"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, staring at him in disbelief.

He started eating my fries. I didn't protest for once, because I was too shocked.

"Nothing much.Hey man," he said to Trent,who looked equally surprised to see Aaron at school,if not more.

"What are you doing here?"I asked again.

"Oh you'll find out soon," he winked, grabbed a handful of fries from my plate and got up to leave.

"What on Earth...?" I trailed off,looking at Trent.

He shrugged."You know him better. You're he one who has a crush on himafter all," Trent smirked as he said the last part.

"What?!"

Trent rolled his eyes."It's the most obvious thing in the world."

"But I don't-" I began but Trent cut me off."Don't even bother denying it."

Still shocked,I went back to eating my food.I could think about it later,I was still starving.

When I looked up again, I spotted Kayla walking towards us.

I suddenly choked and started coughing like crazy.Hell, I was sure I'd scared Kayla off. Yeah, it was that bad.

"Are you okay?" Trent asked, looking worried as he handed me a glass of water.

I managed to drink a few gulps of water till I was fine.

When I looked up again, Kayla was nowhere in sight. Ha, I knew I'd scared her off by my coughing fit.

A minute later however, I found her sitting a few tables across me.

What made my body go stiff was seeing Aaron sitting next to her.

Why in the world was he talking to her?

I glanced sideways to see Trent staring at the same table.

From what I could see, they seemed to be having a good time chatting and for some reason I got annoyed.

Suddenly, Kayla's face became red with fury and the smirk on Aaron's face made it evident that he'd purposely said something to piss her off . I was seriously getting confused now.

One look at Kayla and I knew she was going to burst out now and create a scene.

"I'll be right back," I muttered quickly to Trent as I rushed over to Aaron, pulling him l into the first empty classroom I came across.

"What the hell were you doing?" I hissed at him once we were out of the cafeteria.

"What?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Why were you talking to her?" I asked, annoyance lacing my voice.

"Why do you care?" he narrowed his eyes at me.

I opened my mouth to speak but closed it.Why did I care?

Because you like him, dumbass.

Right.

"Because...because you're my friend and I think you're better off not talking to...someone like her," I said lamely.

The truth is I didn't even know. Was I getting jealous?

" You sure?" he smirked, leaning slightly closer to me.

My breath hitched. Did he know?

" O-of course!"

His smirk grew."Why are you getting nervous?" he took another step closer to me.

Okay, Ashley calm the hell down . Don't let him think he makes you nervous.

"Who said anything about getting nervous?" i tried to say as confidently as I could.

" You aren't?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Nope!" I said a bit too enthusiastically.So if he hadn't been sure if I was lying before, this ought to have confirmed it.

" Right and I'm Taylor Swift," he rolled his eyes.

I looked at him for a second before bursting into laughter.

"Taylor Swift?Really?" I laughed.

He scowled back at me."Whatever, I gotta go," he muttered, turning around so he was facing the door.

"Wait!"

"What?" he asked without turning around.

"You never told me why you came here in the first place."

He slowly turned around to face me, smirking. "And I told you that you'll find out soon."

With that he was out of the classroom, leaving me and my curiosity alone.

He was the most annoying, frustratingly gorgeous person I had ever met

I left the classroom and went back to the lunchroom. I hadn't even finished my lunch because of that idiot.

As soon as I opened the door to the cafeteria, the bell rang. Sighing,I looked for Trent but I couldn't find him anywhere so I quickly went to get my books from my locker.

But that was a bad decision too,because standing right beside my locker was Kayla.Her locker was right next to mine.

After trying to avoid her the whole day,I finally had to come face to face with her.

Today was just not my day.I opened my locker,wanting to quickly get my books and get the hell away from Kayla.

"Ashley," she said as I was about to close my locker.

I mentally sighed.Do I ignore her or talk to her?

I decided to leave. I really did not want to talk to her today.

I turned the other way, so Kayla was behind me.

"I need to talk to you," she said and I stopped walking.

She wanted to talk? Funny.

"Is there even anything left to talk about, Kayla?" I snapped at her, immediately getting angry as everything came back to me.The anger, the pain, seeing Trent break..Everything.

"Look, I know I screwed up but-"

"Why did you do it?" I whispered.

Her eyes widened just a fraction and she opened her mouth to speak but I spoke before she could.

"You ruined our friendship, Kayla and that's not even the worst part. Do you have any idea how much you hurt us?Especially Trent. Do you have any idea how much he cared about you? Just one tiny misunderstanding and you went ahead and destroyed everything," I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

Her eyes widened with shock." Ashley I'm sorry but-"

"Ashy?" someone said, interrupting her.

I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes as I saw Aaron.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, putting an arm around my shoulders, the warmth immediately making me feel better.

His gentle expression suddenly turned angry as he looked at Kayla.

"I thought I told you to stay away from her," he said through clenched teeth.

That's when it snapped.That's what he'd been talking to her about earlier in the lunchroom.

I melted, thinking of how sweet it was of him to do something like that for me. If I hadn't been in this state of mind, I would have definitely started grinning like an idiot.

"What did you do to her?" he hissed.

" Aaron please-" I tried to calm him down.

I had already told her what I wanted to.

He shook his head at me before turning to Kayla again."Stay away from her, alright?" he warned her.

I have to admit, he looked intimidating.

Kayla looked like she was going to burst out into tears. I didn't blame her,I would've felt the same if someone looked at me with that amount of anger.

She nodded silently and cast me one last look before she left.

" Ashley..."

" Hmm?"

"Are you okay?" he asked gently.

I nodded quietly.

"Come with me."

"No,I need to get to class," I said quickly and turned away before he put his hand on my shoulder and spun me around.

"No, you're not . You're coming with me."

"Aaron, I really need to get going."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of nose. "Fine, but meet me as soon as it'sover, yeah?"

Why was he being so caring?

I nodded. And then the weirdest thing happened. Aaron hugged me.

I stood paralyzed for a moment before I hugged him back.

We were hugging.

Again.

Things were most certainly changing between us.

"See you," he said softly as he pulled away.

"Yeah," I said and moved aside."Oh and Aaron?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you,"I said, trying to smile.

His face lit up with a beautiful smile."Anything for you, Ashy," he said,flicking my nose,the smile still on his face.

This time I really smiled as my heart fluttered.

He was the sweetest guy in the world when he wasn't being an idiot.

***

True to my word, I started looking for Aaron as soon as I got out of class.

I couldn't find him anywhere though.I had looked nearly everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found.

I finally went outside the school building to find him smoking.

"You smoke?" I asked,as soon as I got near him, surprised.

He put it out when he saw me. "Sometimes. Suits my bad boy persona,doesn't it?"

I burst out laughing. "Bad boy persona? Really?"

He gave me a look. " I'll have you know I'm the reputed "bad boy" at my school."

"Oh, Aaron, who are you even kidding?"

He sighed. " It was worth a shot."

I shook my head, chuckling.

"Anyways, are you,uh,fine now?" he asked.

I nodded with a smile."Yeah,thank you so much for...what you did back there."

He smirked."Nervous again, are we?" he asked stepping closer to me.I took a step back.

"No," I said, although it came out more like a question.

"No?" he asked taking another step closer to me so that we were only, three inches apart.

"No."

"Yes?"

"Y-yes," I said stupidly, not even knowing what I was saying.

"Yes!" he exclaimed with a smug look.

I opened my mouth in shock as I realized what I'd just said."I hate you," I growled at him.

"No, you don't," he grinned cheekily as he stepped back.

Well, that was true.

"I take it you two know each other?" someone said.

We both turned at the same time to see Mr.Meyers walking towards us.

"Um,we're friends, Mr. Meyers," I provided.

"Then you are very lucky because your friend here,is going to join our school," Mr.Meyers smiled.

My mouth formed an O shape."What? Why?" I asked, shocked, looking between Aaron and Mr.Meyers.

Aaron started laughing and I shot him a shut-the-fuck-up look.

"Well,he's one of the exchange students," Mr.Meyers explained.

Oh. That made sense.

"Anyways, I would like to have a word with you after school, Ashley," he said and walked off leaving me and Aaron alone.

"What the heck?Was he serious?" I asked Aaron in disbelief.

"Yep," he smirked .

I fought back a grin.Things were certainly going to be interesting with him around.

"That really sucks," I feigned disappointment.

In reality,I was beyond delighted. This crush was growing with each passing day.

"Stop lying to yourself, Ashy,"

I laughed."Yeah, keep dreaming," I stuck my tongue out at him.

"So, do you have a class now?"

"Actually I don't."

" Wanna get out of here?"

"With you?"

"With me."

"Yes."

"Really?"

I shrugged.

He started smirking, like he knew something that I didn't but didn't say anything.

"Let's get something to eat and then you can come back, talk to Mr. Meyers and then we'll go home together."

What was going on today? First, he shows up at my school, tells Kayla to stay away from me, then he waits for me while I'm in class, offers to take me out for lunch, drop me back and then wait while I talk to Mr. Meyers so we can go back home together?

I must really be dreaming.

He was being way too sweet and I couldn't stop thinking about how nice he was being and how good he looked and how soft his lips looked and how badly I wanted to kiss him.

I tried to shake away my thoughts, exhaled and tried to act normal.

"Sounds good," I replied."But we are not having pizza, okay?"

He pouted, looking adorable and I had to give in. We went to an Italian restaurant Aaron had in mind.

"What will you have?" Aaron asked as the aroma of food greeted us.

I inhaled deeply. That smell was addictive.

"Oh and I know you didn't eat because of me so it's on me."

I was stunned. He was really being too fucking sweet.

"I'll have pasta."

"Pizza too."

" I said pasta."

"You have to try the pizza, Ashley. Trust me, you'll love it."

"Why did you ask in the first place?" I grunted.

"I never said you can't have the pasta, just that you have to try the pizza too."

He was impossible. We finally ordered and sat in silence for sometime as we waited.

"So, Aaron..."

"Yeah?"

"Why did you tell Kayla to stay away from me?"

"I know she makes you upset and uncomfortable," he shrugged, looking out the window.

I stared at him. What was he thinking?

"Aaron?"

"Yeah?"

I didn't know what to say so I grabbed his hand from across the table and squeezed it gently. "It meant a lot to me."

He seemed surprised at my gesture at first, but then he smiled, looking at me.

"Like I said, anything for you Ashy."

He properly took my hand in his and I let him hold it, even though it made my heart go crazy.

***

An hour later, I was completely and absolutely stuffed. It seemed like even if one more drop of water went down my throat, I'd throw up.

Aaron freaking Woods got three large pizzas, each with extra cheese and different toppings and pasta and salad.

I had one pizza, the salad and a little bit of the pasta and I was super stuffed.

Aaron had two pizzas,and the rest of the pasta and he was still looking forward to dessert.

Joey Tribbiani anyone?

After he paid the bill we went back to school.

I talked to Mr.Meyers while Aaron waited for me. It didn't take me long, merely fifteen minutes to get out of there.

Mr.Meyers had wanted to talk to me and the band members about the concert,praising us, and saying he knew I had the potential with that oh so annoying "I told you so" look on his face the entire time. Nevertheless, I was very happy. Mr. Meyers even called in Aaron specially after he was done talking to us to thank him for stepping in at the concert.

I started heading towards the parking lot when someone called my name."Ashley, wait up!" I turned around to see Tyler running towards me.

"Oh, hey, Tyler," I said, wondering what he'd wanted to talk to me about.

"What's up?" he asked, reminding me of the conversation we'd had earlier.

"Just heading home,you?" I said, glancing towards the parking lot, realising Aaron would be looking for me and regretting not staying behind and waiting for him.

"Me too. Listen, I need to talk-" he was interrupted by a guy, younger than us, who told him that the coach wanted to see him immediately.

"Yeah I'll be right the-" he started.

"No he wants to see you right now, hurry up!"

I looked at Tyler to see him shooting the guy a very scary look and he finally backed off telling him to hurry up once again before jogging away.

He let out an annoyed sigh."I guess I'll see you later. Bye Ashley," he said and after giving me a smile, went away.

"Ashley?" a familiar voice called and I snapped my head towards him.

"Hey, I was just coming back for you."

"Who were you talking to?" he asked with a small frown as he neared me.

"Uh,that was one of Trent's friends. "

"Okay," he said shortly. "Let's go."

We both got into the car and drove home.Aaron didn't say anything,he was unusually quiet and seemed to have something on his mind which was bothering him.

"Aaron, are you okay?" I asked when he still hadn't spoken when we got home.

"Yeah."

What was up with him?

***