A normal second day of school was apparently too much to ask for. As soon as I set foot into the cafeteria this morning, I was approached by an insightful Jared who wanted to speak to me about his football skills. After informing him that I didn't care about football, Aaron took a seat beside me.

"Hey." He said, "you know that place you dropped me off at last night..."

"No I don't recall." I answered, unbothered. I didn't want people glancing our way, but there was no way to make them turn away. I couldn't understand why all of the sudden he decided to target me. Why was I suddenly bombarded by his usually wanted attention? Was it because Amy was gone? I glared at him as his eyes instantly softened. His knee casually bumped mine under the table and I pretended not to notice.

"Well did you hear about what happened to Joseph this summer?" He asked in an attempt to continue the conversation.

"No." I muttered. "I hardly knew him anyway."

"The boy was mauled by a bear." Aaron said, he had a weird sparkle in his eye. I couldn't tell if I was supposed to believe him.

"What?? Really?" I hadn't heard news of this, but it must've bypassed the media somehow. I was shocked.

"No, but I..." I felt my heart sink. I was genuinely afraid for Joseph to have it feel uncomfortable.

He just joked about someone dying... that's repulsive. "Look Aaron, I think you should brush your teeth because your voice is making my ears numb. I don't know what you want from me, but Stacy's here. I've got to go." I quickly excused myself and walked away.

I was annoyed by the fact that he was here and that the attention of the cafeteria was on us. If he had some sort of interest in me or liked me in any way, he definitely went about it the wrong way.

"Hey V." Stacy said, but her eyes were focused on the table I was just at, Aaron included.

"He's so obnoxious!" I couldn't seem to hide my frustration.

"Maybe, but I'd like a slice of that pie if you catch my drift." She had a look of mischief written all over her face, all I could return it with was an eye roll and a laugh. Of course she'd say that, I could never tell if she was joking or if she was secretly obsessed with him. Perhaps she had a shrine to Aaron at her home, I wouldn't know, I'd never been.

"Take it!" I muttered, arms flailing in frustration. He had not only annoyed the life out of me, but he had no reason to. I didn't like being a target in his sights.

"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Stacy joked, she didn't get it. All she saw was a handsome boy pursuing her friend in unknown manners with unknown intentions.

"I did not! Stacy!" I complained, but it fell on deaf ears as she crossed her arms and stared at me.

"Get over yourself Vy. Aaron isn't the kind of guys to go after us and you know that Violet." She turned away from me as the bell rang and walked to her first class.

***

"Pop quiz!" Mr. Smith announced rather loudly as we entered his class. It was the second day of school?? What could he possibly quiz us on.

After the panic spread throughout the class, he held his hands against his large stomach and began crouching over in laughter.

"Got you all." He laughed, "you should've seen your faces, in fact, here." He quickly took a picture of us and made it his phone wallpaper. I glanced over at the wall, annoyed and bored. I felt weird today, definitely not in the mood to talk. I felt hostile and ready to attack.

I raised my hand.

"Yes?" Mr. Smith asked, attempting to open the PowerPoint slides he had for the day. The second bell hadn't even rung yet and I was already tired of being in the class.

"Can I go to the bathroom.?"

"Couldn't you have gone before class?"

"Technically sir, class hasn't even..." before I could complete my sentence, he cut me off and waved me away.

Yes! I mentally high-fived myself and walked out. I felt like I was sinking and in desperate need of air, drowning and in need of a breath. I couldn't understand this strange feeling until moments away from the bathroom when Aaron spotted me.

"Violet, you okay?" He asked, "you look kind of..." it was like he was trying to figure out the right words to say before I nodded at him. "Pale."

"I'm fine." I muttered, pushing the bathroom door open as the need to puke took over me.

"Are you sure?" He stood outside and I could hear his voice through the door.

"Go to class Aaron." I stared at my reflection, he was right about my being pale. After a few moments of silence and when I was sure he had gone, I puked in the toilet and wiped my face. I looked sickly and I didn't like it.

I stumbled out to an empty hallway, but I couldn't help feeling guilty. I should've been relieved, but now I wanted him here. I was just being a girl in desperate need of attention, nothing big. I grimaced at my thoughts before stumbling back to class.

Was I really in the mood to sit for an hour while feeling like this? The answer was no and I wasn't about to push my limits or embarrass myself. I couldn't understand what was wrong with me or why I began feeling so sick all of the sudden.

I decided to ditch. Holy crap I've gone rogue.

I stumbled my way out the front entrance of the school, my vision growing blurry.

"Violet." Aaron's hand was on my waist and the motion sickness had disappeared. I stood up straight, staring at him with the utmost confusion.

"Why are you here?" I asked, staring at the empty parking lot.

"I have no idea, it felt weird... like I was being compelled to just wait here." He muttered and I couldn't hide my shock either.

"I'd better get back to class, I'm feeling much better now." I said, honestly.

"V, come with me." He said.

"It's Violet and I need to get those A's so I'm going back..." I forced a laugh, before turning away from his grasp and heading toward the door. The drowsiness was back.

"Why get A's when you can have one A. Me, Aaron." He chuckled as he reached for my hand and on instinct I slapped his face. I instantly felt bad about it as I saw the mark beginning to form.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" I gasped, not knowing what had taken over me. He didn't seem to care too much that I'd just slapped him, instead he leaned in when we heard the front entrance door shut.

"Did you hear that?" He asked as I nodded. In that moment I felt something... something strange as his gorgeous gray eyes flickered to me.

We headed toward the hallway when I spotted a pink puffball hide behind a car. It kind of looked like the design Stacy had worn this morning in her dress, but Stacy was in class.

Aaron was a very touchy-feely kind of guy, his hand wrapped around my shoulder as we reached the car where the puffball hid. He hovered over me, placing his face in the crook of my neck as we both stared at Stacy.

"Hey Stacy, what're you doing out here?" I asked, slithering out of Aaron's comfortable grasp.

Her shock immediately disappeared as she stood up and fixed her dress.

"I can ask you the same thing." She glared at me, "So now what, you're Aaron's new plaything?" I could tell she was mad, but seriously this wasn't the time or place for this conversation. Before I could respond, Aaron stepped out from behind me and reached for her hands. She glared at me to the point where I felt uncomfortable.

"Hi Stacy." He said, she was in absolute shock, "Go back to class, we can talk later." His eyes bored into hers and I was confused by what he was doing. She leaned forward, kissed him, smirked at me.

Then she nodded and turned on her heels. My eyes widened in shock.

"What the hell Aaron!? What did you just do?? How?!" He turned to look at me with the same look of shock on his face as I held. My heart rate was accelerating as his look of worry held us both.

"Let's get out of here." He whispered as I followed behind him this time, I couldn't comprehend what was going on, but there was something pulling me toward Aaron and I wasn't sure how long I could fight it.

https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Read-Minds-ebook/dp/B08RYV11F2/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=veronica+Soliman&qid=1609863783&sr=8-3

(Link will be available in the coming weeks)

(Link will be available in the coming weeks)