Chapter 1
Aria was having a special day. It was her eighteenth birthday and her parent’s had told her that she had a surprise waiting for her when she got home that evening. Aria wasn’t sure what it was going to be, but she knew it was going to be big. She had caught the two of them whispering and staying up late talking for several weeks. There was a tension in the air and it was hard for Aria to contain herself.
Her hopes were on a new car or maybe some money to go backpacking the next year with her friends. She had hinted hard for both of them, but when she had seen their expressions she figured it wasn’t going to happen. There was all of the excitement leading up to her birthday, she was sure that something big was about to happen. Aria just wasn’t sure what it was going to be.
Aria spent most of her day at school. Two months before she was supposed to graduate, Aria could only look forward to the summer and her hopes of the next year in Europe. The day dragged on, as she knew that it would. All she could think about was what better things she could be doing. It didn’t even faze her when she got a B on her math test, something that before would have driven her crazy. Now, all she cared about was what was next. The options seemed endless to the young woman.
“Aria. Hello earth to Aria.” She smiled and then looked over at her friend Amanda.
“What?”
“What are you thinking about?”
“Tonight. I can’t wait. I hope we have a party or something.”
“I thought you were coming out with us tonight?”
“I am. Later. My family has a surprise first, so I am not going to be able to come out till after that. Hopefully I will have a new car to drive to your house.”
Amanda smiled back at her and they were shushed by the history teacher. “Ladies if you’re going to disrupt the class, please leave.”
“Gladly.”
Mrs. King gave them both a dirty look from behind her glasses, but said nothing as they walked out into the hallway. Seniors were given a little more slack at the school, especially if their grades were up. Aria had been using it to her advantage lately and she was ready to get out of there.
“Let’s just go Amanda. I mean the last class is just art anyways.”
The redhead looked reluctant. Aria knew that she loved that class. “We can go get a mocha…”
“Okay, you twisted my arm.” Aria smiled. The only thing that Amanda liked more than art was chocolate.
The two girls grabbed their things out of the lockers that they were assigned and headed out of the school. They were technically supposed to sign out when they left and have an excuse, but it was another rule that tended to be overlooked more often than not.
Aria got into Amanda’s car, hoping that it would be the last time she’d have to ride with her. Aria was ready for her own wheels. She was ready for her parents to realize that she was an adult and that she was all grown up.
Amanda went to the coffee place first, ordering them both a frozen sugar and caffeine concoctions. Aria paid like she promised and they went down to the park to drink them and feed the ducks. It was a beautiful afternoon and Aria couldn’t help but feel optimistic. Something big was about to happen. She just knew it.
***
Aria made her way home after Amanda dropped her off a little ways from her house. She didn’t want her parents to know that she had skipped out of the last two classes, but they never paid much attention and the school never called.
She fixed her short hair, pushing it out of her face as she walked down the cracked sidewalk. She pulled the checkered skirt down that was part of her school uniform and sprayed some perfume to hide the faint smoke smell left from her snuck cigarette in the park. It was a nasty habit that she had picked up from Amanda, but she had gotten to like it too much to give up her lapses.
There were several strange cars in the driveway and pulled on the curb in the front of the white clapboard house she had lived in her whole life. Everything that Aria knew was in the small town of Chesterfield and the house on the corner of Smith and Star. She used to think that living on the road with your name on it was something to be proud of, now Aria saw it as just another nail in the coffin of her freedom. All of her family was from the small town, but no one ever seemed to leave. Aria wanted nothing more than to leave and a plane ticket or car was her way of doing it.
Excitement made her hand shake slightly as she opened the door up and then she was confronted with several strangers looking back at her. She smiled politely and scanned the room for her mother. One dark haired, dark-eyed man stepped forward with his hand outstretched.
“Aria?”
She nodded and grasped the hand out of habit and decorum. “It is so good to meet you Aria. My name is Keith. I have heard so much about you.”
Aria was confused. His brown eyes held hers for several moments, before she pulled them away and looked at their hands still touching. She moved her hand away. “It is nice to meet you too, Keith?”
He nodded and she searched the room with her eyes. He was still standing in front of her, but when her mother came into view, she excused herself with a touch on his hard shoulder. Aria was starting to get a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that was rapidly erasing her earlier feelings of glee. There was something in her mother’s eye that she had not seen much. Something was bothering the older woman and Aria was sure that it had something to do with the men in the living room.
She was urged forward into the kitchen with a nudge of her mother’s head and Aria followed her into the only unoccupied room on the bottom floor. Aria caught a glimpse of her father in the library talking to another man that looked similar to Keith and she saw a large case full of money on the table between them. Something made her pause, but she kept going, sure she’d find out about it later.