Locking In With My Life System

Chapter 33: Why

Aiden was on his way to the door of the computer room when a familiar sweetness reached his ears;

"Aiden~!"

"My answer’s still no, Clarissa." he turned over and said, his expression a mix of polite exasperation as he vaguely raised his arms.

True to her words, the queen bee had proven to be quite obstinate... though it wasn’t as if she’d been outright asking Aiden out all the time.

Rather, she just made a good show of keeping herself in his thoughts whenever she got the chance lest he forget that she was very available for the homecoming dance.

Not that it stopped her from admitting to her agenda.

"Oh, come on! What’s it gonna take to get you to say ’yes’!" she demanded in a pout, her hands dropping to her hips in a bemused huff.

"Sadly, nothing. I admire your tenacity and all, but I’m just not interested." he replied, briefly gesturing towards her with a palm.

"You complimenting me every time isn’t gonna help your case, you know?" she arched an amused brow as she walked over, her head tilted slightly as her chestnut-brown hair followed the movement.

"Can we do this some other time? I have to be somewhere right now." Aiden replied instead, his olive-green irises reflecting how quickly he wanted to bolt from the area.

They were already drawing enough attention in the hallways as several students moving to their next classes kept looking their way in a mix of amusement, curiosity and intrigue.

The last thing Aiden wanted added on top of that, was for those pesky hall-monitors to start bearing down on him too.

Yet, as if one pest wasn’t enough, another just had to pop up;

"Aiden! Hi! I was looking for you! I heard you volunteered for the homecoming committee..." Lizzie waved at him as she walked over with a sweet smile on her lips... only for it to dim a bit when she saw Clarissa next to him.

Aiden on the other hand quietly groaned, both of his palms covering his face as he dragged them down slowly. Then he put on his nicest smile and said;

"Take a raincheck on that, Lizzie. You can always find me later."

Yet again, just as he was about to leave the duo whom were currently scoping the other out, another voice reached his ears;

"Aiden. I’m really not comfortable with you taking on that many things. You should rethink your..." Megan trailed off as she arrived, then asked in a rather curious tone as she adjusted her signature red-rimmed glasses;

"Why do you do look like the universe has it out for you?"

Aiden massaged his temples, a resigned sigh escaping his lips as the three girls surrounded him.

Then, in response to the bespectacled lady whose forest-green irises looked on from below in curiosity, her eyes blinking innocently, the coal-haired youth said slowly;

"Megan. I understand your concerns, but trust me, I won’t mess up."

"But, if you’re still unwilling to take my word for it, you can have someone on standby to have me replaced in case things go south, okay?" he offered.

Without waiting for a response from her, he swiftly excused himself from the trio, briskly walked across the corridor, and disappeared around the corner.

Tilting her head slightly, her eyes blinking in mild interest, Megan simply shrugged, then went on her merry way.

As long as Aiden was aware she could boot him off if he became a liability, all was well and good.

As for Lizzie and Clarissa...

"You really shouldn’t be pestering someone if they’ve already said no." the blonde-haired cheerleader chastised.

"What’s it to ya?" Clarissa casually retorted with a catty smile, her eyes studying her polished fingers as she ’absentmindedly’ rubbed a thumb across them.

"You’re not even all that interested in him like that. You just... like that he fits the image you have in mind of a perfect prom date." Lizzie pointed out in a slightly vexed tone.

"Initially yes. Now, though..." Clarissa’s voice trailed off, a faint blush forming on her cheeks as she chuckled softly to herself, a reaction that had Lizzie notably surprised.

"Tell me though, Liz. Even if that was the case, how’s it a problem of yours?" the resident queen bee asked, her brows arching in faux curiosity as she added;

"You have a boyfriend, remember?"

"Aiden’s my friend. I’m just looking out for him." the blonde-haired lady replied, her expression guarded.

"And yet you strung him along for most of sophomore and junior year..." Clarissa turned around to leave, her voice trailing as a knowing smile touched her lips.

"That’s not something a friend does, now, is it?" the lady’s words reached the cheerleader’s ears as she vaguely waved her off.

Unable to refute the truth to her words, Lizzie simply stood there, a plethora of emotions cycling across her beautiful features.

Then she quietly left a few seconds later, a surly huff escaping her lips.

In any case, as that scenario played out, Aiden on the other hand had slipped into the computer lab.

Currently, he was standing a few steps behind Theo while watching him work, the reclusive youth completely unaware of his presence.

Lost in his world, his gaze was laser-focused on the monitor’s screen, his fingers blitzing across the keyboard from time to time as interacted with a few lines of code reflected in his amber irises.

Yet, that was only one half of the screen.

The other half... well it was a playable gray-box moving around a certain map... one of the very maps Aiden had drawn for Theo a couple days ago.

Simply put, Theo was building a videogame... or more specifically, a mobile videogame.

Still, the premise of the game itself was quite... insane. Insane enough that Aiden would’ve never expected it could come from a recluse like Theo.

It was also why he remained fascinated as he watched the curly-haired youth scratch his hair while typing in a few codes, a frown forming on his features.

Then, seemingly frustrated that he wasn’t getting what he wanted, he pinched the ridges of his nose, his head slung over the ridge of his chair as he let out an audible mutter;

"Guess I’ll just have to abandon that feature--"

Amber irises suddenly met olive-greens, the former utterly startled and the latter, deeply fascinated.

"Your neck’s gonna snap if you keep bending it over like that." Aiden casually remarked when he realized Theo was essentially stun-locked.

In an instant, the brown-haired youth’s head whipped back straight, his reaction so fast one might’ve thought he’d seen a ghost.

Yet, without even the slightest reaction to it, Aiden casually walked over and said as he grabbed a nearby chair to sit on;

"Come to think of it, I never did ask,"

"What’s the name of the game?" he turned over said chair and settled into it, his gaze staring at the monitor, much to Theo’s wariness et perplexity.

Seeing that he was clearly on guard, Aiden simply whipped out his phone, and navigated over to his messenger app.

Casually, he sent a text.

Through it all, Theo simply remained guarded as he watched the coal-haired youth go through the motions.

Then, as his smartphone buzzed on the table, his eyes flicked over to it, a certain message from a familiar number popping up on its cracked screen and reading;

Now that’s not a very nice way to greet a friend...

Seeing that, Theo’s guarded expression remained much the same for an instant.

Yet, the moment immediately after, he flicked his gaze back to Aiden, his eyes widening, as did his pupils!

Then,

"It’s you?!! You’re--" Theo exclaimed so loudly, he cut himself off by covering his mouth almost immediately.

Honestly, if Aiden hadn’t been texting him frequently these past couple days, he would’ve never believed the youth was capable of such. Still, it was rather stunning to see.

Thankfully, the computer room was soundproofed so there was no chance of his voice echoing out and into the corridor... though Theo seemed to have forgotten that in his shock.

"In the flesh," Aiden casually replied with a widening grin, his expression delighted as he added;

"I have to say though Theo, you really owned that nickname, didn’t you?"

Theo slowly uncovered his mouth upon hearing that, a sheepish smile tugging on his lips.

Then he replied a few seconds after, his voice returning to its quiet, natural timbre;

"It’s a pretty cool nickname outside of school. I saw no reason not to use it."

"Well, for what it’s worth, I agree. It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?" Aiden nodded in acknowledgement to which he then said;

"It’s also what led me to your page, after all, so yeah. Cool nickname."

A light chuckle escaped Theo’s lips upon hearing that. Then he replied to Aiden’s very first question a few seconds after;

"I... I haven’t come up with anything just yet... regarding its name, I mean."

"I’ve just sort of put it on the backburner for the meantime... at least until I’ve sorted out the prototype." he expatiated.

Nodding in response to that, Aiden simply stared at the monitor’s screen, the gray box crashing into several sprite assets here and there in a reckless manner on the 2D map.

For a brief while, Theo did the same, nervously fiddling with his fingers as a natural silence descended between them.

Then seemingly in an effort to pad up said silence, Theo asked as he glanced over;

"So... spoilers for... ’Tues Your Adventure’, perhaps?"

"You wish. You’ll have to torturously wait like everyone else till next week." Aiden smirked to which Theo chuckled yet again.

"Here’s a more important question though," Aiden then turned to face Theo as he asked, his expression curious;

"Why the hiding?"