Chapter 4

Aria’s POV

“I’m fine, really. I can go to school.” I told Zach who snuck in through my window while I was sleeping.

“Okay, I just want to make sure you’re ready, you just got out of the hospital yesterday.” He said.

To be honest, going to school sounds a lot better than staying in this house, that woman, who I refuse now to call my mother, is a devil.

“Stick close to me, Aria, I’ll help you get adjusted to your classes and to your life. It’ll be fine.”

I wanted to refuse his help but to be fair I could use the help navigating the hallways and finding my classrooms. “Fine, just get out of here so I can get dressed.” I shoved him back out the window and looked into my closet.

The funny thing is, nothing about this house screams abuse, and I noticed THAT woman’s behavior was extremely different around others. To the eyes of a stranger, she was a doting, caring mother. Even my room seemed well stocked with clothes and essentials. However, when no one was watching, she was an abusive monster.

I walked to my closet and dug through before I found a black dress with black heels.I got dressed then completed my look with curling my hair. I had looked through all the pictures I had on my phone, and this wasn’t my usual look, but it felt right. Also, I had an obscene number of photos of Zach and I which made a knot twist in my stomach that I didn’t understand. So, we were good friends apparently. If there was something more between us, it would’ve happened by now I’m certain, so I immediately pushed those thoughts out of my head. He looked like an angel, and I was pretty plain, though I felt like I put my thought into my appearance today than I normally did. I straightened my dress with shaky hands and tucked my hair behind my ears, a habit I’ve noticed I do when I’m nervous.

I forced one foot in front of the other through the front door and went outside to try and figure out where Zach went.

“Hey, princess. I heard you were out of the hospital.” A low, masculine voice called out from my right side.

My hand flew to my chest, as I whirled to look and gasped, “oh my god, you scared me!”

The tall, dark-haired guy let out a low chuckle, “this is a good look for you.” He stalked towards me and pulled on a curl before leaning down to my ear.

His breath tickled me as he whispered huskily, “let your hair down more, princess. It’s super sexy.”

I pushed him away and felt the same static shock I did with Zach in the hospital but where Zach had no emotion, this guy smirked, “I knew it.”

“Knew what?” I whispered.

“You’re ours.” He growled out in a low tone as I shivered.

As I opened my mouth to ask more questions, I was startled by Zach’s sudden appearance next to us.

“Dude, what the fuck? Why are you at Aria’s house?” Zach pushed the the guy causing him to laugh.

“I was just re-introducing myself to Aria, she lost her memories, right?” He gave a lopsided grin and winked at me.

“Except I don’t know your name.” I muttered.

“Finn, don’t forget it princess.” He licked his luscious lips and walked away backwards with a wave, “see you at school.”

Zach reached out as if to grab my hand and then suddenly pulled it away, “come on, Aria.”

I turned to look where Finn went but he was gone in the wind. With a shrug, I pulled my backpack off and climbed into Zach’s car.

“Look, you may not remember, but you and Finn are not friends, he’s not good for you. It’s best that you don’t talk to him.” Zach told me.

I crossed my arms under my chest, bringing Zach’s eyes to the movement before he gulped and looked back at the road, “I don’t know you, and I don’t appreciate you bossing me around.”

Hurt flashed in his eyes before he rubbed his face, “I’m sorry. I’m just looking out for you. I’ve always wanted what’s best for you and I still do. No malicious intent, Aria.”

“I can look after myself.” I argued. After all, I deal with that crazy woman on a daily basis. What’s a harmless teenage boy in comparison?

“Okay fine, so you don’t need me to show you to your classes?” He grinned.

I grimaced, “maybe I do. But you don’t get to boss me around, okay?”

“Fine, whatever you want. I’m sorry I climbed in through your window. Old habits die hard and I missed you.” He admitted softy.

My posture slackened and I felt a little bad that I had been treating him like a stranger but that’s exactly what he was to me, a stranger. I still couldn’t wrap my head around the memory loss and all these unfamiliar faces and places.

“It’s okay,” I finally told him as we pulled up to the school and parked next to a red Lamborghini with Finn leaning against it.

“Show off with his fast-ass car.” Zach muttered as he got out.

I opened my door and stood awkwardly next to Zach while he did some bro-handshake with another tall guy with brown hair and brown eyes and greeted him, “what’s up Marcus?”

Marcus looked at me and turned his head before saying with a reluctant huff, “glad to see you in one-piece short stuff.”

“I’ll have you know that just because you’re a giant that doesn’t make me short.” I grumbled.

“Maybe I should start calling you firecracker instead.” He let out a deep laugh and slapped Finn on the back before they both walked away.

“Ignore those two idiots if you can. If Marcus is harsh to you, it’s just his personality, don’t take it personal.” Zach told me with a sigh.

I rolled my eyes and followed him inside where he led me to my locker and inputted my code with a grin. I stared blankly inside and waited for him to point me in the right direction of what I needed but he seemed to be distracted looking over me. I turned and a slim, blonde girl approached us and dragged her nails down Zach’s arm.

“Zach, I thought you dropped this…loser.” She purred at him in a sickly, sweet voice.

With a scoff, I slammed the locker shut and stomped away. I didn’t know where I was going but I felt the need to get away from the blonde Barbie that was staking her claim on Zach. My heart twisted in my chest, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The scene continued to replay in my mind, but I didn’t understand why I was hyper-fixated on what just happened.

“Aria!” I heard Zach yelling from behind me.

A strong hand landed on my shoulder, bringing with it the static shock, and twirled me around, “Aria, Wendy didn’t mean anything by it, she was just messing with you.”

“Ha, just messing? You think I’m stupid? If that’s how you treat me as your supposed best friend, then maybe we shouldn’t be friends anymore.” I whisper yelled at him so I wouldn’t cause a scene in the middle of the hall.

“Come on, Aria, you know me, you know I would never hurt you.” He replied.

“Correction, I knew you. This version of me doesn’t know you. I only know what I see in front of me. When you get this figured out with this Wendy chick, I’m sure I’ll be around. But I will not be bullied by your girlfriend.” I whirled around and Zach let out a sigh behind me.

“She’s not my girlfriend. Now let’s go the other way because you’re walking away from your first class.” My face turned red in anger, but I knew when to admit defeat. Without Zach here, I wouldn’t be able to find my classes.

“Fine. Let’s go.”