Love Hate

Ch. 12

Theo's Point of View

Everyone — and I meant everyone — had been whispering and gossiping all week. Mostly because of that damn flirtatious threat and wink at lunch. But also, because we had been doing shit like that since.

Smiling at each other in the halls, winking sometimes, and basically acting however we wanted — not caring about all of the whispering.

It was freaking awesome, honestly.

The whispers were mostly just how confused people were, rather than anyone hating on us. Some people were shipping us, and others started wondering if we were just faking our hatred of each other all those years. I called those the conspiracy whispers and they were my favorite — it was just a really funny concept and honestly wasn't too far from the truth.

Our friends were all really confused. We considered at least giving them a small explanation. But we didn't really want to tell them flat-out that we weren't sure if we ever actually hated each other but we made out a few times and agreed to date — so we didn't tell them anything.

They didn't need to know, all they needed to know was that at the moment we didn't hate each other — it was actually the opposite.

"Miller!"

My friends and I stopped walking and looked behind us. I smiled a little when I saw who called me — though I knew who it was before I saw him.

"Thompson."

My friends rolled their eyes, "You two have fun."

Then they left, tired of our antics.

I laughed a little and leaned against the lockers beside me, "What's up?"

He shrugged, "Just wanted to talk to you. Didn't think it'd translate well if I shouted, 'hey hot stuff.'"

I laughed, "Probably not."

"You study for the test in Bank's class today?"

I shook my head, "I understood it well enough in the lessons and was too lazy to review."

"You sure?" He asked, smirking, "I'm pretty sure you only spend that class flirting with your boyfriend."

I feigned confusion, "I don't think so. Last time I checked, he was the one that did most of the flirting."

"Is that so?" He asked.

I nodded, "Yes."

"Alright. I'll remember that," he said with a mischievous grin.

I laughed, "Whatever. Did you study?"

"Of course not. And I'm going to fail because I also happen to only spend that class time being flirted on by someone."

"Huh. What a coincidence."

He nodded, "It is."

I was about to talk again when I heard people walking past us whispering.

"What is up with them?"

"I know right. Get a room."

I rolled my eyes at them, but Aaron smirked.

"What's that for?" I asked.

"That reminded me, I gotta ask you something."

"What?"

He motioned for me to go closer to him, so I did.

He brought his mouth close to my ear and used his hand to cover his mouth, "You've got some nice legs — what time do they open?"

My mouth dropped open, and I leaned back before smacking his arm. My face was piping hot.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked, shocked.

He just laughed his ass off.

It actually took a minute before he could calm himself down enough to get a few words out.

"Y-your reaction... was priceless!"

All I could do was stand there shocked, my face on fire.

Everyone was staring at us — they weren't even trying to be subtle.

I was so embarrassed.

"You're dead."

He finally calmed down and smiled at me, "Yeah, right."

I just crossed my arms and looked away from him.

Though there weren't many options for where I could look. Everyone was staring at us still.

He finally sighed, "Okay okay, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you and take you on a date tonight. How's that sound?"

I didn't respond.

"Movie date? I'll pay and you can choose what we watch."

"Popcorn and candy too?" I asked, still not looking at him.

"Of course."

I stayed still for a few more seconds before finally turning back to him, "Okay."

He gave me a heart-stopping smile, "Good. I'll find you after sixth hour ends."

The warning bell rang soon after that and we walked together to Mr. Bank's class.

I had to act nonchalantly on the outside... but on the inside I was so excited.

Watching a movie meant we could hold hands in the theater, and no one would know. Plus, I got to pick the movie and get popcorn and candy. I was so excited!

A few hours later, I was walking out of my last class, looking around for Aaron — when I felt someone grab my hand.

My eyes widened and my face burned when I looked over and saw it was Aaron with a big smile on his face.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked as he walked to the parking lot, dragging me by my hand because I was buffering.

"Taking you to our date, duh."

"But..."

I sighed.

I wasn't sure why I was being all shy — that was not how our relationship worked. Not really.

He laughed, "Come back to your senses?"

"Shut up... I'm still mad at you for that line you said earlier."

He bumped my shoulder with his, "I was just teasing you."

"Yeah yeah."

He laughed again, using his free hand to quickly ruffle my hair, "You're cute."

I smacked his hand away, "You're very bold today. What happened to 'it's weird being sweet'?"

He shrugged, "I finally came to my senses?"

I smiled, "Finally."

He went to ruffle my hair again, but I smacked his hand away first, "Don't push your luck, buddy."

We both laughed and got into his car.

We held hands the whole way to the theater, and we didn't even care about any looks we got — we held hands the whole time in the theater, even in the lobby.

I was so happy to finally be able to be with the love of my life and not have to hide it. I didn't have to fake hate him or fake argue with him anymore. It was amazing.

If anyone looked at us funny or judged us, we couldn't have cared less. We went through so much to be together that nothing could ever come between us.