Aris.

It sounds so accurate but so wrong.

Everything did start the second he appeared in our lives. And Finn's theory isn't just a silly little story.

Either way, I told Sage it would be the best to just make sure it's him by sneakily asking things, et cetera. Imagine it's not him and that poor boy suddenly gets the police on his roof.

So for now, just gotta survive the Monday.

Or survive in general. You never know.

"Tell me how it's going," Ben urges.

I open my locker. Put some books in. "How what's going?"

"What do you think?" He taps his finger against my temple, causing me to jerk away immediately. "Your relationship with Vi."

"Oh, great," I reply.

Great as in my stomach doing flips every time I see her and her outfit which happens to be different every day— like, I don't even remember her wearing the same outfit. Ever. And in this case, that's good. She doesn't waste her clothes, probably just uses her skirt as a top as well. I don't freaking know. It's crazy but beautiful.

Great as in being able to kiss her whenever I want to and then also having the satisfaction she doesn't stop until I stop.

Great as in a lot of ways, like—

"Great," Ben repeats. "Is that all I get?"

Already annoyed, I slam the door of my locker closed. "What do you want to know then? Jeez."

"I don't know. Have you taken her on a date?"

I stop moving for a moment. "...no."

"Dude."

"I was busy doing other things!" I defend. "And it's only been a week and two days."

"Well, that's nine missed opportunities already. You have to make her happy, man."

I give him a pointed look. "Says the one who's never been in a relationship."

"I spend all the time in which I could be getting a girlfriend making sure y'all keep your girlfriends."

I roll my eyes. "Yes, alright, thanks."

"What about that streak? Still holdin' it up?"

"Yes. We lost count, though."

His eyebrows raise.

I scowl. "Don't you dare."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"But you were thinking it, and that shows. It's been about a week, Ben. We won't..." I trail off. He gets exactly what I mean. No other words needed.

"Does she like coffee?" He then asks.

"Yeah."

"Take her to a nice little cafe, then."

"When?"

"Today."

"Today? Nah, I need to prepare."

"Prepare? No matter what you shank are gonna do about your clothes or hair, you'll never overtop her."

I hum. He's right. My hair is fine, but hers is absolutely awesome, and I don't have clothes that come close to hers. My best outfit won't be better than her worst one, and that worst one doesn't even exist.

"But I must still look nice," I eventually reply.

Ben grips my shoulders. "You always look nice."

"Was that you coming out?"

"That was me stating an obvious fact."

"Uhm... thanks, I guess." I quickly shrug it off.

But he's kind of right. Sage would definitely enjoy a simple afternoon with coffee. I've been too wrapped up in my own mind. Didn't even give a good freaking love confession.

So when I tell Ben I agree, his face lights up. "Great. That's the spirit. You sound like a lovesick puppy."

"You asked," I point out.

"There's just something really nice about this relationship."

We enter the changing room to get ready for PE, half of the group already there.

"Hi, Thomas," all in unison, "How are things with Viviette?"

"They're great," I reply. A few more questions that come close to Ben's follow, but no teasing, which I'm really glad for.

Then we exit the changing room again, and walk into the right room. Brenda is the first one I see, probably because she comes up to me the second I enter.

"Teresa wants to be friends with you again," is the first thing she says.

For a second, I'm shocked. Then I remember the text—which I totally forgot about—and realize it's no news. Why else would she have sent that text? "Okay," I mutter. "I don't want to be her friend. I'm her ex and that's it."

"You've began hating her?"

"No, of course not." I sit down on a bench. "But I'm with Sage now and I'm very happy with that." Then I look up at her. "You did meet up with her this weekend, right?"

"Yes. She, in fact, told me about being friends with you," Brenda explains. She runs a hand through her short-cut hair. "Was slightly upset you and Vi never showed up."

"Does she know we're together? Because if she does, she better change her mind."

"I was a bit scared to tell her."

"Why?"

She shrugs. "Didn't want to make her even more upset. You and Vi not showing up wasn't the only thing ruining her mood. Her mood was already ruined when she arrived back here— it appears that the move didn't to her well and I think she also regrets breaking up with you."

A long sigh leaves my mouth. What am I supposed to do with this information? Feel bad for Teresa? Because that feels wrong to do. Sure, I have sympathy, but I'm not going to reach out to her.

What if she hadn't broken up with me, though? Would we still be together?

The thought of that is now weird.

That one year of being with her was nice, I cannot lie, but this single week with Viviette was literally... everything. I can't wait to see what it'll be like in a year. To have dozens of amazing weeks with her. More peaceful ones than these, even though these were already good.

I started liking Sage more and more by the time, so I think that eventually, I would've broken up with Teresa.

"Well, once again, I'm with Sage now. That's all I have to say. Feel free to tell her that."

Understanding, Brenda gives a firm nod.

☯︎︎

Mom and I have placed ourselves in front of her laptop, both very determined to find a great location in Greece to stay at during our spring break.

She said she'll share the fact we want money for our birthdays with everyone who asks, so that's already one completed task.

But as much as I like the idea of us splitting money in half, I also really like the idea of just spoiling her by paying for it myself (AKA all the money I'll hopefully get for my birthday).

I already owe Dad a lot of money, though...

Whatever. 

"Do you want a hotel or an apartment or a villa?"

"Villa?"

"Like a holiday home. Like a hotel room except it's a whole house."

"Ohh." I rub my chin. "Eh, villa, then, I guess. But it doesn't have to be a giant house. Just..." I frown. "...two bedrooms." Just in case.

Almost offended, Mom glares at me. "Two? You're going to make the lady feel like you want to sleep apart from each other."

"But if there's only one bedroom, she might feel forced."

She shakes her head. "I have raised you too well, jeez. But alright, if you say so."

"No, you need to say what's better. I don't know what's better, Mom."

"One bedroom. You literally have a sleepover streak that's longer than a month."

"Okay." I nod. "One bedroom it is."

After a few minutes of scrolling, Mom hums. "This looks nice, doesn't it?"

It's a white house with only one floor. There's a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room, and a bedroom, all pretty luxe. There's a small private pool at the back of it. And if you walk for a few minutes, you arrive at the pool all the villas share. It's a bigger one.

"Hm." I tilt my head to the side. "Indeed. How much is it?"

"Two hundred per night."

"Two hundred?! That's basically all my birthday money!"

She shrugs. "Time for you to get a job, then. You need to pay your father back anyway. Go make some money. You can manage before spring break."

Even more motivation. And all this time, I've said I'd apply somewhere, and I still haven't done it yet. I better do now.

Guess that coffee date will come another day.

"What do you suggest?"

"You can be a math tutor and work in a restaurant at once. Maybe babysit your cousins now and then. And you can walk dogs."

Amazing. All of it at once will get me money very easily, won't it?

Might also give a depressive winter time because of overwhelming work but that's fine!

☯︎︎

I press my lips harder against hers, the familiar rush of warmth becoming hotter by the second.

Her hands find their way to my neck. Pull me closer until our noses touch. A few moment pass before I'm so out of breath that I have to roll off her, unfortunately.

There's something about making out before comfortably cuddle until we fall asleep. It's happened plenty of times this week.

Tomorrow, it's Thanksgiving. It's been ten days since Mom and I went looking for a nice villa to stay in.

I've managed to find some families I can babysit for—I am not very excited for that, what am I doing to myself—and dogs to walk. I've already made quite a lot of money with that the past ten days.

Enough to stay at the villa for one single day!

But now I'm exhausted from going to school, immediately walking a dog, then another dog, and another dog, and then also studying and making homework. Oh, can't forget walking my own dog who luckily hasn't found any more dead bodies. And then the best part of the day, spending time with Sage.

I let my hands wander over her body, tracing the contours of it. Her fingers thread through my hair as I do so. Once again, amazing feeling.

Her hair is a bit messy from rolling around the bed as we kissed, but it still doesn't make the sight of her less perfect.

"We better catch some sleep to get ready for tomorrow. Might end into a whole disaster with our two families," she whispers, smiling.

"Yeah." Softly, I press my lips against her again. I can't get enough of it. Of anything, really. Cuddling with her, having her hands in my hair, waking up next to her, seeing her at school now and then— all too perfect to be real.

"Because you are tired," she then points out. "I can see the bags below your eyes."

Offended at her sudden confidence, I gasp. "Well, that's rude. I was just thinking about how perfect you look."

"I never said it makes you less perfect," she replies, sticking out her tongue. "In fact, eye bags look good on you."

"Oh, okay, I will just exhaust myself for the rest of my life so I can look pretty in front of you," I joke. She begins laughing— both at my words and at the way my hands have began squeezing her rib cage.

"Stop that!" She tries to push me off. "It tickles!"

"That's the point," I reply. Another failed attempt of pushing me away, though this time, we do roll over a bit. She's on top of me, struggling with her laughs and gasps for air.

"Hey!" Once her hands find their way below my armpits, I stop tickling immediately. It's now my turn to laugh and try to push her away. "Get off!"

"You wouldn't want me to," she responds, laughing even louder. Again, we roll over, and again, and again, until, with a plop, we've landed on the floor.

Gasping for more air, Sage throws her head back. "Ooh! That's your fault!"

"Mine? You rolled us over first!" I yelp when her fingers start moving below my chin, another thickly feeling. "Hey, hey— not fair!" I manage to gasp between laughter.

Her grin widens until finally, I've wriggled free, grabbed her wrists and pulled her close. She topples over, landing on my chest with another burst of giggles I happily sync along with.

"Truce?" I suggest. My fingers are still wrapped around her wrists in case she refuses.

She gives me a mocking expression, but nods. "For now."

I let go of her wrists. Immediately, she snuggles closer, resting her head on my chest. We lie there for a while. Allow ourselves to catch our breath. I run my fingers through her even messier hair.

"I'm really glad you're here," I say softly. "Even though you're a terrible tickler."

"Terrible? You almost peed your pants!" The sound of her chuckles vibrate against me.

I smile as I lean in to place a kiss on her forehead. "Come on," I mutter once the sleepiness starts to get to me. "Let's go back into bed."

Nodding, we help each other up. By the time we're under the covers, we're already curled up to each other.

"Good night," she murmurs sleepily.

Another kiss on her forehead. "Sleep well."