Dating Aaron & Other Forbidden Things - Yesenia Vargas Page 0,3

secretly happy at having Aaron next to me, my heart expanded a little at his presence.

Aaron began jogging, and I did the same, noticing how awkward I felt around him. All because of the winter dance.

Things had been so effortless between us before then. Even my friends had noticed a spark.

Now it was gone.

Or at least tampered down by my own disappointment and unmet expectations.

Silly expectations I’d been wrong to have in the first place.

Aaron began running a little faster. I increased my pace and ran a little bit ahead of him, desperate to get this run over with. Just one lap through the neighborhood and back would be enough.

In no time, he caught up, his long legs doing half the work mine were.

He wasn’t quite as tall as my brother, but he was up there. “So how come you didn’t ride home with us today?” he asked.

I kept my elbows bent, using them to help me power forward. “Practice got canceled,” I huffed. “Coach Collins went home sick so Scarlett dropped me off on her way home.”

He nodded. “Oh.”

It was then that I realized that this was our first real conversation other than hi and bye and small talk since the winter dance.

I pushed my legs to carry me faster through the neighborhood. Aaron kept up easily, just a pace or two behind me.

We passed house after house. Once in a while, a car would pass us by. I glanced at Aaron beside me. He’d been right. It was nice to not be out alone.

I continued pushing my legs and running.

All signs of daylight disappeared as the sky settled into a shade of navy blue, only a few stars scattered here and there.

My playlist came to an end, and all I could hear was the sound of our feet hitting the pavement. I loved it.

The silence but not being alone.

As we neared my house, I checked the time on my phone. By the time we finished and got back home, I’d be at three miles. Definitely enough of a workout for today.

As we approached my driveway, I slowed down to a power walk.

I focused on bringing my heart rate back down and trying to act normal instead of weird now that we weren’t busy running.

Aaron came a little closer. “Listen, Rach, I just want you to know that…I wanted to ask you to dance with me at the winter formal. It’s not that I didn’t want to.”

I stopped and turned to him, trying to decide how I felt about the way this conversation was now going. “It’s okay,” I said quickly.

“ I’m sorry,” he went on, taking a step toward me. “You don’t know how much I wanted to ask you, but then…” He looked like he wanted to say something else. “I just couldn’t.”

So I had been right.

He met my eyes, and I noticed how close we were. “I just wanted you to know I wasn’t playing games or something.”

I gave him a small nod, not sure what else to say, but also completely spellbound.

I could’ve reached out my hand easily and touched his chest again. Part of me wanted to. Part of me felt mesmerized by him.

Just like that, all of those feelings for Aaron were back.

The truth was they’d never left.

My heart pounded, and he came even closer.

Like me, he’d gone silent.

Only the sound of our breathing could be heard.

Why couldn’t I tear my eyes off of his mouth?

Just then, I heard my dad’s voice call out to me. “Rachel!”

Uh oh.

The spell was broken.

I took a step back.

Dad didn’t like it when I ran alone in the dark. He was probably wondering where I was.

“Rachel!” he called again, this time louder.

Several neighbors’ dogs began barking.

I turned back to Aaron.

I did not want my dad to find us out here, in the dark.

He would not like the fact that I’d been with Aaron this whole time, or any boy for that matter.

Teenage boys were dangerous, according to him, and honestly, he was kind of right.

“I have to go,” I said, walking away.

Aaron tried to follow me, but I held up a hand and shook my head. “I can’t. I have to go. Sorry.”

Then I ran, leaving him behind.

As I got closer and closer to home, my brain began working soundly again.

I couldn’t believe I’d let us get that close to…

I kept running.

No, the more distance between me and Aaron, the better.

3

I tapped my foot, wondering where Aaron and David were.

They were late.

I checked my phone again.

No text.

Maybe