Aiden and I were locked in silence. His eyes were glued to mine and neither of us could look away. We were so close.
"Emma?" A voice called from around the corner, approaching us. "Emma- oh... sorry. I- I didn't realize... sorry."
"Impeccable timing, William." Aiden glared at him.
Will ignored Aiden's remark. "Emma, you should get back to class. Professor Lyn changed her lecture. I thought you'd want to be there."
"Oh," I slid my gaze to Aiden.
The last thing I wanted to do was walk away from him. I wanted to feel his hair run through my fingers and the warmth of his lips cover mine. I wanted my skin to ignite under his touch the way it tended to do around him.
"He's probably right." Aiden cleared his throat and looked away, "You should get back."
His fingers slowly slipped from my face until hands dropped to his sides completely. Then, he stepped away.
I wished he didn't step away.
"Can we talk after your class?" He asked me.
"Emma, we have to go." Will interrupted.
"Shut the hell up." Aiden snarled, his jaw tightening.
"I don't know if it's a good idea," I told him.
"Please?" He added, pleading.
"Okay."
"Okay," He echoed my answer, satisfied. "I'll wait for you here, then."
I slipped back into the classroom with Will. He wore the strangest look of amusement on his face, yet didn't say anything regarding Aiden and me.
We sat through the class as we would normally, taking down the usual notes and explaining to William the things which he didn't understand. He even shared things with me that I had missed during the lesson - he found that particular fact surprising.
"You don't give yourself enough credit, Will. You are smarter than you let yourself believe."
"I appreciate the attempt at flattery, but we both know I am as dumb as a bag of rocks when it comes to this subject."
I cackled loudly. "You are not dumb."
"My grades would suggest otherwise." He laughed and then turned to me after slipping his bag over his shoulder. "Do you want to grab some coffee?"
"I need to talk to Aiden."
"Right." He chuckled, his amusement from before reappearing. "Are you two like... a thing now?"
"I don't know," I told him honestly.
"He's like secretly obsessed with you." He laughed out loud.
"Be serious, Will." I pushed him playfully.
"I am being serious! That guy hasn't left you alone since you met. And the way he looked at you before I walked in?" His eyes were wide with excitement.
"Before you ruined the moment?" I chuckled.
"So it was a moment." He smirked.
"I thought you hated Aiden."
I pulled my bag strap over my shoulder, watching him figure out what to say.
"I do. I despise everything about the dude, even the idea of him."
"But...?"
"But I also saw the way you looked at him." He smiled. "You don't even smile at food the way you smile at him. And you like food. A lot."
Will and I waited for everyone in front of us to walk out of the main doors before it was our turn.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I readjusted the bag strap.
"Yes, you do." He grinned.
We passed the glass doors and followed everyone out into the crowded hallway. While other students flooded into the campus grounds, I stayed behind, searching for Aiden. I expected to see him straight away; to see his large black jumper crinkled at the seam of his pants and his bright eyes, however, I didn't. There was no sign of him.
"Emma!" Elijah yelled from the entrance doors.
"Hi." I smiled politely. "How are you?"
"I was looking for you." He was out of breath. "Can we talk?"
"Oh, sure." I continued searching around for Aiden. "What about?"
"Us,"
"What about us?" I maintained the same smile, expecting the usual nervousness from Elijah.
"I..." He glanced around, rubbing his temple a few times. "I don't really know how to... say this. I've thought about it a lot, you know... and we work together... but I don't think that should mean... anything, right?"
"What?" I met his frantic eyes. They were eager, waiting for something, and yet, appearing impatient.
"You know what I mean... I know you do."
"I'm sorry, Elijah, but I really don't understand... what do you-"
Without so much as a single warning, Elijah had taken my face in his hands and crushed his mouth onto mine.
My brain couldn't process fast enough. I couldn't move. It didn't make sense. None of it did. I hadn't thought I gave Elijah any signs of a relationship beyond our friendship. I hadn't led him on. I was so sure of it.
When I felt his tongue trying to push through, I quivered and tried to pull away. He didn't budge. He was determined. Meanwhile, all I could think of was Aiden. I clasped his arms and shoved him from my body, trying desperately to free myself, and when he realized what I was trying to do, he let go immediately.
I watched as the guilt filled his eyes and settled over him like a dark cloud. It was almost painful to see the realization of the mistake he had just made.
"I-I'm so sorry... I thought... I... I'm sorry."
I was confused, disoriented even.
My eyes darted to a figure standing behind Elijah. And my heart sank rapidly when I discovered that the figure belonged to Aiden.
He had been holding two cups of coffee in his hands, ones that he didn't have before. His eyes were solely focused on us. At a loss.
Elijah quickly left after trying to mutter apology after apology. There wasn't a single part of his face that hadn't turned red or flustered.
And when he did leave, Aiden began walking towards me with no expression on his face. No anger. No disdain. No frustration. Nothing.
"I thought you might have liked a cup of coffee." He lifted the cup in front of him, but the eagerness and light tone he spoke with before was gone and his usual emotionless one returned.
"Aiden... Elijah... he-"
"I need to go." He announced.
"It's not what you think it is. You didn't see everything." I told him firmly.
"Oh, so there was more?" He said sarcastically, "I'm sad I missed it."
"I am not like-"
"Like what?" He raised his voice. "A liar? A skank? Or perhaps something else?"
"What?" My voice was almost gone. I didn't know what to do.
"Like what, Emma? Go on! Finish the sentence. We both know you're thinking it, so just say it."
"I don't want to."
"You're lying."
"I won't. Not for your benefit." I shook my head, determined to stand my ground.
He insisted, "Come on, finish the sentence. You know you want to!"
"No!"
"Finish the sentence!" He forced the words out.
"You want me to finish the sentence?" Venom coated my words. "Fine. I am not like you. I am no whore."
He laughed bitterly, "Well, there you go."
I attempted to do something, anything. I asked him if we could talk as if by some miracle he'd say yes.
"No." He snapped. "I really don't think we should."
I nodded slowly even though I hardly understood what was happening.
"So that's it? Everything you said earlier, everything we have..."
"We don't have anything." Aiden iterated each word so as to make them perfectly clear.
"Now look who's lying." I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"Tell me, did you finally realize that - as I'm sure everyone else has told you - I'm the rotten apple of the bunch?"
"They did tell me that. And up until now, I didn't care what they said. You told me that the way people perceive you, and who you really are, were two very different things." I met his glare, unafraid. "But I'm beginning to believe you want people to see you that way. I may not know the reason why, but I don't think I need to. You are the rotten apple of the bunch because you choose to be. Because, deep down, you know you deserve it."
"And here I was, beginning to believe someone could really want to try and believe me. Understand me." He scoffed, "Enjoy the blond idiot who has the mental agility of a soap dish. Maybe a higher IQ was what he was looking for inside your mouth."
"Jealousy doesn't suit you, Aiden. It makes you pucker." I informed him, with the sole purpose of making him do just that: pucker.
I should have been proud that for once, I really stood up to him. I didn't hold back. I did exactly what he would have done. And it felt horrible.