Dylan leaned against a locker, a smirk on his face. “Time to pay up.”
“What?”
“The bet. You didn’t think I’d forgotten it, did you?”
Aiden had hoped. He really, really had. Running through the hall in his underwear. Oh God.
“Now?” His cheeks heated and his stomach fluttered enough to make him feel ill.
“You’re not going to back out, are you?” Dylan leaned closer.
Aiden closed his eyes and took a ragged breath. Pictured the looks on people’s faces as he ran by in almost nothing. “I’ll… I’ll do it.” He had no doubt Dylan would have done it if he’d lost. Of course, running down the hall in his underwear probably wouldn’t have bothered Dylan. No one would dare laugh at him; that was for sure.
Dylan took the book from his hands. “I’ll watch your stuff.” The wicked grin on his face didn’t make Aiden feel any better. He left his book and notebooks with Dylan and started walking away.
“Just down the hall?”
“Start from the bathroom, go down the hall and around that way and back to the bathroom. So you can put your clothes on again.” Dylan’s grin widened.
Would it really be that bad to refuse? What could Dylan do to him? His friend wouldn’t hurt him, but Aiden wondered if Dylan might come up with something worse. A prank even more embarrassing than this. Besides, Aiden had agreed to this. He couldn’t go back on his word.
His heart beat faster and faster as he got closer to the bathroom. Slipping inside, he went straight for a stall and closed the latch with a shaking hand. What if someone came in here and took his clothes while he was running?
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered, pulling his shirt over his head. He hung it on the coat hook and bent to untie his shoes.
“Hurry up.”
Aiden flinched at the sound of Dylan’s voice. He’d been so focused on what he was doing that he hadn’t noticed his friend on the other side of the door. “I am.”
In another minute he stood in only his underwear. At least they were clean.
“Give me your clothes. I’ll watch those too.”
Aiden wondered if Dylan was going to hide them. Would he be that mean? With a deep breath, Aiden opened the door and handed Dylan his clothes.
Dylan smirked. “The faster you run, the sooner this is over.”
Aiden tried to stop it, but the heat crept up his cheeks. Standing in his underwear and blushing in front of a hot guy. God, could this get any worse? With a deep breath, he sprinted for the door. As soon as he left the bathroom, kids turned to stare and make exclamations. He tried not to look at them and focused on where he was going.
A group of girls pointed and giggled. He dodged around them, wondering if he should jump off a cliff so he wouldn’t have to face any of these people again. It felt like an eternity, but he knew it didn’t take him very long to reach the end of the hall and turn. He ran right past Toby, who dropped his jaw and stared.
Maybe Aiden could drown himself in the toilet when he got back to the bathroom.
Another turn just as the warning bell rang. Great. On top of all this, he was going to be late to class. And everyone would know why. At least the crowd was thinning, so it was easier to run through. Laughter, shouts, and catcalls followed him. He was getting tired, but there was no way he was slowing down.
One last turn and the bathroom was just ahead.
Dylan stood by the door, barely able to hold Aiden’s clothes and books as he doubled over with laughter. “Oh God, I can’t believe you did it.”
Strangle Dylan first, then drown himself in the toilet.
Aiden didn’t stop, just shoved open the bathroom door and ran in. He didn’t even want to know how dirty his feet were getting. Ew, ew, ew. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Dylan follow him into the bathroom, still cracking up.
Aiden stopped in front of the stall. “Gimme.”
Dylan hesitated and Aiden held his breath. Would he play keep-away? Run out and make Aiden chase him through the school? But Dylan handed his clothes over, and Aiden realized he’d probably just been trying to adjust things so he wouldn’t drop the books.
While Aiden got dressed as fast as he could, Dylan’s laughter echoed off the walls. The final bell rang.
Great.
* * *
Aiden’s phone buzzed, and he opened it to see a text from Hanna.
Alice, did you see that guy in his underwear? What was that about?
He groaned and dropped his head on the desk. Oh God, Hanna had seen that. He wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.
All through class, people had been snickering and whispering. Besides the embarrassment, he’d been terrified that he’d get called down to the principal’s office. And now this.
The class was empty by the time he looked up. He stared at the text for another moment before replying. I heard he lost a bet with Dylan. Crazy, right?
Her response came back in seconds. Y would he bet? What was teh bet?
He started typing before wondering how “Alice” would know. Hanna was afraid Conner would get hold of her phone and read her texts, so things had to look as realistic as possible. Aiden sent, Something stupid, I’m sure. Shoving the phone in his pocket, he hurried for his next class. He didn’t want to be late for another one.
* * *
As soon as Aiden got on the bus, Toby and Tina waved at him. Aiden winced, picturing the look on Toby’s face as he ran by in the hall.
“What the heck was that?” Toby asked.
“In your underwear?” Tina asked.
His cheeks heated as he sat next to Toby. “I lost a bet with Dylan.”
“What bet?” Toby leaned closer.
“We had a bet a while back, when I first got to school. If he guessed what I was before I guessed what he was, then I had to run down the hall in my underwear.” All those people laughing, pointing. And Hanna. He hadn’t even noticed her, but she’d been there. Or maybe she’d only heard about it from someone? That was something to hope for, at least.
“Wow, I can’t believe you did it.” Tina laughed. “And I can’t believe you made a bet with him.”
“I can’t believe you’re friends with him,” Toby said, fiddling with his hat. “You’re either braver or dumber than anyone else in school.”
Tina smacked his shoulder. “That’s not nice.”
“Ow! But it’s true. I mean, friends with a dragonkin?”
“That’s the problem, you know,” Aiden said, his anger rising. Part of him was glad to be distracted from his embarrassment. “You all treated him like he was dangerous and different, so he started acting like it. This town is full of monsters, and you still had to find someone to pick on.”
Toby leaned back. “I’m sorry, okay.”
They were quiet as the bus started up.
“He was laughing when you were running down the hall. Dylan, I mean,” Tina said. “I’ve never seen him laugh like that.”
“I don’t think I’ve even seen him smile before,” Toby said.
How sad. Dylan had led a sullen, lonely school life, and Aiden suspected his home life hadn’t been much better. His parents seemed really nice though. Had it all been an act because Aiden was around, or were they like that all the time? Aiden had never gotten any indication from Dylan that they were mean to him.
Why did Dylan have to carry around so much anger? People treated him like he was dangerous, but that didn’t mean he had to let it affect his home life. Then Aiden thought about the locker-room incident. Even when he wasn’t at school, the way the kids looked at him and his fear of himself had stayed with him no matter where he was. Even now it felt like he was still carrying it with him.
“I guess there’s a silver lining to me being the laughingstock of the whole school, then. At least I made him laugh and smile.” Aiden still wanted to strangle him though.
“You have a nice butt,” Tina said.
Toby made a face. “Ew.”
Aiden blushed again. “Umm… thank you?”
Toby chuckled and punched him playfully. “Don’t be too embarrassed. At least you weren’t naked. And you made Dylan laugh, which is like… I don’t know, something really rare.”
How surprised would they be if they knew he’d had dinner at Dylan’s house? And that Dylan had been to his?