Page 42 of Northern Stars

“Hailee.” He glanced down the street again. “I really want to spend today with you and go to the movies and to lunch with you. And cross off theFerris Bueller’s Day Offbucket list item with you. And look at you. And date-date you. But if we do this, we have to go now.”

“Now?”

He looked down the road and then back to me. He took my hands into his and moved in closer. We were holding hands as a more-type holding hands, or maybe it was a friends-type holding hands. Who knew anymore? Not me, not I, not Hailee Jones.

“Now,” he echoed.

I said the only thing I could think to say. “Okay.”

With that confirmation, Aiden yanked me toward his backyard, where we hid out until after our school bus left without us. His parents were already out of the house for the day. His dad had gone into Chicago to network with others in Aiden’s industry until later that night.

Aiden grabbed the keys to the spare car in their driveway, opened the door for me, and we were off to watch a movie at eight in the morning.

“When we get there, you can have anything you want. I’ve got you covered,” Aiden said.

“I can pay for my stuff.”

“That would be a friend-date. This is a more-date, remember?”

“This isn’t the 1920s. A woman can pay for her own date.”

“Do you want to pay for your own date?”

“Of course not. Why would you even ask that? I’m old-fashioned in certain ways, Aiden.”

He laughed. “You’re the most confusing person I’ve ever met.”

“You already knew that and still decided you wanted a more-date with me. Who’s the real confusing person here?”

“Fair enough.”

I got comfy in the car, leaning my seat back as Aiden said, “Will you split a dog with me and share the popcorn?”

“I’m not that hungry.”

“Liar. I hear your stomach growling. Please don’t tell me you don’t like hot dogs and popcorn anymore. I can’t take much more heartbreak.”

I snickered. “I do like hot dogs and popcorn, but you do know what a hot dog is made of, right?”

“As a guy who eats the school chicken patties, I can assure you that I am not too worried about what’s in a hot dog.”

I glanced over at him to find him with that stupid smirk that I loved. “I’ll split a popcorn and dog with you.” We arrived at the theater, and I realized an important detail that was missing. “What movie are we seeing anyway?”

“I don’t know. Whatever’s playing at eight in the morning.”

“You lead, and I’ll follow,” I said, allowing him to pull me along. “Oh, by the way, in the past thirty seconds, I came to a realization.”

“And what’s that?”

“I want my own hot dog. No splits.”

The movie waslong and boring, and Aiden and I were the only ones in the theater. That somehow made it even more fun. We talked through the whole thing and laughed the whole time. I didn’t know when it happened, when I became so comfortable being around him, talking, saying more than “yeah,” but I was glad that it did. Hanging out with Aiden that morning would be a core memory of mine. I didn’t know my heart could feel like that. I didn’t know I’d ever be able to unlock a new level of happiness.

Aiden didn’t finish his hot dog, but he didn’t look at me sideways when I finished it for him. He didn’t judge my appetite or mention me shoving handfuls of popcorn into my mouth. He just looked at me with those blue eyes that read nothing but kindness. When I looked into those eyes, it was as if they gave me permission to be myself wholly and completely.

He felt safe to me. I didn’t know a haven could be a person until that very morning.

We watched two more movies after that. The last one being the worst.

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