The Bad Boy's Snowflake

Chapter 16: What the hell?

"That's insane," Sadie says after I tell them a little bit about last night at lunch. I left out the part about Mark's sister getting worse, even though Macy probably already knows.

"Did he say anything to you on the car ride here this morning?" Macy asks.

I frown. "He actually texted me this morning that I should find another ride to school this morning and this afternoon because he couldn't take me, so I got rides from Mark I assumed he was sick, but his motorcycle was gone when we left this morning. I'm actually a bit worried."

"I'm sure he's just being his usual bad boy self, Catherine," Sadie assures me.

"And he's a big boy," Macy adds. "I'm sure he can take care of himself."

"I guess you're right," I sigh. "I just hope he doesn't get into any trouble."

At that moment the bell rings and everybody gets up to throw their stuff away. I crutch to my locker and grab my books for the next few classes, all the while thinking about Tommy and his unusual behavior last night. But then Sadie's voice echoes in my head, so I push away any thoughts of him and think about my upcoming math test.

***

After school finally ends, I crutch back to my locker and start putting books into my backpack before heading to the football field to watch practice. Coach is making us practice on the turf because our game tomorrow is on turf, and the way down takes a while because it's down a very steep hill that's hard to crutch down. About a third of the way down, I hear the patter of someone's feet behind me. I assume they're just late to practice until I hear my name. I turn my head to see Aidan walking toward me.

"Need some help?"

"I'm good," I reply and restart my long journey down the hill.

"Not true. You can barely move. Let me help you."

"I'm fine," I insist. He sighs, and then all of a sudden I'm off the ground and in his arms with my crutches laying on top of me. "What the hell?"

Aidan smiles down at me and begins walking. "There's no way you would have made it down that hill, Catherine."

I just roll my eyes. 

"Don't deny it. You love this," he smirks. We get to the bottom of the hill, and he puts me down. Aidan makes sure I have my footing before letting go off me.

"Of course I loved it," I tease. "You're the one that I would pick to carry me down a hill every time I need to be. I would never pick Mark, or Tyler, or even Tommy over you. Never."

His face goes from a teasing smile to a frown in less than a second. "I-I have to go."

"Aidan, I was just joking. I didn't mean to offend you," I apologize. 

He looks toward the field. "I think your practice is starting. I should really let you go over there."

He begins to turn, but I grab his arm. "Thank you."

"Yeah, sure," he mumbles. Aidan rips his arm out of my grip and begins back up the hill to the school. I just stand at the base of the hill for a minute, not really sure what happened. Could I have just bruised Aidan's ego? There's no possible way. He seemed pretty hurt, though, so maybe.