Anonymous

“I don’t know if I should tell you. I mean, it’s kind of a long story,” he replied hesitantly.

“You wouldn’t have offered if you didn’t want to tell me. Besides, we’ve got plenty of time. It doesn’t seem as if Mr. G is going to be teaching us anything today.” I nodded to the frustrated Mr. G. Aiden looked at Mr. G then at me. Finally he displayed a resigned look, and I assumed he was going to tell me.

“Well…” he started. I sighed and made an impatient hand gesture for him to go on. He grabbed my now re-organized backpack and slid it over to him so that he could put his head on it. He looked calculatingly at me.

“Are you going to the concert next week?” he asked. I gave him a confused look.

“What?” I demanded. He looked at my shirt and smirked when I crossed my arms over my chest.

“The Kings of Leon concert next week at that one park. I can’t remember what it’s called, but I’m pretty excited since it’s not going to be inside a stuffy theater or something. It’s going to be awesome since it starts right before sunset and it’s going to be all nice and dark and cold,” he specified as he looked at my crossed arms. I blushed so red I’m pretty sure my blood had just invented a new color.

“Oh, yeah, that. Of course I’m going, I love Kings of Leon,” I mumbled. My blush deepened, if that was possible, when he laughed at me. “What? Why are you laughing at me?” I asked.

"Nothing. You’re just really shy around me all of a sudden. Did I do something to intimidate you?” he asked arrogantly. Boy, for a European dude, he was acting really American. I decided to just confront it. No use hiding anything from him. The last time he saw me, he told me that he could tell when I was lying. I highly doubted that, or else he wouldn’t be here, since all those butterflies I had felt when I liked him were coming back. But that’s the past. I don’t like him anymore. Really, I thought. Anyway, he probably would have run away or something if he really saw what I was feeling. My heart practically melted from looking into his eyes for more than five seconds. I looked down at the table, suddenly finding the texture of the dark polished wood more interesting than his intoxicating eyes.

“Well, it might have to do with the fact that I burst into tears over my unimportant material object right in front of you.” I said quickly so that maybe he wouldn’t hear all of it. Hopefully he didn’t ask me to repeat it.

(Aiden’s POV)

I laughed at her comment and looked at her. She was so sweet and…interesting. I’d never met anyone like her. I wished she would look into my eyes. Her beautiful, big, brown eyes. It was so easy to get lost in them forever. I grabbed her chin and tilted it so that I could look into her eyes and try to figure out what was going on in her head. There were so many emotions there that her irises seemed to flow like a river around her pupils, just like molten chocolate would, slowly and seductively. And then I spoke words that were surprising, even to me.

“Don’t worry about crying in front of me. If you ever need a shoulder, or just someone to talk to, I’ll be around.” That sounded so completely cheesy that I wished I had just shut my mouth. At least, until I saw her smile. That amazing smile that can light up an entire room. Fortunately it reached her eyes so that they twinkled. I knew that it was real.

“Besides, I know how you feel. Kind of. I know what you always used to say - "Music equals life" or something like that. And I would probably cry if my iPod died too.” I stated confidently. But apparently she had a lie detector connected to her brain. She scoffed and looked at me.

“I highly doubt that. You'd probably just buy a new one or something.” She claimed, regaining some of her confidence. She then turned away but turned back so abruptly that I feared she might get whiplash.

“You didn’t lie when you said that you could fix my iPod right? You used to be able to fix everything, so you can fix a silly electronic right?” she whispered, her voice filled with hope. I couldn’t bear to make her sad again, so I lied, as always. I wasn’t sure if I could fix it correctly. I hope she turned that lie detector off.

“I’m pretty sure I can fix it by next week. I’ll give it to you at the concert,” I said, practically through my teeth.

“Yay! I’m so happy I could kiss you!” she squealed. Apparently she had turned her detector off. She seemed to think for a moment then added, “But I won’t, don’t worry.” If only she knew that that’s what I really want, I thought. Whoa, did I just think that? I can’t think that, she doesn’t like me that way. I’m not even sure if she likes me at all. Besides, I can’t like her. I don’t want the whole Nina fiasco to happen all over again with Kee. It would be plain cruel to hurt a girl as nice as her. I smiled at her and rested my head on her backpack so that I could close my eyes and prevent her from reading them. I remember Nina telling me a long time ago that she wished she had Kee’s talent to read my eyes. Apparently she had lost practice the two years I had been gone. I had missed the U.S. and everything about it for those two lonely years. I began to reminisce about all those fun times I had had with Kee, Nina, and Nixie when I had lived here. It seemed so long ago… I was snapped back into reality by Kee’s melodic voice.

“So, are you going to tell me why you’re here or are you going to keep procrastinating?” she sang. She didn’t actually sing, but it seemed like she had to me. Probably since I had been daydreaming.

“Sorry, what did you say?” I asked, dazed. She repeated her question patiently and waited for my answer. Will she judge me if I tell her? I asked myself. No, she’s not that kind of girl. I sighed and opened my mouth to speak, when the bell rang. I looked around the classroom to see that we were alone. Everyone had left, even Mr. G. That’s strange, I thought. Mr. G. had never liked to leave his room much, but that was two years ago. Things change. Hopefully he had also changed his overprotective father ways since he didn’t beat me up or anything, but maybe he just didn’t notice me. I looked at Kee’s expectant face and mentally sighed. Saved by the bell, I thought with a wicked smirk.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later.” I said as I walked out the door with Kee’s backpack slung over my shoulder. My messenger bag was still on the ground next to the stool I had sat on during class. Just as expected, Kee came trudging up to me with my heavy bag in tow. She glared at me and held her hand out for her backpack. It was so fun to tease her. Her cheeks got all red and her eyes took on a menacing gleam. I gave her my most angelic smile and stuck my hand out too, waiting for her to say what I really wanted her to say.

“Trade.” She commanded. I gave her a reproachful look and waited for the word. She sighed and looked at me like a mother would look at her son with his hand in the cookie jar. She knew she wasn’t going to get what she wanted until she said it so she groaned and said the word I had been waiting to hear.

“Fine. Please.” She huffed. I smirked and put one of her backpack straps in her small hand. I still had my hand out waiting for my messenger bag so she looked at it and breathed some very polite words in a fake British accent, “Why thankee kind sir. Have a nice day.”

I watched in amazement as she took off while she swung her backpack onto her shoulders and kept my messenger bag in one hand. She really was stronger than I remembered, I thought as I ran after her. I clearly had an advantage since I was taller than her, and therefore had longer legs. I caught up to her a little later than I had thought I would, but I caught up to her all the same. I grabbed her around the waist and pushed her against the wall that she had strayed to. I felt everyone looking at us so I got really close and whispered in her ear, “I thought you didn’t like crowds.” She looked behind me and lost her smile. Her cheeks turned from a delicate pink to a rosy red as she saw all the people that were looking at us. She squirmed and tried to escape from my grasp, but I was stronger than her and kept her pinned against the wall. I laughed quietly and murmured softly into her ear again, “Ah, ah, ah. You’re not getting away so easily. You got yourself into this mess, now you have to suffer the consequences.” She looked at me with wide, pleading eyes and I felt a moment of hesitation, but decided that I was having too much fun having her pressed up against me so closely. I felt the people move on and ignore us. She relaxed in my grip, but I still held onto her. I slowly pried my bag’s strap from her fist and stepped away from her, keeping my arm around her waist.

As the hallway slowly cleared I let go of her completely. She still smelled like English wildflowers. Such an intoxicating smell, it was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. It was a smell of nature, not some concoction that pop stars had made that completely overwhelmed the senses in a bad way. Her smell was soft and sweet, just like her. She gave me a small smile and walked to her next class without saying another word. I watched her walk away until she turned into another hall, then I went the opposite direction, running so that I would make it on time to my French class, thinking of her all the way.