“So how’d you get your name again?” Nancy had to ask. “Like is it a traditional name or something?”
Aria shook her head. “Nah, my mom’s Korean and my dad’s Laotian, they both just liked operas.”
“Classy.” Nancy nodded.
Before Mira could break the semi-awkward mood, they were saved by the bell. Literally.
Aria couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like for Henry. To like someone who doesn’t even acknowledge you in that way and then hear them talk about other guys so blatantly. Her heart ached for him, and the pain he must be feeling.
Henry wasn’t the bold type. He also wasn’t the overly masculine type. He wasn’t even the stylish artistic type either. Henry was merely at best, the cute nerd type.
Which wasn’t Nancy’s type.
But Aria knew deep down that Nancy liked him too. Hell, according to her, they’ve been friends since junior high. Plus, it wasn’t like Nancy was a bad person. She was actually a really great friend to have. The type who’d be ready, and willing to jump into a fight without a good reason other than to defend someone’s honor.
Still, Aria sometimes hated how dense the girl was.
There were times when she thought she was wrong for a moment, that she was just overreading the situation; and that Nancy was indeed telling them the truth. However, whenever Nancy spoke about Henry, something changed. If Nancy could see her own reflection whenever she spoke about the boy, or anything that had to do with him, then the dense ginger would probably understand her own feelings at least a little bit more.
Skinny love.
Her first class, physics, wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t super interesting either. To her, notes really didn’t mean anything until they were applied to something she could see or work with.
Like bridge building for example. She was a freaking genius whenever it came to building things and then applying the laws and equations of the science. However, when there wasn’t anything to apply these rules on like chemistry, then Aria couldn’t grasp the concepts.
Then again, it wasn’t like any sane person would give high schoolers legit chemicals to work with. No dangerous chemicals, burners, or anything that would really be interesting. Not in the class where someone can actually die or become permanently injured.
Her next class was English with the teacher who wouldn’t stop assigning bad teenage angst books. Sure, Aria knew that everyone was entitled to their own opinion, and that some of the books on the reading list that year were actually great, but the way Anderson asked questions, or the way she kept romanticizing everything made the whole class dreadful. It was like they skimmed over other themes and topics, and focused on the least important information.
So much for deep conversation.
Aria took her seat next to her classmates, and waited for Anderson to walk in, and start glorifying the nonexistent romance between the two main leads in the new book they’ve started reading. She was half-prepared to shut out the conversation that had yet to come. However, before class officially started, a new face waltzed in, and Aria wasn’t sure if he was a new teacher or a student.
“Hello, my name is Mr. Ruso. I’ll be your substitute teacher. Ms. Anderson is in Hawaii attending her sister’s wedding, so she’ll be away for a few days.” The young man then set his backpack on the desk, and looked over a few papers.
“Since none of you are in a seating chart, I’ll just put up your names on the smartboard, and one at a time, you’ll need to put a dot next to your name. Sound good?”
Silence.
“Ah okay, well then.” Ruso then worked his magic with the computer, and for some reason Aria felt as if he looked somehow familiar.
Once all the names were listed on the board, some people either delegated their friends to put a dot next to their name, or they went up to it by themselves. Either way, it took a minute for everyone to understand that there could only be one ‘marker’ on the board for it to actually work.
So Aria waited for the chaos to dissipate before she even went to mark off her name. After all, why stand in a line when she can sit?
“Aria?” Mr. Ruso called out to her and she looked at him with a ‘yes’ prepared, but then she realized something.
“Evan?”
Chapter 15
adrian
Adrian felt pathetic.
So incredibly pathetic.
Here he was in class, thinking about the one person he hadn’t seen for a week. Sure, she was only one call away; but he didn’t want to act clingy or annoying or anything like that. Especially since they weren’t that close.
Well, not yet at least.
However, that didn’t stop him from going stir-crazy because he hadn’t even spoken to her for several days. He just wanted to see for himself that she was fine, that she wasn’t hurt or anything along those lines. Especially after what’s been going on.
Mira’s reassurances should’ve been enough for him, but he still couldn’t help it. It was so hard to sit still and wait for her to reach out first.
If she only knew about him and what he truly was, then the whole scenario wouldn’t be so . . . difficult.
Stupid life.
As the bell rang, he instantly darted out of the classroom, effectively avoiding the girl from the Friday Night Live because she was on a whole new level of stalker.
As he neared the cafeteria, he saw a familiar head of hair. As he raised his arm and attempted to
