Designed for Submission

Chapter 6

"I'm fine, Aiden. Just confused and slightly hurt, but fine nonetheless. Thank you for taking me home." It's time for him to leave now. He hugs me once more then takes my mug and the cloth and takes into the kitchen again. A few minutes later he reappears. He waves at me then walks out of the door.

Fuck. My head still hurts, but it's not from the alcohol. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Aiden has really knocked me off course.

I decide not to think about it anymore and go to bed. I take a quick shower, blowdry my hair and put on my most cosy pajamas. I crawl into bed exhausted from the party, the unappreciated encounter with that stranger and the latest development with Aiden. After fluffing my pillow, I wriggle around and finally find a comfortable position. What a day. I succumb to sleep quickly.

Sunday is uneventful as I decide to stay in. It's cleaning day and I have a bunch of chores to do. Maybe I should call Aiden to help me out. I shake my head - no, I can't. The day goes by surprisingly fast and I'm done at 4. For the rest of the day I read Bleak House for English and write a couple more songs. I make dinner at 6 and eat it in front of the TV. By the time 10pm rolls around, I'm beat and head to bed. I'm thankful for days like these - I can be alone without feeling lonely, and I feel like I accomplished something. I crawl under the sheets and fall asleep quickly.

The next morning Aiden picks me up and we go to school together. He acts as though we didn't have that strange conversation the last night. I wonder if he's been thinking about it as much as I have. In the shower, I contemplated whether or not I could go through that again. The sex was incredible, but it just made me so vulnerable and easily taken advantage of.

"Have you been thinking about it like I have?" Aiden asks, pulling me from my thoughts. Oh. He has also been thinking about it. "I'm sorry that I sprung that on you. It wasn't fair to you, and I don't want it to affect our relationship.

"It's fine, Aiden. It really is. I told you last night that it's fine and I mean it."

"Alright."

I reach towards the cable connected to the stareo and hook up my Ipod. "What would you like to listen to?"

"You know I like anything you like, E." I giggle at him. There he is, the guy that I met the first day. I put on 'Don't Stop' by 5 Seconds of Summer. We scream out the lyrics and make complete fools of ourselves. We're still laughing as he pulls up to the school.

-~-

"Class dismissed!" Shit. I zoned out, again. This has been happening more often since Aiden's confession almost a week ago. I lean over to the person on my right and ask what I missed. She told me we had to read until chapter 25 in Bleak House over the weekend. We exchange a few more words then leave the room and head in different directions.

I rush to my locker and put away my books and grab my dance shoes. On my way to the dance room, I run into Aiden. "Hey, Aiden!"

"Hey, E!" He says, and as he opens his mouth to say something else we're interrupted by the sound of an over-bubbly female voice calling Aiden's name.

"Aiden! I dropped my book and when I got up you had walked off!" What? Who is this?

"E, this is Bridgit," Aiden tells the girl who comes up beside him.

"Hi, nice to meet you," she says too sweetly. I just blink at her in disbelief. I'm glad he made a new friend, but why did it have to be a girl like her? The better question is why I feel like this. It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything. But I still feel this slight pang of jealousy.

"Bye, E!" Aiden says as he walks away, dragged by the new girl. Shit. I zoned out again.

"Bye!"

-~-

I'm distracted all through dance class. Mrs. Grace has to yell at me on a number of occasions to snap me back to reality. Finally, the class ends and I'm only too happy to get out of there. That was the last class of the day, which I'm usually sad about because dance is my favourite thing in the world, but I'm just not in the mood today. Why was he with her? Why do I care? This is all so confusing!

I walk to my locker and, as always, Aiden is there waiting for me. I'm so conflicted - I'm happy to see him, but I also need some space to think about my feelings even though I shouldn't even have feelings for him. Well, I think I do, and I obviously wouldn't be able to stand it if he got together with someone else. But he's into that fucked up, kinky stuff.

"Are you okay?" Aiden asks sounding very concerned.

I nod. "Yeah, I'm alright. I just have a headache."

"Let's get you home and I can make you some tea." I smile at how sweet he is. Yes, I like him. The only thing that stands in the way is the fact that he is a dominant. And that is a big obstacle.