Tempted

Chapter 21

Nicole's POV

Everything sucked. I didn't need anymore drama, I seemed to make enough of it. I remember in third grade, my teacher, Mrs. Abbott, told me about Romeo and Juliet. From that moment, I had always wished for the kind of love that made me want to die for them. I had found it but now, I felt like there was no way I could go back, just like with Aidan. I had dated Aidan in my freshman year of college and until my senior year. To be fair, he hadn't actually cheated on me. The truth was too hard for me to bear. He broke up with me because he didn't love me at all. I had accepted it as I hadn't actually loved him either. We were just two kids trying to figure everything out. I had told Maeve he cheated on me so it was easier for me to be angry at him and to hide the fact I was sad over not loving someone and wasting their time.

*FLASHBACKS*

I walked into my first class of the year. I was just starting out and I didn't know anybody. All my friends went somewhere else and I just stayed by my hometown. I sat down at the only empty seat near the door. I didn't want to be far away. I wanted to be close so when the class ended I could run out of there as fast as I could. There was a blonde guy sitting there, typing on a computer. I glanced at his screen. It looked like he was writing a book. He noticed me staring and smiled.

"I want to be a writer when I'm done with college," he said, really happily. I smiled back at him.

"Yeah, I don't really know what I want to be. I sort of missed the clandestine expierences to figure it out in highschool," I said. He looked at me with empathy.

"It's okay, we all start somewhere. I didn't realize this was my dream until last year," he said. I nodded. He made me feel better about myself. Maybe he would be my first friend here.

"My name's Nicole by the way," I said, getting out my notebook as the professor walked in. The guy opened a new tab to take notes and looked at me.

"Aidan."

I sat down in my usual seat next to Aidan. He smiled when he saw me and he turned his computer.

"Guess who has two thumbs and just finished his first book?" he said, proudly. I looked at him in awe.

"That's great, Aidan!" I said, really excitedly. I leaned over and hugged him. He hugged me back. I didn't even know what his book was about.

"What's it about?" I asked. He laughed wholeheartedly and looked me in my eyes.

"It's about this kid who never had friends until another kid sat next to him during class. They ended up being bestfriends. They fought dragons and everything together," he said. I smiled. I had influenced his story.

"That sounds eerily familiar, Aidan. Where have I heard that before?" I asked. He smiled.

"I don't know. Sounds like you're making something up to me," he said, jokingly. We both started laughing.

"What?! Me? Make something up? Never!" I said, acting all innocent. He looked into my eyes and stopped laughing.

"How can someone with such beautiful eyes be such a liar?" he said. I don't know what had happened but my heart sang out. The compliment had so much power over me. In highschool no one had ever really looked at me. I was the girl who did soccer and just stayed in the shadows. But here was a boy, looking deeply into my eyes and complimenting me.

"I don't know how. Maybe you should ask yourself that question," I said. He gave a soft smile back and he ran his fingers through his hair. I learned he did that when he was nervous.