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𝐈 𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐈𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞

(𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝)

"ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴍᴇ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ᴡᴏʀᴛʜʟᴇꜱꜱ"

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The school day went by quickly. Aurora had been lost in continuous thought. Her mind flooding with both anxious and wistful thoughts. Picking at the wrapped bandage aided in being a distraction until she saw the maroon marks that were once covered in crimson blood, then stopping and deciding to pick at her chipped nail polish.

The events from the night prior still plastered at the front of her mind, in constant replay. It didn't help that she had classes with both Kenny and Anthony. She did her best to avoid each of them.

Aurora did not know how to feel about the two. While the two boys had both had been stupid enough to get into a fight, only one of them had actually injured the girl. Kenny. 

The girl ignored Kenny's constant attempts at apologies and begging for forgiveness, but she needed the boy to feel how upset she was. After a while she did give in, but not without remembering Mia's words of wisdom, "Accept apologies, but remove trust."

Anthony, on the other hand, had asked quite normal. His usual teasing had remained the same, if not a little more flirty than before. He continued to send the Lawerence girl his usual cheeky grin throughout their shared classes.

The Lawrence girl began to sense that there was something different between her and Anthony. Maybe it was the way her stomach erupted with hundreds of flapping butterflies or the she sat with him in comfortable silence when there was nothing to else to say. 

Her mind once filled with anxious, wistful thoughts had now been replaced by confused, bubbly ones. She didn't know if this was just a normal feeling that was created by friendships blossoming or if it had been caused by a flourishing new crush. 

She wished the movies and books she read as a kid had a solution. It was almost always, girl meets boy, they fall in love, go through challenges, and then live happily ever after. But they never really took into what happened in the real world. How confusion the feelings felt, like a roller coaster rush. At moments you feel on top of the world, while others you feel like throwing up.

There needed to be someway to tell how she was feeling right. She'd normally discus how she felt with Mia but she didn't want to interrupt her busy day. What the young girl wouldn't give for an actual friend to discus this with. To ask if the butterflies were truly normal and how to if you genuinely like a guy. Then again, she was never the best at communicating her feelings, especially feelings about a boy. The girl had been so focused she had missed the final bell.

"Aurora?"

The blonde's head shot up before turning to face Lia. A puzzled expression formed on the girls face before she sent the brunette a shy smile. "Hi, Lia."

"What are your Saturday plans?" Lia asked.

Aurora shrugged her shoulders, still a little confused on why Lia was talking to her. Lia was sweet but always seemed to be apart of the popular crowd. "Nothing much, why?"

"There's this fair, at Westwood Park. It's got a bunch of rides and food, better yet, fried Oreos. A bunch of us are going on Saturday and I was wondering if you would wanna come." Lia stated.

"You had me at fried Oreos."

"Cool. So let me give you my phone number and I'll send you the rest of the info." 

Aurora pulled out her phone before handing it to Lia. Lia quickly typed in the digits before handing the phone back to Aurora. "I hope you'll be there." Lia told the girl before walking away, chasing after one of her friends.

The Lawrence girl watched before a small smile formed of the girls lips. The thought of having more than just a few friends excited the girl. She did enjoy her quiet, lonely moments at times. The ones filled with Gracie Abrams and Sabrina Carpenter lyrics or the ones filled with daydreams. But outside of that, the silence was a little too quiet for her. She hated being alone, always had and always will.

Aurora pulled her backpack over her shoulders as she walked out of the classroom. She looked down at her phone as she felt it vibrate for a moment. She grinned as she saw a text from her dad saying that he was here to pick her up.

It was only on special occasions that her father would pick her up from school. Most days he was busy with work and karate, but on those few moments in the year Johnny Lawerence would pick his daughter up. While Aurora didn't mind taking the bus, it did take her around forty-five to sixty minutes to get home whereas it was a simple twenty minute drive from the school direction to her house.

She walked out the school doors as she began to search for her dad worn out van. It took her a minute before she saw her dad. A smile formed on her lips as she saw him wave at her. Her pace quickened as she neared the car before she saw Miguel sitting in the passenger seat, her seat.

A small scoff escaped the girls lips as she shook her head. She felt stupid at how naive she had been. Her father wouldn't come all this way and only pick up Aurora, he had to pick up Miguel. As much as she didn't want to feel like the second best, she always ended up being the rebound or the forgotten one.

It's not that she didn't enjoy spending time with her dad and Miguel, she really did. She only wished there was a time designated for her, not Miguel and her. 

She missed when it was just her and her father. Even though times were rough and sometimes things didn't go as planned, they still had each other. When she was then first thing on his mind and not the last. She strived to be the favorite like she once was. She wished to been heard. She begged to be seen. She wanted her dad back. But he wasn't just her dad anymore, he was becoming Miguel's.

The van door opened as Aurora placed her bag in before hoping in to her father van. The excitement had fizzled out until it was extinguished, leaving an indifferent mood to the young girl. She buckled her seatbelt before Miguel looked back at her sending her his signature goofy grin.

"How was your day?" 

Aurora shrugged her shoulders knowing that in a couple minutes all information she would have given about herself would be washed away by the father-son bonding. "It was okay. The normal."

Miguel nodded his head before turning away from the girl. His hand tapped against the arm rest, making a little beat to go along the Guns N' Roses song that played from the speakers. Aurora recognized the album immediately. It was Appetite for Destruction, the same CD that Aurora had gotten her dad for his birthday a few years back.

Aurora hummed along quietly to the song as Miguel and Johnny continued talking. The Lawerence girl drowned their noise out, it was a certain talent she had perfected over the years. It was easier to do when she had her ear buds, but she had forgotten them on her dresser that morning.

"Rory. Rory?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she glanced between the two. She let out a small hum, "Sorry, what?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to join Eagle Fang?" Johnny spoke, "We need some girls to join and figured you'd be interested."

Aurora heart dropped at the statement. 'Did he seriously just ask that', she wondered, 'does he even know me at all' ? Her mouth gapped as she tried to figure out what to say.

"There's a girls division and we think you'd be perfect for it." Miguel added to Johnnys statement.

The blonde girl rolled her eyes, "In what world? Because it certainly isn't this one."

"I taught you karate before and you loved it." 

"I was like, what, five dad. I've changed, a lot since then. And if you've noticed, which I guess you haven't because you just asked me to join your karate dojo. I don't like fighting, I never have and never will."

Johnny bit his lip at his daughter's outburst. Did he truly not know his daughter like he thought he did. Had she really grown up that fast to where he didn't even know who she was. Miguel didn't know how to respond either. He never thought he'd see the day where Aurora was mad. 

Aurora leaned back in her seat as she looked out the widow. She wished to escape to the secret gardens and lunar valleys that filled her mind. 

She hated the tension. She hated how her father didn't know who she was. She hated the way she wanted to hide in her fantasies away from everything and everyone. Her dad, Miguel, Robby, Kenny, and Anthony. She hated it here.

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Was listening to TTPD when I wrote this, if you can't tell

Johnny ignoring Rory makes me so mad

I wanna give Rory such a big hug

Thanks for reading!

Also sorry for the late update!!