2
A few days later.
The overtime finally ended.
I went back to campus.
I saw Aiden right outside my dorm.
I wasn’t delusional enough to think he was
there to see me.
Sure enough, the next moment.
My roommate, Chelsea, came running out. As
she approached Aiden, she suddenly tripped and fell right into his arms.
The internal comments arrived as scheduled:
[He’s totally trying to make Sarah jealous.]
[He just sees her as a friend from home. There’s no romance.]
Before my eyes.
Aiden swept Chelsea up in a princess carry,
saying he’d take her to the infirmary.
Chelsea blushed, pouted, and said:
“I don’t need the infirmary. Weren’t we
supposed to go to Six Flags?”
<
“Aiden, you’re not backing out, are you?”
Aiden glanced at me, then said, “Of course
not.”
[He asked out the other girl, and now he regrets
- it. LOL! Too funny.]
[He wants Sarah to stop him. He’d dump.
Chelsea and become her puppy in a heartbeat!]
[Chelsea’s just a plot device!]
At the freshman orientation party.
Chelsea had been crushing on Aiden ever since
he performed his dance on stage.
Even after Aiden and I got together, she hadn’t
given up. She always spoke to Aiden in a
Southern accent.
L
She didn’t know I understood it perfectly.
Aiden had said, “I can’t even understand your
family. How could we ever have a future
together?”
That’s why I studied it for a long time.
My degree didn’t require me to stay in Chicago,
but I worked like crazy to stay because I wanted
a future with Aiden.
I had told him all that, but he seemed to have
forgotten.
A few hours later, I saw Chelsea’s Instagram
post.
Pictures from Six Flags.
Each one more intimate than the last.
Someone commented: [len’t Aidon dating
<
Someone commented: [Isn’t Aiden dating
Sarah?]
Chelsea replied: [She’s just a simp for him.
When has Aiden ever admitted that they were
together?]
[Ask Aiden!]
A few seconds later, Aiden replied with a
simple: [Yeah].
My breath almost stopped.
All my compromises, in his eyes, were just me being a simp.
Maybe he didn’t think that was enough.
That night, I got a message from Chelsea.
A video.
It was inside a hotel room.
Chelsea asked Aiden, “Have you ever taken
Sarah to Six Flags?”
Aiden, wearing a bathrobe, walked up to the
camera.
He scoffed: “Why would I talk about that basic
bitch, when I’m on a date with you?”
I had mentioned wanting Aiden to take me to
Six Flags.
But he said that was only for children and that
the tickets were ridiculously expensive.
But today, he showed me that he could make
an effort for others, just not for me.
As he spoke, Aiden glanced at the camera.
He knew what Chelsea was up to.
<
He suddenly smiled and wrapped his arm
around Chelsea’s waist.
The video cut off.
At the same time, I got a text from Aiden:
[Bring over that half–empty pack of Trojans I bought.]
