Chapter 31: Chapter 31

“Do you have to get to this gloomy look every time you are alone for 5 minutes?”

“What are you talking about?”

Aaron tossed me a biscuit packet, his eyes on my face watching my features closely. He dug out a tub of ice cream from the fridge and dropped it on the counter.

“I’m talking about that frown on your face and that look in your eyes.”

“I didn’t know you were paying so much attention to my eyes,” I tried to joke.

He glanced at me again not smiling. “I pay attention to things I like, Bianca. You were happy before I left you this evening now you’re moody. Does this have anything to do with Andre coming out of your apartment?”

I tried to hide my shock and hopefully, I was successful. Aaron wasn’t looking at me anymore, he was digging out spoons from a drawer but I got the impression that he was aware of every movement I made.

“He did come out of your apartment, didn’t he?”

“Yes, he did. He wanted to talk.”

He sighed and leaned one hip against the counter so that he was fully facing me. “I am not going to push but I will be blind as hell to not notice the tension between you and Andre. There’s something there between you guys and you may call it hate but there’s a fine line between love and hate.”

“Look you have it all wrong. I told you I met him over the summer and as you can see he is very much interested in Siobhan otherwise why would he go for her and not me?”

“Hmm, why indeed.”

The tone of his voice caught my attention. "What's that supposed to mean?" I ssked. He shrugged. “Aaron, whatever you think, Andre and I are not a thing. I am willing to give you and me a chance but if all you see is Andre then we might as well just say our goodbyes.”

My heart was beating slowly waiting for a response from him. He shoved his fingers through his hair. “Ugh, I don’t know what to think. You say something else and I see something different. I see the way he looks at you, he doesn’t look at Siobhan that way. I’m a guy, Bianca, I should know.”

My heart fluttered happily in my chest but my brain was in disagreement. Andre is trouble, I knew that the very moment I saw him for the first time. Yet…no. "I don’t care how he looks at me, if we are going to do this we can’t let this, how he looks at me and how he doesn't, come between us.” I moved forward and took his hand. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before and I am not about to spoil my chances of having one now.”

He looked down at where our hands were joined, his thumb rotated so that he was caressing the back of my hand softly. “You bring me to my knees, Bianca. I didn’t think I would get jealous of how another guy looks at someone I like but…” he laughed. “Maybe that’s it, jealousy.” He sighed and pulled me closer, his left hand coming up to cup my chin. “I will restrain from punching Andre in the face if he looks at you a second too long again,” he smiled.

I laughed and tweaked his nose with my free hand. “Hmm this is nice for a change, I haven’t had a guy get jealous over me.”

“Hmm because other guys before me were blind obviously.” He kissed my lips softly and rested his forehead on mine. His other hand tightened around my mine. He suddenly leaned back a bit with a mischievous grin. “I think our first game is in two weeks against St. Patrick’s school, will you be there to cheer me up?”

“Do you want me there?” I teased.

“Of course I do,” he laughed.

“Good, then I’ll be there. Now will you stop worrying about nothing and come to bed with me?”

“When you say come to bed…” he winked suggestively.

I playfully punched his chest. “I meant sleep you naughty kid but we do have this tub of ice cream and biscuits and it would be a shame to let them go to waste.”

Laughing we took our snacks and went to his room. Well, I was the girl without a guy before the summer break and here now I have the Head boy of Edwin and Co. jealous because of me. I gotta say that boosted my feminine pride.

We had a blissful night, well I did until I woke up during the night thinking about Andre. What’s his endgame?

I found him attractive in Mainland until he talked about my boobs. I was surprised to find him here when we resumed and was ready to avoid him at all costs but 2 kisses now were it took to have me thinking about him again. This isn’t right.

Siobhan is in love with him. She wouldn’t have gone through the pains of staking her claim on him if she wasn’t – although this is not the first time she has done something like this before so…I don’t know, maybe this time it’s real? It should be if Andre feels the same way about her right? What does he feel for her? What does he feel for me if he stares and me and kisses me the way he does?

When Aaron mumbled something in his sleep I jerked out of my thoughts suddenly feeling embarrassed. Shit, I need to stop thinking about him. I hate him right? So why am I thinking about him? About being in his arms the day he carried me when  I got my period? Why does my body remember the strong warmth of his? Am I reading too deeply into the care kit he gave me?

Stop it, Bianca, I chided myself. It wasn’t fair to me and not fair to Aaron. I rubbed Aaron’s arm and forced myself to go to sleep. It wasn't easy but I succeeded. At least for that night.

On Monday of the next week, I was ready to do my best to forget Andre. I had succeeded in avoiding him during the weekend because Siobhan had kept him busy.

After breakfast as all the students made their way to the assembly hall, Carla approached me.

“Hey.”

I forced a smile. “Hi.”

She stole a glance behind me and I followed her gaze to where Siobhan was walking with Andre, their fingers interlocked. I looked away quickly and met Aaron’s eyes. I smiled at him and blew him a kiss to disperse the slight look of doubt in his eyes. He grinned and caught my kiss playfully throwing it in his mouth.

“Oh,” Carla said.

I shifted my attention to her. “What? Were you going to say something?”

“Oh no…actually yes, I didn’t think you and Aaron were an item. I thought…” she looked back again at Siobhan and Andre, a dark look in her eyes. “Well, I thought…Uhm, I saw Andre coming out of your apartment last night so I thought you both were…”

Oh God, not this again.