happened between us last night. It felt like it was a dream.
I knew it had happened for real though, because I couldn’t have dreamed up a kiss like that. It was magical, like a perfect little pocket of time had been carved out just for us, and in that moment, everything had fallen into place.
It was strange to think I ever could have disliked him. That I could have so easily ignored his flirting and been so immune to his good looks. I certainly didn’t feel that way now. I was just like every other girl at school, and I had fallen for Aiden hard.
The thought made me sit up in bed, and a flutter of anxiety greeted me as I woke up a little more. This wasn’t just any guy I’d kissed. This was Aiden Moore. Every girl who had ever fallen for his charms had been convinced he liked them back just as much, and it always ended badly for them. Only the other week I’d seen Shelly’s heart get shattered on Aiden’s front driveway. Was I just another Shelly? Was I foolish to believe he wanted me too?
He wasn’t known as the biggest flirt in town for no reason. Aiden was a player; what if I was just his latest conquest?
I shook my head to displace the thought, but it had lodged itself firmly in my mind and didn’t want to budge. Aiden seemed to like me, but who knew how he’d feel today or tomorrow. He said he’d been chasing me for years, but things might change now he’d caught me and all the excitement was gone.
A pool of dread curdled in my stomach. Last night had been perfect, but what would happen next? The thought was enough to make me want to lock myself in my room all day. I wasn’t sure if I could face Aiden and be rejected. I couldn’t exactly hide in my room for the rest of the pandemic though.
No, I was going to have to face him. Odds were that last night was a one-time thing. He’d gotten me out of his system, and now he’d want to move on. I needed to accept that even though a small part of me withered inside at the thought.
At some point, Aiden had weaseled his way into my heart. It had happened gradually and without me realizing it. I wished he’d come with a warning label so I could have protected my heart more effectively.
My phone lit up with an incoming call from Zoey. As usual, it was way too early in the day for a video call. I was grateful for once though, because I was in desperate need of a distraction.
I answered on the first ring, and her makeup-covered face appeared on my screen. She sometimes liked to cosplay characters for her YouTube channel, and today, it looked like she was made up as Harley Quinn.
“Wow, Zo, you look amazing,” I said when I saw her.
“Thanks.” She smiled. “It took me forever.”
I checked the time and scrunched up my nose. “It’s not even 9:00 A.M. How have you done a full face of makeup already?”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Because unlike some people, I happen to be a morning person.”
“Which is why I have to wonder how we’re friends. It’s weird.”
“Hey, I never complained about your obsession with horror movies, which is way weirder.”
“Maybe to you.” I chuckled.
“Maybe to everyone,” she replied. “Anyway, I tried to call you last night, but you never called me back…”
My expression sobered a little as I realized I was going to have to tell Zoey the embarrassing truth about why. I mean, I shouldn’t have felt embarrassed about being with Aiden—no other girl at school would be. I was embarrassed about how I’d done a complete one-eighty on my feelings for him though. I’d acted like he was the devil, but now I could see what a great guy he was. Zoey was going to think I was a total hypocrite.
“Lissa?” Zoey prompted.
I opened my mouth to tell her but then completely chickened out. “It’s my birthday in two weeks.” I blurted out the first thing I could think of to distract her instead.
I hadn’t really thought about my birthday since lockdown began, so I wasn’t sure why it had come to mind. It was probably because my party was supposed to be this weekend. It was the only weekend my parents weren’t scheduled to work this month, so we’d planned to throw