Steps of Courage

Chapter 13

I was in the library working when I turned to grab a book and slammed face to face with Aiden, he was smirking while casually leaning on a bookshelf. 

"Back to the grind, I see." he says, smirking, "Has anything exciting happened since we last spoke?"

I looked at him, surprised that he had randomly showed up - again. 

"Not really." I say, smiling, "Alexa and I patched things up. We're friends again."

I watched Aiden's face turn from amusement to concern. Pretty much the whole school knew about everything that Alexa had said about me, and Aiden knew that the panic attack had been because of her. 

"Really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "You and Alexa, friends again? That's... unexpected."

I sensed Aiden's skepticism. I knew he was right, but it was Aiden. I defended my decision just because I didn't want to be caught dead agreeing with him. 

"What?" I asked, teasingly, "You can't believe that anyone would willingly want to be friends with me?"

"No, it's not that." he says, sincerely, "It's just... be careful, Katie. People don't change overnight."

I dismissed his - very true - warning with a wave of my hand. 

"Relax, Aiden." I said, faking a smile, "We're just catching up. It's not a big deal."

Aiden didn't seem convinced. At all. 

"I'm serious." he says, the usual glint in his eye gone, "Keep your guard up. You never know with someone like Alexa."

I wasn't ready to accept that he was right, so I shrugged him off again. 

"Thanks, but I can handle my own friendships." I said, smiling sarcastically. 

Aiden nodded. 

"Fairy godfather work done." he says, smirking. 

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Alexa asks, smirking. "Katie, I didn't know you had a thing for bad boys."

Aiden rolled his eyes. I wasn't sure how he was so calm under the pressure of Alexa's teasing, so I let him speak for the both of us. Seemed a suitable duty for a secret fairy godfather. 

"Oh, please." Aiden says, mockingly. "Like I'd be caught dead dating Little Miss Sunshine here."

I was caught off-guard from Alexa's sudden showing up, so I just played along. 

"Yeah, right!" I said, laughing awkwardly. "Aiden and me? That's a good one."

Alexa looked between us, her smirk widening into a mischievous grin. 

"Sure, sure." Alexa says, slyly, "Just looked like you two were getting real cozy over here."

Aiden scoffed, and I adjusted my stance to look more sure of myself. 

"Trust me, Alexa, the day I willingly date Katie is the day pigs fly." Aiden says. 

"Exactly!" I added, with a forced smile, "We hate each other."

Alexa rolled her eyes and turned around to walk away. Aiden and I shared a look, we were both going to keep the "fairy godfather" thing a secret. We acknowledged each other with a final nod before I ran to catch up with Alexa who had walked away while I was looking at Aiden.