you really don't remember?"
She shrugged, waving her hand vaguely. "Not really, Just bits and pieces, it's all very hazy, though."
He seemed hesitant. "So, you really don't remember saying anything in particular? Anything specific?"
"No...why?" She bit her lip, getting slightly worried. "Did I say something weird?"
"Nothing," he said hastily, his expression unreadable as he turned his attention down towards his breakfast. He seemed to be mentally debating something, but in the end, he decided against it and stayed silent. Julia raised an eyebrow, wondering why he seemed so distant all of a sudden, but she resolved not to ask.
Aaron, on the other hand, felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach. He should've expected it, really. It wasn't surprising that she didn't remember admitting her feelings to him, she hadn't even known what she was saying at the time. People tended to blurt out ridiculous things under the influence of alcohol, and she probably hadn't even meant it. After all, why would she ever admit to having feelings for him? The mere idea that such a sweet and kind-hearted Julia Baker would reciprocate his affections towards her was unthinkable. He'd been an idiot for getting his hopes up for nothing.
A slight nudge on his shoulder brought him out of his self-pity. "You okay?" Julia inquired curiously, biting her lip out of habit. "You look a little shaken."
He nodded quickly, trying to muster a convincing smile. "I'm fine."
"Many of you, if not all of you may be wondering why we've gathered you here today, that too on such short notice."
Principal Gutierrez studied the large audience of students who sat on the bleachers, noticing how some held clear expressions of boredom, while others had somehow fallen asleep in the few minutes they'd been in the gymnasium. "Ms. Crawford, please continue."
As he stepped back and sat down in his designated seat beside the rest of the school's staff and faculty, another woman who's known as the P.E teacher, Ms. Crawford came up to the podium, holding a stiff look on her otherwise aging face. "I'll make this quick, seeing how uninterested some of you look right now," she started almost immediately. "We'll be holding our annual junior and senior student ski trip sometime in the coming weeks. It's a weekend trip, we leave on a Friday morning and return on Sunday evening. The rest of the information will be provided to you upon registration."
Unsurprisingly, after those sentences were said, the teacher had gained the attention of every student in the room. Audible murmurs of excitement were heard in the audience and a few questioning hands were also raised. When the volume in the room had raised considerably, the principal called out for everyone to be quiet and listen for further instructions.
"Before any of you get too excited, I must advise you that there are a limited number of spots available, which means first come, first served," she continued, smirking slightly at the way a few students had slumped further down their seats in defeat. "Sign-up starts at lunch tomorrow in the Wellness Center. That is all."
Upon farewell, the students began to exit out of the gymnasium, loud chatters were heard as the door had opened up and kids went to their respective classrooms. Julia too was one of them, alongside Nini, who looked more ecstatic than ever. The girls were on their way to their English Literature class, and the room being two-stories up, Nini decided to start a conversation.
"Are you going to go?" Nini asked, her eyes filled with the kind of daze one only had when they were busy daydreaming about something.
"I might," Julia shrugged, holding tightly onto her textbook. "And—" before she could continue her sentence, she had unknowingly collided with another body, causing her to drop her books to the ground. Glancing up, she sighed in relief when Aaron was the person. He too had dropped his round reading glasses, so he was too busy trying to locate those than to notice who he had bumped into.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, his gaze focused on the crowded floor, with his hands moving around to try and find what had fallen off his face. Finally seeing it, he picked up his specs but frowned because there was an evident crack going through the glass. well, he thought sourly. I was in need of new ones anyway.
"Oh no," Julia mumbled out, examining the broken frames. "I — I can pay for that."
Aaron chuckled light-heartedly, glancing up to see her. He wondered about the odds of bumping into her. Had she perhaps been returning from the assembly too, or was it just his mind playing games with him? Still, though, by seeing the way her face had dropped, he knew he had to say something quickly before she got the wrong idea. "Yeah, uh, it's fine!" He told her, covering the glasses underneath his shirt to prevent her from seeing them again.
She raised her eyebrows in surprise and suspicion. "I just broke your glasses, how're you okay with this?"
"Don't worry about it," he advised casually, standing up from his crouched position on the floor and lending a hand to her, and when she hesitatingly took it, he brought her up as well. "I've got to buy new ones, anyway. I guess I kind of just needed an excuse to get rid of 'em."
He could tell that the worry she felt earlier had subsided a little, but her nerves were still there. He offered to drop her to her class, seeing as Nini had secretly walked away to give (what he hoped was) some time alone to them.
The halls were starting to empty out, with the exception of a couple of students who were still lingering around by their lockers. "So, were you at the assembly just now?" He asked, his hands tucked into his jean pockets out of habit.
Julia nodded, smiling up at him.
"Are you — I mean, are you interested in going?"
"I think I might," she answered, thankful that she had decided to put her books inside of her backpack instead of carrying them all the way. "It sounds like a lot of fun." Noticing the somewhat awkward pause in their conversation, she glanced up at him before shifting her gaze back to the hall ahead of her. "Are you?"
Aaron was practically grinning from ear-to-ear as if he was waiting for someone to ask him the question. He nodded eagerly, "Yeah, I am. Didn't go last year but the boys had managed to convince me while we were inside."
Ricky waited impatiently in line, with Red standing one ahead of him. Turns out, sometime in the last few days, he had overheard from someone that Julia has signed up and gotten a spot for the ski trip. So, him being himself, couldn't let the opportunity go to waste. Seeing how Red already had an interest in the event ever since last year, they had both sprinted off to the Wellness room to sign up, with the intention of grabbing any last-minute seats.
The line to the registrations was long, to say the least. He'd been standing there for almost the entire lunch period, and he was admittedly beginning to feel a bit hungry. The fact that he had physics next wasn't helping his case, as in order to focus, you needed to have had some food beforehand. Or 'brain power' as Mr. Mazzara once said.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been pondering until he looked up from his examining gaze from the floor and saw that he was next in line. Walking up, he picked up a pen from the desk and readied to sign the enrolment papers, but was caught off guard when there was no pile of papers insight. In fact, the woman behind the desk had a somber expression on her face.
"We're out of spots," she then said, frowning at him in pity.
He parted his mouth in surprise. "What?" he questioned disbelievingly. "How? You had like a million spots just yesterday."
"These things fill up fast," she shrugged. "It's a popular event."
Seeing as he wasn't necessarily going to take 'no' for an answer, the woman sighed and took out another slip of paper from under her desk, scribbling on a few words on the top of it. "I can put you on the waitlist? First in line, and if someone opts-out, you'll be the first—"
"Heck, yeah!" he almost shouted, jotting down his name and contact information, clicking the pen shut right after. He really hoped to get a spot, seeing as it was the only other option he possibly had on impressing Julia. Scratch that, was she really the reason why he was going through all of this trouble? Maybe he just wanted to get out for a bit, to pry away from the exhausting reality which was school. And what better way to do that than by signing up for the ski trip? A bonus, Nini would be there too...