The rumors should have died by Friday. They didn't. If anything, they got worse. By lunchtime, students had started making predictions about what Aiden's "surprise" would be. Some thought it would happen at school. Others thought it would happen over the weekend. A few people were apparently taking bets. At this point, even Aiden had given up trying to stop it. He'd spent an entire day telling people there was no surprise. Nobody believed him. It was honestly impressive. The only good thing was that Mia found the whole situation hilarious. Which was unfortunate because every time she laughed about it, Aiden became slightly more annoyed. Not genuinely annoyed. Just enough to make her laugh harder. By the end of the school day, the two of them were walking toward the parking lot together when Mia suddenly remembered something.
"Oh."
"What?"
"I forgot."
Aiden immediately became suspicious.
"That usually means trouble."
"It doesn't."
"It absolutely does."
Mia rolled her eyes.
"I left my notebook at your house."
Aiden blinked.
Then remembered.
"Oh."
The previous weekend they'd been working on a project together. Mia had spent most of the afternoon at his house and apparently left one of her notebooks behind.
"I need it for Monday."
"I'll bring it."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I need it today."
Aiden sighed.
"Fine."
"Fine."
A few minutes later they were sitting in his car heading toward his house. The drive itself was completely normal. The moment they arrived, however, things stopped being normal. Mostly because Noah happened to be walking home nearby and saw the car pulling through the entrance.
Noah froze.
Completely.
Then pointed dramatically.
"No way."
Aiden immediately knew this was going to be a problem.
"What?"
"Can I come?"
"No."
"Please."
"No."
"I've never been inside."
"No."
"Please."
"No."
Somehow, despite receiving six separate no's, Noah still ended up in the car.
Aiden didn't know how.
Neither did Mia.
Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of the house. Noah stared through the window.
Then stared some more.
Then even more.
"Dude."
"What?"
"Dude."
Aiden sighed.
"What?"
"Why does your house look like a hotel?"
"It doesn't."
"It absolutely does."
Mia tried not to laugh.
Failed.
Spectacularly.
The truth was, even she'd been surprised the first time she'd visited. Not because Aiden bragged about being rich. He never did. In fact, he almost never mentioned it. Which somehow made it even more shocking when people actually saw where he lived.
Noah slowly stepped out of the car.
Then looked up.
And up.
And up.
"How many bedrooms are in this place?"
"I don't know."
"You DON'T KNOW?"
"No."
"How do you not know?"
Aiden shrugged.
"I've never counted."
Noah looked like he was having an existential crisis.
The moment they entered the house, things somehow became worse.
For Noah.
Much worse.
Aiden's family wasn't home, leaving the entire place unusually quiet. Large windows overlooked the gardens outside. A staircase curved toward the second floor. The living room alone looked bigger than Noah's apartment.
Noah looked around.
Then at Aiden.
Then around again.
Then back at Aiden.
"You live like this?"
"It's a house."
"It's a mansion."
"It's not."
"It has two staircases."
Aiden paused.
Then looked.
"Oh."
Noah pointed aggressively.
"YOU FORGOT ABOUT A STAIRCASE."
Mia immediately burst out laughing.
Aiden looked genuinely confused.
"I don't use that one."
"THAT IS NOT THE POINT."
The three of them eventually headed upstairs so Mia could find her notebook. Unfortunately, finding one notebook turned out to be much harder than expected. Mostly because Mia couldn't remember where she'd left it. They checked the study. Nothing. The library. Nothing. The game room. Nothing.
Noah stopped walking.
"The what room?"
"The game room."
A long silence followed.
"You have a game room?"
Aiden looked confused.
"Yeah?"
Noah slowly looked toward the ceiling.
"God has favorites."
Mia laughed so hard she nearly dropped her phone.
After another ten minutes of searching, they finally found the notebook tucked beneath a sofa in the movie room.
"The movie room?"
Noah sounded exhausted now.
"How many rooms does this house have?"
"I don't know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because I don't know."
Noah looked like he wanted to cry.
As they headed back downstairs, Mia noticed something. Despite all the jokes and all the teasing, Aiden genuinely didn't care about any of this. To him, it was normal. He never acted superior. Never bragged. Never tried to impress anyone with money. In fact, he usually seemed embarrassed whenever people brought it up. Somehow, that made her like him even more.
Eventually they made their way back outside. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky orange and gold. Noah was still looking traumatized.
"I need time to process this."
"You'll survive."
"I don't think I will."
"You will."
Noah pointed at the house one last time.
"Your HOUSE has a bigger social life than I do."
Mia immediately started laughing again.
Aiden groaned.
And as the three of them walked toward the gate, neither he nor Mia noticed the smile she kept trying to hide. Because somewhere between the arguments, the rumors, the laughs, and the ridiculousness of it all, she was falling for him a little more every day.