Margo Fawn & the Contagious Missing Delirium - 1

39. GUILTY AS CHARGED

CHAPTER 39

GUILTY AS CHARGED

At lunch, Fiona paid us a visit. I sat tight as I heard the unmistakable footsteps of interloping.

"Hey... Aiden...," she drawled.

"Hi," he said midchew. Coughed as I gave him a quick stare at his goofy smile and swallowed rapidly.

"Haven't seen you in a while," she said in that ogling tone with a very inapposite head tilt.

"That's because you weren't at school. Whose patience were you wearing out?" Elec interrupted. I was grateful because I knew it would be galling to watch Fiona bat her eyes.

"None of your business, alpha."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Irsia lost her patience only with Fiona and when someone doesn't answer her question. There was that too.

"What's with you ruining our lunch every single day?" I asked, twisting in my seat to get a look at her and I caught a look of her looking at Aiden like she was looking at something edible. She was very expressional.

Fiona went on ignoring us. "Aiden, I'll call you tonight." She gestured with her pinky and thumb to her ear and left.

"If she wants to be me, she should definitely stop flirting with you," Elec told Aiden. He looked like he didn't know what to do with that information.

I huffed through my nose. I gobbled the rest of my lunch without taking one look at Aiden. Irsia and Elec took note of this tiny detail, too but I thanked God at that moment that they both didn't find out my plan that I so ludicrously pulled out the night I encountered the ghouls. Irsia tried to change the subject and take off some of the rising silence and it worked, except it made my stomach go knotted.

"The News this morning," she said, "said that the CONMISDUM staff think that there could be some connection between ghouls and the people infected with the disease. They have no proof but they are working on it."

"News people have the nerve to state the obvious and call it news." Elec sighed.

Now I looked at Aiden and he was already looking at me. I was constantly reminded the risk of my stupid plan. What if they had got to me? What if Aiden hadn't come there? What if I had put both of us in danger? I didn't know if I'd have had the courage to go inside and look what it was in the cemetery but there was a fat chance that I would have shined my torch light to see what it was and would have ended up getting their attention.

After school, Elec left as I insisted. It was hard to convince her but I reminded her that she had to go water her plants one of these days. She left, warning me to call her if I saw someone or something suspicious.

I had a love-hate relationship with arranging the books. It calmed me when I finished rearranging and it was so peaceful when I looked at everything in its place but the thing that irked me was it was all a bubble promise. It would eventually end up messy again. Bubble promise resonated too well with my life now. I had one good promising moment and then everything got ugly and out of control.

Thinking of good moments, ironically, I remembered Aiden and Fiona. I wanted to confront him about Fiona. God! She trampolined on my nerves. I finished arranging a shelf and I walked to the other aisle. He stood between two shelves in the next aisle with his thumb hooked in the pocket, waiting as if he knew I'd come by that aisle.

"I didn't want to interrupt your library police routine." He pretended to be serious.

"How noble."

I wasn't ready for whatever he had on his mind. Not when Fiona was running in my mind. I turned and walked through the other aisle to reach a table with many piled books. I took a few and walked to the shelf. I didn't want his breath in my nape. Not when I was angry, not when his mom was a few feet away from us.

"Aiden..." I paused as he placed another electric peck on my ear. "Your mom is here," I said in a hushed voice.

"She knows."

"What?" I turned to him, wide-eyed and asked, "What do you mean?" It wasn't easy to move with all those books in my hand.

"Not that I'm between the shelves with you, silly." He tapped my nose. "But in general." He took the books from me and placed them rightfully as I watched him. He leaned in with one hand in a row above me.

"If you have any evil plans, drop it."

"What about me is evil?" He looked taken aback and then he gave that chuckle that I had been missing.

On my tiptoes, I kissed him briefly that in no way would match his enthusiasm and I pulled away. "Why do you give that goofy smile whenever Fiona talks to you?"

"I told you... she makes me uncomfortable. Is that why you were mad?"

"She said she'd call you...?"

"Don't worry about her." He dismissively frowned like it was nothing. Like he was annoyed that I gave her too much attention. "Are you still mad?" he asked. I got under his arms and made my way out.

He didn't follow me.

"Why are you still here?" I swung my bag over my shoulder and hugging my raincoat. "You scared that I would go in search of Desiree?" He waited for me.

"No, I am scared that you might find her and get yourself infected," he said, taking out the earphones from his ears.

I remembered the day we had ice cream while walking home. The day he first admitted that he had feelings for me.

A dull ache came upon my heart when we crossed the road where we saw Desiree last week. Maybe I should block her thoughts, too. Without over thinking, I held Aiden's hand. He turned toward me with a surprised look and held my hand tight. I was pretty sure he smiled at that silly act of mine. When we reached Brightmaple, I took away my hand. That was where a lot of people buzzed. He understood. I didn't want anyone to see us together like that. Yet.

Friday evening, I had to go to Elec's house to finish the programming homework that neither Elec nor I understood. So, we headed to Irsia's home. I saw his shoes outside. I did a little victory dance mentally and I followed Elec to Irsia's room. Elec was not one bit pleased about how Aiden was with Irsia already.

We sat on the floor in a circle. Aiden sat opposite me. He tried explaining me and as usual, I didn't understand a word of what he said. He just used too many technical terms that I didn't even know if I had heard in the lab. And then Irsia explained. I understood a bit more than I usually would.

I bent down with my elbows on my notebook and finally wrote the output. Aiden did a silent clap for me and then did a really senseless thing which raised my heartbeat meter to a cosmic level. Out of habit, he brushed my hair and tucked it behind my ear. I tried acting normal but it was too late. Both Irsia and Elec had already seen what he did and how my cheeks turned into sunset sky.

Oh! Dear God!

***

Author's Note: I know it is a brutal cliffhanger but hang on lovelies. I'll be back with a new chapter in a few days. Thank you so much for reading. Press the star and leave a comment. You know it would mean the world to me.