Heartthrob

Sorry, I’m An Anti-Romantic

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By Authoress Kamara

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Chapter 2: Heartthrob

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Aiden started off his day more displeased than usual. He walked out of the house with furrowed eyebrows and a pout as he held his permission slip for the school trip in one hand and his mother’s check in the other.

He held back the urge to toss it down a sewer or into a trash can on the way to school.

Maybe he could just fake it and go somewhere for 3 days.

He thought but it was quickly dismissed as the downside came into mind.

But then his mum would find out when the school sends those trip photos again.

There really was no way out of this and it frustrated Aiden. For once, he could not find an answer and he always knew the answer to everything.

He entered the school and went to his homeroom.

He found every step difficult as he walked up to the teacher’s desk, knowing that he would be sealing his fate once he reached him.

With sheer loathe and distaste, he placed the form and check on the teacher’s table.

This is it.

“I’m glad to see that you are choosing to go”. The teacher said giving him an approving smile.

Aiden silently walked away and headed to his seat but as soon as he approached his desk in the back, he found that it was occupied.

There sat Miles Parker, all smiles and laughter as he waved at him.

He felt like his day was about to get worse.

“Good morning, Aiden”. Miles said as he flashed him a bright smile.

Aiden scoffed standing at the front of the desk, staring at the older boy who he would be dealing with for now.

What a pain this was going to be.

“Why are you in my seat?”. He asked.

“I was just waiting for you”. Miles replied and stood up, allowing him to reclaim his spot.

But still he didn’t leave him alone.

“So, are you excited for the school trip? I’m looking forward to the amusement park. Did you know that there’s over 40 different attractions and rides there? There’s even a zoo with real animals”. He exclaimed looking excited.

Aiden looked up at the older boy with a stoic expression. “Well of course there would be real animals, it’s a zoo”.

Miles laughed and brushed off the rude comments while Aiden stared at him confused.

He just insulted him indirectly but the guy wasn’t even offended.

He was either really stupid or just very forgiving.

“Hey, are you looking down at me? I heard that you are a year younger than me, respect your elders “. He childishly demanded.

“How did you know about that ?”. Aiden asked arching his eyebrows.

He brushed it off. “Never mind that “.

“Okay”. Aiden muttered not up to argue.

Miles’s smile widened, creating a unique box shape.

“Alright, everyone take your seats. The bell is about to ring”. The teacher announced.

Miles looked at Aiden one more time before leaving and taking his seat at the other side of the room grinning like an idiot.

•••

•••

It was the start of Gym class now and everyone was lined up against the sides of the track, complaining about the heat.

Today’s activity was racing and everyone dreaded it.

Usually, everyone would put little to no effort in the competition but today, it was taken for a grade so course everyone was on edge due to that.

The way the scale worked was that two points would be taken off every position below the other.

In other words, the first out of the whole class would get a 100, second 98, third a 96 and so on. It wasn’t too bad if you think about it, but if you were to end up last, the point deduction sure did add up.

“Alright stop with the groaning. We are getting started. First is ... “. The teacher called out the names of the first five victims.

It went in alphabetical order so Aiden had a good lot of time to prepare.

He used this to his advantage by studying the ones who went up before him. He looked at their angles and strides, as they ran, to see which one would do best.

So far, the average time was near 13 seconds of Aiden calculated correctly.

Finally, after a few rounds, he was next.

“...Morales Aiden”. The teacher called.

The next set of students lined up at the staring of the track accordingly taking their kneeling positions.

It was a 100 meter distance they had to cover.

The girls, who were on a whole different field, were now watching from afar making it more pressuring for the guys.

This was how the boys always were in high school, with all their hormones and whatnot.

It was only natural for the guys to want to impress the girls, thus, making this race even more nerve wracking.

All of the boys were definitely going to be trying their hardest now if they hadn’t been already.

“When I countdown from three, you’ll start “. The teacher said as he got out a timer. “3...”.

Aiden lowered into a running position, his eyes full of determination.

He would not lose, but of course, he wasn’t doing it for the girls.

I’m getting that 100.

Grades were the main goal there.

“2...”.

Everyone tensed up, getting ready to take off.

“....1! Go!”.

The teacher started the timer and everyone pounced, dashing for the finish.

But it was over as soon as it started.

Though everyone was on par with each other, one of the runners was much more faster than the others.

Aiden Morales reached the finish at 10.3 seconds.

A new school record.

Even the teacher was in shock.

The score was only 3 seconds off from the average but it made a good difference when speed was calculated into formula.

His speed and agility were above average scales and it was exceptionally more impressive since he was a whole year younger than his peers.

The rest of the students crossed the line a bit afterward but in comparison to him, it was a wide stretch of margin.

Aiden walked off the track, barely out of breath as the rest of his classmates watched him in awe.

In the distance, the girls were cheering and screaming.

Aiden Morales had just become the new heartthrob of the school.

He sat down at the far end under a tree and watched the rest of the class go.

The next round in particular caught his eye.

One of the five people were Miles Parker and Aiden was never particularly interested in people, he was curious to see how his partner would do.

“Go!”. The teacher exclaimed and they all ran.

It started out fairly good until a shoe suddenly came off flying Miles’s foot, the shoe landed in one of the lanes and unfortunately, the boy running inside it tripped over and fell rather hard.

Everyone made an ‘Oooh’ sound as the guy face landed on the floor.

In the end, Miles score wasn’t too bad even with one shoe on.

13 seconds approx.

The guy in the unlucky lane on the other hand ended up with a whopping 17 seconds. At that point, they knew who was getting that 40%.

Even Aiden had to admit that he pitied the guy.

“Woah, Miles. What a great strategy! How did you come up with that ?”. One of the obnoxious boys in their class exclaimed.

He put his hands up in defense as a response. “I swear I fight do it on purpose. My shoe was untied and it slipped off by accident”.

“Uh-Huh. And mine will too.” Another classmate replied, winking.

The next couple of rounds consisted of flying shoes and horrible scores.

But in the end, Aiden did come out as first, receiving a perfect grade and also praise from the gym teacher.

And unknowingly, he had captured the eyes of many girls as well.

•••

•••

It was now time for lunch. During this period, some people choose to play basketball in the court or take a nap, it was a break after all, you could do anything you wanted as long as it didn’t break school conduct.

Aiden walked down to where the main hall was and went up to a vending machine. He slid in a few coins and clicked to button.

Clunk.

He bent down to pick up the drink from the emptying slot which so happened to be his favorite one—banana milk.

He planned to finish his homework during this hour since he was a star student who always finished his assignments early.

As he returned to his class, he saw that there were piles of snacks and pieces of papers on his desk.

Did somebody leave their stuff here ?

He looked down at the heart shaped notes and school store snacks before obliviously pushing them off his desk and onto the floor.

Whatever.

He thought and sat down.

“Woah. That’s pretty cold hearted”. Miles approached him, picking up one of the boxes off the ground.

“If you are not going to eat the things those girls left you, I will “.

Though Miles already had a good pile of his own on his desk, he had never passed off more free food.

He was already quite a popular guy and gained his own fanbase of girls by the first week of school.

“These were for me?”. Aiden asked.

He thought of why someone would use their money on him.

He thought it was a waste to be doing these kinds of things.

Miles let out a low laugh. “You are so dense, or maybe you are just too pure. But I’m surprised you didn’t expect this after what happened in 1st period. You made quite an expression on everyone. Especially the ladies “. He winked after saying that.

Aiden didn’t think too much of it.

Maybe he did catch the eyes of people around him but who was he to respond first ?

It wasn’t his problem.

He began to do his maths homework, solving every problem diligently.

Every now and then he would look up to see if the older boy was still there, and each time, he saw him perched on the desk before him.

Doesn’t he have anything better to do ?

He was completely immersed in his own work when he felt a small poke on his lips.

“Wanna try the pepero challenge?”. Miles asked as he waved one of the chocolate covered sticks in front of the younger boy.

“Huh?”. Aiden raised his eyebrows looking confused. “What’s that?”.

Miles looked at him in utter shock. “You don’t know? You are seriously behind in times “.

The challenge was a popular game played by a lot of younger people. Everyone in the school knew what it was and friends would often play it during lunch breaks for fun.

Even the guys too do it.

But of course, Aiden Morales, an introverted antisocial, has never even heard about it.

Miles chuckled as he held the pepero in between two of them. “It’s a game where you try to create the smallest piece you can by eating it. The best record I’ve heard of here was 2 centimeters “.

“That sounds easy to beat “. He replied.

And then, Aiden, completely confident took the stick out of the boy’s hand and began to eat it, after a few bites, he raised up a palm to reveal a small crumb, definitely lesser than 2 centimeters.

The two stared at each other for a second as he proudly held the remains between his fingers.

All of a sudden, Miles burst out laughing collapsing all over his desk.

“You are supposed to play with two people “. He exclaimed, totally amused by Aiden’s wholehearted attempt.

Aiden tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Two people ? How are you supposed to play with two people ?”.

Miles smirked and pulled another pepero stick. “I’ll show you”.

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TBC

Written by Authoress Kamara