“So I’m sure you guessed that this is about Hanna,” he told Maggie. Aiden flopped on his bed, holding the phone to his ear.
“So much drama. Did you really steal her from Conner? I didn’t think you were the type.”
“It’s not like that.” Should he tell her? Would Hanna be upset if other people knew? Then again, if the whole school knew Conner beat girls, maybe others would stay away from him. “Conner hit her. Probably lots of times.”
“Oh.” Maggie was quiet for a moment. “I heard a few things. People suspected, but no one knew for sure. So you got her away from him?”
“Yeah. We were just friends. I didn’t steal her. Except… now I do like her and I’m not sure what to do about it.” Aiden ran a hand through his hair.
“Are you worried Conner will come after you? Because he’s doing that already.”
“He’ll come after me worse if we’re actually dating. But that’s not what I’m worried about. Well, not all of it.” He sat up, shifting the phone to the other ear. “She’s a werewolf. I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but she’s a monster. A literal monster. Hanna is sweet, and part of me doesn’t care what she is, but I can’t forget she turns into a wolf once a month, and it’s all just so weird.” He flopped back down and his stomach twisted. He shouldn’t have said that.
He heard Maggie take a breath and he tensed. “You’re new here. I’d probably think it was weird too. But don’t forget that to a lot of regular humans, you’re a monster too. You’re not human, Aiden. You’re fae.”
Even with everything that had happened, he did a really good job of ignoring that. “You’re more human than I am,” he said, almost to himself.
“If you want to think of it that way.” She sighed. “Look, you’re friends with Dylan. Most of the other kids won’t go near him. Monsters, like you said. He’s seriously dangerous. And yet you think it’s weird to like a girl you keep calling sweet.”
I just want my old life back. It was so much easier before magic, before moving to Shadow Valley and going to a school full of monsters. “Would you date a werewolf?”
“If he was a nice guy, sure. Although they tend to be possessive, and I don’t like that. I’m a feminist.”
Aiden rolled onto his stomach. “So you think I should ask Hanna out?” The thought made his insides flutter, part fear and part excitement.
“I think if you want to, you shouldn’t find excuses not to.”
He laughed a little. “You’re not just smart about school stuff, you’re smart about people too.”
He heard the smile in her voice. “Thanks.”
A new problem rose up. “Uh, Maggie? How do I ask a girl out?”
“Ohhhh… You haven’t done that before?”
“Uh-uh.”
“That would explain why you’re nervous and keep looking for excuses. Did you ask Dylan? Because if I were you, I’d ignore anything he told you. When he dumped Indira last year it was a mess.”
He remembered Dylan’s eyes glowing as he yelled at the pretty girl, the heavy feeling in the air. That was the first time Aiden had been afraid of him. “I did ask him. He said he was a bad person to ask for advice, so you agree on that.”
She made a little sound, and he couldn’t tell if it was approval or disapproval. “Okay, so my advice is stupidly simple. Just ask her if she wants to go out with you.”
“How? Like, over the phone?”
The sigh was definitely disapproval. “No. In person, silly. You see her every day.”
“I’m not asking her at lunch. No way.” And have a repeat of what happened before?
“Then between classes. Before school. After school. Just pull her aside for a moment and ask.”
The nervousness swirling inside him compounded when another thought occurred to him. “Oh God. What if she says no?”
“I kind of doubt it. You’re her knight in shining armor.”
No, that’s Dylan. He was the one who stood up to Conner every time.
“But if she does,” Maggie said. “Then you tell her it’s okay, you can still be friends and you won’t let it hurt your friendship.”
“Okay.” That sounded good. He didn’t want her to think he’d ditch her if she said no.
“But from what you’ve told me, she’ll probably say yes.” She giggled. “It’s so exciting. Your first girlfriend.”
Aiden rolled his eyes. Now he just had to find the courage to ask her.
* * *
Dylan called not long after Aiden finished talking to Maggie.
“Hey.” Dylan’s voice was full of restrained anger. “I’m grounded for the weekend. I told my parents I didn’t do anything, but they wouldn’t listen. So we can’t hang out.”
Aiden’s shoulders sagged with relief. Then he immediately felt guilty. He shouldn’t be happy about not spending time with his best friend. “That sucks.”
“Yeah.” A growl. “They only let me call to tell you and ask about homework.”
“Oh, bio. Right.” Aiden dug out his notebook. “Easy stuff this time. Just read chapter four and take notes. There’s a quiz on Monday.”
The sound Dylan made had Aiden biting his lip to hold back a laugh. “Great.”
“Don’t worry, it probably won’t be hard.” Aiden felt much better about school than he had at the beginning of the year. It was nice to start off the semester with everyone else and not be behind. He was even doing well in Minor Magical Control. Simple, controlled spells. Not the heart-pounding chaos of Major Magical Control. How was he going to deal with that? Could he manage enough to come out with a C or a D? Aiden had never gotten a grade that low before.
You’re terrified of being hurt and you’re worrying about grades?
“School was a lot easier when I didn’t care,” Dylan said.
There was a punch of guilt. Dylan was trying to graduate for Aiden’s sake. “I’m glad you do, and I’ll help you any way I can.”
“I wish I was smart like you.”
“Dylan, you are smart. You don’t know things because you weren’t paying attention. You’ll learn. We can go over your bio notes on Monday at lunch.”
“And I can help you with gym. Man, what is with you lately? Ever since we got back to school, you’ve been a mess in that class.”
A chill went through him. Did he know? Had he guessed? Aiden couldn’t pretend nothing was wrong, and it had obviously started after the incident in the woods. Dylan would put two and two together. “Can’t focus, I guess.”
“Yeah.” Dylan didn’t sound convinced at all. “We need to start training at the pit again.”
“Sure.”
The scar on his chest felt tingly and warm.