Chapter 23: Just Friends
Lizzie hadn’t expected she’d be the one to be stunned and not the other way around.
The Aiden that currently looked down at her...
’Handsome,’ her mind instinctively echoed the words.
Though she’d always considered Aiden to be pretty average-looking prior to her current assessment, a lot of it could’ve been easily attributed to the fact that Aiden himself hadn’t put as much thought into sprucing up his face card as he’d recently did.
There was also the fact that she had only managed to catch glimpses of him from afar all morning.
Even with he and his buddies’ earlier antics in the hall, she much like many had been yet to see him up-close.
Well, until now, that was.
In any case,
"Hey, Lizzie," Aiden greeted, leaning sideways onto his locker with his legs crossed.
"What’s up?" he casually asked, his head tilted slightly as he unknowingly did the hair thing again.
"Aiden! Hi," she found herself caught off-guard by the reserved air floating about him.
"You... look different," she managed and then suddenly corrected herself, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"I mean great. You look great!"
"Yeah. I’ve been getting that all morning," Aiden chuckled faintly, to which he then said, a light, genuine smile touching his lips;
"Still, I appreciate the compliment. Thank you."
Something within Lizzie tensed upon hearing that. Yet she replied just as quickly, her smile sweet;
"You’re welcome."
"Still, is that why you didn’t bother responding to my texts?" she coquettishly asked, her smile teasing.
For a moment, Aiden said nothing, his olive-green irises maintaining an amused yet relaxed eye-contact with the lady’s ocean-blues.
Then he replied;
"No, not at all. I just ended up hitting the sack earlier than I intended,"
"But uh," Aiden sucked in gently, wondering if he was going to regret his next words.
"We’re just friends, right?" he asked, one of his brows cocking and his eyes seemingly searching for something only he knew.
Lizzie on the other hand, froze. Just for a bit.
Then she replied, the words stumbling out before she could stop them;
"Of... of course, we are! Why... why’d you ask?"
In response though, Aiden heaved a genuine sigh of relief, his mind now completely at peace with the lady.
Frankly, he didn’t want to be that guy.
The guy that just assumed without clarifying things even if he had been a hundred percent certain of the dynamics between them.
Thankfully, Lizzie had given him the uncomplicated answer he’d been hoping for.
Otherwise, he’d have been forced to clear things up right then and there, and hope that their interactions didn’t become stiff and awkward.
Sure, he could very well handle it if it came down to that, but he’d rather avoid the entire mess altogether if he could help it.
"Just wanted to be sure," Aiden grinned at her in response and then pushed off the locker slightly, a hand gently tugging on and adjusting the strap of his bag.
"I’ll see you later, Lizzie." he then walked past her, a reserved smile on his lips.
Left standing there, her hand absentmindedly waving, the lady in question clutched at her textbooks slightly, a series of emotions phasing across her face from realization, to worry, and finally, poutful sullenness.
With a sigh, she casually made her way over to her own destination.
Meanwhile, Aiden had already cut another corner, his steps coming to a halt before the guidance counsellor’s office.
Thankfully, there weren’t any students seated in wait outside at the moment, hence allowing Aiden to walk straight up to the office and knock on the door without worrying about having to wait his turn;
"Dr. Kowalski?"
"Come in," the crisp, inviting voice of his counsellor came from the other end of the door and the young chap gently turned the knob and walked in.
"Ah, Aiden. Good morning. Looking quite dashing, I see." the middle-aged lady gestured for him to seat, her smile warm and inviting.
"Morning, Doc. You’re just as timelessly beautiful as I remember," Aiden reciprocated her energy with a compliment of his own.
"Oh, my," she tilted her head in amused delight, clearly pleased by his words.
"Who’s been mentoring you?" she asked with an arched brow to which Aiden laughed.
"Worked a shift over the summer. Learned all I know from a pretty suave colleague." the youth explained.
"That’s great to hear. The art of flattery can get you, very, very far in life." she acknowledged with an approving nod and then asked;
"So, to what do I owe this visit?"
Heaving a deep breath, Aiden shifted slightly in his chair, leaned forwards with his palms interlocked on the table and then said;
"I’m thinking of taking two AP classes. Calculus and Computer Science,"
"I intend to enroll at Pacific Heights, and considering they only take students with a GPA of 3.5 and above--"
"And strong extracurricular activities to boot?" Dr. Kowalski interjected, her head angled in a knowing manner.
"And that..." Aiden bobbed his head once in acknowledgement.
"...which I’ll try to work on this year," he gestured briefly with a pointed finger, then let out his final words slowly;
"I’m hoping I can salvage my GPA in time for college applications before graduation."
For a moment, the middle-aged lady with coiffed-black hair and thin rectangular glasses framing her russet-brown irises, stared, seemingly contemplating whether to give him the go-ahead or not.
Then, as her fingers drummed slightly on the neat yet occupied mahogany desk between them, Aiden’s olive-green irises confident and resolute as she kept a levelled eye-contact with him, she soon spoke;
"How’s your father?"
Not the least bit bothered by the abrupt change in topics, Aiden replied;
"He’s doing great."
"Did you inform him about this?" she then asked, her tone full of concern.
"Pacific Heights is exorbitantly expensive without a scholarship, you know?" she added, one of her palms spread slightly in a vague gesture.
Without being told, Aiden understood where she was coming from.
Given the kind of job his Pops worked, sustaining him through college via his salary and savings alone wasn’t exactly feasible.
To that effect, Dr. Kowalski’s concerns were very valid.
Still, Aiden wouldn’t have come here had he not sat his father down to discuss this with him before.
It was just that he’d done it in one of those rare moments he’d gotten a spark of motivation, prior to receiving the system.
Back then, his resolve hadn’t been nearly as firm.
He’d wanted to attend Pacific Heights, sure--but he had never truly believed he’d make it.
In the back of his mind, he’d already resigned himself to compromising and settling for a less expensive university instead. One that his father’s savings could comfortably support.
Now, though? His outlook had changed completely.
If he was going to cinch a GPA of 3.5, he might as well go all the way and do everything in his power to get into the college of his dreams.
Besides, he didn’t actually have plans to coast on his father’s funds to attend college. That insane time-limited quest existed for a reason after all.
Still,
"I did," Aiden assured her, then said;
"He told me to go for it."
Hearing that, Dr. Kowalski released a quiet breath of relief, one she had unknowingly been holding.
"Alright," the woman then said, a small smile returning to her face.
"If he’s on board, then that’s certainly reassuring." she added with a small nod.
"That said," she leaned back into her chair before continuing;
"I should warn you, though,"
"Taking two AP classes on top of your regular coursework is going to be extremely demanding." she regarded him carefully over the rim of her glasses.
"Are you absolutely sure you’re ready for that?" she asked again, her tone even more heedful.
Nodding once, his gaze full of resolve and a confident smile on his lips, Aiden replied;
"I’m sure."
"Alright, then. I’ll have to speak with the teachers handling those courses." Dr. Kowalski muttered audibly, her tone thoughtful.
Then,
"Come see me tomorrow for your updated schedule, okay?" she informed him a few seconds after.
"No problem," Aiden rose up from the chair, a light smile on his lips.
"Thank you, Doc." he appreciated the woman.
"Don’t mention it." she reciprocated in kind with a light wave.
Giving her one more nod, Aiden then walked out of the office, a thin smile on his lips.
Checking the time on his wristwatch, he realized he only had a couple minutes left before he’d have to meet up with his buddies for the Last-First Day photoshoot.
Casually, he made his way over.
Strolling down the corridors to reach the backdoors, his steps quickened when he noticed Casper leaning against his locker while jotting something in a little notepad.
"Hey man. What’s got you so engrossed?"
"Just jotting some ideas for a novel I’m writing. Started it as a joke over the summer break and I figured I should keep up the momentum." Casper casually replied, a thin smile on his lips.
To that, Aiden couldn’t help but remark, genuine intrigue in his eyes;
"That’s interesting. I’d like to read it sometime."
"Sure. Why not? I’ll forward it to you when I’m done with the first volume." Casper pocketed the notepad and then said with a slight gesture of his head;
"C’mon. Let’s head on over to the field. The boys went ahead earlier."
"Alright." Aiden replied, he and the youth discussing a few mundane things as they made their way over.
"So..."
"How’s... home?" Aiden cautiously asked a minute later.
"Oh, you know. Same old, same old." Casper remarked casually and then added as they stepped out the backdoor and onto the equally bustling lawns;
"Father’s being a selfish asshole as usual, and my finances remain dependent on whether I’m submissive to his whims or not..."
"But asides that, all’s good." he casually shrugged it off.
To that, Aiden remained silent for a while. For as rambunctious as Casper seemed, only he and his buddies alongside a select few actually knew what he was dealing with.
And because they knew that much, they understood perfectly, why he was so animated on campus.
Unlike home which always seemed to keep him suffocated, campus was his happy place. It was the only place he was allowed to be the teen he wanted to be without the ’etiquettes’ demanded of him by his rich father getting in the way of his fun.
As a result, Aiden simply slung an arm around his neck and said;
"What do you say we pull off prank number four on Spirit week?"
To that, the blonde-haired youth turned over and said, a mischievous grin spreading across his lips as he pointed a finger;
"You’re an evil man, Aiden. Very evil. But I like the way you think."
To that, Aiden laughed boisterously and replied;
"Let’s just not get caught this time too, okay."
