The Trouble With Three

A/N: Sniffle...where are all my readers?

Chapter 7 – Point of No Return

“A little more to the left!” Eden called out.

Carly and her classmate, Dean Allen, moved the huge homecoming banner to their left.

“My left!” Eden added.

Dean rolled his eyes, and Carly laughed. She was so glad that she had joined the homecoming committee, even if it meant that she had to arrive at school an hour earlier to get the decorations up. She had made a lot of new friends in just a little over a month. Furthermore, her schedule was becoming jam-packed, so she didn’t have to spend time thinking about that which she’d rather not be thinking about.

The homecoming game was on Friday night, and Kevin had asked Carly to the game. How was she supposed to decline that request? If the game was on Friday night; that meant that the dance was on Saturday night. Five more days until the dance – until her “date” with Kevin.

It had been more than a month since Kevin had asked her to accompany him, and Carly was doing her part to avoid being caught alone with either Aaron or Kevin since then. It was difficult though. They were both her dearest friends, and she hated being separated from them. But this was important. Carly wasn’t going to give up on her dream to unite Aaron and Kevin…not now.

After tacking the sign up, Carly and Dean moved back to observe their handiwork.

“Looks good,” Dean commented.

“Your side’s a little crooked, Dean,” Eden responded cocking her head to one side.

“I give up!” Dean exclaimed, running his hand wildly through his mess of brown hair.

Carly began to giggle when she felt a warm, hard body press up behind her. Strong arms hugged her in. She abruptly turned her head around.

It was Kevin.

“Hey, Carly.”

“O-oh. H-hi, Kevin,” Carly stammered out. His wasn’t letting go.

He kept his eyes glued on the banner but lowered his head until his mouth was next to her ear. “Did you make that for me?”

“It’s for the entire school, Kevin,” Carly answered through a grin.

“But this school is all about its football team, isn’t it?”

Carly rolled her eyes, pulled out of Kevin’s grasp, and turned to face him. “Still as cocky as ev –

“Morning, Carly.”

Oh, Jesus. Kevin turned around and merely grinned when he saw Aaron standing behind him. Carly could’ve died. Aaron had seen everything just now – not the best start to reuniting The Three Musketeers of Davenport.

“H-hi, Aaron,” Carly answered meekly.

“Hey, Aaron,” Kevin greeted with a smirk on his face.

Aaron nodded back in acknowledgement but didn’t say anything in response to Kevin’s smug greeting. He glanced back at Carly once more before turning to walk down the hallway. Kevin placed a quick peck on Carly’s cheek before, he too, disappeared down the hallway – only in the opposite direction. It was a sad metaphor for their relationship right now, and Carly was beginning to realize how much more difficult this was going to be than she had originally intended.

****

“Asshole,” Aaron mumbled to himself. He honestly didn’t know if he was referring to Kevin or himself. It had been almost an entire month since Aaron had vowed to share his feelings with Carly. But every single time he had attempted to try, he chickened out. It didn’t help that Carly seemed to prevent any further one-on-one engagements with him.

Now, Kevin fucking Maguire was honing in on what he felt was rightfully his, and Aaron couldn’t help but feel that it was all his own fault. As long as he stood by doing nothing, Kevin was going to continue asserting some sort of possessive control of Carly.

“Aaron!”

Aaron was already halfway toward his chemistry class when he heard the voice behind him. He turned to find Eden sprinting down the hallway at full speed. Today, her chestnut brown hair was kept down, so as she raced toward him, it flowed in a long wave behind her. She looked very pretty.

“Aaron!” she repeated as she stopped before him.

“Hey, Eden,” he answered.

“Um…how are you today?” she asked awkwardly.

“Fine,” he lied.

“That’s great. Um…do you have a date for the dance yet?”

Uh-oh. No, Aaron didn’t, but since he wasn’t going to be able to go with Carly, he really wasn’t in the mood to be going with anyone. How was he supposed to let Eden know that without hurting her feelings?

“I’m…uh, going to visit my…cousin this weekend actually.” That’s the best you can do, asshole?

“Oh,” Eden answered, looking visibly wounded. “Okay then.”

Without another word, Eden turned and walked in the opposite direction. Aaron couldn’t bear recalling how she had looked just now. He didn’t want to mislead Eden, but his lie had been so blatantly obvious that Eden had been hurt by it anyway.

Aaron wanted to scream. Carly Brooks’s return to Davenport should have been a reason to celebrate, but in reality, her return was causing him nothing but pain and anguish. And more than anything else, Aaron felt like it was too late to change anything at all.

****

Kevin almost had her. He knew it.

If you had asked him a month ago if he had a chance with Carly, Kevin wouldn’t have been so sure. But now – a few days before homecoming – he was fairly certain that Carly would be entirely his. He didn’t mean to sound like such a possessive alpha male, but Carly Brooks meant the world to him, and if he had her within arm’s reach…there was no way he was going to pull back.

Kevin high-fived his classmate in the hallway before heading toward his first-hour English class. It was a pretty sure thing that they were going to defeat their cross-town football rivals for the simple reason that they rocked and their competitors sucked. So, the homecoming game wasn’t even a forethought in Kevin’s mind. Of course, most of his concentration was devoted to nabbing and retaining the girl of his dreams.

All Kevin had to do was make sure that Aaron stayed the hell away from Carly until they were official. Piece of cake…right?


“Dean asked you to the dance?”

“Sort of,” Eden answered.

“What do you mean ‘sort of?’” Carly asked suspiciously.

“’Sort of’ like ‘I asked him’.”

Carly giggled. “Was he like ‘Oh, Eden! I’d love to go with you?’”

Eden snorted. “More like…’yeah, I guess.’”

School had already ended, but the girls had volunteered to stay and help out some more with pre-homecoming festivities.

“What are you wearing?” Carly asked.

“To homecoming?”

Carly rolled her eyes. “Yes, to homecoming!”

Eden scratched her head. “I dunno. I usually don’t go to these things.”

“But you’re the homecoming committee’s chair!” Carly pointed out.

“I love this school, don’t get me wrong,” Eden began, “but I usually don’t do dances.”

Carly blinked and just regarded Eden with curiosity. “So what’s changed this year?”

“Senior year,” Eden answered matter-of-factly. “Plus I know I won’t be going to prom, so this is really my last chance, isn’t it?”

Carly looked appalled. “You’re not going to prom? Why not?”

Eden averted her eyes, looking as if she wanted to explain why. Yet, she didn’t answer immediately. “I already made plans for that weekend.”

The hesitation added to the convenience of Eden’s response spelled out that she was lying. Carly recognized that the topic made Eden uncomfortable, so she abandoned it immediately. As they continued taping large banners across the major hallways, Carly shifted their conversation toward other topics. They ended up having such a good time that they didn’t even notice Aaron Holt standing behind them.

****

He should have joined the homecoming committee this year; that would have given him a plausible excuse to spend lots of time with Carly without her becoming suspicious. Well, he was here now, and he’d be damned if he couldn’t get his two cents in with Carly standing right in front of him…looking gorgeous…and so very happy.

Aaron cleared his throat.

Neither girl seemed to have heard. Aaron was in the process of clearing his throat again, when Eden turned around. Her mouth flew open in surprise, but she still held a permanent marker in her hand. “O-oh. H-hi, Aaron.”

Aaron suddenly remembered how he had rebuffed Eden’s request to go to the dance just this morning. He felt a little guilty about that, especially as the true object of his affection and desires stood right next to the one he had earlier spurned.

“Hi, Eden.”

That’s when Carly turned around. She must have recognized his voice.

Aaron’s gray eyes flew to Carly. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she answered meekly.

The three of them stood awkwardly for almost a full minute. Aaron was the first to break the silence. “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re making signs for the school,” Eden answered, pointing to their latest creation with her uncapped permanent marker.

“Can I help?” Aaron ventured.

Carly gulped. Even Eden looked as if she didn’t feel that was the greatest of ideas.

“O-okay,” Eden finally answered awkwardly.

Aaron took a step forward and grabbed a bunch of markers from the plastic bin. “What should I do, exactly?”

“You can color the letters,” Eden began. She handed him a navy blue and yellow marker. “We’re using the school colors.”

It sounded easy enough. Aaron began coloring the letters that Carly and Eden had already outlined in black. It wasn’t so bad, and at least Aaron could claim an ounce of support for his school now. The trio continued to decorate their school in this manner for the next hour. Aaron felt as if he should have been bored out of his mind. The truth was…as long as Carly was by his side where he could see her, he was a happy man.

“I’m going to grab some more butcher paper,” Carly volunteered.

Perfect. “I’ll go with you,” Aaron replied.

Carly looked as if she wanted to protest, but Aaron urged her down the hall to the art studio. With Carly in front of him, Aaron ventured a quick peek over his shoulder to gauge Eden’s reaction. Apparently, Carly wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with the turn of events. Aaron felt awful, but this was a golden opportunity that he wasn’t going to squander. He’d apologize to Eden in due time.

As they entered the studio, Carly rushed over to the large rolls of butcher paper. She immediately went to work, tearing the paper into the desired dimensions. Obviously, she was in a hurry to get back to Eden. Aaron slowly made his way over to Carly. He urged her to the side and took over so that he was the one ripping the paper. Carly awkwardly stood to one side.

“How many of these do you need?” Aaron asked.

“About twenty-five, thirty? Eden wants to post them on the doors of random classrooms throughout the school.”

Aaron tore the paper much more slowly than Carly had. He most definitely was not in a hurry to leave. He wanted to cherish this privacy he was sharing with Carly.

“So…” Carly began, frantically searching for a piece of conversation that would end this uneasy silence, “…Eden’s going to homecoming with Dean.”

Good, Aaron thought. He liked Dean Allen and was glad that Eden had found someone to go with. “Cool.”

“She seemed sort of bummed earlier today, but after Dean agreed to go with her, she seemed a lot happier.”

Aaron didn’t want to hear this; he didn’t want to be reminded of how terse he had been with Eden this morning. “That’s good,” he managed.

Aaron had just ripped his tenth sheet of paper. Why was he freezing up right now? All he had to do was come out and say what was on his mind for fuck’s sake.

“Will you be there this weekend?”

Aaron looked up from his work. “No.”

Carly looked sad upon hearing Aaron’s response. “Why not?” She seemed to regret her question as soon as it flew out of her mouth.

“You know why, Carly.”

“There’s plenty of fish in the sea, Aaron.”

“Don’t say things like that to me, Carly…please.”

Carly closed her eyes in anguish. “Please don’t start, Aaron. Kevin’s only my date, in name. But if you were there with us, it wouldn’t really be like a date anyway. We’d all just have fun like we used to, together.”

Poor Carly. She was so naïve in thinking that the trio’s relationship could ever be reestablished to the way it had been in the good old days.

“I don’t think so,” Aaron answered.

Carly looked as if she wanted to cry. “Why not?”

“Because I’m in love with you, Carly.”

“No you’re not, Aaron,” she answered without hesitation. “That’s just something that teens say to one another to create a lot of drama.” The immediacy of her response hurt Aaron. She hadn’t even allowed his words to sink in. It was a powerful thing for a guy his age to say, and she hadn’t even acknowledged it.

“Don’t minimize this,” Aaron pleaded with Carly. “We’ve got a history together, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“How can I? Not when you and Kevin mention it every two seconds!”

“I have to mention it over and over again, Carly. If I don’t, you won’t understand how serious I am when it comes to how I feel about you.”

Carly’s hand flew to the side of her head, where she began massaging her temple. She started pacing nervously back and forth. Aaron had temporarily ceased their project and stood up to look at Carly.

“Well?” he asked after minutes ticked by with no definitive answer from Carly.

“Well what?” she snapped uncharacteristically.

“Any response to what I just told you?”

She shook her head and cried out in frustration. “I can’t do anything about it, Aaron!”

“Why not?” he demanded.

“Because I can’t choose between Kevin and you!” she answered.

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both,” she answered firmly. “You guys both mean the world to me, and I can’t and won’t choose one or the other.”

“That’s stupid, Carly!” Aaron shot back. “We’re grown-up now! There’s no more existing friendship to preserve, sweetheart. It’s too late!”

“No!” Carly protested. “It’s not!”

Aaron was ready to throttle Carly for her stubbornness. Instead, he stomped over to her and gripped her shoulders. “Just answer one question for me, then,” he gritted out.

“What?” she demanded hotly.

Aaron’s bent his head lower and covered her mouth with his in a fierce kiss. She moaned in protest, but Aaron continued pursuing the kiss, so that her cries were muffled. Eventually, Aaron slipped his tongue in between her lips, and Carly’s cries were forced to die completely until they morphed into…cries of pleasure. She circled her arms around Aaron’s neck, and he groaned in pleasure at her sudden boldness. His arms lowered slowly until they wrapped around her small waist. He pulled her into his embrace until the fronts of their bodies made contact. She smelled like citrus fruit – so fresh and youthful and vibrant; Carly’s mere scent invigorated Aaron to the point of no return. His kiss deepened to reflect the overwhelming response to the woman in his arms.

Aaron pulled back ever so slightly. “Are you telling me that you don’t feel anything for me, Carly?” he whispered into her lips.

Carly’s eyes flew open, and her violet eyes flashed with sudden indignity. She pushed at Aaron’s chest, and he stumbled back a few feet. “You jerk!” she accused.

Aaron didn’t respond. His own intense, gray eyes flashed with disbelief at Carly’s indignity. “What?”

“I can’t believe you just did that!” Carly yelled. She grabbed the ready-cut paper, and walked toward the door. “You’re supposed to be the civil one, Aaron! You can’t do things like that!”

“Who are you really angry with, Carly?” Aaron accused. “Me or yourself?”

Carly’s eyes flashed again, and she beat a hasty retreat past Aaron, clutching the paper in her arms. “I’ll come back with Eden to get the rest! In the meantime, please get out of my sight!”

Just as Carly pulled the art studio door open, she heard Aaron from behind her.

“I’m still the same Aaron, Carly.”

Carly stopped in her tracks.

“We’ve both changed on the outside, Carly, but that’s not why I’m in love with you, sweetheart,” he continued. “I’m still the same Aaron, and you’re still the same Carly.” She heard him sigh. “And maybe, we loved each other back then too, but we were just stupid kids, so we didn’t even know it. The point is…I loved you then, and I still love you now, Carly. And…no matter how much you want to change that…no matter how much you want things to go back to the way they were when we were seven years old…it can’t – won’t – happen,” Aaron finished.

Carly froze. Why had her life grown so complicated all of a sudden? And because of Aaron Holt, of all people? Aaron was supposed to be the sane one – the one who didn’t get in over his head and do stupid things. There was no way that Carly could take Aaron’s declaration of love seriously at all. He was just experiencing a temporary bout of insanity. He’d eventually come to his senses, and everything would return to normal.

Carly forced these thoughts into her mind as she quietly shut the door behind her…even though she didn’t believe in them, herself.

****