Page 40 of Never Have I Ever
He’s not completely wrong. Most of the time, I’d end the night with a dark-haired girl, tattoos, piercings. Girls who I knew wouldn’t turn this into more. The more fucked up, the better. We matched. We made sense. But nothing makes sense between Rosalie and me.
“That doesn’t matter. We’re not sleeping together.”
“Who said anything about sleep?” He smirked.
“Fuck off. You know what I meant.”
He laughs. “Then what’s the problem?”
I sighed. “She asked me for, um… help.”
Aiden snorted. “Is that code for sex? Because you just said—”
“No.” I wipe a hand down my face. “She asked me to show her how to live like I do.”
He nods. “So, she wants to run away from her problems by pretending to be a fuck up?”
“Fuck you. No one’s pretending,” I tell him.
“Oh really?” he asks. “Because you let those rumors about you fly by when you could shut it down if you wanted to. But you don’t want to. You want everyone to think you’re a poor boy whose mother is addicted to drugs.” He laughs humorlessly. “I’ve got to tell you, it’s not as cool as you think it is.”
“I don’t think it’s cool,” I tell him. “I just don’t give a fuck what they say about me.”
“It’s the fucking worst,” he continues. “Having to stand by and watch your mother rot away. Not having food for a week. Having to sleep on a dirty mattress. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”
Yes.I want to tell him.I’ve seen it before.But all I can do is stare back at him, seeing his eyes darken at me. “Fuck, bro.”
“Yeah.” He scoffs. “Fuck, bro.”
“Shit, Aiden.” All I can think of is Aiden living in those conditions. “That’s just what they assume,” I tell him. It’s not like I started those rumors.
“But you don’t say any different. You let them think it.”
“Because I don’t want anyone to know.”
“Know what? That you have two loving parents who are richer than most people here. What a fucked-up life you have.”
“Aiden. It’s not like that.”
He doesn’t hear me, though. He looks right past me. “If it was me, I’d be flashing my money around to get them to shut the fuck up.”
“I don’t have any money. I’m doing this for you,” I grit out.
He stiffens, meeting my eyes. “Fuck,” he mutters, wiping a hand down his face. “I know.” He sighs. “I just… I got carried away. I let my fucked-up life get the better of me and took it out on you.” He blows out a breath, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I tell him. “Don’t worry about it.” He has every right to be mad over the fact that what people are saying about me is his reality.
“It’s not,” he says, shaking his head and dropping his eyes.
“Aiden,” I say, making him look at me. “It’s fine.”
He nods, swallowing. “So, what’s the problem then? With the girl?” he asks me.
His eyes soften, making me remember why I don’t care about the rumors. I would do it all over again. “She asked me to show her how to live like a regular college kid,” I smirk, remembering her at my doorstep.
“What makes her not a regular college kid?”
“She’s rich,” I tell him, rolling my eyes when he snorts. “Yeah, I get it. We have that in common. You can drop it now.”
