The Trouble With Three

Chapter 4 – A "Brilliant" Idea

“Hey, Carly.”

Carly halted her conversation with a new classmate to meet the green eyes of Kevin Maguire. She was struck speechless by Kevin’s handsome face.

“I’ll…see you later, Carly,” the classmate said, realizing her time was up.

“Okay,” Carly answered.

The redhead girl walked past Kevin, but he never took his eyes off of Carly.

“I’m so sorry about yesterday, Carl.”

Carly averted her eyes and tried her best not to look so uncomfortable. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” Kevin retorted, leaning into Carly’s locker. “I could have killed you, Carly.”

“I’m okay though.”

Kevin sighed and placed his hand on Carly’s arm. “And you have no idea how happy that makes me.”

Carly tried to ignore the gesture, but it was difficult. Kevin was a grown male now, and his touch almost seemed to make the air around her feel heavier and…hotter. Instead, Carly forced herself to remember that she was on a mission to reunite her two former best friends.

“I’m glad my being alive means so much to you,” she answered earnestly.

That prompted a laugh from Kevin, and his Valley Boy white smile shone through and contrasted with his very tan skin. “You still say the weirdest things, Carl.”

Carly smiled, relieved to have killed the intensity between them. She wasn’t comfortable feeling that way around Kevin. It was too new…too weird.

“What are you doing this weekend, Carl?”

She instantly snapped out of her thoughts. “What?”

“Well…I thought that it might be a good idea to reacquaint ourselves after so long. I thought I could take you out for dinner and a movie this weekend.”

So much for suppressing those weird feelings. Carly awkwardly tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “I don’t know…

“What do you mean?” Kevin asked, leaning into her ever so slightly.

Carly was growing more and more uncomfortable with each passing second. She needed an out – a way to keep from agreeing to Kevin’s date…

“How about a picnic?”

Kevin pulled back slightly. “Huh?”

“Picnics are fun, right? We can go this Saturday…all day. Maybe even catch dinner and a movie afterwards.”

“Why go to the trouble of adding a picnic?” Kevin asked suspiciously.

Carly scrambled for an excuse. “Um…we’ll get to spend more time together. And…we can, you know, ride bikes and do fun stuff like that.”

Kevin looked averse to the whole idea, so all Carly could do at this point was hope.

“Okay.”

She sighed inwardly.

“What time should I pick you up?”

“Um…let’s just meet at the park next to the school at noon, okay?”

Kevin nodded. “Do you want me to bring anything?”

“How about a soccer ball or something?”

“Sure,” he answered. Kevin playfully chucked Carly beneath her chin and smirked.

“I’m glad you’re back, Carly.”

“Me too,” Carly answered shakily.

Kevin smiled at her once more before turning around and walking away.

****

“Kevin will kill you.”

Carly licked peanut butter from her fingers and set the second slice of bread for the final PB and banana sandwich she had made for Kevin and Aaron; it had been their favorites when they were kids. She looked over at Eden, who was putting the finishing touches to their salad.

“He won’t know until it’s too late,” Carly answered. She opened the oven door and checked on the batch of pasta she had baked. “And if I know Kevin, he’s not going to back out once he finds out that Aaron will be there.”

“Aaron won’t leave, will he?” Eden asked, as she continued to toss the salad.

“Nope,” Carly answered, turning her oven off and pulling the pasta out. “He’s just as competitive as Kevin, ‘cept Aaron won’t show it.”

Eden turned to Carly and placed her hands on her hips. “I still don’t get how those two used to be friends.”

Carly shrugged. “In a way, I guess kids are sometimes more civil than adults.”

“How were they as kids?”

“Well…Kevin was a trouble-maker, and Aaron was a sweetheart.”

“Ah,” Eden answered, “so basically, nothing’s changed.”

“They’re both taller now,” Carly offered. Eden smiled. Carly was so thankful that Eden was able to attend the picnic as well. Eden had complained her heart out about Kevin after their rough game of dodge ball, but despite her hatred of Kevin, Eden had still agreed to come with.

“So…” Eden began with mischief in her voice “…who did you like better?”

“What?” Carly shrieked in disbelief. “No, Eden! I loved them both the same!”

Eden shook her head. “That’s bull, Carly. Everyone has to have a favorite.”

“Well, I don’t,” Carly insisted while she transferred the pasta to Tupperware. “I still love them the same.”

Eden ignored Carly and tapped her temple in deep thought. “My guess is that you thought Kevin was cuter, but you got along better with Aaron.”

Not exactly, Carly thought to herself…although that’s pretty damn close. Kevin was the better looking of the two, but Aaron was by no means homely. And Carly definitely got along with Kevin…although Aaron was a better listener and a bit more of a gentleman than Kevin was. Carly wasn’t in any hurry to share these thoughts with Eden though.

Instead of owning up to the semi-truth of Eden’s statement, Carly turned her nose up into the air and blatantly disagreed. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”

“Uh-huh,” Eden answered with skepticism in her voice.

Carly cleared her throat in an attempt to change the subject. “Anyway, thanks for coming with. I could really use your company.”

Eden smiled. “No problem. I love picnics…especially ones where I don’t have to cook anything myself.” Eden paused before continuing. “And call me awful…but I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they see each other.”

****

Aaron felt like such a girl for being so excited about his little Saturday excursion with Carly. Maybe her little picnic might actually count as a date. Maybe inviting him had been Carly’s way of initiating a date. Aaron didn’t care to be overly picky. The fact was Aaron was going to see Carly again out of school, and that was what mattered the most.

Aaron grabbed his guitar from the backseat of his Jeep. As dorky as it sounded to bring an instrument on a picnic, Aaron was looking to play some songs he had been working on for Carly. Okay, what he really wanted to do was to show off in front of her. Aaron knew that Carly would be impressed to see how far he had come talent-wise. He’d dabbled in music back before she left, mostly focusing on school and swimming. But he didn’t swim competitively anymore, and even though he was mostly bogged down by his shitload of homework, Aaron always had a spare moment to play on his guitar. Aaron grabbed his guitar and slammed his Jeep door shut when he felt a warm presence creeping up on him.

“What are you doing here?”

Aaron turned and came face-to-face with Kevin. Kevin was wearing a sleeveless basketball shirt and black running shorts, both of which showcased his overly muscled arms and legs. Aaron regarded Kevin with equal disdain.

“This is a public park,” Aaron answered.

Kevin stared at Aaron’s guitar with a look of disgust on his face. “Are you going to be singing folk songs to a group of kids or something?”

Aaron clenched his jaw; he didn’t have a good comeback really, and he really didn’t want to start this with Kevin right now. Aaron did notice that Kevin’s blonde hair was spiked up in the middle like some gay porn star’s. It bugged the crap out of Aaron when supposedly masculine men did that. Aaron was sorely tempted to reach forward and flatten it with his hand. He was tempted, but Aaron was pretty good about resisting that which would come to bite him in the ass later. “No,” he answered Kevin’s earlier question sternly. Aaron caught sight of the football that Kevin had tucked in the crook of his arm. “Here to play by yourself?”

“Uh, no,” Kevin answered. “Hate to break it to you, but I’m sort of meeting up with Carly here today. I thought we could play some ball for old time’s sake. So, if you don’t mind disappearing right about now…” Kevin paused. His blue eyes were drawn to something behind Aaron. “Oh shit.”

Aaron turned abruptly and found an unfamiliar red Volkswagen Beetle pulling into the parking lot. He looked a little more closely to identify the driver as…Eden Halliwell?

“Hey!” Carly cried out, waving out of the passenger side window. “You guys made it!”

Aaron was confused. What was going on?

Just then, Carly and Eden both exited the vehicle and walked toward the trunk. The two of them lugged a huge picnic basket out of the back seat. At that very moment, Aaron experienced a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. This wasn’t a date after all. It was an actual fucking picnic.

****

Kevin groaned inwardly. He thought his day had been effectively ruined once he saw Aaron Holt at the same park where he was supposed to meet Carly for their Saturday picnic. But then, Kevin had caught sight of Eden Halliwell accompanying Carly – picnic basket in tow – and his mood went from a foul gray to a hopeless black.

As Carly and Eden approached, Kevin was torn between staying and leaving. Of course he wanted to see Carly again on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, but the idea of spending that same beautiful Saturday afternoon with the two people he least wanted to be around was enough to make him sick to his stomach.

Now Kevin understood that by “picnic,” Carly had actually meant picnic. With Eden’s help, the pair was hauling a huge basket towards Aaron and himself. Kevin remembered how much he disliked Eden – who, it seemed, hadn’t even told Carly about his act of honor a few nights before – and his blackened mood returned.

As Carly and Eden came closer, Aaron – that ass-kissing prick – walked out and pried the basket away from both girls. He carried the whole thing by himself. Eden looked as if she was about to swoon. Kevin rolled his eyes. If Aaron could lift the basket, then Kevin, himself, could pull it up with his pinkie finger – no sweat. But, as usual, Aaron had beaten Kevin to it, and in the process, made the latter look like a complete asshole.

“Where do you want this, girls?”

“How about over there?” Carly suggested, pointing to a shaded spot beneath a tall elm. It was a nice spot about twenty feet away from where the group was currently gathered near the parking lot. Aaron nodded his head and lugged the monstrosity of a picnic basket before everyone else. Eden tagged behind him, offering to help every so often. Carly followed, but Kevin grabbed her arm before she got too far and pulled her back.

“What’s going on, Carly?”

She looked all innocent, but Kevin hadn’t been best friends with this girl for so many years without learning a few things. Kevin knew Carly could fake oblivious even when she was fully aware of the situation. He continued to stare into those violet eyes of hers to prove his point, and she eventually caved, like he knew she would.

“It’s a picnic, Kev.”

“Yeah, no shit. What’s he doing here?” Kevin demanded.

“We’re all friends here, Kevin.”

“No, we are all not,” Kevin answered, shaking his head. “Aaron Holt is not my friend. Eden Halliwell is definitely not my friend.”

“Well, I’m you friend, right?” Carly asked.

“Yes, but –

“And don’t friends do nice things for one another?”

Kevin gritted his teeth. “You missing the point, sweetheart.”

“Let’s just do this, Kevin. We’re all already here, and…I just don’t want to deal with all this right now.”

Kevin was tempted to argue with her, but Aaron fucking Holt had already made Kevin look like an ass once today. Kevin didn’t want to be the bad guy in Carly’s eyes. Instead, he swallowed his pride and nodded, albeit reluctantly.

Carly immediately turned and jogged over to the spot where Aaron and Eden had begun setting up camp. Kevin slowly followed. As he watched Aaron extend a hand toward Carly to help seat her on the picnic blanket, Kevin realized that bringing his football might not have been such a dumb idea after all.

Because he wanted to aim it straight for Aaron’s head.

****

“So when did you guys become friends?” Eden asked with her mouth full of pasta.

Aaron regarded Kevin dubiously. Kevin was not his friend.

“The beginning of second grade,” Carly answered before either Kevin or he could protest. “I had just arrived in Davenport from Cali the first time, and I didn’t have any friends here yet.” Carly looked away off toward the lake, as if she was in deep thought. Aaron thought Carly always looked the most beautiful when she thought no one was watching and was just being…Carly.

“Carly and I didn’t get along at first,” Kevin spoke up.

Carly’s snapped her head back forward, and to Aaron’s surprise, she laughed. “I’ll say!”

“She’s was just so goddamn positive all the time,” Kevin complained. “I hated that!”

“So what made you change you mind?” Eden inquired.

Kevin paused. “I got to know Carly better, and she was a great person.”

Eden snorted in disbelief, prompting a scowl to form on Kevin’s face.

“Eden!” Carly cried out. “Be nice!”

“You don’t actually believe that, do you?” Eden asked.

Carly thought about it for a second. “Of c-course I do,” she answered, now sounding unsure. “I mean…it’s the truth, right Kevin?”

“Damn straight.”

Aaron just stared at the ground. He didn’t believe Kevin either, but that was only because he knew the truth. And if he told the truth to Carly, then he’d be in just as much trouble as Kevin.

“Is it true, Aaron?” Eden asked with a mischievous arch of her eyebrow.

Aaron’s head snapped up. Uh-oh. Kevin sent a warning glance in his direction. Not that Aaron really cared whether he ruined Kevin’s credibility or not, but he really didn’t want to talk about the stupid things he had done when he had been eight years old. This would definitely rank high among the stupid things he had done in all his seventeen years.

“Aaron?” Carly repeated.

Aaron was fully aware that there was a difference between withholding the truth from Carly and outright lying to her. He feared that neither option would make him much of a friend to her, and after six years, he owed her more than that.

“Not exactly,” he answered quietly.

Carly’s eyes widened, while Eden’s jaw dropped. Aaron stole a quick glance at Kevin whose own jaw noticeably tightened.

“Wh-what do you mean n-not exactly?”

Carly’s violet eyes glistened with inquiry, and Aaron didn’t have the heart – or the courage – to keep this from her any longer.

“I paid Kevin.”

Eden gasped, but Carly and Kevin remained silent. Kevin regarded Carly with worry in his eyes, and even though it had mostly been Kevin’s fault for being so materialistic, Aaron couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the guy.

“Carly?” Aaron ventured. “Are you okay?”

“How much did you pay Kevin?”

Aaron gulped. “Five dollars.”

Carly lifted her violet eyes to meet Aaron’s gray ones. A smile finally crept across her features, and she turned to face Kevin.

“Oh, you definitely got a good deal, Kevin Maguire!”

****