Seen Her Year

Chapter 3

[Previously: Kayla defends Aiden from her all-time-hatable-classmate-jock Kevin. As she's leaving, Aiden sees her.]

Skipping up the stairs, Aiden hoped to see Donny and Kevin somewhere to let them know conditioning was starting soon. He spotted his teammates waiting at the water station. Taking a few steps further, he heard Kevin talking to Donny about his breakup with Emma. He sighed, there goes another "Aiden cheated on Emma" rumor.

To be frank, Aiden didn't really care about it, but that didn't mean he liked it. Emma was seen as the victim when in reality, she was the cheater and he was the victim. Why did everyone have to talk about their breakup? Do they have nothing better to do in life?

"Shut up." He heard someone say just as he was about to call out to them. It was a girl's voice but he couldn't see who it was because Kevin and Donny's tall figures covered her.

Flabbergasted, Aiden came to a halt and could do nothing but listen. Everyone loved Kevin, or so it seemed, everyone except this girl apparently. He couldn't blame her though. Honestly, Aiden never really liked Kevin as well. The latter was a little too cocky for his liking.

Their conversation flew by and Aiden stood in amazement until he realized their conversation was over. Before he could even think about hiding, mystery girl walked by and he, by all means, didn't even hide his stare.

Kayla Summers.

She was in his history class with Mr. Halls. There wasn't much that he knew about her. Just that she plays tennis and doesn't talk much in class - which was why he didn't recognize her by her voice at first. Just then, he noticed her eyes connect with his. She sent him a small smile before she continued her way to the campus doors.

And there it was; another smile. Come to think of it, she also smiled a lot. He remembered that one smile she offered him shortly after his break up with Emma. It wasn't a very good day that day, but her gesture lifted some weight off his chest and was quite comforting. He didn't know why, he just felt it.

Before he knew it, he was out the school doors and running after the girl nearing the stoplights. "Kayla!"

The girl turned around and as soon as she saw him, her eyes widened, "Aiden?"

"Hey."

"Hi." She responded, a little confused.

"I heard what you said back there to Kevin." His thumb pointed back at the school building, "I just wanted to say thank you."

"Oh." She shifted uncomfortably - probably due to embarrassment - and shrugged a little, "It's no problem." It was downright awkward. Not because they were awkward, but more because it was awkward for their "type" to be associating with each other.

On one hand, Aiden was the popular jock whom everybody liked. He's the friendly guy who says hi to his teammates, friends, and even teachers in the hallways. He would occasionally participate in the school rallies since he played football. Point was that people knew and acknowledged him.

On the other hand, Kayla was somewhere around the middle area where she had multiple friends and knew a bit of everyone. Not popular, but not unknown either. Some people usually pass and oversee her, while others adore her. She was not the typical "loner girl,"  because the "shy and surprisingly cute bookworm hiding behind her glasses" stood out more than her. Basically, Kayla was just... there. Kind of like an extra.

This conversation felt almost forbidden at the moment. Almost.

Aiden looked around the scenery, unconsciously scratching the back of his head. There wasn't anything more to say to her, but he wanted to say something because he found himself feeling very strangely comfortable near her. Maybe it was the scenery where he wasn't around anyone he had to hold up his reputation to. Not wanting to stay standing there for no reason, he was about to say goodbye until she spoke up.