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Like you.
You’re fine, Aiden.
So, so unbelievably fine.
He took a long sniff of his wrist and nodded. “I like it.”
“I like you, too,” I replied.
“What?”
“What?” I echoed. I shook my head. “I mean, I like it, too. The smell. I was talking about your cologne.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want me to buy you ice cream after school?”
I grumbled and grimaced but didn’t want him to think I was acting strange for any other reason outside of perhaps being on my period. “Ice cream would be nice.”
13
Aiden
Well,I’ll be damned.
Hailee had a crush on me.
Unlike me and my top-notch acting skills, my best friend was terrible at trying to hide her feelings. Hailee Jones wore her emotions on her face as if they were stitched in place against her skin. It was one of my favorite things about her—how easy it was to read her. Sometimes, I wondered if everyone could read her the way I could or if I’d just become ultra-tuned in on every little curve that fell against her face.
I couldn’t think of anything better than this outcome. I’d been walking around with the secret that I had feelings for my best friend, so to discover that she had feelings for me was a dream come true. Now, I wasn’t too self-conscious about bringing it up to her, either, because it was clear she felt the same way.
I couldn’t wait until morning to tell her exactly how I felt.
14
Hailee
The next morning,I waited at the bus stop. Aiden came bouncing out, extremely excited and wide awake.
“Too much energy,” I muttered to him, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“Never too much energy,” he said, grinning widely. “You look beautiful today.”
“What?” I asked. Was I hallucinating? Did I pass out at some point and end up in a deep coma? Do people dream while in a coma?
“I said you’re beautiful, Hailee.”
“Oh.” I grimaced and narrowed my eyes. “Why did you say that?”
“Because it’s true.”
“Oh.” He had a goofy smile on his face. I cocked an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s a very harmful thing for a brain like yours.”
“Yeah, not going to lie, it’s been a rough few hours. I wonder if people get headaches from thinking too much.”
“Probably just you.”
