Sometimes

Chapter nine

 I hobbled into class on Friday morning.  My feet felt like they were on fire and I blamed the fact that Cassie had made me wear heels last night.

    It had been agony walking to the bus stop to catch the night bus back to Cassie’s house.  We’d been stopped numerous times by drunken fools trying to get us involved in their gibberish filled conversations.  I’d humoured them at first, but when the third group of guys had stopped us and I’d spotted one of them staring unabashedly at my chest, I’d decided enough was enough.  I’d dragged Cassie the rest of the way to the bus shelter, my ankles throbbing and my ears buzzing from the music that still seemed to be thumping in my head.  I’d practically collapsed onto Cassie’s bed when we’d gotten back. 

    I tried to distract those looking at me, from the way I was walking, by waving enthusiastically to Lara.  She smiled back and I sighed in relief as I fell into my seat.  Aiden appeared next to me within seconds.

    “You look knackered,” he said, dropping his bag onto our shared desk with a thud.  “Were you up studying all night?”

    “Ha-ha,” I replied dryly. 

    “It must have been an important essay for you to have stayed up past a suitable bed time.”  He laughed at his own insult and I rolled my eyes.

    “If you must know, I went out last night and I didn’t get back until one in the morning.”

Aiden slapped a hand over his mouth and as he widened his eyes at me, I wondered at their fascinating  blue-green colour.  They were kind of the same colour as the new Haunted Vegas t-shirt that Leanne had bought.  I was left pondering whether I’d ever seen eyes that colour before I regained control of my thoughts and pouted at him.

    “I didn’t know the library stayed open that late,” he said.

I huffed to myself before setting out my notebook and pen.

    “Do you have to have some sort of secret membership card to get in?  Or do you have your own key?”  He was watching me out of the corner of his eye as he unpacked his bag.

I turned to him with a look of satisfaction, ignoring the pain in my feet.

    “Actually, I went to The Rooster with Cassie,” I said.

The shock on Aiden’s face was real this time as he raised his blonde eyebrows at me.

    “You’re messing with me!” he exclaimed, regaining control of his expression.  “You don’t know how to party.”

The sudden need to gloat overwhelmed me and I was glad that Mr. Lloyd hadn’t started class yet; I wanted to tell Aiden everything.

    “If you don’t believe me, ask Sonny.  He was there,” I said, with a sideways glance at him.

He shook his head.  “Nah.  You’re lying.”

    “Text him,” I insisted, nodding to where his phone was sticking out of his jeans pocket.  “I dare you.”

Aiden cocked an eyebrow at me.  “You actually went to The Rooster?”

    “Yep,” I replied.

    “Well, what brought that on?” he asked.

    “A certain someone said I didn’t know how to have fun.”  I raised my eyebrows at him pointedly and smiled.  “That showed you.”

He leaned back in his chair and tucked his hands behind his head.  His arms looked bright white against his black t-shirt and I noted that he definitely didn’t have a tan like Sonny.  My thoughts flickered back to last night and I couldn’t help beaming.