Evelyn's POV
I woke up flustered to the sound of my alarm, anxiety through the roof as I was sure I had woken up late and wouldn't make it to class on time, again. Gladly for me, it wasn't too late and I had some time to spare for breakfast and to get ready before I had to head to school. I hadn't gotten much sleep -how original- as my head was desperately trying to wrap itself around the talk Bailey and I had yesterday morning. She was certain about me having feelings for Aiden and made some very strong points to prove me wrong when I kept telling her he's an idioticasshole and a shittyexcuseofahuman that I could never, not in a billion years, like.
He was good looking, sure. And I care for him a whole bunch, and I did feel something during that kiss, and the almost-kiss which says a lot, but I didn't know if I could imagine myself ever being with him. In my head, he was just my best friend, and I had never thought about him being anything else, but I couldn't shake off the things I felt when he was touching me.
Was I in denial?
I wasn't going to pick up on that thought again, I knew it was going to mess me up real good. Not being able to avoid him though, my mind drifted to today. He was going to be at school and I'd be forced to see him all day. Maybe, just maybe I'd be lucky enough not to have many classes with him, but he was going to be at our table during lunch. Awesome.
I shook my head and got up, getting dressed faster than the speed of light so that I could have a proper breakfast because if not, I was sure I would collapse during the day.
I got dressed and headed downstairs, but I stopped in my tracks when a Patrick stuffie was thrown at me. I turned around and saw Jason standing in the crook of his door, looking at me. I grabbed Patrick and went towards him, concerned. "Good morning Jay. What's wrong?" I asked him but I could guess what was wrong. Vague voices could be heard from downstairs, of people fighting but I couldn't identify who it was. "Cole and his wife are fighting" he said in a low voice and I laughed at the fact that he still refused to call her Jade after all this time. When they first started dating, Cole loved to call Jade 'his wife' because he was just so whipped for her. I found it cute, but my feminist side arose every time Jason refused to call her by her name, even though I found it kind of cute, still.
"Have you eaten yet?" I asked him and he shook his head. "Okay, go to your room and I'll go get something for us to eat" I said and gave him Patrick before heading downstairs. The couple in despair didn't even notice me, and the tension of their argument concerned me, but I decided to let them figure it out on their own. It wasn't the first time they were fighting, anyway.
I quickly grabbed some bread, my beloved Nutella, two plates, a spoon for Jay and a knife for me and went back to his room. We sat and ate, after I assured him everything was fine downstairs, we just had to be patient and let them talk It out on their own. Or at least, fight it out.
We finished our breakfast and grabbed our things. By the time we went downstairs Cole was alone and Jade was nowhere to be found. He spotted us and we exchanged 'Good morning's'. I put a hand on his shoulder and quietly asked him if he was okay to which he just nodded. I wasn't convinced but I let it go for the time being.
Cole and Jay left, as Cole was the one that was taking our brother to school these last couple of days and I walked to school. I barely got there in time, which was good because I didn't have to face anyone just yet.
First class was Îlgebra and this time we weren't so lucky as to have a spare hour. Gladly, when I walked inside the class Aiden was nowhere to be found, so I did my little happy dance inside my head.
~~~
Time passed much too slow for my liking, but at last I was free to go. Me, Maya and Parker walked towards the cafeteria, where we met with Jagger, who was alone. Weird. We sat on our usual table where the boys started talking about everything and nothing, Maya and I having a chat of our own.
"So how's school treating you after.. you know" she asked, flipping through the pages of her book, solving math problems while talking to me. Someone note down to make her a statue somewhere for being a hero. "You know, good old pointing at me everywhere I go" I replied, playing with the straw of my juice.
"That makes it two of you then" she said, chuckling. "Who's the second?" I asked, praying to God she wasn't going to mention... "Aiden. The minute people saw him walking inside, he was all they cared about" she shook her head "Some things never change" I spoke, remembering his popularity back when we were in middle school.
Speaking about the devil, from the corner of my eye I spotted Aiden and Bailey talking against the lockers. Aiden seemed...troubled to say the least and Bailey was listening to him intensively. I didn't want to be nosey and go over there to see what was happening, but I also did. Maya joined the guys' conversation so now my attention was focused solely on Aiden and Bailey. Blaming my nosiness to being lonely, I grabbed my juice box and started walking towards them. At some point, I got close enough where I could actually hear their conversation and I was not happy about what I heard.
"She mustn't find them" I heard Aiden explain to Bailey, who replied "Okay, then where will we-" her words were cut short when she saw me coming close to them "-Why aren't you with the guys?" she asked immediately. "Okay, rude, they're all talking and I was lonely. Am I interrupting something?" I asked taking a sip of my juice, knowing damn well I was.
"No, no" Bailey tried to cover it up, while Aiden was looking at his shoes, hands in his pockets. Bailey opened her mouth to say something, but right then we saw Ivory and Noah coming. Noah was filled with lipstick everywhere and Ivory was smirking "Hey y'all" Ivory said and Noah just waved, scratching his neck. You don't say...
"Where have you guys been?" I asked, a playful smile playing on my face "Oh, you know, a place" she smirked and bobbed on her feet, tripping on Aiden at some point. I laughed, Bailey rolled her eyes and Aiden had a numb expression on his face.
~~~
The day was finally over and I got to go home. I had a few classes with Aiden and I didn't need any more if I'm being honest. People acted like he was some Hollywood star, the teachers could already tell he was trouble and I... well I was trying to keep as much distance with him as possible, which was working, up until he got bored and started throwing papers at me, making the class erupt to whispers again.
I grabbed the stuff I needed from my locker and headed out, the guys waiting for me outside. Usually, the gates weren't crowded after the final bell rang, most students went to the parking lot to get their cars and get the hell away, so I was alarmed to still see people outside. Another fight?
Narrator's POV
She walked down the stairs to join the crowd of classmates that had gathered and she wondered what could've caught their attention this time. She searched for something, anything that could've caused this but nothing was in sight, not even her friends. That's when she heard it; a phrase that came from one of the students; 'I think that's Lindsay' she heard and her heart dropped to her feet and even lower.
'What in the world is she doing here' she thought to herself, and although she hated to admit it, for a moment she felt intimidated, scared. What if she had come back for round 2? She wouldn't be able to handle it, God knows what she had to do to hide the bruises from everyone the last time.
Fear was soon replaced by another feeling when she layed eyes on the girl in question, only she wasn't alone. She had her arms looped around his neck, as he was holding her by the waist, and she turned to whisper something to him. 'Your friend is here' she spoke and he froze for a second. He wanted Evelyn to see them, that's the only reason why he let Lindsay come here in the first place, but he wasn't ready to see her reaction.
He slowly turned his head to face her, just as her eyes locked with his. Lindsay smiled cheekily at her and waved her manicured nails, a smile that said it all; 'I won'. Evelyn caught her own self off guard when she shook her head and rolled her eyes, walking away to go sit in one of the benches to text Ivory as she couldn't find her. She imagined how pathetic she looked at that moment, alone on a bench while Aiden and Lindsay were making out in front of the whole school.
She felt this horrible feeling settle in her chest, and for once she knew what it was...jealousy. Right then, as she watched him kiss her and hold her close to him, she realized how badly she wanted to be in her position. The talk with Bailey had helped her open her eyes to her feelings and welcome them instead of push them away, regardless of how much she tried to convince herself she wasn't attracted by him. He had won and he was right, she did like him and she wasn't sure how she was going to keep this up between them.
On the other end, Aiden was in the same position if not worse, being with a girl he didn't want to be with and having to see Evelyn sit alone while he did his best to make her feel even worse about herself. He knew exactly what he was going and the effects it had on her, and he absolutely despised himself for it but as long as his girlfriend was still in the picture he had to play tough and pretend, stuck in this relationship. The reason? That's for another time.
Soon enough, Ivory, Bailey, Jagger and Parker joined Evelyn after her text to Ivory. The minute they saw the lovely sightseeing they all froze, neither of them knowing what to say. Bailey rolled her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest, annoyed, Jagger had a similar reaction, Parker wasn't phased and Ivory... well let's say she had the worst reaction of the group.
"Where have y'all been, you said you'd be outside" Evelyn told them, not bothering to look Aiden's way. She tried her best to keep her head high and not let it affect her, or at least not show that it was. "I needed coffee since I'm not going to be getting any rest with my brother being home tonight" Bailey explained, narrowing her eyes towards the black-haired girl that was occupying Aiden.
"I'm getting the hell out of here. B, want me to give you a ride?" Ivory said, anger and annoyance evident in her voice as she finally tore her eyes from the happy couple. "Please do" Bailey said and after they made sure she'd be alright staying here and that she didn't want to join them, they were on their way. Parker left soon after as well, leaving Jagger and Evelyn alone.
"Why are you still here?" he suddenly asked her and she frowned, asking him "What do you mean?"
"For starters, you're clearly not enjoying this" he stated and her blood froze. 'Had he figured me out? ' she thought. "I mean, I'm not either, we're the two people closest to him and he's acting like he suddenly forgot about us". 'Oh'. "You can say that again" she said and shook her head. The two decided to go sit in another bench nearby the school, as Jagger said he wanted to talk to her.
Aiden, although he was still being all lovey-dovey with his girlfriend, did not like the sight one bit. He clenched his jaw every time he saw her laugh at what he was telling her, and he wished he and Jagger switched positions at that moment.
"What's wrong, babe?" the girl in his arms asked him, playing with his hair a bit and bringing him back to reality. "It's nothing, don't worry about it" he assured her and she smiled, kissing his cheek.
Jagger continued the talk, being tired of Aiden's behavior. "How do you feel about this whole...situation? I feel like a lot of weight was put on you with everything going on" he said and Evelyn finally felt like someone cared about her and not Aiden in this whole case. "It's just... I thought that if he came back things would be normal and they're not and it's really tiring" Evelyn found herself confessing.
She didn't know why she was saying this stuff to Jagger, she knew how close he was with Aiden and she hoped that that's not the reason why he was asking. Jagger, on the other hand, had no other purpose other than to check on his friend, because in the end, Aiden or no Aiden, Evelyn and him were friends and it seemed like they had forgotten that.
"Is it because of Lindsay?" Jagger asked, even though he knew exactly what the answer was, Aiden and him had talked about... a lot of things, meaning he knew practically everything, or at least almost everything, but he wasn't going to tell her that. She was puzzled, not knowing exactly how to respond to the question. Was it because of Lindsay?
"It's not Lindsay that's bothering me.." yes it is, she thought and mentally slapped herself for thinking that. "...it's the secrecy. Where did Lindsay come from, why do we not know anything about her even though we're his friends? Like you'd think he'd want us to know about his relationship so the fact that he doesn't puts me in thought you know?"
He knew exactly what she was talking about, it did seem sketchy how he kept Lindsay away from all his friends, and there was a hell of a good reason behind that. Regardless, he didn't like how he handled the situation with Evelyn and Lindsay. He knew his friend had feelings for Evelyn and he understood that there were a lot of reasons that made a relationship between them impossible right now, but he was leading her on while he was in a relationship and that was just plain wrong.
Taking his silence as the answer, she continued "Me and her... we don't really get along, I think the whole school knows that by now, but if he's happy with her then I don't really have a say." she said, lowering her eyes as she spoke. She felt so stupid falling for him. There could be no future between them, and the best thing she could do was let that sink in now, before she got her heart broken by her lifelong best friend.
Jagger just nodded, sensing the disappointment behind her words. He wished he could help her out, tell her a bit more of what's going on, but he was scared that it would make things more complicated than they already were. Besides, that was someone else's job to do, not his.
"Do you like her?" Evelyn asked before she could stop herself. Jagger was close with Aiden and she was curious to see if he had the same opinion about Lindsay as she did. Jagger shrugged "Aiden once said she's not that bad... let's just say I don't believe him" he explained and laughed, shaking his head, making Evelyn laugh as well.
A text made Jagger's phone light up, and he examined it a little before typing a quick reply. Right before he closed the phone, he checked the time and realized it was now noon and he was in fact very hungry as he didn't eat anything during lunchtime. That's when the idea popped into his head "Hey, it's like noon and I'm kind of hungry and I kind of don't want to go home, so I was thinking... wanna grab a bite with me?" he offered and Evelyn realized her own stomach had been complaining, but she hadn't paid much attention to it as she was too invested in the talk they were having. "That sounds really good" she nodded and they both grabbed their things, getting ready to go.
"Oh, I just remembered Aiden and I were going to go to his place after school but he seems... um busy.. so do you mind if we went over there so I can tell him?" Jagger remembered, and he could tell Evelyn's position wasn't the best here so he hated the fact that he had to do this, but he had to.
Evelyn considered staying back to wait for him so that she didn't have to face the person in question, but she had too much damn pride to let herself do that. Lindsay was sitting there all proud, showing off her little boyfriend, almost shoving it to Evelyn's face that she was winning, so no. She wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of being proven right. "Sure thing, let's go" she spoke, and it caught both of them off guard as a sudden wave of confidence had washed over her.
They walked up to Aiden and Lindsay, the black-haired girl being the first to notice their arrival. "Aidie, look; your friends are here" she spoke in a low voice, turning to face us. "Hey Jagger, haven't seen you in a while" she nudged his shoulder playfully, but her tone remained serious. "I mean I knew that that was why you came today, needed a dose of good old J" Jagger awkwardly replied, trying to ease up the tension, but it wasn't really working as he himself didn't want to speak to her, Aiden had his eyes trained on Evelyn, and Evelyn... she was lost somewhere in space, trying to calculate what her next move should be.
"Of course" she chuckled before turning to Evelyn, giving her an interesting look "Oh, hi... um what's your name again? Sorry, it must've slipped my mind!" Lindsay gave her a cheeky smile, which Evelyn returned before replying "No worries, Lucy, I bet that happens a lot! It's Evelyn." she finished, purposefully getting her name wrong. Lindsay's eyebrows raised and she narrowed her eyes for a moment but she quickly retracted, not wanting to make a scene in front of Aiden. She cleared her throat "Actually, honey, it's Lindsay"
"Oh, that's right. Sorry, it must've slipped my mind. Maybe if your boyfriend mentioned you more I'd remember" the smile that was on Evelyn's face had now turned into a smirk and even though she felt little in Lindsay's presence when they first came here, she was now certain that she was winning.
Lindsay opened her mouth to speak, shooting daggers at Evelyn with her gaze, before Aiden- who was trying his best not to laugh- held her back before she said or did anything stupid. "Okay, let's calm down here. What's up" Aiden spoke, his voice instantly sending shivers down Evelyn's spine. "We're gonna get something to eat, I just wanted to let you know since we had planned to chill at your place" Jagger took the lead.
"Oh, honey that's fine, I'll keep him occupied all right" Lindsay giggled and turned to kiss Aiden. 'Ouch' Evelyn thought and looked away. Aiden on the other hand wanted to punch a wall. His best friend with her? That just didn't sit right. He kept calm, thinking that the chances of something actually going on between them were slight but still, there going to be alone. 'Is this a date? No, it can't be a date, they're friends. But me and her are also friends and we saw how that went' Aiden shook his head, thoughts coated with jealousy filling his head.
The two said their goodbye's and were on their way, taking a seat in Evelyn's favorite fast food place, and she got ready to eat her ass off as she didn't know what food she'd find at home. That's when she remembered Jason and thankfully something clicked in her head to get him something for later as well.
Jagger and Evelyn continued talking about anything and everything, and Evelyn finally felt herself relax. She was with a friend, no Aiden drama getting in the way and she could just enjoy the moment. Jagger was throwing his jokes unrelentlesly, making her almost choke in her own laughter. She took a sip of water to calm down. "You're going to kill me" she protested, only making Jagger laugh "Stop being such a baby"
What she didn't know though, was that things were about to change as Aiden had other plans. "Hey babe, I'm actually pretty hungry too, wanna go join 'em?" he suggested, hunger being the last thing on his mind. Lindsay wasn't amused with the fact that he wanted to join the two, but she felt like it was the perfect opportunity to showcase her relationship some more to Evelyn. She hadn't let go of Evelyn's slip of tongue earlier and she was going to show that.
Back in the diner, Evelyn and Jagger were talking about how much they both wanted to work in an animal shelter, as it was something both seemed to be really passionate about. Evelyn pulled out her phone to show Jagger something she found about a shelter nearby that was hiring. She lifted her head to look at him again, after a while of looking at her phone and when she did her gaze fell...on Aiden and Lindsay?
~~~
This was supposed to have been uploaded yesterday but school things got in the way :/ but anyway I hope you guys are enjoying how the story is playing out because I definitely am and I'm so excited for what's coming!
Please don't forget to Vote and comment if you liked this chapter, I'm hoping the next one will be up soon but bear with me if it doesn't because writing a story and being in high school don't always blend well together hehe