Until May (Until Her/Him #11)(28)

“That all sounds great, except I’m not you. Aiden isn’t Tony, and I don’t get hit on everywhere I go.”

“You get hit on all the time. You just don’t get hit on by men you’d be interested in dating. And since you are the kind of girl who’s looking for a man and not a one-night stand you always brush them off.”

“Whatever.” I press my lips together, because she is not wrong. I mean, not that there is anything wrong with finding a guy attractive and hooking up; it’s just that it’s not something that appeals to me. Or at least the morning-after awkwardness doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.

“Is that him?” she asks when my cell that is on the table beeps. Picking it up, instant disappointment and annoyance settles in the pit of my stomach. The number isn’t the one programed into my phone for Mike and set to Blocked, but it must be him, because no one else would plead with me to talk to them.

“It’s not.” I quickly block the number, then groan when the bell goes off, signaling that our lunch is over. Shoving my containers into the bag, I carry my lunch in, Toya does the same with her stuff, then we get up and push in our chairs before leaving the lunchroom.

We dodge kids transferring between classes as we head down the hall, and when we reach the library, she grabs my wrist, then leans in to me, whispering, “I would demand you to call me tonight to tell me how it goes, but honestly, I hope you’re way too occupied with his penis.” She laughs when I blush, then lets me go, calling over her shoulder as she walks off, “Don’t forget what I said about wowing him.”

I don’t reply to her; instead, I unlock my cell phone, then send an SOS to my sisters in our group chat, asking them for advice on what to wear out to dinner with Aiden tonight. Before I even have my stuff tucked away in the bottom drawer of my desk, they are messaging back one after another. All of them ask what the hell happened since the last time we spoke about him—the last time being when I told them about the incident outside my house.

With no time to explain things right now, I message back, letting them know I’ll call when I’m driving home after school but remind them of the reason I texted before I tuck my cell away for the rest of the day. Unlike me, my sisters never believed that Aiden was Mike, especially after talking to our cousins, who had spent time with him in Florida.

But they did think it was kismet that I met him in real life. So when I told them about him showing up at my house and me basically accusing him of playing games, they were all supportive of my decision but still doubtful I made the right choice.

“Ms. Mayson?” Sasha, a cute girl who reminds me of Nalia, calls when the final bell rings for the day, and I focus on where she’s seated with a group of students working on a history project.

“Yes.”

“Is it okay if we stay for fifteen more minutes to finish this up?”

“I’ll be here for another half an hour, so you guys have time,” I tell her, and she smiles at me while the boy next to her nudges her elbow with his. When she turns to look at him, he says something that I can’t hear, but I can see the adorable way she blushes under his gaze.

Dragging my attention off of them, I gather books that need to be put back in place and cart them down one of the first rows of books. But I stop halfway down the aisle and press my lips together when I see two kids I don’t recognize pressed up against the end of the bookcase, making out.

“Seriously, you guys?” I sigh, and the two of them jump away from each other so quickly that the boy ends up backing into the bookcase that is against the wall, hitting it with so much force that it wobbles, sending a few books tumbling to the ground.

“I’m sorry—so sorry.” The boy drops to pick up the books that fell off the shelf, while the girl attempts to sneak off.

“No ma’am,” I call to her back, sounding way too much like my mother, and her shoulders slump. “Come back here and help him clean this mess up.”

“Sorry.” She turns to face me, with her cheeks so red it looks painful.

“Please don’t tell our parents,” the boy pleads while looking up at me from where he’s crouched.

“I have to tell the principal about this incident,” I let them know as I straighten out a row of books.

“Aw, man, come on. We weren’t really doing anything.”

“You were hiding in the library and making out, and I don’t even know when you snuck in here. Plus, I’m sure the two of you know the school policy on kissing.”

“Ugh, I’m so going to get grounded,” he groans, while the girl bites her lip but keeps quiet. Really, I feel bad that I have to rat them out, but like them, I know the rules. And where they might get detention, I’d likely lose my job if I didn’t say anything and someone found out.

When they finish cleaning up, I walk the two of them to the desk and take their names, then send an e-mail to the principal, letting her know about the incident. By the time I’m done, Sasha and her group are gone, so I close everything down, then gather my stuff before I leave and lock up the library.

I get to my car and pull out my cell phone, finding that my sisters have been busy while I’ve been at work. Not only are there tons of outfit ideas for this evening, but there is also a long conversation about what they think went down between Aiden and me. And I’m actually shocked by how accurate they are in their assumptions.