As we were walking outside the theater complex, Aimee said, "So, in my opinion, this outing went pretty well."

Dylan glared at her. "In what way? Last time I checked, getting banned from a theater isn't exactly something to be proud of!"

Aimee rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be so dramatic, it's not like this is the only one in town."

"The other one is like 30 minutes away from here!"

I added to that, "On a good day."

I shrugged when Dylan turned his glare to me. "Just saying."

He growled, "How does that make this any better?"

I thought for a bit, then shrugged."

"Anyways," Aimee said, "we wouldn't have gotten caught if you guys hadn't wasted time!"

True, we'd been mere seconds away from freedom before security had caught us.

Dylan grunted in reply.

We walked to a bus stop in silence. There was a bus waiting there when we arrived. Dylan immediately entered it.

Dakota held out his hand to Aimee. "Hoodie, please."

Wrapping her arms around herself, she shot him puppy eyes. "Do you have to take it now? It's so cold out here..."

"Sorry, but my boyfriend will kill me if he finds out that I lent out his favorite hoodie."

"Yeah, you wouldn't want- "My eyes widened. "Wait, boyfriend?"

Dylan looked out of the bus, furrowing his brow. "Yeah, what?"

Aimee smirked at Dylan. "Yes, his boyfriend. Is something wrong?"

"I-" Dylan's words caught in his throat. Then, he shook his head. "No, of course not. I don't care. Why would I?"

"Great! Have a good night!"

Dylan's mouth fell open again, and he reached out to Aimee.

A short while later, though, his face fell.

He turned away. "Good night."

After Dylan settled on the bus, Dakota nudged Aimee. "C'mon, don't tell me you're having second thoughts now!"

Shaking her head, she scoffed, "Of course not!" She pulled the hoodie over her head and handed it back to him. "Thanks for this. And for today in general."

"No problem, it was my pleasure." He turned to me, grinning as he held out his hand. "I don't know you that well, but I can tell you're probably as crazy as Aimee."

"Hardly," I scoffed, "But hanging out with you wasn't as bad as I expected as well."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

I smiled and shook his hand.

Withdrawing his hand, he stuffed it into his pocket as he began to walk away. "Well, until we meet again, Aims!"

Aimee replied, "Or until I text you!"

Grinning, he boarded the bus. "Same thing! You owe me big time for this!"

I stared after the bus as it got farther away. Huh, I actually broke my handshake rule for Dakota. Today is-

Aimee interrupted my thoughts. "And then there were two."

I looked at her. "Well-"

She rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, your driver is on his way to pick you up.'"

I smirked. "Actually, I'm waiting here with you."

Aimee's eyes widened, "Seriously?"

"Mhm. So, unless you want us to trek to your house, call an Uber."

"If we're taking an Uber, we better find somewhere to wait then."

I nodded. "Good idea. I'm open to suggestions."

"Well, The Eatery is back open. We can wait there."

I shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

We walked in silence for a bit, save for the occasional honks of cars, and the chatter of passersby. Streetlights began to flicker on as the sky grew darker.

After a while, I furrowed my brow. "Since your father is Machiavelli, why do you even work? Doesn't he give you an allowance?"

"Oh, he does." She replied. "Trust me, he does. But I just don't wanna be that spoiled 'daddy's girl', you know? I want to enjoy the feeling of knowing I'm earning something for myself."

I frowned. "But why bother working for something you can get for free? It doesn't make much sense to me."

"Lord, you sound just like him," Aimee groaned. "I'm doing this for the experience, not the money!"

I didn't get her reasoning, but I let the subject go.

Silence followed us for a few more seconds until it Aimee's ringtone broke it.

Reaching into the clutch she held, Aimee brought it out and peered at the screen. "Oh, it's Tim - fuck!"

I frowned. "What?"

"Stupid thing died." She opened her clutch and threw it back inside. "Knew I should have charged it before I left!"

I snickered. "I think we both know why you didn't."

Despite rolling her eyes, she smirked. "Well, revenge happened to be a higher priority on my list."

"Speaking of revenge, how about you-"

I shivered as a cold gust of wind blew. My face warmed as I noticed Aimee holding down her skirt.

She shivered, then fluttered her eyelashes at me. "You wouldn't happen to be wearing anything under your-"

"Don't even bother asking."

Frowning, she turned away. "I wasn't going to ask you for your sweater if that's what you're thinking."

I smirked. "Oh? Then what were you going to say?"

"None of your business!"

Before I could respond, Aimee increased her speed, so we fell out of step with each other.

Shrugging, I looked away from her. But nothing else grabbed my attention, so I focused on her again. She shivered every now and then.

A short while later, she gasped when I dropped my sweater on her shoulder.

I shrugged when she looked at me. "No point of you freezing because of your stubbornness."

Aimee was speechless.

I shook my head. Why is it so surprising that I'm a decent human being?

When Aimee found her voice, she cleared her throat and looked away. "Not that I need it, but since you're offering..."

I scoffed but didn't say anything as she yanked the sweater over her head. Since it was big for me and I was a few inches taller than her, the sweater nearly came down to her knees. It wasn't perfect, but at least it protected her more than the dress.

Unfortunately, I was left walking in a thin white shirt and grey sweatpants.

Aimee rose up the neck of my sweater and began sniffing it.

My brow furrowed for a few seconds, then I scoffed. "I had a shower before I came, and the sweater is clean. So no, it doesn't stink."

Aimed stopped sniffing it as she looked at me. "The sweater doesn't smell bad. Quite the opposite, actually."

My face warmed. "Oh."

Making sure to keep my voice steady, I drawled, "Obviously it smells good. It is my sweater, after all."

"Hmm, you know what? How about we skip the bullshit-"

I smirked. "And you just go back to sniffing my sweater?"

"-And, shut up, we go order something hot in The Eatery, 'cause we'll probably be there a while."

Still smirking, I replied, "Agreed."

. . .

A few people shot us weird looks when we walked into The Eatery, probably because of our dressing. We ordered scones and hot cocoa, then found a table to sit at.

Once we got our food, I asked, "So, how about you start explaining all the things you set in motion for today?"

She replied, "I just called up an old friend of mine from Redwood and asked for a favor."

I rose an eyebrow. "That's all? So the fact that nearly our entire grade showed up had nothing to do with you?"

She grinned. "Well...not exactly. You can thank your friends for that."

I frowned. "That...actually makes a lot of sense."

She hummed, then began digging into her food.

I began eating a scone. Redwood. That's the school her brother said she had to leave. But why, though?

A few moments later, I asked, "Speaking of Redwood, why did you leave there?"

Aimee paused sipping her cocoa, slowly putting down her cup. "How do you know I went there?"

"You have your brother to thank for that."

A thoughtful expression appeared on her face.

Closing my eyes, I sighed. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want-"

"Scones."

My eyes flew open. "What?"

She nodded her head at my plate. "Lemme have some of your scones, and the info is yours."

My lips began twitching.

She hissed, "Don't judge me! I didn't have lunch."

Snickering, I pushed my plate to her. "Have at it. Would you like me to get you extra while you do?"

She flipped me off, but still grabbed a scone ate it.

After having about three, she spoke. "I got expelled for beating up a chick who insulted my dead mother."

My brow rose. "Your mother's dead?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." After a short while, I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry-"

Groaning, she set her cup down. "Ugh, please don't tell me you're 'sorry for my loss!' I hate when people do that."

"Actually, I wasn't going to. I was going to say that 'I'm sorry you got expelled for teaching that bitch a lesson.'"

Her eyes widened, then she grinned. "If that's the case, don't be. I'm glad I left that piece of shit school and came to Bloomsbury, anyway."

I grinned back at her. I'm glad you did as well.