Between him and him

I used to think I was in love with Aiden, but now I don’t know.

Like, I thought Aiden was my true love.

“Are you okay?” Aiden asked over the phone.

“I’m fine,” I said while walking to school.

“Are you sure? Because you’ve been saying that a lot lately.”

I laughed a little. “I’m fine.”

But even I could tell I wasn’t.

I hung up once I spotted Damian by the lockers. He was leaning against my locker like he usually did, scrolling on his phone like he was on TikTok.

He always came to my locker like he didn’t have one of his own.

He looked up when he saw me.

“You’re always late,” he said.

“I’m not always late,” I replied quickly.

“You’re just always early.”

“I’m not always early.”

“Yes, you are,” I said.

“You sure about that?” he asked with a smirk.

After that, we walked down the hall together to the cafeteria to get breakfast.

A few seconds later, Damian spoke again.

“Is your boyfriend calling you again?”

I looked at him. “Yeah?”

“Dang, he’s always checking up on you every minute.”

“Yeah, he’s always been like that for some reason.”

“Don’t you get annoyed by that sometimes?” Damian asked.

“Sometimes I do,” I admitted.

“One day, you should probably talk to him about it.”

“Yeah, maybe one day I will,” I said.

A few minutes later, we got to the cafeteria.

“Oh shoot, I forgot my wallet again.”

“It’s okay. I can pay for it,” Damian said.

“Are you sure? Because last time you paid too, and I don’t want you to keep paying for me every time I forget my wallet.”

“It’s fine. That’s what friends do, and I don’t mind paying for your food.”

“Wait, aren’t you forgetting something?” Damian asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “I don’t think I am.”

“Your orange juice. You always get orange juice.”

“Oh right, I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me, but now I don’t even know if I want orange juice.”

“The only reason I remembered is because you get it every morning,” Damian said.

“Oh. Well, thanks, Damian.”

“No problem. What are friends for?” he said.

While we were eating breakfast, my phone started ringing.

I looked at the screen and realized Aiden was calling me again.

“You should probably answer that,” Damian said.

I hesitated.

But if I didn’t answer, he was going to keep blowing up my phone.

So I picked up.

“Hey,” Aiden said. “It took you a while to answer.”

“Sorry. I’m eating breakfast right now.”

I paused for a second.

Then Aiden asked, “With who?”

I froze.

I looked over at Damian.

He was still eating like nothing was happening.

“I’m eating with a friend,” I said.

There was a pause.

“A friend?” Aiden repeated, slower this time.

I glanced at Damian again, but he didn’t react.

“Yeah,” I said quickly, trying to sound normal.

Aiden stayed quiet for a second longer than usual.

“Well, alright then.”

But the way he said it made it sound like he didn’t believe me.

My stomach tightened.

“Aiden—” I started, trying to sound normal.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

That made me freeze.

I looked down at the floor for a second before glancing back at Damian, who was now drinking his coffee.

“Yes, I’m sure. Why would I lie? There’s no reason for me to lie,” I said.

Aiden sounded irritated. I heard him take a small breath on the phone.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like you’re alone.”

My heart started racing.

“I’m with a friend, like I said. That’s it.”

Another pause.

“Well, send me a picture then.”

My heart dropped.

“Why?” I asked.

“Send me a picture to prove it,” Aiden said.

My heart was beating so fast I didn’t know what to do.

Damian was now on his phone since he had already finished eating.

“W-why do I need to do that?” I asked with a nervous laugh.

Aiden sounded annoyed and didn’t laugh back.

“Because something feels off with you, and I don’t like it.”

Silence filled the line.

And I didn’t know what to say.

This had never happened before.

And now, I had no idea what to do next.