Change Me

Chapter 26

Ayden's POV:

"Yo! Ayden, you good man?"

"Ayden!"

"Hey! Are you even paying attention??"

I whip my head around and realize the guys have been trying to get my attention for God knows how long.
Damn I must have zoned out for a while

This is what she does to me

"Sorry, guys," I say, looking at Sean, Grayson, and Cameron, " I'm a little bit distracted from this mornin.g" I say not letting on about what happened between me and Analie.

"Oh, we can tell," Grayson says, rolling his eyes at me. "Wait a minute... this morning? What happened this morning?" he asks, suddenly focusing on the statement I made

"And is that," he leans in close to me, concentrating on my neck for a moment, "A hickey??" He finally says

"Ummm..."
I have no idea what to say now.
Why the fuck did I even say anything to begin with?
I should have just said that I didn't get enough sleep. And I should have told Analie to cover up the damn hickey.

I look everywhere except at them.

"Nothing", I say quickly, averting my eyes from their confused looks.

"What do you mean by nothing? You just said that you were distracted from this morning??" Cameron prods further

"And again, what is up with that damn hickey? Did you hook up with another chick?" Grayson asks this time around

"I thought you and Analie were really into each other?" Sean asks

"Yeah, man, what is she going to think about that?" Grayson chimes in again

They bombarded me with multiple questions, and for a second, I snapped.
 I let it slip without hesitation...
"ANALIE IS THE ONE WHO GAVE IT TO ME," I say forcefully and immediately regret it.

'Oh man, she's going to be so pissed at me.'

They all stare at me, dumbfounded at my response.
Shit.

I fucked up. She's going to castrate me when they ask her why she gave me a hickey. I know she likes her private life under wraps, and this morning was a private moment between us.
This is what i get for speaking before thinking

I am such an Idiot.

Before anyone responds, I hear someone speak up behind me, "Hey, guys, what are you talking about?"
She says, walking into the conversation, not knowing what was said just seconds before she got there. I internally cringe; too afraid to look directly at her, or she'll know that something is up with me

"Um... helloo... are you all okay? You look like you're thinking way too hard about something," Analie chimes in again.

Nobody answers. We all exchange looks with each other that say 'you better not say anything'

Analie leans over to me and whispers, ' What the hell is wrong with them?'

"Why did you give Ayden a Hickey?" Cameron finally speaks up, breaking the silence and making this situation 10x worse. Especially since Analie is right in front of me, and she looks annoyed.

This fucking moron! Why would now be a good time to ask that stupid ass question??

"What did you say?" she asks

"He said why did you give Ayden a hickey? Were you guys together this morning?" Grayson asks this question next

Analie completely ignores their questions and turns toward me "I cannot believe you went to brag to these dumbasses about what we did this morning!" she yells.
 I'm almost certain she's forgotten we were standing in the hall. With other people around. 
People who just heard what she said. And now they are whispering.
Oh no.

"Sweetheart, you might want to lower your voice," I say calmly

"Don't you sweetheart me, you ass!" She yells at me again

"Analie?" Cameron says, trying to get her attention

"WHAT?" She turns around and yells at him.

"Keep your voice down," He says, pointing behind her.
She turns around to look at me and instantly notices several people whispering in the hallway and pointing toward our group. Her face turns red, and she storms off in the direction of her first class, which we all happen to have together.

The bell rings, and the four of us are still standing in the hall.

"So are you going to tell us what happened or not?" Cameron asks me, not caring that the bell for class rang, and we are probably going to be late

" Look, if I tell you too much, I know she's going to be angry with me. And that's the last thing I want right now, especially with all the time we've spent together," I say scratching the back of my neck
 "But I've been sleeping over at her house for at least a week, and last night she stayed the night at my place. And this morning we shared a moment which led to a heated kiss..." I say, trailing off, not wanting to continue

" What the hell?" Grayson says

"Did you guys hook up?" Sean asks this time around

"No man! What the fuck!" I say agitated, "We have not done anything other than kiss, and I would like to keep it that way."

"Damn man, what did she do to you? You're not even trying to sleep with her?" Cameron asks me,
"I mean not that I want you to. She's like my little sister and all, but you have a reputation for sleeping around, man."

"She's been through a lot. You're aware of that, and I don't want to contribute to it. I'm not trying to be the dickhead I was before," I say to my best friends

"Wowww... looks like you're finally changing your ways," Cameron speaks up again

"So does this mean you guys are dating now?" Grayson asks me

"No, we're not dating. She wants to take it really slow...and I'm okay with that." I say smiling about her

"Good on you, man," Grayson says, patting me on the back. "Don't fuck it up," He whispers to me

"HEY!" someone yells at us from down the hall. We turn to see a teacher walking our way with an annoyed look on his face. "What are you boys still doing out here! Get to class, all of you!" He yells once more, and we all scramble away to our next class, which happens to be with Analie.

God, I hope we don't get a detention slip for walking in late.