Stepping out of Mrs. Pritchard's office, I still felt a little... off. There was this weird heaviness in my chest. I didn't know Angela well, but something about the way everyone kept dodging around what happened bothered me. I mean, would it kill someone to just tell me the damn truth?
I sighed. Since I had no real way of getting answers, all I could do was hope she was okay. Wherever she was. Whatever happened.
But before I could sink too deep into my own spiral of useless concern, I looked up—and froze.
Standing just across the hallway, arms folded, eyes locked on me like he'd been waiting this whole time... was Aiden.
My brain stalled.
What the hell was he doing here? Why was he just—staring like that?
"Hey," he said calmly, tilting his head. That single word alone managed to short-circuit my vocabulary. My mouth opened, then closed. Then opened again. I'm usually not short of words. If anything, I'm annoyingly fluent in sarcasm. But in that moment?
Blank.
"Come on, mouth. Speak," I begged internally.
He walked over, that calm, confident aura practically radiating off him. "So… how'd it go?"
I looked away for a second, scrambling for my voice. "Oh, it was… better than I expected, actually." I chuckled—horribly fake, might I add. "She was happy. Apparently, she wants you to keep tutoring me."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," I said, smiling way too hard, "She said your methods were, uh… effective."
Why the hell did I say that?
Aiden smirked, the corner of his mouth curling up in that way that always made my stomach flip. "Effective? Wow. Guess you'll be seeing more of me, Almasi."
Kill me now.
He was too close. I could feel the warmth radiating off his body. If he leaned any closer, I was going to either melt or spontaneously combust.
Then he said, "You know, I'm free right now. Wanted to see if you felt like hanging out a bit."
Wait—what?
My brain stumbled again. He wanted to hang out? Just like that? No warning? No time to mentally rehearse my responses or fix my stupid hair?
Was this the same guy who told me just days ago that we were just close?
I knew I had class next period. Probably. But honestly, I couldn't remember the subject or the teacher's name to save my life.
Was I going to turn him down?
Absolutely
NOT!
"Sure. I've got no place to be."
He nodded, satisfied. "Well then, follow me."
So, like a lovesick idiot, I did.
We walked for a bit until he stopped outside a classroom. It was quiet, a bit too quiet for school hours, and when he opened the door, I realized where we were.
"This is the student council room?" I asked, stepping in slowly. It was tidy, filled with neatly stacked papers and whiteboards scribbled with notes. It smelled like dry-erase markers and ambition.
"Hm. This place is… nice."
Aiden chuckled. "If that's what you want to call it. It's just a classroom like any other. But my office is back there."
He gestured toward a smaller door tucked into the far end of the room. Right. Vice president perks.
We stepped inside and the moment the door closed behind us, click, I heard the lock turn.
I spun slightly, and there he was—leaning against the door with that damn smile on his face.
Trouble.
I opened my mouth to throw in a joke or break the tension, but he beat me to it.
"Come here."
I didn't even hesitate. My body moved on instinct, heart hammering in my chest. How could I still be this nervous around him? We've kissed. We've done more than kiss. But he still made me feel like a total idiot in the best, worst way.
"So, Aiden… I—"
He didn't let me finish. He yanked me forward by the shirt, closing the distance between us so fast it knocked the thoughts right out of my skull.
"Almasi, stop talking."
Then he kissed me. Deep, intense, almost desperate. I sank into it, grabbing onto his waist like he was the only thing tethering me to Earth.
We'd only been apart for a day and a half, but it felt like years. I kissed him like I was starving, like he was air and I'd been suffocating. I wanted more. Needed more. Every second we kissed made me forget where we were, what we were doing, and why I ever doubted this.
Eventually, we pulled back, breathless, our foreheads touching.
"God, I missed you," I muttered, resting my head against his chest.
He laughed softly, fingers brushing the back of my neck. "I know."
I could've stayed like that forever—his chest rising and falling against my cheek, his scent messing with my entire sense of logic. I wasn't even thinking anymore. Just feeling. Just existing.
Unfortunately, we couldn't stay like that forever.
"So…" I mumbled, still not lifting my head, "this hanging out thing… is it going to involve actual activities? Or are we just going to make out until someone comes knocking?"
He laughed again. That soft kind of laugh that made me want to hear it on repeat.
"Tempting," he said, finally pulling back a little, "but I did actually have something in mind."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow, cautiously hopeful. "And what exactly would that be, Mr. Mysterious Vice President?"
He motioned towards a table near the back of the room where a couple of folders and a mini speaker sat.
"Don't freak out, but I thought we could actually… study."
I blinked. "I'm sorry. Did you just say study?"
He smiled knowingly. "You've got a math test coming up, Almasi. And I take my job as your tutor very seriously."
I squinted at him. "You literally just made out with me like we were in the final scene of a romance movie and now you want me to do equations?"
"That's right."
"You're evil."
"And yet, here you are," he said, pulling out a chair for me with a smirk.
With a dramatic sigh, I slumped into the seat. "Fine. But just know this—I'm only doing this because you're hot."
"I'll take it," he replied, sitting across from me and flipping open one of the folders.
We actually got some studying done, believe it or not. Well, kind of. For every five minutes of actual focus, there was at least one minute of distraction—his hand brushing against mine "by accident," me pretending not to notice, both of us low-key staring at each other when the other wasn't looking.
It was stupid. And cute. And terrifying. And weirdly… nice?
After a while, my brain finally gave out. I've never put this much effort into anything in my life—let alone schoolwork. I groaned and dropped my pen.
"Aiden, I'm tired. I can't feel my hands anymore."
Aiden gave me a look. "Dude… we've been at it for like forty minutes."
"That's plenty," I said, slumping against the desk like I'd just finished a marathon.
He chuckled.
I suppose that meant I earned some form of praise.
"You've done quite a bit."
"Quite?" I repeated, sitting up with the slow dramatics of a man betrayed.
He laughed properly this time. "Alright, alright—fine. I'm proud of you."
I let that soak in for a second. Not gonna lie, it felt weirdly good. I stretched a little, then leaned back again.
"So, what classes do you have next?" he asked, casually flipping through one of the notebooks.
I scoffed. "Don't know and don't care." Then something clicked. "Oh—snap! Aiden, I almost forgot!"
He looked up, either confused or surprised—or maybe both. "What?"
"Theo's throwing a birthday party and I was wondering if…"
I trailed off, suddenly hyperaware of how dry my mouth had become.
"…you… I don't know… show up… but I'll understand if you don't want to…"
Aiden's eyes lit up. "Oh, Theo. The cute guy? Sure."
My brain short-circuited.
Wait—what?
Did he just… call Theo cute?
I wasn't sure if I wanted to be happy he said yes, or slap him with the nearest textbook for dropping that adjective like it wasn't loaded.
He is cute, I guess. But hearing it from Aiden—a.k.a. the guy I'm trying to make hopelessly obsessed with me—is not exactly... ideal.
"Did you just call Theo cute?" I asked, my voice laced with the exact kind of disbelief I'd once reserved for plot twists in reality TV.
Aiden blinked, completely unbothered. "Um, yeah. Isn't he?"
Oh, we're doing this.
"I mean, he is," I admitted, "but you just called another man attractive."
Aiden smirked, like I'd walked right into his trap. "Dude, the kid's cute. It's a fact. Are you… are you jealous?"
"Of Theo? Pfft. You wish," I said, crossing my arms so tightly I might've cut off circulation. My tone was dismissive. My internal organs? Screaming.
Aiden grinned wider, his eyes doing that glinty mischief thing. "Hmm. Well, I kinda have a soft spot for cute things."
My brain left the chat.
What the actual fuck—
I just stared at him, completely frozen. My entire personality rebooted. That was it. That was the straw. I was about to combust.
And then—he laughed.
Like full, satisfied, "gotcha" kind of laugh.
"You're such a gullible drama queen," he said, reaching forward to ruffle my hair and then gently pulling my head forward. He kissed my forehead.
Forehead kisses should be illegal.
"I gotta go," he said, pushing away from the desk. "My free time's over."
I watched him stand, the moment slipping through my fingers like water. Nope. I wasn't ready for this to end yet.
As he moved toward the door, I made a last-ditch move and leaned in fast, trying to sneak a kiss off his lips like some kind of desperate raccoon in heat.
He stopped me with a hand on my face, laughing again. "Nope. Go to class, Almasi."