Being the perfect gentleman that he was, Seth forced me to leave his house an hour early just so that we'd be at my place on time.
"We don't need you get you in any more trouble than you already are," he said as he dragged me across his living room, his hand pressed firmly in mine. "Plus I can't tarnish the reputation I worked so hard on."
I rolled my eyes behind him but chose to not say anything.
"Seth? Ava?" Amanda called out from the kitchen. "You're leaving already?"
I shrugged and pointed at the back of her son's head. He only stopped speed walking when his mom approached us.
"Make sure you drive safe," she said, looking at Seth. "I don't trust you on that bike."
I suppressed my smile as Seth rolled his eyes at her. She turned to face me with a warm smile on her face.
"It was lovely to meet you," she said, pulling me in a hug. "Come by often. Don't wait for Seth to invite you over."
I grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you for tonight. Dinner was delicious."
She brushed me off with the wave of her hand.
"Okay, goodbyes done. We're leaving," Seth announced, bursting our little bubble.
He was dragging me towards the door again. I turned around and waved at Amanda as she stood there chuckling. Seth only let go of my hand once we were near his bike.
"You know," I spoke up as he sat on his bike and put his helmet on. "My dad isn't going to kill you if we are late by a minute."
He didn't answer but simply pointed at the back of his bike with his thumb.
I shook my head as I got on and said, "You're so bossy."
I wrapped my arms around his torso as we rode off into the night. We were on a familiar path on the way to home when I remembered something.
"Seth, take the next right," I called out to him.
"Why?" he yelled back over the breeze.
"It's a shortcut," I lied which seemed to make him happier and relax even more.
He followed my instructions and turned right. We were on a not-so-developed concrete road which was dimly lit by the streetlights. He was riding slowly because of the narrow road.
"Are you sure this is a shortcut?" he questioned.
"Just keep going straight," I instructed and he followed reluctantly.
"I should've never listened to you," he mumbled.
"Sorry, what'd you say?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"Nothing! I love you!" he exclaimed while I tried not to smile.
"Okay, stop here," I said loudly causing him to jerk to a stop.
"What is going on?" he asked once I got off the bike.
"Just come with me," I said, outstretching my hand to him.
Instead, he removed his helmet and turned off the ignition of his bike as he continued staring at me, waiting for me to explain.
My shoulders sagged as I explained, "Fine, I lied to you."
"What?" he said. "Ava, I need to get you home on time. This isn't helping."
"Come on, we still have a lot of time left," I insisted. "You were the one saying that we don't get to spend a lot of time together. I'm just trying to make most of the time we have."
He seemed to be considering what I said. When he didn't say anything for a long time, I gave him my best puppy dog eyes and said, "Please."
He looked down at his helmet. His eyes rose up to meet mine and I saw a smile curve on his face.
"Fine, fine," he said and stood up to place his hand in mine.
I led him straight ahead, following the path.
"Where are we going?" he asked as he pocketed his bike keys.
"I used to come here regularly a few years ago," I explained as we walked slowly. "It was just a place I would come down to whenever I wanted to be alone. No one knows about this place, not even Kyla and Kian."
"So I'm the first person to come to your secret special place?" he asked, leaning closer to my ear.
I nodded shyly. We continued walking in silence and finally, the softly lit pond came into view. It was just like I remembered it to be. There were well-maintained plants around the pond with the bench that I used to always sit on. Stones surrounded the boundary of the pond leading up to a house. It was as if we had escaped the world outside and were in our own calm world.
"Are you sure this is not private property?" he asked.
I shrugged and said, "Doesn't matter. No one's ever here."
I led him towards the bench and sat down. He sat close to me as he pulled me closer to him.
"It's cold tonight," I mumbled into his chest.
"Sadly, I don't have a jacket," he said in my hair.
I chuckled as he hugged me closer to him.
"Seth?"
"Yes, Ava?"
I hesitated for a moment before saying, "Do you ever miss what you had with Carla?"
He lifted his chin from the top of my head and leaned down to look at my face. When I didn't look back at him, he sat up straighter.
"I used to," he admitted, "but now, I have you. We were very close to each other...I liked her very much."
"Do you still miss it though?" I prodded.
The silence that followed my question made my heart skip a beat in fear. I sat up straight to look at him. He stared back into my eyes and a slow smile spread across his face.
"No, I don't."
I let out a breath that I was holding and moved closer him to connect our lips together.
As we pulled away, he said, "What about you? Any interesting ex-boyfriends I should know about?"
I shrugged and shook my head. "No, I don't think so."
"And Tyler?"
I felt a wave of guilt wash over me as I remembered the incident from the library. I lowered my gaze to our intertwined hands.
"What? What happened? Did he try something again?" he asked.
"Please don't be mad at me," I started.
"Well then don't give me a reason to be mad at you," he snapped.
"It was nothing, Seth. He just met me in the library for another one of our study sessions," I explained. "Well, he didn't actually show up till I was about to leave."
"You're still having your study sessions?" he asked, not sounding too pleased.
"Seth, I'm just trying to help him out. He's failing," I tried again, looking up at him.
"I'm sure many other students would be willing to help him out," he suggested.
"Seth," I said in a soft voice, trying to not sound angry. "I love you, not him."
He sighed and my hand between his. "Fine, I'm sorry but...I'd appreciate it if you didn't have any more study sessions with him."
"Why, are you jealous?" I said suggestively in hopes that it would lighten the mood.
"Me? Jealous?" he asked to which I nodded. "Pfft, no."
I shrugged as I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips. "Whatever you say."
*
The next morning, I woke up happier than I usually would. As I walked down my school's hallway, I kept looking around for Seth but there seemed to be no sign of him.
When I reached my locker, Kian was there.
"Ava!" he exclaimed, rushing forward to hug me. "It feels like we haven't seen each other in forever."
He pulled back to stare at my face and his eyebrows rose. "You're looking good. I'm guessing Seth is keeping you happy."
I felt myself blushing. "I guess."
His eyebrows rose further as an amused look took over his face. "Ava's blushing. Wow."
"Oh, stop," I said, placing my hand on his chest and pushing him away.
"Ava's in love," he sang out."
"Shut up," I mumbled as I dug through my locker for my books.
"Alright, alright," he said, giving up. "Well, I've got to go. See you later. Bye."
"Bye," I called out behind him.
As I pulled my Math book out, a neatly folded piece of paper slipped out from under it and fell to the floor. My eyebrows pulled in together as I bent down to pick the piece of paper up.
Maybe it was another one of Seth's notes.
I opened it up to see an unrecognisable handwriting scrawled across the paper.
Wow, I can't believe how desperate you are. You're still dating Seth? Even after everyone knows that the only reason he's dating you is because he wants to make Carla jealous so that she'd want him again.
I re-read the note twice as a million questions popped in my head. Maybe it was Kyla or Kian playing a prank of me? Or Seth himself?
Despite thinking of different possibilities, an unsettling feeling was bubbling in my stomach as I bit the insides of my mouth.
If by any chance this note was true...
No. It can't be.
If the note was true, I wanted to laugh at the mocking and ironic situation: a note to start our relationship and a note to end it.
A/N- Yes, you can hate me for the cliffhanger. Haha.
Anywayy, did you guys like the chapter? What are your theories on this 'note'? I hope you're enjoying the little Seva moments so far!
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Love you guys! <3