LOGINAimeeAimee didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when Jayden walked away without saying a single word to her.What was she expecting? That he would suddenly go all warm and ask about her? Ask how her summer had been?But...would it have been so bad if he had? Would it have been bad if he had just asked about her? How long would this avoidance last? Would it really be over by the time school resumed? Or was this simply it for them?Aimee clenched her hands into fists. Her vision blurred, but she blinked continuously to keep the tears away. She tried not to be overly affected by Jayden’s avoidance, but the more she tried to get over it, the harder the pain became."Damn, so even small-town boys can be really cute."Cathleen’s voice seeped into her thoughts, and Aimee blinked again, looking up at her just in time to hear Maggie giggle."The waiter just now, right?" Maggie asked. "Honestly, I thought I was the only one who noticed.""I couldn’t even focus on what Liam was saying. He is so
JaydenJayden didn’t know what to think or how to react. He wanted to ask Aimee who the blonde-haired boy was. He wanted to pretend he hadn't seen anything. He wanted to reach out and yank the boy's hand away from her hair. He wanted to glare at him and ask what his problem was. He wanted to grab Aimee's hand and pull her away with him. He wanted to do all sorts of things.His grip on the tray tightened, and he reminded himself that he had no right to do any of it—none of the things running through his mind. His gaze hardened on the boy's hand, his jaw clenched, and his fingernails dug beneath the tray until they ached. But after everything, he forced himself to lower his eyes and place the remaining plates of food on the table."Please enjoy," he said, his voice much stiffer than usual. Then he turned and walked away.His footsteps quickened as though he were trying to run from something—or rather, from the part of himself that might do something completely out of character and only
AimeeAimee scrolled through the pictures she had taken with Cindy, Nica, and Diane at the beach. Although the person she had really wanted to see didn’t come with them, and she had overheard Diane saying she had asked him, but he replied that he had work, the beach had actually been fun with everyone else. And more importantly, it helped her release some stress and lock her mind away from thinking.But now, as she went through the pictures, the longing came back. It would have been amazing if Jayden had come, and who knows? She might have been able to steal a picture with him. But too bad, he didn’t, and even as the days passed, she didn’t even know if she would be able to see him before school resumed.A knock on the door made her look up. She frowned but still answered, "Yes?""Ms. Aimee, you have guests," a maid's voice called out.Aimee's frown deepened. She wasn't expecting anyone, and more importantly, no one in this town knew where she lived, so who could these guests be?She
JaydenThe door opened, and the man leaned against the frame, crossing his arms over his chest. Jayden looked up at him, then quietly sat upright on the bed.“Do you need anything?” he asked.It wasn't often his father approached him like this. In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time it had happened, and seeing it now not only surprised him but also stirred a feeling of unease deep inside him.What exactly could he want?If he wanted money, Jayden didn't have any to spare. He was going to pay Janet this week, and he had just bought groceries after closing at the store. Every penny he had left was saved for emergencies.“Don't look at me like that. I don't want your money,” Mark sighed as he stepped into the room.Jayden raised an eyebrow.“I'm serious. I really don't want it this time,” Mark added, pacing awkwardly around the small room.Jayden watched him in silence.If he didn't want money, then what did he want?“Lately, um...” Mark began before stopping halfway through hi
Aimee“You are not focusing, Ms. Aimee,” Gary said as Aimee went to pick up another tennis ball.Without a word, she threw it into the air and hit it with the racket. Gary responded by sending the ball back to her, and Aimee forced herself to focus, forcing her body to move.She was the one who had asked Gary to play with her because she was bored, but even while doing something she loved, she still couldn't bring herself to enjoy it. It had been two weeks since the summer vacation started, and tomorrow was the beach day Cindy and Nica had invited her to.They had told her the whole class would be participating, but she already knew Jayden wouldn't be there. Left to herself, she would rather not go anywhere, but having already agreed and been added to the group chat, she couldn't just back out now.“Ms. Aimee,” Gary called, and Aimee looked up, only to realize she had missed the ball again.She sighed and lowered the racket."Let's rest. I'm tired.""Yes, ma'am."Aimee walked toward t
Jayden“That would be 49.50,” Jayden said as he packed the items into plastic bags.The woman in front of him handed him her card, and he swiped it through the machine. He tore off the printed receipt and handed it back to her along with the card before passing her the bags.“Thanks for shopping with us,” he added.The woman smiled, took the bags from him, and left.Jayden sat back down, watching shoppers move around the store with their baskets, though he wasn't really paying attention to any of them.It had been two weeks since summer vacation started, and he hadn't had a single day to himself. But even then, he had never been as busy as he had hoped, because he still found time to think.And it was the thinking he wanted to avoid more than anything.Ever since that day in the classroom, he had never spoken to Aimee again, and she had never approached him either.He had stopped going to the music room entirely. Even though he wanted nothing more than to play the piano and free himse
JaydenThe morning always felt shorter than it should.Not because time moved differently, but because there were moments in it that didn’t feel like they belonged to the same day.Jayden noticed that more on days he
AimeeThe school was quieter in the morning.Not the kind of quiet that felt empty, but the kind that hadn’t decided what it was yet. Like the building was still half asleep, waiting for voices to give it shape.Aimee stepped through the entrance slowly, her shoes making a soft sound against the po
JaydenJayden sat quietly in the library, going through a music book he had found earlier while waiting for the free period to end. He never expected to hear the soft thud of a book being placed on the desk in front of him.H
AimeeAimee watched as the students climbed into the school bus. She couldn’t say why she didn’t go in immediately, or why she didn’t take Cindy and Nica up on their offer to sit together. All she knew was that her eyes wer







