A knock sounded at the door and Ariana was in the kitchen preparing lunch. Calhoun was in his studies working on some papers. None of them heard it the first time. Until who ever was there knocked for a second time.
"I am coming!" Ariana called as she walked out of the kitchen to the door. She checked the peephole and saw that it was Lisa.
She smiled and pulled the door open for her friend. "Lisa! I am so happy to see you!" She exclaimed, pulling her into her arms.
"I am happy to see you out of that hell baby girl!" She said with a smile of her own. "How are you?"
"I am doing great. Please come in," Ariana urged her.
They both walked to the living room and Lisa took a seat for herself. "I am so happy for you baby girl. Do you know I have been having nightmares all this while?"
Ariana laughed as she knew how dramatic Lisa could be. "Really? Lisa, you are such a drama queen! How would you have nightmares because of me?"
"Thats where you get it wrong, Aria. I didn't get nightmares because of you, I got them because you were staying at the Lawsons' house!" She exclaimed and they both burst out in laughter.
"Lisa!"
"I am being real though. It got worse when I heard Sofia even moved in. What were they thinking?" She cried out.
"They don't want me to be with Calhoun. It's what they have been screaming from the very beginning," I told her.
"Hmmm, what a bunch of losers..." she said.
But Ariana could hear something in her voice. Lisa wasn't entirely open. She kept looking around the house as if trying to remember her next words from a script.
"Lisa is something wrong?" Aria asked her.
Lisa was her best friend. They had been through so much together. There was nothing Lisa had been feeling reluctant to tell Ariana about. They were really that close.
"Oh, no..." she trailed off. "Is Calhoun around?" She whispered.
Ariana narrowed her eyes at Lisa as her question made zero sense. Why was she asking that?
"Is there a problem?" Aria asked her.
Lisa hissed and slapped a hand to her forehead. "There is no problem. I just need to know if Calhoun is around because there is something I need to tell you..." she said.
Ariana wanted to know what Lisa was about to say. Calhoun was in the house but telling Lisa this would make her not want to talk anymore and she needed to hear this, which was disturbing her friend. And besides, Calhoun probably wouldn't step out of his studies until an hour when he had finished all his work.
"He isnt home. What is it?" Aria asked her.
"Okay," Lisa said with relief.
She suddenly got up from the couch and moved to the door. Ariana watched her with furrowed brows. Lisa got to the door and she unlocked it. She popped her head outside and ushered someone in. At this point, Ariana got up to see who it was Lisa had brought to her.
It was none other than Ethan.
"Good evening, Aria," he said in a low voice.
Ariana's eyes were almost spilling to the ground. She turned to stare at Lisa. This was a betrayal!
Lisa knew how much Ariana had tried to get away from Ethan at her old apartment. She knew how far Ethan had gone with her parents, which even brought her more trouble than she could count. Now she brought him here?
"Lisa!" Ariana exclaimed as her emotions overran themselves in her head. She didn't know what to think. The last time Lisa had come back to her back at the Lawsons, she was advocating for Ethan and now she was doing that.
"Aria, do not blame her. It is all my—"
"You hold your breath! I do not even want to hear a word from you!" She snapped at him. The last thing she needed was to complicate things with Calhoun and that was exactly what Lisa was trying to do.
"I am sorry Ariana. I just had to bring him here for humanity's sake. I couldn't refuse him," Lisa said, lowering her head.
Ariana could not believe her ears. "You did what?" She asked in shock. "What humanity? Lisa, what have you done?" Ariana felt her heart slice into halves at the betrayal. She had thought Lisa wasn't like Sofia and she would always have her interest at heart, but why would she do that?
"Just hear me out and I promise never to show my face again," Ethan put in.
Ariana felt like a volcano of anger was brewing within him. Ethan had dared speak to her again.
"At this instant, I want you out of here!" Aria snapped at him. "How dare you come here after everything you've done to me? Have you had enough?" She yelled at him.
"Please hear him out first... please," she pleaded instead.
"Hear him out?" Aria squeaked, turning to face Lisa. "You are seriously asking me that? Lisa, I trusted you and you decided to sell your trust to him?" She asked, stretching her hand toward Ethan.
"Ariana, I promise it isn't what you think. He isn't here to cause trouble. He promised me that," Lisa countered. "I anything that could hurt you. I promise to just hear him out."
"He promised you that he would cause no trouble and you believed him? Lisa!" Ariana could not believe that Lisa had fallen for Ethan's sweet tongue. "He promised he would marry me and guess what? I found him in bed with Sofia!"
"He promised he would get out of my life and then you want to know what he did next? He went on to my parent's house and tried to kill himself! He is crazy! Lisa, why would you listen to a crazy person and bring him to my house? What did he give to you to make you think he had changed?"
Ethan went down on his knees and Ariana sharply turned to glare at him. "What do you think you are doing?"