A Beautiful Fate by Unknown Page A

relieved.
    “Well, I’ve been in here the whole time,” Lauren said with a cute, playful grin on her face.
    Ari smiled back at her and rolled his eyes. He put out his hand and wiggled his fingers, waiting for me to grab on so he could pull me off the floor. I hesitated for a moment and then put my hand in his, feeling the warm delightful tingle all through my body. He pulled me up with ease, standing me up right next to him. We were so close to each other that I could hear his heartbeat. Then the disturbing thought came to me that if I could hear his heart, he could probably hear mine, and at the moment mine was racing. Lauren cleared her throat and I stepped away a bit, feeling embarrassed, as his sister started showing off her new costume.
    I had to admit the butterfly wings were pretty awesome. Ari gave his approval and then led me out of the room.
    We headed into the living room, which was huge and full of people. I was struck again by the size of the space and by the fact that one entire wall was of glass. Windows that reached up into the vaulted ceiling allowed an unblocked view of the ocean. A baby grand was tucked into one corner of the room and I pointed to it.
    “Do you play?” I asked Ari curiously.
    “Ha, no way! None of us can play.” He answered with a laugh. “It’s just for looks, sort of pathetic actually.”
    “I heard that, Ari,” Aggie said from behind us, holding her hands on her hips. “That piano belonged to a dear friend of ours – he left it to us when he passed.” Aggie frowned at the thought. “Ava, why don’t you play something for us? Ari told me you were very talented.”
    Looking around the packed room full of new faces, I shook my head. “Uh, maybe another time; playing is kind of a personal thing for me. I don’t really play for other people too much.”
    My statement brought a small smile to Ari’s face. Admitting my shyness aloud made me feel incredibly foolish and I wished I had not mentioned the piano at all.
    Rory walked into the room and saw me for the first time. He walked across the sea of people and put his hand on my elbow.
    “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.
    Excusing myself from the group, I followed him out of the living room, through the kitchen and out onto the deck. We took a seat on one of the wraparound outside couches by the fireplace.
    “Ava,” he started then stopped again, taking a deep breath. “I am so sorry about last night. Seriously, I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
    I let out a small laugh; clearly, Rory was distraught about his behavior of the previous evening. I had never seen him look so down.
    “Forget about it, Rory,” I said with a smile as I bumped his shoulder with mine. “You don’t have anything to apologize for; it’s totally fine.”
    He ran his fingers through his short hair.
    “No, Ava, it’s not. I really like you a lot and I don’t know what happened. I’m such an idiot.”
    The conversation was making me feel super uncomfortable; I squirmed in my seat, took a deep breath, and then turned back to him.
    “Rory, listen, I like you, but… I don’t think I share the same kind of feelings that you do. You have been my friend since I’ve been here. No one has been as welcoming and as nice to me as you have. You make me laugh, and you do such a good job at being yourself that it makes it easier for me to be myself. If that even makes sense. Anyway, you’re my friend and I don’t ever want to jeopardize that.”
    “Yeah, ok, I understand,” Rory said, as a flash of relief came over me. “Are we cool?”
    “Definitely,” I answered nodding my head. We stood up and started to walk back inside, Rory paused and turned back towards me.
    “So what are you doing here anyway?”
    “Err... umm...” I paused, unsure of what direction my answer should take.
    “Lauren wanted me to help her with her costume.” Okay, I gave him a partial truth and felt a little guilty leaving some stuff out, but Rory