June 18, 2024

Everyone began to pack up their things and leave as the last bell of the day rang. Kaleigh quickly picked up her laptop and books, gathering them in a messy pile before standing up to leave. A tap on her shoulder stopped her from progressing.

Turning around, she saw Aiden Barbier. He was friendly, but they didn't typically talk.

"Hey, Aiden. How's it going?" Kaleigh asked him, a little confused as to why he wished to talk to her.

"Hello, Kaleigh," he replied in an upbeat voice.

    "Yeah, hi."

"Anyway, I need you to take this," he declared, cutting her off while handing her a crisp white envelope with a dramatic flick of his wrist.

"Oh, uh, thanks? May I ask why?" Kaleigh asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"Oh, it contains top-secret information. Pretty sure the CIA is still looking for who stole it." Aiden's voice was still bright and it made Kaleigh feel slightly unnerved, "I'll likely talk to you later at the ceremony. Au revoir."

"Yeah, sure thing, the CIA's looking for this letter," Kaleigh was able to choke out before he left the room. She knew he heard her as he perked up just before exiting.

"That Aiden is certainly a character," she heard her teacher, Ms. Barnes say.

Turning around, Kaleigh saw she had been listening to their conversation the entire time.

A small smile spread across her face. "He certainly is." Pausing for a moment, "You don't think the CIA is looking for this letter, right? Just to clear all doubt."

Ms. Barnes was an older woman but an epic English teacher. She had a way of making her lessons so engaging and seemed to be knowledgeable. Kaleigh was almost certain that Aiden was bluffing about that part, but hearing the confirmation from Ms. Barnes would cease all her doubts.

With Aiden, you could never know.

"After having that boy in my class, and homeroom, for a year, I can almost guarantee you it's not some top-secret letter being searched for by the CIA. Hop along and have a great rest of your day."

"Sure thing, Ms. Barnes. Have a nice day," Kaleigh replied before leaving the classroom.

Some stragglers still littered the halls. Just about the entire school knew Aiden, so she didn't want to risk opening the letter in front of the wrong person. Nearing her locker, she yanked it open and shoved her supplies into her bag before staring at the letter in her hand.

Something about the way Aiden had acted when giving her the letter bothered Kaleigh. How he advised against looking at the letter. Of course, it could be some dramatic declaration of love, but she felt like they had almost... wanted her to look at the letter.

A little peek can't hurt... right? If it's too personal, I'll put it back and pretend I never saw it.

Making sure no one was staring at her, Kaleigh opened up the envelope and found a single Post-It Note. Focusing on the words, she read.

Hello Kaleigh. I knew you'd open my letter.

She looked down the hall as if hoping to find Aiden so she could take my irritation out on him. Of course, he had manipulated her. Had to fit in a little trick instead of giving it to her directly. Sighing, she read on.

I'm going to make it short. Someone showed me your graduation dress. Please do not wear that monstrosity. It's due to be 85 degrees out, and I don't feel like seeing one of my classmates faint during the ceremony. If you have any further questions, my number is below. If you had it, I wouldn't have had to go through this in the first place.

Aiden B.

Below that, he had written his phone number. Furrowing her brows, Kaleigh hopped on her phone to check the weather, only to see the facts he had written were plausible. Typical Aiden to go above and beyond, but she had to give him credit for looking out for me. She then switched over to the group chat to complain to them about this encounter.

buddys club

Taylor: Faith you better not pull up to the ceremony at 5:30

You know we want to take photos

Faith: Chill girl, I'll be there at 5:29 don't worry

Taylor: ...

The two kept bickering about that for a moment before it died down. They had all agreed to get the ceremony fifteen minutes before we were called for, which would be five-fifteen. All of them wanted to take commemorative photos, especially since the end of their middle school lives was in sight. Kaleigh typed out a message as she walked down the halls, about to reach the exit.

buddys club

Kaleigh: Guess who I just talked to

Taylor: Who

Kaleigh: Everyone's best friend, Aiden Barbier

Faith: Ohh, him

He can come off as weird but he's pretty nice

Taylor: Everyone knows Aiden, Faith

I think Kaleigh would know that

Faith: Oh

Anyway what happened Kaleigh

Kaleigh: So he gave me this letter and started talking about the CIA

He also said that I needed to give it to Faith, but was pretty suspicious

So uh

Faith: You opened it, didn't you

Kaleigh: Yeah... but in my defense, he had Ms. Barnes on his side

So anyway, I opened it and it was addressed to me

On a Post-It note

About my graduation dress

He said it was a "monstrosity"

Taylor: Wait I thought he was sweet, why did he do that?

Kaleigh: It's supposed to be hot out, and I get where he's coming from

The long sleeves are gorgeous but I would overheat...

Faith: Yeah, that's typical Aiden

Kaleigh: But isn't he like good friends with Faith?

He could have asked her for my number

Taylor: Aiden in a nutshell

---⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚---

Walking up to the school, Kaleigh saw Taylor and Faith waiting. Their school was a massive five-story building with two basement levels. There were giant pillars and separate walls out front for design, and support. The buddys club had scouted out a particular pillar and called it their meeting place every day.

Other early-goes populated the field, unsure what to do. The student body had been told to get there a half hour before the ceremony was due to start, at six, because they would need to find their seats among hundreds of other students.

"Hey, Kal. How's it going?" Faith asked when Kaleigh walked up.

Faith was the queen of nicknames and had almost the entire group dubbed. She was also the one who made up the majority of the code names we had for other people in our grade. There must have been at least fifty people that we had coded, but she seemed to know every one of them by heart.

    "Not much. Should we be looking for our seats?"
    "Nah. We can start looking when more people come."

    Nodding, Kaleigh heard Taylor speak, updating us about the rest of the group. "Both sets of twins are saying they're close."

    "I can't believe we'll be freshmen next year," Kaleigh stated, trying to engage in conversation.

    "That's crazy. It still hasn't set in yet, has it?" Faith voiced.

    Kaleigh couldn't help but agree. In just a few months, they would be freshmen. High school would be new. It would be terrifying. It would be exciting, nerve-wracking, and disappointing. Excitement for the future would flare before being overtaken by the fear of what would happen. The overwhelming pressure of classes, sports, and the new environment. It was too much to handle at times.

_

    The rest of their group trickled in, and they got their desired photos. Ranging from shots of them jumping out from a line to them huddling in a large group, each one held something special of the day. Taylor promised to send them after the ceremony, and  settled down once our seats were scouted. Adeline and Willow are lucky because they are next to each other for the ceremony. Instead of sitting near my friends, Jason is four seats beside me, Kaleigh thought.

    The speeches were read, awards handed out, and certificates received. Even though Kaleigh would have likely double-checked the weather, it was nice Aiden had reached out to her.

    After Principal Renolds gave the wrap-up speech, thanking everybody who was there. He dismissed us all, and Kaleigh arose to look for her friends. Most of them were seated ahead, Faith being the only exception.

Having a last name near the end of the alphabet sucked sometimes.

Kaleigh looked behind her and saw Faith chatting with one of her other friends, so she made her way to the rest of the buddys club at the front.

    "Oh hey, Kaleigh," Willow announced when she saw her, "imagine your last name not being at the beginning of the alphabet. As I was saying, there was a literal bidding war around me. They made a pool and Tyler was offered like, fifty bucks, to trip when going up. It was so sad that he didn't do it. Easy money."

    "But you also have to remember that we're in front of a ton of parents, and the rest of the grade," Adeline commented.

    "Eh, fair. But still. Fifty bucks," Willow shot back. She looked as if she wanted to add more before being interrupted.

"Hi, guys. What are you doing?" a voice sounded behind them, as if oblivious to the scene painted in front of her. Turning around, Kaleigh saw Persephone, and her twin, Penelope, smugly grinning

"Where's your friend, Faith? Did you finally see past her fake outside and exiled her from your group? What do you call yourself again? The... friendship club?" Penelope mocked.

"Don't you dare insult our friends," Taylor's nose flared as she spoke, marching up to the twins. "Faith is such a kind, sweet person, unlike you two. We don't understand the fake kindness you try to show, but it's not appreciated. Now, why don't you scurry back to your little friends?"

Taylor expressed the emotions that had overtaken the rest of the group. To insult them as a whole was one thing, but singling out one person was crossing a line.

"Oh wow, Taylor. Look at you with your second-hand clothes, trying desperately to fit in. It's evident that you're struggling in this rich town, so why don't you run back to a village in El Salvador where you belong?" Penelope spoke with venom in her voice.

    Kaleigh felt her blood run cold as the weight of Penelope's words sunk in. That feeling was soon overtaken by anger. Taylor had already been broken this year, and no one deserved to hear a comment like that. Sure, the twins would always be rude, but that was much too far. Kaleigh was about to open her mouth and speak up, but Faith beat her to it.

    "What's going on here?" Her tone was angry, and there was no doubt that she had overheard the last bit of our conversation.

    Turning around, Kaleigh saw that she was standing up to her full height, which was taller than everyone. Except for Aiden. The two were standing side by side with crossed arms. Faith's lips were a thin line, and she almost seemed to be shaking with fury. Aiden was more stoic, but the look behind his eyes showed that he didn't care for what the twins had said either.

    "Oh look. Our local loser and her boyfriend," This time it was Persephone who spoke.

    Faith looked taken aback but Aiden remained unchanged.

    "Look, sweethearts," his tone was mocking as he slightly angled his head, "I don't care for that behavior, so why don't you leave these poor girls alone before I get your boyfriends over here." As he said this, Aiden drew his phone and unlocked it to show his finger over the call button on Jason's contact.

    The twins exchanged a look before slinking off. Once the coast was clear, we turned our attention to Taylor who was standing there, shellshocked. Willow was the first to speak up.

    "Look, don't pay attention to them. They're just arrogant bastards who don't know anything about who you are inside."

    "That's right," Adeline chirped up, "no matter who you are, or where you come from, we're your friends because of who you are."

    "It's not because of any of that..." Taylor mumbled. She looked horrible. Her eyes were starting to glaze over with tears, and I felt horrible for seeing her go through this. "Look, I should go find my parents. Thanks, Aiden for chasing them off. I'll see everyone Thursday," she said before turning and walking away.

QOTC: Whew, Aiden's quite the character! What do you think of him as of now?