« 9/16/18 - 2:30 p.m. »
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"Remind me again, Andrew, why you have to look nice?" Aiden asked. "They're gonna be over in like five minutes."
Andrew brushes his hair back again. "Because they're girls," he pushed. "You always have to look good in front of girls."
"Yes," I cut in sarcastically. "Girls that you said you don't like because they're not your type. And I'm a hundred percent sure they don't like you either."
"Yeah, well, maybe I'll give a good impression. Do you mind fixing my bed real quick too-"
"Andrew!" I laughed. Aiden lets out a loud burst of laughter following me.
"Do you want me to have a messy bed when girls are over? I don't think so!"
I took a seat on Andrew's office chair and lay my head on the backrest. The bedroom looked a lot different than it was that night I got drunk at Carter's party, also known as the day I started dating Tessa, which I regret by hundreds.
Aiden sat across from me, on Andrew's bed, as we watched him get ready for the girls to come. I've been sneaking casual glances at him and only once I've seen him lock eyes too.
I'm still not sure why we agreed to this whole hanging out-thing with Serena and Lily. I've never been friends with them. I've rarely ever talked to them. But yet we're about to have them over for a whole three hours or so. What would we even talk about?
Aiden grabbed his phone and sighed. "They'll be here in two minutes," he said. "How much more do you have to do?"
"Hey, at least both of you don't have to worry about looking good in front of girls-" Andrew cut off so quick that the suspicion and tension in the room rose to a peak that I didn't feel comfortable with. It was a good thing he knew when he was saying too much or too little. This time it was definitely too much.
"And why is that?" I mutter. Aiden and I share unwanted glances.
Typical Andrew, he tried changing the topic but was interrupted when the doorbell went off throughout the house. All three of us ran just to reach the front door before Andrew's parents could, soon finding out that we were too late when we heard the door fly open, and two adults saying welcome to Lily and Serena, just like any proper mom and dad would.
The three of us stood back, at the top of the staircase while we watched Lily and Serena be all sweet and sugary to Andrew's parents. When the comment from his dad came, "Are either of you dating my son?" Aiden and I couldn't help but laugh while Andrew's face turned a deep red.
Because our laughter was so loud, the four at the door turned to look up at us, including his dad. "What?" he teased. "You haven't had a girl over in months." The rest of us burst out in laughter, especially Serena and Lily.
"You guys suck," I heard Andrew mumble almost incoherently.
"We know," everyone says back.
Andrew groans and stumbles back to his bedroom while the rest of us stood there in short silence.
Andrew's dad, finally giving a pat on Serena's shoulder, said, "Well, you ought to do whatever. Andrew said you guys had a project in Biology, so have at it."
"Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez," Serena says with a prissy voice.
Finally, the two girls ran up the stairs where Aiden and I stood, Andrew still locked away in his bedroom from embarrassment. We hugged each other while saying our 'hi's.
The height difference between Aiden and Serena was everything. It made me wonder what Aiden and I look like when we're together. I could only imagine the feeling of a kiss while I'm on my tip-toes just trying to reach his lips. That would be the only feeling I'd ever want to have before I die. With Aiden, and Aiden only.
We let Lily and Serena walk before us to Andrew's bedroom. We found him on his bed with his face buried into one of his pillows. He let out frustrated groans. It got louder each time we took a step closer to him.
"I hate all of you," he grumbled in the muffle of his pillow.
All four of us ignored him and took a seat at the foot of his bed. Lily and Aiden got the perk of sitting on the bed, while Serena and I sat on the floor. It wasn't that uncomfortable, so we didn't complain.
"Either of you can sit on the bed if you want," Aiden offered.
"No, it's fine," both Serena and I told him.
I turned to Aiden, then to Serena and offered the bed spot to her. Aiden agreed with me.
"It's fine, I like the floor," she tells us. All of us laugh, except for Andrew, who's still unmoving in his bed.
Aiden didn't take her no and stood up, telling her to "scooch" over so he could take her spot. She had no other choice than to sit next to Lily.
"Oh, I get it, you just don't want to sit next to me," Lily mutters jokingly.
"Nah," Serena said, all spread out in a sarcastic manner.
We laugh again, this time Andrew joining in, his breath all restricted from the pillow that his face was buried into. I could see Aiden looking at me out of the corner of my eye as he let out one those breathy chuckles that I've had stuck in my head forever. He shifted in his position, but his fingers fell over mine. Aiden looked away but didn't even have a second thought about lifting his hand off.
I restricted the smile that wanted to break on my face. But the blushing was inevitable. Aiden let his fingers travel across my hand, and soon his pinkie was interlocked with mine. For a while, everyone's voices were muted from the affection that he was giving me.
"Vinnie," Aiden finally said. "Can you please tell Serena that her obsession with Carter is unhealthy?"
We're already on that? "Carter's an asshole, Serena, give it up," I say. Aiden smiles at my statement. He didn't look at our hands. That must mean he's fine with it.
From behind Serena and Lily, I see Andrew finally lift himself up from his bed. The first place he looks is Aiden and I. The second place is our hands. Andrew smirks at me, and for some reason, Aiden too. His cheeks flush a rosy pink as he looks down at his feet.
"He's not one to me," Serena retorts, her arms folded across her chests.
The three of us snap back to reality as we tell her that Carter isn't the one.
Lily and Serena look at each other and turned toward me. "Vincent?" she says with pleading eyes. "You're dating Tessa . . . right?"
"I'm not proud of it," I scoff. Andrew and Aiden laugh.
"Yeah . . . and you're kinda friends with Carter . . . right?" Serena then says, leaning over her elbows while glaring deep into my soul like she's trying to get something out of me. "And you sit at his lunch table?"
"You sit there too-" Lily starts before being interrupted.
"Shut up!" Serena was now glaring at Lily before she turned her gaze back at me. Her eyes fluttered with grace when I could see the puppy dog face trying to emerge. "Vincent?" she stretched my name out again. "Can you set us up?"
All four of us roll our eyes against her. "You're insane," I remark.
"Have I ever mentioned how incredibly handsome you are?" Serena flutters her eyelashes again. This girl never gave up and you can tell she was ready to beg.
Aiden huffed a quiet murmur. I wasn't able to hear it.
"Serena, you can't make me do that. It's Carter. For all you know, he likes somebody else . . ." I trail. Wrong move. "Wait. That's- That's not what I meant. I'm sorry."
"You better be," she spat.
"We're friends, we should be supportive of each other," Andrew says, pointing his hand up from between the two girls. I almost forgot he was there.
"This is the first time we really actually talked to each other. We can't possibly be that good of friends," Aiden pointed out to him.
"Well, we are now, right?" I ask. I tighten my grip around his pinkie, letting a smile cross my face. "I've never talked this much with a group of people. That must mean something."
The group around me laughed. Serena especially.
"You too, huh?" she said.
I almost thought that she said "you two?" and saw Aiden and I's hands. But when it finally hit me, and I remembered what Carter said when Tessa started to make fun of Serena's social anxiety, I sigh. "Yeah, I almost didn't go to that party."
"I only came for Carter."
The rest of us groan.
The remainder of the afternoon went on like that, talking about our love life . . . well . . . Lily, Serena, and Andrew talking about their love life while Aiden and I stayed silent about everything.
Throughout our conversations, Aiden's hand kept on crawling over mine. I gave in. But we never spoke about it. Though on the inside, my mind was racing and I couldn't count the number of times I blanked out on our conversation. Before I knew it, our hands were all the way interlocked while we hid them by sitting so close to each other our shoulders almost touched. Even once I took the chance to put my head on his shoulder and make it look like an accident. Then that one time we looked at each other for a split second after he insulted me and the mischievous smile was plastered on his face and I looked down at his plump lips, all I could think about was what it would feel like to kiss him. Maybe I already knew. I've been staring at him long enough.
If he likes me, why hasn't he made his move while we were alone, all those many times we always are. Why doesn't he take the chance to kiss me and hold me close to him like nothing else in the world matters? I'll tell you why. Because Tessa's a human being, which, by the way, no one asked for.
But all I get is a hug. Or the closeness of his face next to mine. No touch of the lips. Just staggering amorous tension.
I took another look at Aiden while he went on and on about something I didn't care enough to pay attention to.
"There's always a tomorrow," I whisper to myself, remembering our plan.
Aiden turns to me. "Hmm?" he hummed.
"Nothing," I tell him. "You'll just wait and see."
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you'll just wait and see ;)