The next morning felt weird. Not terrible. Not dramatic. Just weird. Aiden noticed it the second he arrived at school. Usually, the first thing he saw every morning was Mia. Sometimes she'd be waiting near the lockers. Sometimes she'd be talking to Sophie. Sometimes she'd roll her eyes at something stupid Noah said. But she was always there. Today, she wasn't. Aiden told himself he didn't care. Then he spent the next ten minutes looking for her. Unfortunately, Noah noticed immediately.
"You're looking for her."
"I'm not."
"You absolutely are."
"I'm not."
"You've checked the hallway six times."
Aiden looked away.
"Maybe I like hallways."
Noah stared at him.
"That's the dumbest thing you've ever said."
Before Aiden could respond, Mia appeared at the other end of the corridor. For a brief moment, their eyes met. Usually one of them would've smiled. Usually one of them would've walked over. Instead, Mia immediately looked away and continued walking. Aiden froze. Noah froze. Then Noah slowly turned toward him.
"Oh."
"Don't."
"You guys are actually fighting."
"We're not."
"You just got ignored."
Aiden hated how correct he sounded.
The day somehow got worse from there. During lunch, Mia sat with Sophie at the opposite end of the cafeteria. Aiden sat with Noah. Neither looked at the other. Well... that wasn't true. They looked at each other constantly. They just made sure not to get caught doing it. Unfortunately, everyone else noticed.
"This is painful."
Sophie said.
"I know."
Mia sighed.
Neither conversation was productive.
At all.
By the end of the school day, both were annoyed. Not angry. Just annoyed. Mostly at themselves. The problem was that the fight wasn't really about Emily or Ethan anymore. Now it was about the fact that they were fighting in the first place. Neither wanted to be the first one to apologize. Neither even knew what they were apologizing for. Which somehow made everything worse.
After school, Mia was walking toward the parking lot when Ethan caught up with her.
"Hey."
Mia looked up.
"Oh. Hey."
"You okay?"
Mia blinked.
"What?"
"You seem upset."
Great. Now even Ethan noticed.
"I'm fine."
Ethan clearly didn't believe her. But before he could say anything else, another voice interrupted.
"Mia."
Aiden. Both turned. Aiden immediately regretted speaking. Because Ethan was standing there. And Mia immediately regretted turning around. Because Aiden looked annoyed. For several awkward seconds, nobody spoke. Then Ethan made the smartest decision of his life.
"I'm gonna go."
Without waiting for an answer, he practically disappeared. Coward. Now it was just Aiden and Mia. Again. Unfortunately. Neither seemed to know what to say. Finally
"Hi."
"Hi."
Silence stretched between them as Aiden rubbed the back of his neck and Mia stared at the ground. This was ridiculous, completely ridiculous. Three days ago, they had been fine, and now neither of them seemed capable of holding a normal conversation.
"I don't like this."
Aiden finally said. Mia looked up.
"What?"
"This."
He gestured between them.
"The weirdness."
For the first time all day, Mia almost smiled. Because she hated it too. A lot.
"Me neither."
Another silence followed, but this one felt different, less hostile, less frustrating, and somehow more honest than all the awkward conversations they'd had over the past few days. For the first time, neither seemed interested in arguing. Then Aiden sighed.
"I'm not interested in Emily."
Mia stared at him.
"I know."
Aiden blinked.
"You know?"
"Yes."
"Then why are we fighting?"
Good question.
"I don't know."
Aiden laughed, not because it was funny, but because it was true, and somehow that made it worse.
"I'm not interested in Ethan either."
Mia added.
"I know."
Now it was her turn to stare.
"You know?"
"Yes."
The realization hit both of them at exactly the same moment. Neither had ever doubted the other, not once. They'd just been jealous, which was somehow both embarrassing and annoying. For a second, neither spoke, letting the truth settle between them before Mia suddenly started laughing. Aiden looked confused.
"What?"
"We're idiots."
Aiden considered arguing. Then sighed.
"Yeah."
"We literally spent three days being mad for no reason."
"Pretty much."
Mia shook her head, still laughing, and Aiden couldn't help smiling too, because the fight suddenly seemed a lot less serious than it had yesterday, or this morning, or even five minutes ago. The whole thing felt ridiculous now that they were actually talking again, and as the last of the tension faded away, Mia took a small step closer.
"Friends again?"
Aiden looked offended.
"We were never not friends."
"You know what I mean."
Aiden pretended to think about it.
Then smiled.
"Yeah."
Mia smiled back. Just like that, the tension disappeared, not because they solved some huge problem or because one of them won, but simply because they'd finally talked like they should've done three days ago. As they started walking home together, both felt lighter, relieved, and normal again. Unfortunately, neither noticed Noah hiding behind a nearby tree, and the second they disappeared around the corner, he pulled out his phone.
Noah: THEY MADE UP.
Three seconds later:
Sophie: FINALLY.
Ava: ABOUT TIME.
Noah: Worst three days of my life.
Ava: Dramatic.
Noah: Accurate.