━

DAYS TURNED INTO WEEKS as miles and audrey met up after school, simply for tutoring.
while it wasn't as much as a date or a hangout session, miles was still happy he was able to spend time with audrey. 

he wasn't sure why. he'd never really experienced something like teenage love. he'd only ever messed around with girls who flirted with him, so he knew it couldn't be that.

all he could do was tell himself it was just a feeling of gratitude he felt the need to fulfill.
but why? miles was handed everything, he didn't need to thank people, because they should have been giving him what he wanted anyway.

so why was it that he felt a twinge of excitement when he saw audrey sitting down at their table nearly everyday. it was the same thing, why was it a bit of a surprise for him when he saw her sitting there?

it was now november. miles sighed, as he laid down rubbed his eye. he stared at the small guitar pick in his hand, rubbing over the smooth surface. he flopped back on the bed, raising his hand up to his head as he looked over the pick again.

he wondered when he would invite her over for the biology projects. he longed for her to get more personal with him, but he realized he needed to be patient.

"miles!" he heard kate yell from the hallway, "what," he groaned, raising his arm over his eyes, "i'm headed to town to get some groceries, anything you want?" she asked, "pop tarts, caramel ice cream, cookies, orange juice and gummies for flora." 

"half of those are already on the list," she chuckled, "cookies, OJ, & gummies for flora.." she trailed off, looking at the paper in her hands.

"so.. that leaves caramel ice cream and pop tarts for you?" she asked as he nodded from his bed..

"alright be back in a bit," she muttered, leaving as she closed the door behind her.

miles got up from his bed, staring at the slightly sunny sky from his window. he walked over to his bookshelf, glancing from his deck stereo through his stacked up tapes that he'd collected over the years.

as he popped in 'mr. sandman' by the chordettes, he walked into his bathroom. as he stared into his reflection, he wondered if someone as unreal as audrey would even care for his existence if he hadn't offered to tutor him.

he sighed at himself, smacking his hands onto his face, pulling his hands down his face slowly.

he felt like a bomb, ticking by the second and ready to explode any moment.

miles longed for audrey like no other.

he lost himself in his thoughts, remembering what audrey wore the last time he'd seen her. he smiled to himself, recalling the flower printed off the shoulder top she wore, the small lacy white skirt she wore with it and the way it contrasted against her light brown skin.

he stared back into his room, specifically his desk as he remembered he hadn't written her a letter in so long. 

but then he wondered, why should he? he's already where he was yearning to be; around audrey.

he pondered the reaction she had when he'd picked up the last letter he'd given her that day at the cafe. what if she was so protective over it because she liked the secret admirer?

if so.. what if that meant she'd never see miles that way. how is she supposed to know he wrote the letters? 

miles internally cursed at himself, before turning back to the mirror. "you can't think anything through, can you?" he muttered, staring at his reflection.

━

"alright, then this weekend we'll meet up," a girl said on a video call, "i have to ask my mom what time i'll be home, since we have plans at her friends house." audrey said, picking at her fingernails.

"okay, after that we're going to ihop." marina said, "oh my gosh, yes." the same girl said on call, "remember when you wanted to go to ihop because you saw some kids there and they went together?" audrey laughed as she asked the girl.

"yeah and then i told you guys in the groupchat," the first girl–olivia–said, "and then i remembered when aria took me for my twelfth birthday?" audrey asked, as the second girl, aria smiled. "that was a time."

"guys i seriously can't wait to meet up." audrey grinned up at the camera, "it's the first time during our school years we're gonna meet up together," she reminded them, "it's gonna be bomb as helllll," olivia said, as she turned to yell at her sister on camera.

"bye guys, my mom's calling me," aria said, "yeah, i gotta take care of this brat," olivia sighed, "love you guys, see you saturday." audrey waved before getting off the call and rolling her chair back to her bed.

she exhaled deeply, resting her arms on her bed and laying her head on them. she peered at her nightstand just beside her, the letters from her secret admirer tied together.

she tried to recall the last time she had received a note was.. it had to be about a month ago. her thoughts flashed back to the note she had written and taped to the locker, wondering and hoping they had received it.

all she wanted was to know, who had given her a letter. who had cared that much to craft them.. who had written them for her. why they had written it for her. 

and why hadn't she received one in so long.. 

she shrugged the matter off, maybe they had read the letter. maybe they were actually considering meeting up like she had proposed.

she smiled to herself, wondering what this mysterious person could look like. she hoped they were as sweet and passionate as they sounded. she was aware most of the guys at her school were jerks; so she hoped it wasn't one of them.

she thought about whether it could be cory, her friend from seventh grade who had been friends with her and marina in seventh grade before lilith had joined them in eighth.

she mentally crossed him off the list, remembering that he now had a girlfriend. 

"gosh, who the hell are you.." she muttered, grabbing the notes and tossing them on her bed as they scattered across her blue and white bedsheets. she decided to read them, hoping she'd try to piece together some information about the secret admirer.

"i'm gonna find you out."

━

as everyone piled into booth, audrey and her friends couldn't help but smile and excitedly converse. it had been two months since everyone had collectively gotten together.

see, they had all met in seventh grade, lilith joining them in eighth. most of the group had changed schools, or moved or something. they just weren't in the district anymore.

so seeing everyone was like a golden moment, a treasure. it took forever to plan these little events, but in the end it was worth it; no matter how fast the time went.

"okay so," aria started as the waitress brought them water and straws, "any new lore? oh my god, did k'yla fight tessa yet?" aria quickly asked.

"sadly, no." marina said, "but god do i want to punch her face." lilith quickly intervened, "i heard she's moving to nevada." 

"well that'll be nice for the economy." audrey joked, olivia laughing as she gave her a knowing look. "guys we need to order," their other friend, macy said as she examined the menu.

"i'm getting the tres leches pancakes," audrey immediately said, "with orange juice," she said giving olivia a dramatic wink wink making her and marina laugh.

"yeah i'll have the same," olivia said finally, wiping under her eye for any stray make up.
everyone ordered, laughing and talking about their own school experiences and boyfriends.

"oh that reminds me," marina smirked, her gaze flickering between aria and audrey, "this one here's gotta admirer," she smiled, as audrey nearly spit her drink out.

aria, macy & olivia sat there slightly jaw dropped. "secret what?!" aria exclaimed, "wow, you're fake; not telling us." olivia dramatically shook her head, looking away. "damn girl, okay." macy said, staring straight at audrey.

"yeah, so that happened." audrey pursed her lips, "ah ah ah, no, you're not getting off that easy." aria quickly ushered, "what's he look like?" she smiled, audrey looking away in response.

"it's called secret admirer for a reason?" audrey hummed, "yeah, so i don't know what he looks like." audrey shook her head in front of aria's face. 

"oh and she's got a hot tutor apparently." marina sipped her drink with a smile, "rina, shut up!" she slapped her shoulder. "ow, i just got my flu shot, finch."

"yeah, you deserved that." she rolled her eyes, as aria sat there, her face caught between a smile and her jaw hung agape. audrey waved her hands around trying to find the right words, "he's not–"

"ah, no. you said you thought he was cute." marina recalled, audrey sighing as she tried to restrict herself from a familar smile and eye roll.

"oh my goddd, show me a pic." olivia smacked her lips together after taking a sip of water. "i don't have one, we just met." audrey truthfully replied, "but i'm sure you have his number, y'know for if you change plans and can't make it?" aria prodded. "well, yeah but–"

"we're gonna call him," aria quickly ordered, "wha–no we're not." audrey shook her head slightly, a smile tugging at her lips. "i don't wanna disturb him." she shyly added.

"oh please, you wanna talk to him so bad, you just don't have the guts to call him." aria said, macy nodding. "no, it's just it's saturday i don't want to bother him." audrey spoke again, meaning every word.

"okay, you won't bother him. i will." aria smiled a familar smile, making audrey contemplate the situation. "nooooo," audrey groaned, setting her head on olivia's shoulder.

"okay maybe not today, but when you guys start dating, then." aria grinned, "wha–uh, no. who said we were gonna date?" audrey asked, "fate." aria replied, giving her a cartoonish smile.

"sure, sure." audrey laughed, "he's a grade older than me, i'm pretty sure he has a girlfriend." she rolled her eyes, macy immediately looked up at aria and marina.

"oh shit, you like him anyway?" olivia asked, looking down at the girl, "well that's the thing i'm not sure. like i think i like this secret admirer guy, but i've never seen him." 

"alright but what if these two are the same person?" aria asked, "wait, for real, i never thought of that." marina intervened, zoned out. "you could actually be right." marina added, pointing to aria.

"see? it's a possibility." she shrugged, "a very slim possibility." she smiled, "a very likely one though." macy added tilting her head with a funny face "yeah, okay mace." audrey laughed as olivia looked at macy with a horrified expression on her face.

━
as everyone piled out of the ihop and took their pictures, the girls were starting to get picked up.

"bye guys, i'm gonna miss you guys." audrey smiled as she blew kisses to everyone from her car window. "bye!" aria smiled waving as macy showed marina something on her phone.

"aria," macy started as they waited for their parents to pick them up, "yeah what's up?" aria asked, looking up from her phone, "i just, in there, she talked about this tutor guy, right?" 

"yeah, i know what you're talking about.." aria sighed, looking over to marina. "i don't want her to go through that again." aria added, marina nodding as macy crossed her legs.

"she took a year to get over that dumb asshole." marina said, staring ahead. "yeah but i mean, he liked someone else, it's not really something she could have changed," macy trailed off.

"mace, she liked him and he knew it." aria said, "he knew she liked him and he still got with lilia." aria reasoned, "yeah, and he gave her signs too. mixed signals if you ask me." marina said, her hands on her hips.

"well if he gave her mixed signals maybe it was because he did like her, and he couldn't choose between her and lilia." macy explained, "doesn't that make more sense?" she asked.

"well it does, but i think he only showed her signs back during the basball games we went to." aria said, "oh yeah, he was always looking at her." marina added, "always." 

"well it's whatever, at least she's over him." marina sighed, as macy started up again; "no but that's the thing. she'll wreck herself if she likes this tutor guy who may have a girlfriend." 

"but i mean you guys have seen the couples at our school," marina pointed out, "the boyfriends are either all over girls regardless of being in a relationship, or they don't even look in another female's direction." 

"he could be the cheating type, what if she cheats with audrey and screws her over?" aria asked, "odds wouldn't do that, c'mon you guys know her." marina shook her head.

"it's whatever." macy said, "time will tell."

━

HDJDJJDJD

GUYS.

what if i did a miles pov for chapter eight..

MAYBEEEE

PEACE MFS .

😮‍💨