Aiden spent the entire morning with the note in his pocket. Which was ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. It was a badly drawn piece of paper with two stick figures and an insult written underneath. Yet somehow, he couldn't stop thinking about it. Every time he reached into his pocket and felt it there, he found himself smiling. The argument suddenly felt smaller than it had a few days ago. Not gone. Just smaller. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how stupid the whole thing had been. Ryan wasn't the problem. The laughter wasn't the problem. The real problem was that neither of them had actually said what they meant. They'd both gotten defensive. They'd both gotten stubborn. And now they'd both spent days being miserable because of it. By lunch, Aiden had finally made a decision. He was going to talk to her. Properly. No avoiding. No pretending. No acting like everything was fine when it obviously wasn't.
Unfortunately, the universe hated him. The moment he spotted Mia in the hallway, Noah appeared. Immediately. Like some kind of relationship-seeking missile.
"Hey."
"No."
"What?"
"No."
"I haven't even said anything."
"I know exactly what you're about to do."
Noah looked offended.
"You wound me."
"I'll survive."
Aiden attempted to walk away.
Noah followed.
Naturally.
"You're going to apologize."
"Maybe."
"You should."
"I know."
"You were jealous."
Aiden stopped walking.
Noah grinned.
"There it is."
"I hate you."
"No, you don't."
The annoying part was that Noah was right. Again. Aiden hated how often that happened. It should've been illegal.
Across the school, Mia was having her own problems. Specifically Sophie. The moment Sophie noticed Aiden walking around with a suspiciously hopeful expression, she immediately knew something was happening.
"He's going to talk to you."
"What?"
"He's going to talk to you."
Mia looked up from her book.
"How do you know?"
Sophie pointed dramatically across the courtyard.
"There."
Mia followed her finger.
And immediately spotted Aiden.
Her stomach did an annoying little flip.
One she absolutely refused to acknowledge.
Sophie noticed.
Of course she did.
"Oh my God."
"Stop."
"You still like him."
"We're literally dating."
"Fair point."
By the end of the school day, both of them were nervous. Neither wanted to admit it. Neither wanted to think about it. Yet both kept glancing around the hallways searching for the other. When the final bell rang, students immediately flooded toward the exits. Lockers slammed shut. Conversations echoed through the corridors. Teachers disappeared into classrooms. Within minutes, the school began to empty. Aiden spotted Mia near her locker at the exact same moment she spotted him. For a second, neither moved. Then both started walking toward each other.
Neither looked away.
Neither stopped.
When they finally stood face-to-face, every prepared sentence disappeared.
Immediately.
Completely.
Gone.
"Hey."
"Hey."
A brief silence followed.
Not awkward.
Just nervous.
Aiden rubbed the back of his neck.
Mia looked down at her shoes.
Both immediately realized they were being idiots.
Again.
Finally, Aiden sighed.
"I was jealous."
Mia blinked.
"What?"
"I was jealous."
The words came out much easier the second time.
"I know."
"I know you know."
That made Mia smile.
A little.
Aiden continued.
"And I was being stubborn."
"Yeah."
"Thanks."
"You were."
"I know."
For the first time in days, both laughed.
The tension immediately started disappearing.
Like someone had opened a window and let fresh air into the room.
Mia looked at him.
"I shouldn't have laughed."
Aiden opened his mouth.
Then paused.
Then nodded.
"Yeah."
"Sorry."
"I'm sorry too."
A brief silence followed.
Then Mia smiled.
"So we're both idiots."
Aiden smiled back.
"Definitely."
"The biggest idiots."
"Without question."
Mia laughed.
And suddenly everything felt normal again.
The way it was supposed to.
The way they'd both missed all week.
Aiden reached into his pocket.
Then handed her the folded note.
Mia immediately looked horrified.
"You kept that?"
"Of course."
"It took me six seconds to draw."
"I can tell."
Mia gasped dramatically.
"Rude."
"It's literally two stick figures."
"They're artistic stick figures."
"They're not."
"They are."
Aiden laughed.
Mia laughed.
And just like that, the argument was over.
Not because somebody won.
Not because somebody was right.
Because they finally talked.
The way they should've from the beginning.
As they started walking toward the gates together, side by side, the comfortable feeling returned almost instantly. They talked about classes. Teachers. Weekend plans. Random nonsense. Everything they'd missed over the past few days. It felt so normal that neither could believe they'd wasted nearly a week being stubborn.
From a nearby bench, Noah and Sophie watched the entire thing.
"They made up."
"They made up."
Noah looked disappointed.
Sophie looked disappointed too.
"What?"
"What?"
Noah sighed.
"I was enjoying the drama."
"Me too."
For once, they were completely united.
Across the parking lot, Aiden and Mia had no idea they were being watched. And honestly, it was probably better that way. Because after days of awkwardness, misunderstandings, and stubbornness, there was only one thing both of them cared about.
Things were finally okay again.
And neither planned on wasting that a second time.