Chapter 24: Problems

"Cassie?"

I come out of my sleep state and shoot up from my slouched position against the counter, looking up at Aaron. I can't believe I fell asleep.

"Brewer?" I mumble sleepily, reaching up to rub the sleep out of my eyes as I stretch, my back cracking. "What are you doing here?"

It's then that I notice the girl standing beside him, both of her arms wrapped around one of his, and I remember what I saw happen in that alley.

My eyebrows furrow as I look between the both of them, confusion and hurt filtering through my chest.

"Yeah, hi," the blonde says, fake niceness evident all throughout her sentence. "I want a caramel latte, three teaspoons almond milk, two teaspoons of sugar, no whipped cream, thanks."

Wait. I know that tone. And I've seen this girl befre. Fuck, what's her name? Christy? No. Misty? That's not it. Amanda? N––

Fuck no. "Brittany?" I say, eyes wide with shock. This is the girl that threatened me to stay away from Aaron when he's so obviously wrapped up in her to even look at me twice.

Her smile grows, but not in a nice way, in an 'I want to kill you but we're in public' type of way. Really creepy. "It's Tiffany."

Well, shit. "Oh, yeah, that's right." I look between Aaron and Britt––I mean, Tiffany, trying to hide my true emotions. "Are you two, um––"

"Together?" Tiffany cuts me off. "Yep. Me and my honey boo bear are so happy being together, and he decided to take me out on a date."

A date? Wow, didn't think he had it in him.

"Honey boo bear?" I ask him. Aaron avoids my eyes looking very uncomfortable and I fight the urge to leap over the counter and knee him in the balls.

"Cass?" A voice coming from behind me draws my attention, and I turn to see Ricardo walking towards me, his eyes on Tiffany and Aaron.

An idea sparks in my mind, and I, of course, immediately put it into action. "Ricky!" I squeal as he comes to stand next to me, shooting me a weird look. I pout. "I can't believe you left me here all by myself...sweetie poo."

His eyebrows fly into his hairline, and the look he gives me turns even weirder.

I try to convey my desperation through my eyes, pleading with him to go along with it, keeping the smile on my face.

"I'm sorry...babe," he says. I catch his slight flinch and I stifle a laugh. "I just had some work to do." He turns to face Aaron, holding a hand out. "I'm Ricardo." It's obvious Ricky recognizes Aaron from the alley and is smart enough to guess that he's the reason I asked to stay in the coffee shop, because his face is hard and gruff sounding, and he looks like he is completely fine with the idea of committing an act of murder.

"Aaron. This is Tiffany." He motions to Tiffany, who bats her eyelashes at Ricky and holds out a hand.

I roll my eyes. Her––I can't believe I'm saying this––boyfriend is standing right next to her as she openly flirts with another guy.

And Aaron doesn't seem to be bothered by it. If anything, he seems more bothered by the fact that Ricky is my significant other. Which I find to be weird considering, you know, his girlfriend is right next to him.

"Babe," Ricky says, turning to me. "Isn't it about time I got you home?"

I nod. "Thanks, that'd be great."

He smiles at me. "Let me go grab my keys and then we can go."

I nod and he walks off, and Tiffany walks off to find a table, and suddenly it's just me and Aaron, standing on opposite sides of the counter, alone, drowning in the extremely awkward silence.

"Girlfriend, huh?" I finally say.

Aaron scratches the back of his neck, avoiding my eyes. "Yeah," he says with a dry, humorless laugh. "It's...complicated."

Which means he doesn't want to tell me.

But that's fine, that's totally fine, it's not like I care, he can date who he wants.

I do not give one fuck about Aaron Brewer, and I'm going to make sure I never will.

"Cool. See ya."

I turn around, thanking the Lord that Ricky is walking towards me, keys in hand, and we walk together past Aaron and out the doors.

As soon as the doors close behind us I turn to him, a sigh of relief leaving my lips. "Thank you so much."

He glares at me. "Care to explain why I had to do that?"

I swallow. "Well, long story short, I was maybe, kind of, quite possibly catching, I don't know, feelings for him, I guess, and I saw him kissing Britt––fucking hell, Tiffany in the alley, and then he brought her in there and it turns out they're dating or whatever and I just acted. Sorry I dragged you into that."

He eyes me, and I get the feeling that he's one of those people that can read a person really well, but, thankfully, he doesn't say anything and shrugs instead. "Whatever. Just warn me next time."

Another sigh leaves my lips. "Thanks. Oh, but at school, as long as he's dating her, I kind of need you to..." I trail off, hoping he gets what I'm trying to say.

"Keep pretending I'm your boyfriend?" I give him a nod. "Sure, no problem. But as soon as I say I'm done, I'm done. You can't drag me back after I walk away, got it?"

"Got it."

He opens the passenger side door for me and I get into his car, preparing myself to give him directions.

---------

On a Monday later in the school year, I'm standing outside building 1 with Gracie, Cole, and Adrian in our usual spot, waiting for Aaron, Ricky, and Tiffany.

I was opposed to that, but, unfortunately, I was outvoted, which means that I'm stuck waiting outside, in the cold.

Three months have passed since that day I saw him in the alley with Tiffany, meaning it's the middle of November, and they're still together.

Which means I'm still with Ricky.

I don't really have a problem with that, considering I don't actually like the dude in that way, but he's been getting a little... testy.

He mentioned to me once that he was thinking of ending our fake relationship, at which I panicked and begged him to stay just a little while longer.

Pathetic.

But I just couldn't deal with me being alone and the only guy I was even remotely interested in being in a committed relationship.

Though I'm not exactly sure how committed said relationship is, considering many people have been telling me about how Tiffany is sleeping with the captain of the football team.

Ha, look at that, there I go judging again. I really need to stop that.

My parents have been so caught up in a big case, one that they refuse to tell me about, that they've forgotten about the thing they had to tell me, and I'm not going to be the one to remind them.

"Cassidy," Jake whines, and I lazily shift my eyes to him, arms wrapped around myself to keep warm. It's only November, but today is one of the rare chilly days in central Florida, and I am not a fan. "Talk to me. You never talk to any of us anymore."

"I do too," I protest. "Look, I'm talking to you now."

"That doesn't count," he whines again. Jesus, he's almost as bad as Gracie.

I roll my eyes, and it is at that precise moment that Aaron decides to show up with Tiffany at his side, Ricky right behind them.

"Come on, Cassie, what have I told you about rolling your eyes?"

As usual, butterflies erupt in my stomach, but this time, they're joined by a spark of irritation in my chest. He doesn't get to have a girlfriend and pretend that everything's fine, that he didn't push me against a wall in his house and give me a hickey, while I am struggling to hide my feelings––for his benefit, might I add––and am pretend dating a guy.

I divert my attention from Aaron and to Ricky, shooting him a grin. "Hey, Ricky. Come keep me warm."

He rolls his eyes but obliges anyways, coming over to wrap me up in a friendly hug. His eyes remain trained on Jake, and Jake returns the stare for a couple of seconds before seeing me and grimacing, looking away, an expression of guilt in his face.

Wonder what that's about.

I look up at Ricky, giving him a flirtatious smile. "Carry me inside?"

He snorts, rolling his eyes again. "In your dreams."

I smile up at him, reaching up to pinch his cheek.

"I have to go. See you later, babe." Tiffany gives Aaron a swift kiss on the cheek before walking away towards the main doors if the building we're standing outside of.

I watch her enter the building with relief, and Jake promptly bounds over to me and Ricky.

Ricky lets me go to talk with Jake, and I look over at Gracie to see her attention on Cole, who's smiling down at her as he talks. Gabby has been spending less time with the group, choosing to spend her time with Tiffany and her friends. Honestly, I kind of miss her, but I'm not interested in salvaging a relationship with someone if that person isn't even going to attempt to help salvage it.

Aaron comes to walk in front of me, and instead of giving him my customary glare or smile, I level him with a blank look.

He falters, but still comes to stand in front of me and give me a smile. "Hey, Cassie." I don't answer. "Are you cold?" he asks, seeing me shiver. It is pretty cold now that Ricky let go of me but now way am I telling Aaron that.

"No," I say. Why is he so good at making me want to talk to him? To be around him? Fuck, sometimes I just want to be able to look at him, and now it's finally taking its toll on me. I refuse to sit back and let him play with my feelings.

He laughs. "Why don't I believe you?" My glare shows up, and his smile drops a little at the intensity. "What's wrong?"

I force my glare to fall off my face before I answer. "Nothing." I move past Aaron and towards the building doors, but Aaron's hand wraps around my upper arm and spins me around to face him. "Let go of me."

He does, but he moves around to stand in front of me, temporarily blocking my path. "What is your problem with me lately?"

"My problem?" I ask incredulously. "I don't have a fucking problem. If anyone has a problem, it's you."

He takes a step back, away from me, glaring at me. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

It means I fucking like you.

"Are you actually this fucking dense?" I ask him, yelling. "Do you seriously not know?"

"No, Cass," he yells back, anger swirling in his eyes and radiating off of him. "I don't fucking know why you're acting this way, or why you're upset with me, or what the fuck your problem is."

I falter in my own anger because he didn't call me Cassie. He didn't. The fight drains out of me, and I feel myself sag. I like him, but he doesn't know, and he obviously doesn't feel the same way, considering he's been with the same girl for the past three months. A girl who's so much more better than I am.

I give a wry laugh, shaking my head as I look down at the ground before looking back up at Aaron, tears swirling in my eyes, because now I know he doesn't like me. I misread the signs, and it's come back to bite me in the ass. Aaron's own anger fades away as he takes in the tears growing in my eyes, and he steps forward, trying to comfort me.

"I'm sorry, I––"

I shake my head, not wanting his comfort, and turn around to face Ricky and the rest of my friends, who are staring at me with pity in their eyes.

"Can I have your keys, Ricardo?" I ask as I hold my hand out, closing my fingers around the keys he drops into my hand.

"Drive safe," he says, knowing he can't stop me from leaving.

I give him a nod, turning to face Aaron one last time before turning away and walking towards Ricardo's car.

I get in, buckle my seat belt, and pull out of the parking space. As I'm driving away, I look in the rearview mirror, staring at Aaron as he looks at the car I'm in, hands running through his hair.

Does he really not know? I ask myself as I start the drive towards my house.

I know I didn't tell him, and I might not have been that obvious about it, but he didn't even have a suspicion or anything?

For some reason, I find myself thinking of Kyle, thinking of what he did to me, of the pain I felt, at that comforts me. That pain was worse than what I'm feeling now, much worse, and that lets me know that this isn't that bad. I'll get over it, and I'll find someone else to like, and Aaron and Tiffany will be happy for however long they decide to stay together.

I don't even notice I ran the stop sign at an intersection before it's too late and a car is ramming into the driver's side of Ricky's car. The side I'm sitting in.

Shit.

---------

Aaron's a little oblivious in this chapter, huh?

I can't be talking, I'm super oblivious; my guy best friend of three years confessed of having a crush on me not too long ago, and the thought of liking him––like, liking liking him––never crossed mind until that moment. Cliche, right? Things are a little awkward now, but it'll be fine.

I may have kind of lied, just a tiny bit. I said that i would update another chapter yesterday, New Year's Eve, but, ha, I forgot. So, here is the chapter to make up for that. And I'll probably have another chapter out later today, hey word probably, so there's that.

Welp, that's it for me, I'm so excited for this chapter––not the end, obviously––but some shit happens in the next two or so chapters, and I want you guys to be prepared for it. (It's honestly not even that good, but I'm just so excited and amped up.)

Till next time.

--Rose