“Says the guy who snaps at a girl when he walks into her.”
“Look, it won’t take long. Please.”
Interested in what he has to say, and since he seems like he isn’t planning on murdering me, I decide to hear him out.
I glance back at Charlotte. “You okay if I go?”
She nods and smiles, so I shove my lunch back into my bag and stand up. Aiden turns around and walks out of the cafeteria, assuming I’m behind him. It takes every instinct in me not to bolt out of the cafeteria, but I follow him out.
I find him leaning on the wall outside the caf with his arms crossed. “Mason told me what happened.”
“Okay? And?” Mason and his big mouth—his promise not to tell anyone obviously excluded his best friend.
“You’re back at school, so I’m guessing you survived.”
“I’m fine. Thanks for the heartwarming concern.”
“You really should watch where you’re going in the hallway, especially if you’re going to walk that fast with delicate ribs.”
“Was this the reason you wanted to talk to me? To lecture me on my walking speed? Because I’ve been looking forward to lunch all day, and now you’re ruining it with your lack of a point.”
If he called me out here expecting me to apologize for what I said to him in the hallway that day, he has another thing coming. There is no way in hell I’ll apologize—in my opinion, he needed to hear what I said to him.
“Why do you have to make everything so hard and complicated?”
“No, seriously—there’s, like, seven minutes left of lunch and I’m still hungry, so . . .”
“I didn’t know that I’d hurt you. That wasn’t my intention,” he says hurriedly, looking uncomfortable.
Oh. My. God. Is Aiden feeling bad about my ribs? Is this his lame attempt at an apology?
“You were fine with very rudely telling me off when you’re the one who ran into me. Words can hurt, too, you know.”
“What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t mean to send you to the hospital,” he says, growing visibly more frustrated. “Plus, the shit you said to me was ten times worse than what I said to you.”
“Aw, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” I say in an exaggerated love-struck voice, putting my right hand over my heart.
He sucks at this whole apology thing. So far he’s said nothing that didn’t make me want to punch him in the face for being so aggravating.
“Are you ever not a bitch? I’m trying to apologize here, but you’re making it extremely difficult.”
“Are you ever not an asshole? And that is probably the worst apology I’ve ever heard. It doesn’t even deserve to be in the category of an apology. It was more of a subtle insult with some underlying tones of very scarce concern.”
“There you are, babe!”
Kaitlyn.
She walks past me to stand extremely close to Aiden, then turns and narrows her eyes at me. “You left me to talk to her?”
Technically, we haven’t even really met yet, and I already know I hate Kaitlyn. Up close I can see she has a little stud nose piercing and icy blue eyes.
“I told you not to call me babe. We’re not together. Where I go is none of your damn business,” says Aiden, clearly annoyed.
“You could do better things with your time than talk to this outcast. Why don’t we ditch fourth and go to your house for something much more worthwhile.” She trails her hand down his chest.
“Never gonna happen. Seriously, Kaitlyn, give it up. I’m tired of this shit.” He pushes her off of him.
This no longer concerns me, which gives me an out to head to my locker, figuring there’s no point in going back into the cafeteria since lunch is almost over. Turning the corner, I hear someone jogging to catch up with me. Aiden’s suddenly blocking my path, and he’s managed to get rid of Kaitlyn.