Perfectly Imperfect

(7) Shoot your shot.

Aria's POV

I get to my locker and see Brittany and Becca standing there. "What's up?" I ask.

They pull me into a group hug and say, "We're so sorry."

"We've been horrible friends. I swear we weren't trying to ignore you during lunch." Brittany says. It's been more than a month, and they only notice now?

"We brought you three full packs of Oreos to make up for it," Becca says, handing me a bag. Are you going to forgive them? Maybe?

"Thanks," I say, accepting the cookies.

"Will you please sit with us at lunch again?" Becca asks.

"I guess..." I say, smiling.

"We'll make sure to let you talk more, too," Brittany says.

"Okay," I say.

"Is it okay if we walk around with you until the bell rings?" Brittany asks.

"Sure!" I say, grabbing my binders and closing my locker shut.

"It's only the first week of September, and two guys have already asked me to be their date for homecoming," Brittany says.

"Did you say yes?" I ask.

"Of course not." She says with disgust.

"Their signs were pathetic," Becca says. It'd be nice if someone asked you to go. But it's also nice to stay in and binge-watch movies. There's no one I need to impress, and I get unlimited snacks.

"Do you have someone in mind?" I ask Brittany.

"Aaron, of course." She says in a duh tone. I get a weird feeling in my chest but decide to ignore it. Probably from not eating breakfast. Probably.

"Do you have a backup?" I ask, zipping my backpack.

"There's no need for one. I know Aaron will ask me." She says, flipping her hair off her shoulder.

Remembering a conversation with Aaron, I say, "Actually, I-" Becca cuts me off before I could tell Brittany he's not interested.

"I might ask Theo." She says.

"I don't know why you like him. He's kinda ugly." Brittany says.

Becca gives her an annoyed look and looks at me excitedly. Then she says, "We've been texting a lot, and he wants to hang out this Friday."

The bell rings, and we separate for class. I walk in and see Aaron isn't here yet. I sit down in my seat and get out a pencil for notes.

A few minutes later, the second bell rings, and Aaron rushes through the door. He walks towards his desk and says, "Hey."

"You made it just in time," I say.

"Did you miss me?" He asks, smirking.

"Of course. Who else am I supposed to copy answers from?" I ask with a grin.

He sends me a text, and I press on the picture. It's a cute puppy running with the caption, "When you're almost late to school." I laugh and cover my mouth when the teacher starts talking.

When we started taking notes, I remember I was hungry. I grab a granola bar from my backpack, and  Aaron nudges my foot.

"Can I have a piece?" He whispers.

"I don't know... Are we even friends if you like chocolate chip cookies better than Oreos?" I whispered, pretending to think.

He pouts, and I break the bar in half. I hand it to him and whisper, "Only because you send me cute pictures of dogs."

"Good thing I got your number, then." He says, winking before popping the bar into his mouth.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

When Aaron and I enter the cafeteria, he asks, "Are we eating with Brittany and Becca?"

"They apologized and got me Oreos," I say.

He smiles and says, "All is okay then?"

"For now..." I say.

"If anything changes, just let me know. I'm really only there to sit with you, Oreo." He says, grinning.

"I am a pretty cool friend," I say, flipping my hair off my shoulder.

"Pretty cool indeed." He says, pretending to flip his hair.

I laugh, and we walk toward their table. "Hey, guys!" Brittany says excitedly.

We sit across from Brittany and Becca, and they start talking about their classes. Becca shows me a funny drawing on Instagram, and we laugh.

Brittany asks with disgust, "That's your laugh?"

Becca and I immediately stop, and I say, "I guess so..." I think we should have stayed in the library.

Aaron nudges my arm, and I look at him with a frown. "Thumb war?" He asks.

I feel my frown slowly turn upward and ask, "Really?"

"You can say no since you obviously can't beat me." He says, starting to move his hand away.

I immediately grab it and say, "You're on." I win in less than 10 seconds and smile with victory. Sucker!

Aaron softly smiles at me, and I swear my heart skips a beat. Oooh, does someone have a crush? Woah there! It could be cardiac arrest. That's not funny. Ignoring my weird thoughts, I go back to eating my lunch.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

I'm ranting to Suzan when she interrupts, "So Aaron said he's only sitting with them because of you?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. Anyway-"

"He likes you." She says, cutting me off again.

"That's what you got out of all of this?" I ask.

"Is he cute?" She asks, smirking.

I'm about to deny it when I feel my face flush. Well, now that you think about it. Who cares if he's kind of handsome?

"Shoot your shot." She says, grabbing plates.

"Funny," I say sarcastically.

<~~~~~~~~~~>

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