Page 36 of The Pursuit of Happiness

“Okay, can we take the fucking picture already? There’s a lot of pent up sexual tension in here and it’s making me uncomfortable,” Brody complains.

If Sly wants to play this game, I’ll play it better. I know exactly what he’s doing. He thinks that he’s winning by catching me off guard and making me choke on my own words. He thrives off making me nervous. I refuse to lose! I grab his face in my hands and kiss his cheek, wrapping a leg around his waist to really sell it to social media. Brody snaps a picture and sighs in relief, “Perfect. Can we all leave now?”

I pull away from Sly and try to quickly get off the couch and go literally anywhere but here, but he stops me by grabbing my arm and pulling me into his lap. He wraps his arms around me in a bear hug as I lay sprawled out in his lap and he leans into my ear, “What do you think you’re doing, Kane?”

“Winning,” I frown.

He laughs, “Yeah? By playing with me?”

“You did it first,” I argue.

He shakes his head in disagreement, “That’s where you’re wrong. Nothing about the way I act towards you is a game.”

I want to respond but I don’t know what to say. Instead, I just stare up at him from his lap with wide eyes. He looks like he’s waiting for me to say something, but when I don’t, he exhales the way he usually does after I reject him. I feel so horrible that this is becoming a regular thing between us. He makes himself vulnerable and in return, I hurt and reject him because I’m too scared that crossing that line with him is gonna make the media rip me apart more.

All I’ve ever truly wanted was happiness in my life because it never seems to last consistently. I just don’t see how I can have that while still caught in the middle of this scandal. If I couldhave happiness, I often find myself wondering if it would be with Sly. I know it would.

Brody clears her throat, “Ooookay, lovebirds. This is making me deeply uncomfortable. I just snapped a pic of this very intimate moment you’re having so you’re welcome for that.” She grabs her bag off the floor and throws it over her shoulder, “I’ll send those images to you and be on my way.”

Ivory grabs her bag and looks at me, “Are we still on for a hangout or are you gonna stay here and end up naked on our studio couch?”

I jolt right up with embarrassment and remove myself from both Sly and the couch. I do not want anyone making sexual allegations or innuendos about Sly and I. It’s a sensitive topic, especially because I’m sexually frustrated.

Brody mutters to herself, “Not you too.”

“What?” I gasp.

Ivory’s face lights up, “You’ve had sex on that couch, B?”

Brody’s face turns red and she rushes for the door. “Of course not. Bye!” She says a little too loudly before practically running out the door.

Ivory grabs my arm, barely able to contain her excitement, “She’s totally fucked on that couch.”

Sly jumps off the couch and makes a repulsed, retching sound, “Gross.”

The three of us exchange a long, disgusted, but also amused look before we all fall into fits of laughter and for a second, just a single second, it feels like everything might be okay.

Chapter 8

Slater

There was a timein my life when Trigonometry seemed like it would be the biggest challenge I’d ever face. Then college applications came and changed my mind. Well then college itself actually came and changed my mind even though I dropped out after only a year. Now though, Aria Kane is easily the biggest challenge I will ever face throughout the duration of my entire life. The girl has a stone heart, but what stops me from giving up is that there are moments where I can chip through the stone and see the red beating heart inside of it.

She’s like an addiction that I can’t satiate. I’m an addict for her scent, her presence, all of her. Every time I think I can defeat the addiction, I lose.

I’ve been home from the studio for two hours and she’s all I can think about. The way she matches my energy and never backs down from me, the way she looks when she smiles, and the sound of her laugh. No amount of time with her ever feels like enough. I know it’s selfish to be enjoying this time with her so much considering it’s all stolen and none of it is real to her, but it’s real tome.

I can’t stop thinking about her even two hours later so I did what a love-struck man does and I texted Selene for Aria’s number which she immediately offered with no questions asked. I’ve been hovering over my phone’s keyboard with my thumbs not quite sure what to say to her. I’m not sure which angle to take this message from. Aria has this dark cloud looming over her head all the time, something I’ve noticed moresince the sex tape got leaked.

I won’t lie, it worries me. She has these dark circles under her eyes that make it seem as though she hasn’t been sleeping and she’s been dressing so unlike her usual style. From the comment she made earlier today, I know exactly what the problem is. She’s afraid of what the media has to say about her and the fear has gotten so much power over her that she’s afraid to wear clothes thatshewants to wear.

When I was a kid, my mom would tell me all the time that I was a people pleaser. I just have this need to fix broken things whether it be people, animals, toys, you name it. It was no shock to my mom when she found me hiding a baby bird in my shoe box for two days, trying to take care of it and nurse it back to health. I explained to her that the bird had fallen out of its nest and broken a wing. That I wanted to help it get better so it could find its family. My mom was proud of me for being so kind to a wounded animal, for caring about something so helpless. She and Dad helped me take care of it and when the bird was healed and we set it back into its nest, I was looking for the next broken thing to fix.

I think Aria is broken, but the most beautiful things are. I’d rather have something with a few cracks in it than something pristine. It shows character and triumph over adversity. With Aria, I think she’s capable of putting her pieces together, she just needs a little help doing so.

ARIA

Me

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