"Little change of plans," Blue said, her eyes still set on her phone screen.

"What is it?" I asked, popping a cashew into my mouth. I'm not even sure why I was eating those. I didn't even like them that much anyways. Maybe I was just that sick of eating yogurt and waffles.

She began typing again before answering my question and then proceeded to put her phone back inside her purse, fixing her gaze back on me.

"Blake says we should all dress nice. I mean, nicer than usual. Maybe wear a cute little dress," she said, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"He says we're going to a fancy-ish restaurant. I don't know, just do as he says." She let out a brief laugh and I nodded.

"Okay, sounds good," I replied, grabbing another cashew out of the bag. I frowned when I noticed it was the last one left, despite the fact I was not really going to miss them. They weren't even the salty kind.

We seriously needed to go grocery shopping.

A smirk appeared on Blue's face as she read another text and I prepared myself for whatever it was she was going to say.

"You know, I think we should go shop for a dress for you. All the ones you have are old," she suggested, and I frowned.

"It's not like Blake has seen me wear any of them anyways," I replied, shrugging carelessly. "And I'm certainly not trying to impress him," I added, earning myself a laugh from her.

I wasn't really the type to wear dresses. Really, I only had two. I didn't find it much fun always having to worry about whether it was too short, if my underwear was showing, or having people ask who I had 'gotten so pretty for.' Seriously, if I ever dress up, it's for my own pleasure. I'm not trying to impress anyone.

Besides, wearing a dress is actually so much less time consuming than wearing an actual outfit. All you have to do is slip it on, put a necklace on, and you magically look like you tried so hard to look good. It's nonsense. It takes me forever to pick jeans and a shirt to wear. Wouldn't it make more sense to get credit for that rather than for just slipping on some random dress? Since when do we get compliments for being lazy? It's crazy, I know. Welcome to the female world.

At the end of the day, wearing jeans always seems like the easier route to take. No worries and you can still look good.

"Whatever. You need a new one anyways. I would make you one but you know I have no time today. Now, go on. We're here," she said, her eyes shifting towards the building in front of us.

I nodded my head and sighed.

"Okay. But nothing too fancy." I began opening the door. "Now, goodbye," I said, and she waved.

I guess wearing a dress twice a year is acceptable, I thought.

When I arrived to the classroom, I found Blake and Aiden already in their seats. I raised an eyebrow suspiciously when I noticed the familiar female sitting next to Aiden again.

Aiden turned his head to talk to her and I just stood there rather awkwardly. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but unlike last time, it did bother me a bit when I saw she had taken my seat.

Everything was different back then. Of course I didn't mind. After all, I had no intentions on being anywhere near Aiden at that point. In fact, part of me was slightly glad I didn't have to be next to him. Now, however, Blake and Aiden were both my friends—my only friends, for that matter.

It was a little intrusive having some random chick just sit there as if it were no big deal. News flash: it was a big deal.

I was just like when someone takes your seat at the lunch table at school. It doesn't have your name on it but it's just a universal rule: that's your seat. If someone takes it, you know there will be some talking to be done.

Aiden smiled at me when he saw me and I have to say it caught me a little off guard. I wasn't really expecting him to acknowledge me so easily—especially when he was more than aware of the fact someone was in my seat.

He motioned me to come their way but I still stood there for about five more seconds.

I wasn't sure if I was even ready to go up to Aiden yet. I know we had talked it all out but a part of me still couldn't help feeling embarrassed about the events that had taken place the day before.

Not only that, but it was also the first time I had seen him since I had openly admitted my feelings for him to anyone, even myself. It was like now, I saw him slightly differently. It had been quite a while since I had a crush on anyone and I felt like a high school freshman all over again, nervous to go talk to the boy I liked. I felt pathetic and this whole situation was inevitably tragic.

I mean, I still hated having to think about the fact I had feelings for that stupid kid who had a funeral for a failed attempt at saving a dead deer he hit. What am I even doing?

His eyebrows knitted together, probably wondering why I was still standing there like the fool that I am.

I finally began walking over to their table, my heart rate speeding up a bit. I was nervous. I was actually nervous about walking up to my own friends.

Stop being such a wimp, June. Just because you like him does not mean you have to act like every other girl that drools over him.

You're June Love. You treat Aiden like anybody else. Get yourself together, will ya?

"Hey!" Blake said, finally acknowledging my presence.

"Hello," I said, shooting him a closed smile and then my eyes quickly flickered towards Aiden and the girl's direction.

He just smiled at me, revealing his perfectly straight teeth, and waited for me to speak. He knew I was having a problem with the girl sitting there. The little punk knew.

"Hi?" I said, my eyes piercing into the girl's, and my greeting coming out more like a question.

She looked slightly uncomfortable for a second. Maybe, dare I say, even scared. I smiled smugly at this, finding it amusing how she thought she'd be able to sit here and get away with it like it was of no importance.

"Hi. I'm Charlotte. I hope you don't mind me taking your spot," she said, clearly intimidated by my stare.

I let out a laugh.

"Nice you to meet you. And actually, I do mind a bit. I'd like to sit with my friends," I said as politely as possible. She seemed surprised at how nicely I was treating her, considering I had been giving her a deadly stare just a few mere seconds ago.

She looked troubled for a second, torn between wanting to say something back in order to be able to sit with them and being too scared to actually say it. Throughout all this, Aiden and Blake just sat there, seeming extremely amused at the whole situation. In all honesty, I was pretty amused too.

I'm not sure why but not many people ever bothered approaching me in this class. I'd had a couple of them who talked to me one day and said they thought I was kind of scary. Even Blake admitted if it weren't because he knew me, he probably wouldn't want to approach me either. Of course, they soon found out I wasn't the person they thought I was, but I still held that reputation with everyone else who had never personally spoken to me.

At first, I really didn't understand this. It's not like I had done anything big. Sure, the teacher hated me, but that's just because Aiden and I argued all the time, not because I was some bad girl who you shouldn't mess with or causes real trouble all the time.

However, after putting more thought into it, I solved the puzzle. It made sense in a way. The first day of class, Aiden destroyed my sculpture and I was stone cold. I'm guessing it was unusual seeing a girl treat a guy like Aiden with no mercy.

Later, I called out Charlotte on the dirty look she gave me, in front of the whole class.

Also, not to mention the fact Aiden and I were the top two in the class. You don't mess with the best ones in the class—not to sound conceited or anything. That's just how things worked.

And of course, everyone fears the girl who hangs out with Aiden, the hot guy who isn't scared of the teacher, and Blake, the cute good boy. They picked to be my friend, which, to the people, meant, 'there's gotta be something about her'. I found it quite funny, considering if they knew Aiden and Blake, they'd know they're just a couple of immature idiots.

In conclusion, I didn't really see these things as important, but apparently everyone else had already made up their mind about who I was. I have to admit, I kind of liked the fact people feared me. It was quite amusing when they actually met me and realized I wasn't really bad. It was definitely a new thing for me. I had always been the good girl who never got in trouble, and now, Aiden had turned me into some kind of blushy, tiny monster. It was hilarious.

"I just thought it would be helpful to sit with you guys, considering I got third place in the class. You know, join forces. Learn from each other," she tried, and I looked at Aiden.

He smirked and then shook his head. I raised an eyebrow, unsure of why he didn't approve of her sitting with us. I decided to ignore him.

"Well, that would be great. Except now there's no spot left for me," I pointed out and laughed awkwardly.

"Right." She pressed her lips in a straight line. "Well, I guess I'll go back to my seat," she mumbled embarrased and then turned to look at both boys. "It was nice talking," she said, smiling at both of them, and all they did was nod.

She grabbed her stuff and then walked back to her seat.

I finally sat down and, at the same time, all three of us laughed.

"Talk about awkward," Blake said, glancing over in Charlotte's direction, a pitiful look on his face.

"Why did you even let her sit there?" I asked, smiling amusedly and shaking my head.

They both exchanged a look and then Aiden grinned.

"We were bored." He placed his chin on the palm of his hand as he rested his elbow on the desk. "We knew you'd say something so we took the chance as a source of entertainment," he admitted, making me laugh but my eyebrows saddening, feeling sorry for the poor girl.

"You're both horrible."

"You had the poor girl trembling as much as Tutty that time Blue was yelling at him to eat his fruit," Blake commented, and we both laughed at the memory.

Ah, that was funny.

Aiden looked slightly confused but didn't bother asking what we were talking about.

"Who knew the cupcake could be that scary?" Aiden said, smiling teasingly at me. I just rolled my eyes playfully. Suddenly, however, my stomach decided to turn into a knot when he did so.

For about half a second, my face had a mind of its own and I quickly stared down at my hands worriedly, feeling my cheeks heat up, before putting on a smile again.

They seemed to notice my random bipolar moment and Aiden raised an eyebrow while Blake looked at me weird. Being Aiden, he just had to mention it.

"What was that?" he asked, laughing at me. I let out a dry laugh, scolding myself for allowing this to happen.

I seriously need to get an anti-blush operation.

"What was what?" I tried, hoping that would make it seem like nothing had happened.

"You just randomly turned into a crimson colored cupcake. What is it that they call those? Oh, yeah—red velvet. You were just that," Aiden said, trying to be humorous, and I faked a laugh whereas Blake let out a snort and it was genuine. I internally slapped myself.

"It's hot in here, that's all," I lied, and he smirked.

"Well," he started, doing that stupid thing he does with his voice, making it deeper, and then leaned closer to me. "It's probably because you're right next to me."

I narrowed my eyes at him and I, somehow, had the guts to come closer to him.

"Or maybe it's just Blake, you pong head," I said, reminding him he was not the only cute boy in here, and he backed away, laughter bubbling in the air.

"Pong head?" he asked amusedly, and then both of them started laughing more. I couldn't help but join in on their contagious laughter.

A second later, the teacher finally spoke, making us all quiet down. For once, I was thankful to hear Mr. Falkov's voice, only because this meant I didn't have to give my friends a reason as to why I was blushing. There was absolutely no way they were going to find out the effect Aiden had on me now.

"Everyone settle down," Mr. Falkov said, waiting for everyone to be quiet.

"Now, your midterm project will be worked on this week since we are already almost halfway through the course. This will have to be equally good as the one you will be presenting at the end of this course. You may pick whatever you want as long as it fits your art specialty," he began explaining. "For the next two days, the top three of the class will be working with Joey, who will be here in a second. The rest of you will begin to plan what you want to do. Any questions?"

The class was silent.

It wasn't because we were scared but because we all knew what we were doing. That was one of the advantages of this lifestyle. It was easy understanding instructions because really, all you needed to know was: make this type of art and make it the best way possible. You could always make it your own, so there weren't any specific expectations other than to do it as greatly as you could.

He nodded curtly and then told us we could head to the garages.

As we made our way there, I noticed Aiden had a troubled look on his face. I kept my eyes on him, trying to figure out what was wrong. He didn't seem to notice and seemed to be in very deep thought, not aware of anything or anyone else around him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, frowning slightly, not bothering to pretend I hadn't noticed his expression.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing really," he lied, letting out a brief laugh and shaking his head.

I gave him a skeptical look and spoke again.

"Don't lie. I'm not blind. Are you alright?"

His expression softened, but a small frown still played on his face as his eyes searched mine and then he sighed.

"Are you allergic to anything?" he asked, and I looked at him questioningly but still allowed myself to let out a light laugh. Why would my allergies concern him so much?

"Actually, yes. I'm allergic to kiwis and roses. It's kind of sad but I'm okay with it, I guess," I admitted, and he raised an eyebrow.

"I'd expect any girl who's allergic to roses to be devastated at the fact she can't ever get any from anyone," he said, a boyish grin on his face.

"Well, roses aren't my favorite anyway. I think they're too basic. Everyone gets roses. I like yellow daisies a lot better," I replied with a small shrug. He nodded in understanding and I looked at him expectantly, still waiting to get an answer as to why he seemed so troubled before.

"What?" he asked.

"You still haven't told me what's wrong." I rolled my eyes at him. Nice attempt at trying to change the subject.

"I'm getting allergies," he stated with a curt nod, and I looked at him, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

"I think you're lying but whatever," I said, shaking my head in defeat, and he beamed at me.

"I know you still love me though," he replied teasingly, and I froze for a second before putting a smile on my face to stop myself from blushing, yet again.

Geez, it's not like he actually meant you love him. Quit it, June. You're such a child.

I was not liking this whole crush on Aiden acceptance. It was driving me mad. I didn't ever react this way if I liked a guy. I hadn't liked many guys in the past, but when I did, I was able to control myself and act like a normal human.

Well, Miles was an exception. But I never thought I'd get someone else to have the same effect on me.

So can somebody please explain to me why the heck had I suddenly caught the inevitable blush disease? It was seriously starting to concern me.

When we finally arrived to the garage, Aiden quickly walked over to Blake. They seemed to be having some kind of discussion so I decided to just walk over to where Charlotte and Joey were standing.

"So, what are we working on today?" I asked, my hazel eyes fixed on Joey's brown ones.

He looked at Charlotte before turning back to look at me and then spoke.

"Well, Charlotte and I thought it'd be a good idea to do some pen technique. It's definitely impressive and one of my most famous pieces is all pen. You could definitely learn it," he said, and I nodded in agreement.

I had never been the best when it came to doing things with pen. Crayons and pencils were easy stuff for me but pen was definitely tricky. Getting the different shades with just one ink color was very challenging. I was looking forward to what we would be learning—especially from Joey. He was a master at pen drawings. He seemed humble about it, but he was definitely way better than he made himself out to be.

"That sounds amazing. I've always wanted to learn more on that." I smiled. A second later, Aiden made his way over to us and Charlotte smiled.

"Look who finally decided to join us," she said with a teasing smile on her face, and I raised an eyebrow, my eyes flickering his way and then back to her.

He let a lazy smile onto his face and shrugged carelessly.

"My bad," he said, knowing this would bother Joey. Charlotte let out a slightly over-exaggerated laugh and I rolled my eyes.

At least try to be discrete about your attraction towards him.

"So, June, I saw your painting. It was astonishing. You've probably been painting for a while now, right?" she complimented, smiling at me.

"Thank you," I replied, smiling back. "And yes, I started when I was eleven. Ever since then, it's been the only thing I've really wanted to pursue."

Aiden smiled at this and I smiled back when I caught him looking. He almost seemed like he proud of me or something similar to that. I found it kind of weird but it was a kind gesture so, obviously, I returned it.

"We should totally get together and paint. I can teach you some wood sculpting and you can show me what you can do," she said enthusiastically—a little too enthusiastically for my liking—but she seemed genuine about it.

Even though she was a little too bubbly and seemed to be attracted to Aiden, I couldn't deny the fact she did seem like a nice girl. Also, it never hurt taking a chance to learn from someone else.

I could give this friendship a chance, I thought.

After all, I did think it would be kind of nice to have a friend who was a girl in the class.

"Yeah, that would be nice," I told her, and Aiden gave me a questioning look.

Of course he was wondering why I would agree to hang out with the girl who I clearly seemed to dislike. Well, surprise, Aiden. I can be very unpredictable.

"You guys can plan whatever you want, later. We need to get working," Joey said, and we all nodded.

We all took a seat at a table in the corner and Joey placed our blank pieces of paper in front of us. There was a small cup placed in the center of the table with several blue and black pens inside it. There were little cartoon fishies drawn on the cup and I smiled at it, reminding me of the similar childish drawings in Blue's bathroom.

"Okay, we'll all be drawing a human figure. There will be water involved. The point of this is to learn how to draw realistic textures such as shading and tears or droplets. Knowing how to do these types of things can expand your artistic abilities greatly," Joey began, moving his hands a lot to explain to us the wonders of pen art.

"Do you guys think you can do it?" He asked, a challenging smile on his face, and all three of us nodded.

"Of course I can," Aiden said nonchalantly, grabbing a black pen and leaning back in his seat, a lopsided grin on his face.

Joey gave him a look for a second and then gained back his composure, knowing acting annoyed would just satisfy Aiden. He began drawing the outline of the figure and showed us the 3D technique we were all familiar with. We followed through, copying every step, and soon enough, our pictures started to look like something. Joey smiled at our work, satisfied with himself for succeeding at teaching us his wondrous ways.

"Great! Yes, that's great." He placed his hands together. "Now all of you will pick a picture of your choice to draw. You have to come up with it on your own though. You cannot copy another one's work," he told us. "But I'm sure you guys don't need to copy anyone's work anyway. You're all very good," he said, shooting us a smile which Charlotte and I returned. Aiden, on the other hand, seemed indifferent about the compliment. Guys and their egos...

The rest of our class period consisted of us making our drawing. As all of us sat there silently, it kind of reminded me of elementary school art class. We would sit there quietly while making whatever cute drawing it was. The fishies cup just added more to that feeling.

Charlotte was biting her lip, completely focused on the work in front of her, and Aiden had his eyebrows slightly knitted, the way he usually does when he's concentrated on something.

I had first noticed this at the beginning of the course, when a giggle had accidentally escaped my lips as I watched him make that same face.

As that thought crossed my mind, it amazed me how it had only been about a month ago and yet, it felt like it had been ages since it has happened. These couple of weeks had been going by incredibly fast and slow at the same time. We were almost halfway through the course and part of me was slightly bothered by this. Mostly because, deep inside, I knew I was afraid of what would happen when the course was over.

I hated the thought of finally admitting to having feelings for Aiden just to not ever talk to him again after all this. I couldn't bear the thought of getting hurt again. It scared me. It knew sounded stupid, and maybe even a little too rushed, but he had somehow managed to captivate me so quickly. I never caught feelings this fast for anyone—not even Miles. Yet, there I was, five weeks before the course was officially over, worrying about losing him.

How was that even possible? I was supposed to hate him but instead, I ended up caring about him more than I should have. It was driving me insane.

Ever since the moment I had accepted those feelings, all my thoughts were getting out of control, and let's not even talk about my emotions.

I really needed a psychologist. This could not be normal.

"We have five minutes left," Joey said, snapping me out of my thoughts. All three of us automatically turned our heads to look at the round clock on the wall and then back at our work. We had no time to waste.

I had decided to draw an African-American baby boy. He was all wet, seeming like he had been under the rain, and his hand was softly placed on his cheek, his expression seeming lost. As I stared down at it, I was impressed at how much Joey's techniques had helped. It seriously looked like I had been doing this for years, when it reality, I had only done it a couple of times in my life.

When the clock hit twelve, we all put our pens down. I looked at Aiden's paper and my jaw dropped when I saw his work. He had drawn a woman's face with water running down it. Her eyes were closed and her expression was soft. The features were so soft and realistic that it made me wonder if he had lied when he said abstract paintings were his forte.

I turned to look at Charlotte's and found she wasn't too bad herself either. You could tell sculpting was her main thing, but there was no denying the fact she had some drawing skills. She had made an elephant running on water, the droplets splashing all around. It was definitely good.

We all congratulated each other on our good job and then I finally exited the building, leaving Aiden behind as he put some journal and his sketchpad back in his bag.

As I neared the exit, Blake followed after me, swinging his arm over my shoulder the way he usually does.

"So, did Blue tell you about the whole fancy thing?" he asked, looking down at me.

"Oh, yeah. Why are you trying to get me in a dress, Dawson?" I asked, giving him a dirty look, but then smiled to let him know I was only joking. He let out a chuckle and then smirked.

"It's only an excuse to get Blue to wear one. But you know, I gotta keep it lowkey." He winked, and my mouth was agape, amusement written all over my face.

"You sneaky little boy," I replied, letting out a laugh.

"C'mon, help out a friend here," he said, and I nodded my head in disbelief, surprised at this cheeky side of Blake I had never seen before.

"You've been hanging out with Aiden too much," I joked, pushing the door open in front of me.

"Yeah, maybe." He chuckled. "Well, I'll see ya later. Meet me there at eight o'clock."

I nodded my head and waved goodbye to him as he stepped inside his car and then drove away.

As I stood outside waiting for a taxi, I spotted Joey making his way towards me.

"Hey, June." He smiled, stuffing his hands inside his pockets.

"Oh, hey."

"I hope this doesn't come across as weird or anything but, would you like to go grab something to eat later tonight?" he asked politely, seeming a little nervous.

Is he asking me on a date?

I didn't answer at first, not sure whether I should say yes or no. I hadn't really gone out with a guy since that one incident and I also wasn't sure whether it would be the best thing to do knowing it was Aiden whom I had feelings for. I didn't want to lead Joey on, but at the same time, I didn't want to just flat out reject him. If I was going to friendzone him, I would do it nicely.

"Actually, I'm going to some fancy restaurant tonight with Blake and my best friend, Blue. You can tag along if you want," I offered.

"Sure! That sounds nice. So, should I wear something nice?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, not too nice, but nice enough." I laughed. "It'll be nice to have another friend there," I added, hoping he would take the hint at me using the word 'friend.

He laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.

"Right. Okay, see you later," he said, and I gave him my number before he walked away.

As I watched him walk back to the parking lot, I noticed Aiden standing by his car. To my surprise, he was already looking at me. I let a smirk onto my face when he realized I caught him staring, but soon, he smirked too as I realized he didn't bother quickly looking away or hiding the fact he was looking at me.

For a few seconds, we both just stood there staring at each other from afar, and soon enough, our smirks turned into grins and then he let out a laugh. He started walking over at me, his green eyes still boring into mine, and when he was finally just a few inches away from me, he spoke.

"Hey, cupcake." He smiled, and for some reason, I felt intimidated by his size for a second.

"How tall are you?" I blurted out, not being able to contain myself. He let out a deep chuckle at my blunt, random question.

"I'm six foot three," he replied, and my mouth formed an 'O' shape.

"Wow. That's–" Hot. "That's tall." I breathed, impressed. I'm not sure why I was impressed. It's not like he could actually control how much he grows.

"Thanks?" he said, unsure about whether being called tall was actually a compliment.

"Yep," I said, and then mentally scolded myself for turning things so awkward. He laughed at this, noticing my discomfort, and then shook his head.

"Do you need a ride?" he asked, and I bit my lip.

I had agreed to meet up with Blue at the dress store. If I told Aiden to take me there, wouldn't he question it? I mean, it's not everyday you see me shopping for a dress. Besides, I'm pretty sure he noticed I'm not exactly the type of girl who always dresses up or has an interesting life that requires me to get fancy often. Knowing him, he would obviously ask about it.

Was I going to risk hurting his feelings about not inviting him just to get a ride with him?

Gosh, why do I have to face such hard situations. Maybe I should get a car, I thought.

"Uh," I started, still thinking about it one last time. "Sure. Thanks."

Can someone slap me?!

Why did I just say yes?!

He smiled at me and then I completely forgot about all my thoughts. Heck, of course I wanted to go with him.

I was such a mess. Ugh.

I hate you and your smile and your beautiful looks and your annoying yet, cute personality, Aiden Blackwood. I hate you!

We walked back to his car and he opened the door for me. When he finally got himself inside, he turned to look at me.

"Where shall I drop you off, m'lady?"

"I would like to be dropped off at Macy's, please," I said, and he began driving.

"So, you're going shopping?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Please don't ask me what I'm buying. I hate lying to people.

Especially him, right, June?

Shut up.

"I'm glad. You seriously need new clothes," he said, and I laughed.

"Rude!"

"You know I'm just messing with ya," he told me, a playful smile on his face.

When we got there, he parked his car and then got out to open the door for me, once again. Something about him was awfully off today, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

He seemed to be extra nice to me, even though he wasn't ever really rude to me. I couldn't even explain it. He just seemed weird. And not in a bad way.

"Thank you. And thanks for the ride," I said, and then he began walking with me.

"I'm coming with you," he stated, and I stopped walking.

"What? No."

"Why not?" He frowned. "I have nothing better to do," he added.

"Because...uh, because I'm meeting up with Blue. She'll be here in about twenty minutes," I quickly said, trying to shoo him away nicely.

"So? I'll just stay with you until she gets here. C'mon, I'll buy you something." He started wiggling his eyebrows after making that lat comment, trying to bribe me with his offer.

"No, you don't have to buy me anything! As kind as it is, I can't take it," I refused, shaking my head in disagreement.

"Whatever. Then I'll just keep you company." He rolled his eyes playfully and then grabbed my hand, dragging me into the store with him.

I immediately looked down at our hands and found his was pretty warm. My eyes trailed up to his arms and noticed they were pretty fit. His arms had veins you could see, indicating he was strong, and I felt my heartbeat speed up at the thought of him working out.

I really needed to stop this. I needed Blue to get here fast and slap the living hormones out of me.

"So, what are we shopping for today?" He asked, completely oblivious to my embarrassing thoughts, as his eyes looked around the store searching for nothing in particular.

"I just need to find a dress," I admitted, giving in and deciding I didn't care anymore if he found out or not.

He raised an eyebrow and a small smile played on his lips.

"Dress? Well, then I think I'll enjoy this." He smirked, and I smacked his arm playfully, blush creeping up onto my cheeks for the millionth time today.

We walked over to the dress section and began looking for something. I grabbed several ones my size, not sure what type of dress was what suited me the most. Aiden was also looking through one of the racks, and a couple moments later, he walked up to me with five dresses. My eyebrows raised in surprise, impressed at his selection. Who knew he had such good taste?

Actually, nevermind. He has a sister and he's got a pretty good sense of style himself. Plus, he has a freaking guest closet at his parent's house with the best quality clothing. It only made sense that he knew his stuff.

"Well, you did a pretty good job," I admitted, and he smiled proudly, waving his hand nonchalantly.

"Eh, what can I say? I'll do my best if it means you'll be the one trying these on." He winked, and I let out an awkward laugh as I looked away shyly, finally managing to not blush.

I may be oblivious sometimes, but I'm not stupid enough to not realize he's hardcore flirting with me right now.

What the heck?

Does he like me?

Nah.

It's just Aiden. He's always like that.

"Okay, let's go," I said, not wanting to answer his previous comment.

We walked over to where the dressing rooms were at and he sat on a chair right outside while I entered the dressing room and tried the dresses on.

I hung up all the dresses on the door hook and began to try one on. It was a strapless, long, blue dress. It had a sparkly, thin belt with pretty stones on it and then flowed from the waist down. I looked at myself in the mirror and slightly pouted, not completely satisfied with it. It was a nice dress but it didn't really suit me too well. I didn't feel like myself in it.

"Hurry up, I wanna see," Aiden whined, and I rolled my eyes. I'd forgotten how impatient men could be.

"But I don't really like this one much." I groaned.

"Just let me see!" he said, and I frowned.

I finally walked out of the dressing room, an annoyed look on my face as he studied me. After a few seconds, he finally spoke.

"Don't try any more blue dresses. Although you don't look bad, it's not your color," he said honestly, and I nodded in agreement with him. It was true. I never wore blue much.

"Alright," was all I said before walking back into the dressing room. I set aside the three other blue dresses we had picked, leaving me with just three more dresses to try on. Two of them were Aiden's pick and the other one was mine. There was a dark red one, a black one, and a white one.

I slipped out of the blue dress and put on the white one first. It had one strap with diamonds on it, a sweetheart neckline, and it ended right above my knees. It was a tight dress and I was surprised when I noticed it made me look like I actually had a figure. Well, this might be able to work. It's decent enough.

I exited the dressing room but Aiden didn't notice me come out, as he was using his phone. I cleared my throat to make him become aware of my presence and then he looked at me. He raised his eyebrows and then proceeded to clear his throat himself.

"Uh—yeah. That's...that's nice," he said, his eyes looking me up and down. I suddenly felt self-conscious, noticing he wouldn't get his eyes off me.

"Stop looking at me like that," I said bluntly, looking away and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Oh, right. Sorry. It's just, you look nice. That's all," he admitted.

"Thank you." I smiled, and he nodded, smiling back at me. Suddenly, I saw Blue walking towards us and I felt relief wash over me.

Thank goodness. She's finally here.

--

PART 1 OF THIS CHAPTER! I was gonna post the whole thing but it was almost 10,000 words & I kinda wanted to keep the next part shortish. I felt like posting it all together felt somewhat more rushed sooo yep. That means the next chapter will be only 3000ish words so that will be updated on Tuesday (:

I hope you guys liked this so far & I have the feeling you will all like the upcoming chapters. Juicy exciting stuff coming. I'm so pumped for you guys to finally read them ahhh!

I'm at a music camp in Berklee & I'd been in class & also rehearsing all day since I'm performing tomorrow so I had no time to post this earlier. I couldn't really edit it properly so forgive me if there's any mistakes. I will go back & fix them (:

ALRIGHT HAPPY FRIDAYYY!!

Love you all! xx