Ari smiled down at the little boy, the same little boy but he was different just as she was. He was clean again.
"You daydreamed a lot too?" Anthony asked softly.
She smiled and nodded, "Yeah but it helps me run so that’s a good thing that comes from daydreaming." She crouched down to his eyes level, "Sometimes amazing things come from daydreams."
He smiled and hugged her, a perfect stranger. Her heart melted thinking about the shell of a child he had been.
She squeezed him back. She had healed herself and saved the kids all in one stroke of luck.
"So you wanted to borrow a book?" Father James asked patted her back softly.
She stood and nodded, "I guess so yeah." She looked at the book and smirked.
"Well The Book of Angels is a good book. I have to get downstairs for a meeting. Stop by again kiddo."
She hugged the man her heart recognized affectionately.
She walked from the office, "See ya later, bye Anthony."
"Bye Ari."
The bus ride home felt amazing compared to the one only hours before in her mind. She walked with a skip in her step as she made her way to the street where she lived. Something nagged at her but she pushed everything else down enjoying the freedom of being herself again. She sighed feeling the guards as she stepped through them.
The house seemed like a happy sight as if she hadn’t been there in ages. She walked up the steps and opened the front door.
She could hear everyone in the kitchen, she'd wondered where Lucas had gone after he saved her. She couldn’t wait to thank him.
She walked into the kitchen more full than she'd ever seen it.
"Ari!"
The faces all seemed excited to see her. She smiled feeling weird about the strangely excited greeting. She had thought they were all gone on business but was excited to see them.
"Hey guys."
She saw Lucas and smiled. He smiled back but continued to eat at the table.
Aimee nodded at her barely taking her eyes off her cell phone, "How's it going?"
She raised an eyebrow, "Good?" Aimee acted coldly toward her.
Lydia walked to her passing her a plate of food, "Here sweetie before the boys eat it all." Ari looked down at the plate of Annabelle's famous French toast and bacon.
"Thanks Lydia."
Lydia frowned at her, "You seem kind of weird today dear."
Ari looked at everyone watching her and smiled, "It was a good day." She was surprised none of them noticed her scars and tattoos missing. She glanced at Lucas but he continued to eat almost purposely ignoring her.
She watched him trying to catch his eye but he kept his eyes to his food. When Aleksander got up from the table he smiled at her, "Here Ari sit here."
She smiled and sat down next to Lucas. She moved her chair closer to his. She wrapped her arm around his and snuggled against his arm.
When he turned his face to hers she pressed her lips against his.
He seemed rigid.
"Thanks for coming and saving me today. I will never forget what you did. I love you." She kissed him again.
His lips never budged.
"What the hell?"
She turned seeing everyone stopped eating staring at her. Ben had walked into the kitchen and was bright red and looked pissed.
She smiled, "Hey Ben."
Lucas pushed her away, "Dude she kissed me, everyone here just saw it."
Her stomach fell as her heart stopped. Ben grabbed her arm pulling her off the chair, "Dude what did I say about staying away from her. She chose me."
Ari struggled to get away from Bens grasp.
"What are you doing?" She asked trying to pull her arm free.
His hand dug into her skin, pulling her into his burning stare, "You said that was over. You promised it was me not him." His face was hurting and some part of her wanted him to be happy and smile at her again.
She looked at Lydia who looked confused just as everyone in the kitchen did."I don’t understand, Lucas you and I…we, we, you said you loved me. We had sex like a week ago."
Bens grip tightened pulling her to his face shaking her, "What? You told me not before marriage."
She laughed, "Is this a joke?"
Lucas looked at her disgustedly, "You seriously still trying to make drama here Ari. I thought you moved out to escape the drama and now here you are making shit up. I never touched her Ben. I don’t know what she's on but I didn’t do anything to her."
Ari felt rage build inside of her throat as she screamed, "I DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE THIS IS LUCAS. FUCK YOU." She tore her arm from Ben and ran to the stairs. She ran up to her room but when she opened the door the room was bare. All the stuff was gone. She sank against the door sobbing.
She lost her grip on the new Ari as memories started to flood her mind. Happy childhood at the orphanage, meeting Lydia at a youth group volunteer meeting when she was sixteen and moving to Lydia's when she turned eighteen and going to New York for training were all brand new memories. She looked down at her finger where her ring sat. She hadn’t gotten hers yet but there it was. Her new memories also included some very passionate kissing, not with Lucas but Ben. She'd gone with him to New York, they shared a bathroom. He took her out for dinner for her nineteenth birthday. She was nineteen. She saved everyone and ruined the life she had rebuilt. She didn’t love Ben but the new Ari did.
Lucas had never saved her, she'd never been in danger. Father James was a kind sweet man who truly was a servant of god. Father Michael was in a mental institute for violent criminals. He'd never touched her.
"Ari?" Lydia's voice spoke softly from the other side of the door.
She didn’t answer, she was so humiliated. None of them would remember her before, the pain she'd gone through. Nothing would be the way it was. They all saw her as a happy athletic girl who had her head on straight.
"Ari I know you're there, I can hear your thoughts sweetie. I know what happened. You pushed someone who had a major role in your life. Honey you cant do that."
She sighed and moved out of the way letting Lydia open the door. The loving older woman sunk down on the floor with her, "What happened?"
Ari looked at the floor lost, "There was a me, before from when I pushed the first time, she, well I, no, she lived in that orphanage but the priest was a horrid man. He hurt them or us. The other me ran away and lived on the streets. She had a bad life. When I pushed my uncle I went to her life first. You found me in an alley, you saw what I was. You saw me underneath her. She was covered in tattoos and pain and piercings. I fell in love with Lucas, he tried to help me and we fell in love. Today I went to the orphanage and I wanted to push the priest back but the other me was terrified of him and I panicked and lost control. He was hurting me and Lucas must have sensed I was in trouble, he showed up and he stopped him. I pushed the priest and Father James came and everything was better but I forgot that everything would change again." Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Oh honey, you have to stop pushing people who are a part of your life. You start them off on a new life and everything changes. No one remembers the changes except you."
"Lucas looked at me like I was something he despised. I love him so much. I gave him my virginity and my heart."
Lydia held her as she sobbed on the floor.
Chapter Twenty- Triangles, Triangles Everywhere
Aimee
She watched Lucas pace the yard as Ben sat in a chair playing with his iTouch. He looked angry in a way she'd never seen before. Aleksander came to her and put an arm around her, "I can't imagine if our lives all took different turns because one girl influenced everything we did."
Aimee turned snuggling into him letting him kiss her forehead.
"She didn't have a clue she was dating Ben and Lucas had been in love with her before?"
Aimee shook her head, "No. She thinks her and Lucas are in love and her life is like a different dimension. She changes the fabric of time when she pushes people. Usually she only does it to strangers though. I guess this is the second time it's happened. Lydia is pretty worried. She's sleeping in her room missing classes and work. Lorri wanted her to go with me tonight but she is sending Izzy instead."
Aleksander hugged her, "Well be safe. I'm heading with Dorian to that place Violet in Louisiana. Some girl has been attacked and they're certain it was my dad. She's alive still so I want to try to talk to her."
Aimee turned to him, "I love you."
He smiled and kissed her lips softly, "I love you too."
He was gone making a small wind stir in the kitchen.
Aimee walked to Ben, "You okay?"
He shook his head not taking his eyes off his game.
"Wanna talk?"
He shook his head again.
"If you do I'm here okay?"
He nodded. She sighed and walked out the back door to Lucas who was kicking leaves and cussing.
"Luke you have to calm down. Your brother is going to phase and you're going to kill each other."
"Just get lost Aimee."
She laughed, "Being mean to me isn’t going to improve things. Think about this from Ari's perspective, she had a boyfriend and her life was one way. Then she saves orphans and screws her own life up."
He sighed dropping to the bench behind him, "Yeah I know she's the conquering hero but Ben thinks I've betrayed him and she doesn’t want to see anyone. This sucks."
Aimee sat beside him, "You feel like you betrayed him because you love her?"
His head dropped, "Pretty much."
"Did she say anything to you lately to make you think she loved you back?"
He shook his head, "She told me the opposite, she said she was saying yes to Ben about moving in together and getting engaged."
Aimee frowned, "I'm sorry."
"Me too. It's like the never-ending fucking head game of doom. And to make matters worse Ben hates me, he thinks this is my fault that in some other dimension Ari chose me. Like I can control that." He bent forward and put his hands in his thick brown shaggy hair.