A Beautiful Fate Read online

  I heard a knock at my door and before I could get up, it swung open and Rory stood just outside, a big smile on his face.

  “Morning!” He greeted me and then made himself at home on my chair and threw his flip flop-clad feet up on the ottoman while I quickly finished my email. He is a very carefree person and always has a giant smile stretched across his face.

  “Ready?” he asked cheerfully.

  “Yes,” I responded. I hit send on my email to Mia, grabbed my cell phone off the charger and shoved it in my back pocket.

  Rory took me through campus first and showed me which buildings my classes would be held. The Dana Point Institute has a great campus, equipped with a fantastic art studio, research labs, a huge library, and, of course, a fitness center that would make any Olympian feel at home. You can hear the crashing of the waves from the dorms, and the rolling treetops remind me of something Bob Ross would have painted. Rory took me off campus and we spent the rest of the day in Dana Point.

  The harbor itself is breathtaking, the ocean is so clear and blue it is nearly impossible to tell where the water ends and the sky begins. Rory explained that he had lived near Dana Point all of his life, that his family has a house on the beach about ten miles south of town. He told me his dad and uncle both graduated from Dana Point Institute. An older brother, Nick, had graduated a few years ago...and a couple of cousins and a few other relatives were currently at the school.

  He talked about his family a lot, about how close they were and how they all lived on the same stretch of beach.

  “So why didn’t you go with them this weekend then – on their trip?” I asked.

  Rory shrugged and bit at his bottom lip. “I am not exactly speaking to one of my cousins right now. He is a major jerk and for whatever reason everyone loves him, so I decided to hang back and get away from them for a while.”

  “So what did he do to make you stop speaking to him? And does he know you aren’t speaking to him?”

  “Oh, believe me he knows. I dunno, our fight is stupid I guess,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

  That was the first time and last time I saw a smile leave Rory’s face all day. Whatever happened, it must really have had him feeling down.

  “Ok, I get it, I’m sorry I asked.”

  “Ha, don’t worry about it. Just a stupid fight, really, no big deal.” With that, a smile was plastered right back on Rory’s face. “OK, let’s cut the crap; who are you, Ava?”

  I blinked at his strange question. “Uh, I don’t know what you mean…”

  Rory stared at me for a moment and chewed on the inside of his cheek, “Huh… ok, never mind. Forget I asked.” He eyed me curiously.

  I nodded. I tried to say as little as possible about myself, not really wanting to open up. I felt as though anything I might have to tell would just sound depressing. Rory gracefully did not push me for too many details.

  “So your last name is Baio?” He asked as we were driving back to campus. “Any relation to the baio?”

  “Yeah,” I answered dully, hating my last name. “Margaux Baio is my grandmother and Perry was my grandfather.”

  “Holy hell! I was just joking,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t think you were actually related to them. That’s awesome!”

  I laughed aloud. “Being related to Margaux is not really too awesome, and it’s not as though I have plans of working for the company. That woman is the devil.”

  He shrugged his shoulders and pulled into the parking lot, letting the conversation end with no further questions. Back in Chicago, I had had a hard time with some of the girls at school always asking me for free items from baio. They didn’t really want anything to do with me unless Mia and I were at Margaux’s store on Michigan Avenue; other than that I was a nobody.

  I thanked Rory for showing me around and ducked inside my room.

  Chapter 4

  Ari

  As soon as I sat down, I heard a knock on the bathroom door and Emily popped her head in.

  “Hey!” she said. “Hope I’m not bothering you.”

  I smiled and waved her in.

  “I just wanted to let you know that most Sunday nights the girls on the floor get together in the commons and watch movies. We’re getting ready to start; come on along if you want to join us.”

  “Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.”

  A feeling of relief came over me, knowing that I wouldn’t be stuck in my room all night going insane with my thoughts. Emily was already in her pajamas and had her hair pulled back in a curly ponytail. I threw on an old Cubs shirt I like to lounge in and a pair of girly boxers, then followed her out the door. Four other girls were waiting for us on the overstuffed couches in front of the TV. They had pillows and blankets piled up around them. Big bowls of popcorn were on the end tables. I thought the movie idea was a nice one; the darkened room and bright TV, snacks at hand and quiet conversations going on reminded me of my friendship with Mia and I instantly began to miss her. Emily introduced me to Skylar, Keri, Viola, and Sophie. Sophie and Viola were friendly, welcomed me to the group, and asked me a couple of questions. Skylar and Keri, on the other hand, seemed to ignore my existence. Skylar quickly and, I thought, pointedly, pushed the “play” button, cutting the rest of our conversation short.

  The movie was a sappy love story that I had a very hard time paying attention to. About half way through the movie, the elevator dinged. All six of us turned our heads toward the end of the hallway in time to see the doors slide open and the most incredibly handsome guy I had ever seen walk out. My heart instantly stuck in my throat and my pulse quickened. He had dark brown hair that stuck up in that messy-but-not-too-messy way guys do now. He had a scruffy five o’clock shadow that looked incredible against his creamy white skin and his eyes were a never-ending, clear, deep brown. But none of these features compared to his perfect, white, radiating smile. Just seeing him gave me butterflies in the pit of my stomach. The girls all gave a tiny sigh as he walked in and someone pushed “pause” on the movie.

  “Hey, Ari,” Emily said cheerfully. “How was your trip?”

  He ran his hand through his thick, messy hair. I felt my cheeks warming. I want to touch that hair. I shook my head, dismissing the thought. Clearly, I needed some sleep.

  “Ladies,” he nodded to everyone in the room, and when I heard his voice I gave an involuntary but (I hope) inaudible gasp. I quickly shifted my gaze and noticed that he had had the same effect on all of us.

  “Trip was… fine,” he said with a smile. He took a step towards his room and then he noticed me. Our eyes locked for what felt like an eternity and I felt my cheeks grow even pinker.

  “Hello.” He smiled at me.

  I smiled back and then immediately looked down, feeling incredibly foolish and responded with a tiny “hi.”

  “I’m Ari,” he said, introducing himself.

  Thankfully, Emily spoke up.

  “Oh yeah, Ari, this is Ava your new neighbor,” she said with a wink.

  He smiled one last time before retreating to his room. As soon as his door shut, I could hear all six of us let out the breath we had been holding since the moment the elevator doors opened.

  Emily turned to me with a huge smile on her face. “That was Ari Alexander. He is totally gorgeous and incredibly nice. He is everyone’s friend and I’m pretty sure that we all have major crushes on him.”

  She giggled, and then went on giving me all the details of his life. He was eighteen, just like everyone else on the floor, besides me. He lived in some colossal home on the beach and sounded like the stereotypical California rich kid. I tried to look polite but disinterested when truthfully I wanted to know everything about the “gorgeous and incredibly nice” Ari who caused weird things to happen in my tummy.

  Once the movie was over, I had no choice but to go to my room. I climbed onto the bed, without even getting under the blankets and quickly fell asleep, not realizing how exhausted
I actually had been.

  ****

  My nightmares returned. Images and shadows, doors and voices, sirens and heart monitors combined together to terrify me and judge me. I woke suddenly and grabbed my foot. There was an incredible pain in my toe...evidently, in the throes of an especially dreadful dream, I had kicked the wall that my bed was pushed against, kicked it hard. Before I could even check the time, I heard a knock at my door. I clambered out of bed and pulled my door open. Ari stood there in my doorway. He had a worried expression on his face.

  “You alright?”

  “Uh…” I think I blinked three times before I could respond somewhat properly. “I’m fine…I hit my toe.” I pointed to my foot and immediately realized that in the dark the chances that he could see my toe were small. I must have looked like a complete moron. I waited for him to acknowledge the toe story and leave, but he didn’t. He just leaned in the doorway and smiled at me. He cocked his head to the side and my heart fluttered. Ari narrowed his eyes at me.

  “Are you sure you’re ok in here?”

  “Umm hmm.”

  “Alright, well if you’re sure… I’m going back to sleep then.”

  “Oh, right, I’m sorry I woke you.”

  “I’m not,” Ari said with a cute grin and I blushed; thank goodness for the dark. “If you need anything I’m next door, but I usually like to sleep in a little later than this.” He was trying to tease me and be friendly, but my dream had brought my mom’s death to the front of my mind for what felt like the hundredth time. I was in no mood for extending his time in my doorway.

  “Right, I get it; sorry.”

  Closing the door tight behind me, I grabbed my phone off my desk and saw it was only five in the morning. My first class was not until eight, but there was no way I was going to be able to fall back asleep. I gave up on any thought of going back to bed; instead, I took a long, hot shower and then got ready for class. I turned Vampire Weekend on in the background and sang softly along with Ezra about being a contra. I took a quick glance at my MacBook, reading the few emails posted there. One, a long one, was from Mia letting me know that I absolutely could join her for Christmas but that she and her mom would be out of state for Thanksgiving. I quickly deleted all the emails Michael had sent me, just as I had been doing with all of his texts. He had not consoled me about my mother, he had never once offered to listen to my fear and sorrow, and he had not wanted “to do” long distance. I wasn’t about to spend time on him.

  The dorm walls were paper-thin and at 7:30 on the dot, I could hear the buzzing of Ari’s alarm. He hit the snooze two more times before I finally heard his footsteps cross his dorm room floor. I added a tally on my mom’s paper and I glanced over my schedule one last time. Since Dana Point is an independent study school, classes are held only Monday through Thursday. My school days started with a private piano class. I hadn’t known when I signed up for it if it would be of benefit to me, but I was willing to take an hour out of my day to sit and play, even if the tutoring had little to offer. After piano, I had history, calculus, economics, literature and chemistry. I closed each academic day with independent gym, a wonderful way to unwind...couldn’t have chosen a better way to end my afternoons if I had tried.

  I found the music hall with ease and was pleasantly surprised by my music mentor, Mrs. Bea. I could see right away that she was a talented musician and tutor, and she offered me some workable ideas during that first session about how I could improve my playing. She sat by me on the bench and we played a few songs she had composed herself.

  My history class was fine. Viola, Sophie and Emily from my floor were in the class and we talked about the French Revolution, a subject, that, by virtue of my early schooling in Quebec, I have always been well versed in.

  Calculus and economics were as to be expected, hard and boring. I left class, meandered through the campus and found the cafeteria. Well, the DPI brochure and my class schedule both called it a cafeteria; but that word evokes one of those lunchrooms with a long, single line of kids pointing variously at slices of pizza, hot dogs or soggy tacos. This room was a super-sized hall full of staff in white aprons, white shoes and little white hats. There was a coffee bar, an omelet station, made-to-order sandwiches and salads, and almost any kind of soup a person could think of.

  Here in the cafeteria, I saw what Emily had been talking about during our first conversation, when she had asked me about being Greek. The room was filled with tables, the tables filled with students. Most of the tables were round and seated eight to ten people. One rectangular table stretched the whole length of the room by a bay of windows. It was full of students, all laughing and talking animatedly. This table must hold the Greek’s she was speaking about. I spied Rory at one end of the long table talking with Sarah. I noticed a few other students who had been in some of my morning classes. Then I spied Ari -- he sat near the end of the table and was deep in conversation with another student.

  The whole room was loud and the noise made my nerves stand on end. My anxiety was growing by the moment, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and a bagel and left without anyone taking notice. I ate while I walked slowly to my literature class. I was the first one to arrive so I took a seat, hoping I hadn’t taken anyone’s favorite spot, and flipped open my MacBook.

  Class began to fill up after a while and I was startled to see Ari entering the room. My breath hitched in my throat at the sight of him. He smiled at me as he passed by and his brown eyes twinkled with amusement. He slid into the seat right behind me. I could smell him, he had an aura of clean sea air and freshly cut grass that was intoxicating and made my head feel fuzzy. Concentrating was going to be difficult.

  Our class was starting the study of Greek mythology and first on the list was The Odyssey. I had already read the epic Homer poem, so I allowed myself to zone out during the preparatory lecture. I did manage to listen some and take notes, in spite of the beautiful distraction behind me.

  When the class ended, I tried my best to bolt without having to look at Ari, but it was no use. He was in front of me holding the door open with that lopsided smile on his face. I tried to pretend not to notice him as I walked out the door to my next class. Alas, Ari was in my chemistry class too and I as I headed down the hall toward the lab, I could sense him behind me every step of the way. I jumped when he actually spoke.

  “So Ava, other than the incident with your toe this morning, how is your first day treating you?”

  Oh, pure wow, he said my name.

  “Um, fine I guess. I’m sorry again about waking you.”

  “It’s fine...don’t worry about it.” He ran his hand through his hair and gave me another crooked smile. He walked away towards class but not before I heard him hum the tune of the song I was singing this morning in my room while I got ready for class. My cheeks burned white hot with embarrassment.

  Since everyone one else had already been paired up, I was not given a chem partner, but I was okay with that. I had scanned the text the day before and had seen that I had already covered most of the material the previous year. A partner would only slow me down.

  The rest of the day went smoothly. DPI is a paperless school, and is intent upon reducing the world’s carbon footprint, so all notes have to be taken on a laptop and all quizzes and tests are done online. I found myself liking the system and was thankful that I had saved money the year before to buy a MacBook. Without it I would have been screwed.

  I had been looking forward to independent gym– a whole hour to work on my own at what I loved best – running. I got a little turned around by the campus and arrived late, but no matter. I was free to move at my own speed in the class and do whatever I liked. I checked in with a gym coach, Coach Zellie, and I threw my ear buds in and walked towards the track. I saw Ari leaning against the rail talking to Rory. They were laughing about something and then they hugged and Ari gave Rory a pat on the back.

  I did my best to ignore them as I walked passed. Rory, of course, would not allow that to
happen. I heard him shout my name with his booming voice and I pulled my buds back out, turned around and shot them both a quick smile.

  “Hey Ava, how’s it going?” Rory asked, seeming genuinely interested.

  “It’s good,” I said, trying to answer briefly and move on quickly, but he wasn’t letting me off the hook that easily.

  “I looked for you at lunch,” he said with a small frown.

  “Oh, yeah, lunch. Um, I had some things to get caught up on,” I said, offering the lamest of excuses and taking another step toward to the track.

  “Ari, this is the girl I was just telling you about. Have you met Ava?”

  “Uh,” he stammered a bit, “yeah, I have. Nice to see you again, Ava.”

  I nodded and tried to walk on to the track, but Rory spoke up again.

  “Ari, you have got to see Ava run man; I’m telling you, I have never seen anything like it.”

  “Oh yeah?” Ari said with a megawatt smile and the tummy thing happened again. “I’ll have to take your word for it, Roar; gotta get going.” He looked down at his watch and left without saying another word.

  Rory must have noticed my disappointment even though I tried like hell to hide it. Having Ari watch me run would only have made me feel stupid anyway. My worry was about the way I felt around him, about how the sight of him filled my insides with butterflies and then made them do little flips...and how my palms got sticky and my heart picked up the pace. I didn’t even really know him and yet, more than anything, I wanted to go to him and find comfort in his arms. I had never felt that way about anyone and I had no clue how to handle my confusion. My first thought was call mom – then I could dish on all the details and get her advice. The impossibility of doing so stabbed me suddenly and I bit back tears as I said a quick goodbye to Rory and set off down the track. I played The Xx’s as loud as my eardrums would allow.