Rendón

3. aiden

There was a welcoming assembly for greeting the newly enrolled students on the first day of school. Aiden found his group of friends and sat by them. As more people filed into the auditorium, his eyes spot a familiar face that makes his heart suddenly beat. Sitting a few rows in front of Aiden was his crush, Harley Chamberlin. It all started during their first year at Rendon when they were assigned a group project. Since the other members slacked off, the pair mainly worked on their science project together and have gotten to know each other through that. During those few months, Aiden developed feelings for Harley, not because he found her attractive, but because he admired how intelligent and easygoing she was. After the project, they made small talk here and there but never hung out as much like before. One of Aiden's friend pulls him out of his trance to talk about football tryouts. Before Aiden snaps back to reality, he takes one last glance at Harley. She was smiling and laughing with the girl sitting next to her. To Aiden, it seemed as if they were close friends.

"Do you know who that girl is? The one with the purple sweater?" Aiden asked one of his friends, pointing to Valentina. His friend shrugged in response.

"I've never seen her before. Maybe she's her roommate?"

-

After the assembly was over, Aiden desperately searched for the girl in the purple sweater. As he is walking down the halls, he spots Valentina retrieving a textbook from her locker. He nervously walks up to her, already predicting the worst scenario.

"Excuse me?" Aiden taps on her shoulder. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Okay, but do I know you?"

"Sorry. My name's Aiden." He reaches his hand out for Valentina to shake. She hesitantly shakes hands with him, giving him a creeped out expression.

"Why are you asking a complete stranger for a favor?" Valentina gets straight to the point, not even bothering to introduce herself back.

"Are you Harley Chamberlin's roommate by any chance?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I have a crush on her and I need help with getting her to like me back." Valentina closes her locker before looking back at Aiden.

"I don't know how close you are with Harley, but she's a nice girl. I'm sure she'll like you back or kindly reject you." Before Valentina could walk away, her roommate was walking up to her and Aiden.

"Aiden? How are you?" Harley gives Aiden a small hug before pulling back. "Since when did you know Valentina?"

"Uh... Just now. She was struggling with her locker combination, so I was helping her out." Aiden lied.

"Yup. He was giving me a rundown on what Rendon has to offer." Aiden's eyes widen at Valentina playing along with his lie. "Aiden over here is actually gonna treat me to some lunch. You should come with us." Valentina told Harley.

"I'm totally down if Aiden's the one paying," Harley said jokingly. Before the three of them headed to the dining hall, Valentina looked over at Aiden."You're welcome," she mouthed before walking alongside Harley, leaving Aiden bewildered.