As usual, Aaron gave me a good-morning kiss as soon as I woke up, then cooked me a delicious breakfast. But after everything that had happened between us, I felt awkward around him for the first time in a long time.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that he might suddenly kneel down to propose to me again, and every time he reached into his pockets, I was afraid he was going to take out another ring.
“Olive, the weather is very nice today. Eliott said there’s going to be a kite festival in Parsons Park this afternoon. Do you want to go?” Aaron asked earnestly, handing me a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice.
I accepted the juice hesitantly. In the past two days, Aaron had suggested going out a few times, but I had turned him down. If I kept rejecting him again and again, Aaron would take the hint, right?
I took a sip of my juice and then nodded, pretending to be cheerful. “Sure, I haven’t flown a kite in a while. It sounds fun.”
For a moment, I thought Aaron seemed relieved, but after a closer look, I saw that his expression hadn’t changed. Then he smiled at me and said, “I’ll go get ready.”
He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before turning to head downstairs.
As Aaron turned to leave, I was struck by a sudden panic. I quickly gulped down the rest of my juice, put down the glass, and ran to catch up to Aaron. “Should I go with you?”
Aaron paused. He pursed his lips slightly and turned to look at me with a complicated expression. “Olive, you don’t need… Forget it, let’s just go.”
As we drove to the mall to pick out materials for kite building, I could sense that Aaron was in a bad mood. I knew I was the reason for his irritation, but I didn’t know how to comfort him.
I rubbed the big, shiny pink diamond ring on my finger, feeling very conflicted.
“Here we are.” Parking the car at the mall, Aaron seemed to be putting on a brave face. He opened the car door and got out, his expression no longer dejected. “What pattern of kite do you want?”
I didn’t care about making kites at all, but I didn’t want to disappoint Aaron, so I pointed to someone in a bear costume handing out flyers on the side of the road. “Let’s do a bear pattern.”
“Perfect.” Aaron seemed to have forgotten his earlier unhappiness, and his face relaxed into an easy smile as he said, “Our little bear kite will definitely win first place in the competition.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist, and his pretty face approached mine with a wink. “Olive, how are you going to reward me if we win first place today?”
He smiled teasingly, but my heart pounded and I couldn’t even return his smile. I was too busy worrying about what Aaron wanted as a reward. Was he expecting me to say yes to his proposal?
D*mn, I couldn’t help but wonder if the kite festival was even real, or if it was just another one of Aaron’s elaborate plots. What if I went to Parsons Park and Aaron had another proposal set up?
Just the idea of it made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.
I frowned and pushed Aaron away. “Aaron, I… I just decided I don’t
really want to go to the kite festival. Why don’t we go home and sleep? This weather is better for a nap, anyway.”
I turned around to leave, but Aaron grabbed my arm and yanked me back.
The smile on his face had completely vanished, and now he was staring at me like a hawk. “Olive, how long are you going to keep running away?”