Mia hated this.
Absolutely hated it.
The entire weekend had been ruined by one stupid conversation. One stupid misunderstanding. One stupid boy who couldn't admit he was jealous. The worst part? She wasn't even sure why she was upset anymore. Was it because Aiden got annoyed? Because he wouldn't admit what was bothering him? Because he walked away without properly talking things out? Maybe it was all of those things. Maybe it was none of them. Either way, by Monday morning, she was still thinking about it. Which was incredibly annoying. She had expected the feeling to disappear after a good night's sleep. It hadn't. Then she'd expected it to disappear after two nights. It hadn't. And now she was sitting in the school courtyard before class, staring at her untouched breakfast while Sophie watched her with growing concern.
"You look miserable."
"I'm not miserable."
"Mia."
"I'm annoyed."
"That's basically the same thing."
Mia sighed.
Sophie sat down beside her.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
Sophie immediately laughed.
"Oh, so it's serious."
"It's not serious."
"Then tell me."
Mia hesitated. Not because she didn't trust Sophie. She did. Sometimes. The problem was that saying it out loud somehow made it real. But after a few seconds she gave up.
"We had an argument."
Sophie's eyes widened.
"You WHAT?"
Several students turned around.
"Lower your voice."
"You had an argument?"
"Yes."
"Like... an actual argument?"
"Yes."
Sophie stared at her.
Then blinked.
Then stared some more.
"I don't know how to process this information."
"It's not that dramatic."
"It is for you two."
Mia rolled her eyes.
Sophie immediately moved closer.
"Tell me everything."
And unfortunately...
Mia did.
She told Sophie about the mall. About Ryan. About Aiden acting weird. About the jealousy. About laughing. About the conversation that somehow turned into an argument.
When she finally finished, Sophie looked thoughtful.
Then-
"You know he's jealous, right?"
Mia groaned.
"Not you too."
"I'm serious."
"He denied it."
"Because he's a boy."
"What does that mean?"
"It means he'll deny it until the day he dies."
Mia hated how accurate that sounded.
Sophie continued.
"Imagine being him for a second."
"I don't want to."
"Try."
Mia sighed.
"Fine."
"You show up for a date."
"Okay."
"Your girlfriend is laughing with another guy."
Mia opened her mouth.
Then paused.
Then closed it again.
Sophie immediately pointed.
"Exactly."
"Still."
"Still what?"
"He could've just told me."
"And you could've stopped laughing."
Mia stared.
Sophie stared back.
Mia hated this conversation.
Mostly because Sophie was making sense.
A lot of sense.
"I wasn't laughing at him."
"I know that."
"But he thinks I was."
"Exactly."
Mia dropped her head onto the table.
"This is stupid."
"It is."
"Really stupid."
"Extremely stupid."
They sat quietly for a moment.
Then Sophie smiled.
"You miss him."
Mia immediately lifted her head.
"What?"
"You miss him."
"No."
"You absolutely do."
"No."
"You spent your entire weekend thinking about him."
Mia froze.
Sophie grinned.
"Oh my God."
"Stop."
"You totally missed him."
"I hate you."
"No, you don't."
Unfortunately... She didn't. Across the courtyard, students were slowly arriving for class. Mia's eyes drifted toward the school entrance. Completely by accident. At least that's what she told herself. Sophie noticed immediately.
"There he is."
Mia looked away so fast it was embarrassing.
"I wasn't looking."
"You absolutely were."
"I wasn't."
"You literally snapped your neck."
Mia groaned. Then made the mistake of glancing over again. Aiden had just arrived. And somehow... He looked just as miserable as she felt. The sight caught her off guard. Because suddenly she wasn't angry anymore. Just sad. The argument replayed in her head. The awkward goodbye. The silence over the weekend. The stubbornness. All of it. And for the first time, she realized something. She didn't care about being right. Not really. She just wanted things to go back to normal. Sophie followed her gaze.Then smiled softly.
"You love him, don't you?"
Mia's heart nearly stopped.
"What?"
"You heard me."
For once, Sophie wasn't teasing. She sounded serious. And somehow... That made the question even harder.
Mia looked toward Aiden again. He was talking to Noah now. Though talking was probably the wrong word. Noah seemed to be talking while Aiden looked exhausted.
A small smile appeared on Mia's face despite herself. And that was answer enough. Sophie immediately gasped.
"Oh my God."
"Sophie."
"Oh my God."
"Sophie."
"YOU LOVE HIM."
"Keep your voice down!"
Mia's face turned bright red while Sophie nearly fell off the bench laughing. For the first time all morning, though... Mia found herself laughing too. Because maybe this fight wasn't as big as it felt. Maybe they were both just being stubborn. And maybe... Just maybe... One of them would finally do something about it today.