Chapter twenty-nine | Stalker much

Chapter twenty-nine | Stalker much

The sound of cutlery scraping against the ceramic plates filled the room. As the potent scent of eggs floated in the air, I focused on the plate in front of me.

I froze for a moment when my phone pinged, breaking the silence. I quickly took it out of my jacket pocket and threw Dad a guilty look.

He huffed in response and moved his attention back to his breakfast plate.

I grimaced as I read the text on my screen. It was another one from Sylvia, making me cringe on inside. I was seriously regretting giving her my number.

Dad chuckled, making me look up from the screen. I gave him a questioning look as mom did the same.

"Got some girl troubles, Eli?" he got out between his fits of chuckles.

Red filled my cheeks as I quickly turned my phone off. "Nothing. Just someone who can't get a hint."

Mom made a sound at the back of her throat. "Oh! My boy is gaining a stalker. Aiden, his first stalker!" she cooed.

The bite of omelet choked in my throat, making it harder to breathe. My parents laughed at my pained state, having fun at my expense.

"I don't have a stalker," I stated after downing my glass of juice.

I grimaced a little as my voice came out cracked as the bite scratched down my throat.

"Sure!" Dad rolled his eyes.

It went silent for a moment as my parents scrutinized my appearance.

"So..." My mom trailed off expectantly, breaking the silence. "What is going on between Cynthia and you? The girl is around a lot these days."

She playfully wiggled her eyebrows for a moment, reminding me of Connor.

No wonder they got along so well. My brain piped in.

I played with my food, avoiding the question. As the silence grew tense over the minutes, I looked up with a defeated sigh.

"Ok! I like Cynthia," I muttered under my breath.

Dad patted my back, laughing at my words as Mom gave a slight smile.

"So when are you making her your girlfriend?" Mom asked, pointing an accusatory fork my way.

Before I could give any answer, Dad jumped in. "She is the girl you were trying to impress?"

I shook my head vehemently as Mom's gaze turned to glare. She gave Dad a betrayed look, crossing her arms.

"Why didn't I know about this?" she asked, moving her eyes between Dad and me.

"She is not the girl I liked. I don't like that girl anymore, just Cynthia," I spluttered, stopping Dad from making the situation worse.

The murderous look in Mom's eyes softened, making me sigh in relief.

"Oh! Ok!" she murmured. "Good luck with that."

I hummed in response and checked the time. Totally ignoring Sylvia's texts, I opened Aaron's message.

"I should get going," I said, reading the latest message.

"Tell Connor and Navya I said hi!" Mom replied, looking up from her finished plate.

I paused mid-movement, giving her a startled look. "Uh-h, I am not meeting Connor or Navya. I am going out with some of my friends from tracks."

My voice held a tinge of guilt, making me frown.

Why do I feel guilty?

My parents froze for a moment, blinking up at my words.

"But isn't it the monthly arcade day or something?" Mom sounded flabbergasted. "You missed none of those."

Once again, her reaction reminded me of Connor's. His confused expression as he said something similar, made guilt dance in my chest.

"Yeah. But we postponed it." My voice came out weak as I smoothed down the leather jacket I was wearing.

The awkwardness hanging in the air was suffocating, making me sweat a bit. So, ignoring my parent's scrutiny, I got up from my seat.

With my steps quick, I made an exit murmuring a small goodbye.

As I took the driver's seat, my hands shook lightly. Navya and Connor's expression shifted through my mind, followed by my parents.

I am not doing anything wrong. It's not like I am totally ignoring them.

I chanted in my head like a mantra as I drove to the address.

Stopping in front of an old cafe, I moved my gaze around.

My eyes landed on the figure leaning against the cafe's wall, waiting for someone.

I walked closer to Michael, keeping my steps steady. "Hey!" I got out awkwardly, noticing the stench of smoke around him.

Looking up from the pavement, he looked up to smile at me. "Yo, dude. I thought all of you would bail out on me."

His light joke made me smile as I shook my head in amusement. "Not me. But I can't be sure about Aaron."

Michael laughed at my statement, throwing his head back in amusement.

"You are probably right. That asshole stood me up for 3 hours because he forgot about it," Michael replied as we walked into the cafe.

"Good to know that you think of me as an asshole," We heard a voice behind us say.

Aaron smirked our way and patted our backs in a friendly way.

"So... I was thinking. Why don't we grab some food before going to laser tag? What do you guys say?" Aaron asked as we took our seat.

I shook my head, leaning back in my seat. "I just had breakfast."

"There is always space for more food," Michael justified, making me grin lightly.

"Point," Aaron conceded.

As we munched on our food, my eyes scanned the table.

"Why didn't Skylar join us?" I asked, feeling curious.

Aaron looked up from the phone, giving a brief shrug. "Said something about taking out his girlfriend."

I nodded in understanding and moved my gaze outside.

"So, what's the deal between you and Cyn?" I heard Aaron speak, making me turn my eyes towards him.

His eyes were alight with curiosity as he tilted his head in question.

I felt a sudden annoyance claw my chest, but I shook it off. "Nothing is going on between us. We are just neighbors and friends."

Aaron gave a surprised look. "I didn't know that. I never saw you when I visited her place."

Under the table, my hands fisted at the thought of why he visited Cynthia.

Shrugging in response, I focused my eyes on the smoothie in front of me.

"What about you and Cyn? What's going on between you guys?" Michael asked the question which was moving inside my mind.

I waited expectantly, looking for an answer from him too.

"Nothing, dude. Unfortunately," he replied, putting his fries down.

Michael raised a questioning brow, amusement dancing on his face.

"You like the queen bee or something?"

I sucked in a breath as I waited for Aaron to respond. He gave a bashful smile, answering the query silently.

"Something like that," He had a distant look on his face. "But it will just be a dream."

"Why?" It turned silent for a moment as I realized that the haste words came from me.

Aaron shrugged, leaning back in the seat.

"I am aiming for what I can achieve. Girls like Cynthia, who belong to the top tier of our school popularity level, don't date guys like me. We can't be anything more than friends."

"More like friends with benefits," Michael teased with a wink.

Aaron gave a brief chuckle at his words and shook his head. "Maybe. But I know I can never be her boyfriend. We just simply don't belong together. The popular girls date the popular guys, someone like Jacob."

My heart clenched at his words as they made total sense for me. A sigh slipped past my lips as my gaze turned downwards.

"Jacob has a thing for Cyn. I can bet on it," Michael supplied nonchalantly.

Our eyes snapped his way as he grimaced a little as if his tongue slipped.

"I mean, those glares he threw your way..." He directed at Aaron. "..are one of those jealous kinds? I can bet on it!"

"You are lying," Aaron stated monotonously.

Michael sighed in defeat. "Yeah. I-I heard him talking to Cyn. He didn't outright say it, but it seemed like it."

For a moment, I felt my breath hitch. Aaron's words echoed in my mind as pain staked my heart.

The popular girls date the popular guys, someone like Jacob.

What was more painful was that my heart still refused to give up on the slight hope of, maybe?