The next morning, Aiden woke up in an unusually good mood. Which was strange. Normally, mornings were his enemy. But today? Today he got to see Mia. As soon as he arrived at school, he headed straight for his classroom. For once, he wasn't late. And for once, he wasn't there to see his friends. He was there to see her. Unfortunately, when he walked through the door, Mia wasn't alone. A tall guy was sitting beside her desk. They were talking. Laughing. And from the looks of it, they were having a great time. Aiden stopped in his tracks. The guy leaned back in his chair and said something that made Mia laugh. Not just a polite laugh. A real laugh. The kind Aiden had worked all week to earn. For some reason, that annoyed him. A lot.
"Who's that?"
Noah suddenly appeared beside him. Aiden shrugged.
"No idea."
"You sound upset."
"I'm not upset."
"Sure."
Aiden ignored him and walked to his seat. As soon as Mia noticed him, her face brightened.
"Morning!"
His bad mood immediately disappeared. Then he remembered the guy. It immediately came back.
"Morning."
Mia frowned.
"Are you okay?"
"Yep."
"You seem annoyed."
"Nope."
"You definitely seem annoyed."
"Nope."
Mia stared at him.
Then she laughed.
"You're impossible."
The guy beside her turned around.
"Oh, you're Aiden."
Aiden raised an eyebrow.
"And you are?"
"I'm Lucas."
Aiden immediately disliked him.
Not because Lucas had done anything wrong.
Just because Lucas existed.
Lucas smiled.
"Mia's told me a lot about you."
Aiden blinked.
Mia had talked about him?
His heart did an embarrassing little flip.
Unfortunately, Lucas continued talking.
"We have math together."
"Oh."
"We've been friends since elementary school."
"Oh."
Mia looked between them suspiciously. Why did it suddenly feel like two cats were circling each other? Before she could figure it out, the teacher walked in. Class began. Throughout the lesson, Aiden found himself glancing toward Lucas. Lucas answered questions. Lucas made Mia laugh.Lucas seemed smart. Aiden hated how much he liked him. The guy was annoyingly nice. By lunchtime, Aiden was convinced that Lucas was perfect. Which made him even more annoying. The cafeteria was crowded as usual. Aiden sat with his friends. Across the room, Mia was sitting with Lucas. Again. Noah followed his gaze. Then grinned.
"Oh."
"Oh what?"
"You're jealous."
Aiden almost choked on his drink.
"I am not."
"You absolutely are."
"I'm not jealous."
"Then why have you looked at their table twenty-three times?"
Aiden froze.
"You counted?"
"I got bored."
Aiden groaned. His friends burst out laughing. Across the cafeteria, Mia looked over. Their eyes met. She smiled and waved. Aiden waved back automatically. Lucas looked over too. Aiden immediately stopped waving. His friends nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. Later that afternoon, Aiden and Mia met in the library to continue working on their project. As soon as she sat down, she noticed his mood.
"Okay."
Aiden looked up.
"Okay what?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Aiden."
"What?"
"You've been weird all day."
He looked away. Mia crossed her arms.
"Tell me."
"It's nothing."
"Aiden."
He sighed.
"Who's Lucas?"
Mia blinked.
"That's what this is about?"
"No."
"It definitely is."
Aiden groaned.
Mia immediately started laughing.
"Oh my God."
"What?"
"You're jealous."
"I am not."
"You are."
"I am not jealous."
Mia could barely stop laughing.
"Aiden Scott is jealous."
"I'm leaving."
"No, you're not."
"Watch me."
Mia reached across the table and grabbed his sleeve before he could stand. The moment she realized what she'd done, she quickly let go. For a brief second, neither of them spoke. Something shifted. Something neither of them quite understood. Mia cleared her throat.
"Lucas is just my friend."
Aiden looked at her.
"Really?"
"Really."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Relief flooded through him so quickly it was embarrassing. Mia noticed immediately. Her smile widened.
"Oh wow."
"What?"
"You really were jealous."
Aiden dropped his head onto the table. Mia laughed so hard she nearly cried. And for the rest of the afternoon, she didn't let him forget it. Not even once.