By Thursday morning, Aiden had fully accepted that everyone in his life was conspiring against him. There was simply no other explanation. Noah was acting suspicious. Ava was acting suspicious. Sophie was acting suspicious. Even Mia was acting suspicious, which was honestly the most suspicious thing of all. The problem was that Aiden Scott was naturally curious. Unfortunately for everyone involved, that meant he wasn't planning to sit back and wait for answers. He was planning to find them himself.
At lunch, Noah made the mistake of sitting down first. Aiden immediately sat across from him.
"Oh no."
"Oh yes."
"No."
"Tell me."
"No."
Aiden pointed.
"You know something."
"I know many things."
"About the surprise."
"No."
"You're lying."
Noah looked offended.
"I am."
At least he was honest. Aiden dropped his head onto the table.
"This is torture."
"You'll survive."
"I won't."
"You will."
Before Aiden could continue, Sophie arrived carrying her lunch tray. The moment she saw them, she sighed.
"Are you interrogating Noah again?"
"Yes."
"How's that going?"
"He admitted he's lying."
Sophie nodded.
"That sounds like Noah."
"THANK YOU."
Unfortunately, nobody helped him.
At all.
The rest of the day wasn't much better. Every time Aiden turned a corner, he seemed to catch someone whispering. Every time he entered a room, conversations suddenly stopped. At one point he walked into the library and spotted Mia, Sophie, and Ava huddled around a laptop. The moment they noticed him, the screen slammed shut.
Aiden stopped walking.
Slowly.
"Mia."
"Hi."
"What was that?"
"What was what?"
"The suspicious thing you just did."
"I didn't do anything."
Aiden looked at Ava.
Ava looked away.
Immediately.
That was basically a confession.
"Mia."
"What?"
"Mia."
"What?"
"Mia."
She started laughing.
Which was not helping.
That evening, Aiden received a text.
Mia: What are you doing?
Aiden: Investigating.
Several minutes passed.
Then:
Mia: Please stop.
Aiden grinned.
Aiden: Never.
Mia: Aiden.
Aiden: Mia.
Mia: You're impossible.
Aiden: Says the girl hiding things.
Mia stared at her phone. Across from her, Sophie was trying very hard not to laugh.
"He's getting closer."
"He doesn't know anything."
"He definitely knows something."
Mia groaned.
Because Sophie was right.
Aiden didn't know the details.
But he definitely knew a surprise was coming.
And somehow that made him even harder to deal with.
The next day, things reached a new level of ridiculous. During their final class, Aiden noticed Mia passing a folded note to Sophie. Sophie then passed it to Ava. Ava immediately stuffed it into her bag. The entire operation lasted less than ten seconds. Unfortunately, Aiden witnessed all of it.
The second the bell rang, he stood up.
"Ava."
"No."
"You don't even know what I'm asking."
"Yes I do."
"Give me the note."
"No."
"Ava."
"No."
"Ava."
"No."
His sister immediately sprinted out of the classroom.
Actually sprinted.
Aiden stared after her.
Then looked at Noah.
"Did she just run away from me?"
"Yep."
"This family is ridiculous."
Noah nodded.
"Correct."
By the time Friday evening arrived, Aiden had gathered exactly three pieces of information. One: Mia was planning something. Two: his friends were helping her. Three: nobody was willing to tell him anything. It was the least successful investigation in history.
Meanwhile, Mia was beginning to panic. The surprise was only two days away, and Aiden seemed determined to accidentally discover it beforehand. Every day felt like surviving a military operation. Every conversation felt dangerous. Every question felt like a trap.
"I can't do this."
Mia said dramatically.
Sophie looked up from her phone.
"Yes you can."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
Sophie sighed.
"Mia."
"What?"
"You're acting like you're hiding state secrets."
Mia considered that.
Then pointed.
"It feels like state secrets."
Sophie laughed.
Unfortunately, Mia wasn't entirely joking.
Because if Aiden found out now, weeks of planning would be ruined.
And after everything she'd organized...
That was absolutely not happening.
Not if she could help it.