Chapter 17: Closer Than Ever
Sunday – Post-Sleepover Recovery
The group met at their usual café spot, looking like five exhausted gremlins.
Aiden: hoodie over his head, sunglasses indoors.
Noah: somehow still neat, but sipping coffee like it was his lifeblood.
Ethan: humming a random tune, hair sticking up in five directions.
Aria: wearing Aiden's jacket again.
Lana: eyes on Noah every three seconds.
"Did we all survive?" Ethan asked.
"Barely," Aria muttered.
"I got pranked by a pizza ghost," Ethan added.
"I still don't know how you thought it was Noah," Aiden said.
Noah smirked. "I'm too classy for prank calls."
Lana shot him a look. "Says the guy who once hacked the school bell schedule."
"Allegedly," Noah said.
They all laughed.
---
Later That Afternoon – Pairs Breaking Off
Aria and Aiden walked ahead, slow and steady. She brushed her fingers against his briefly, pretending it was an accident.
He looked at her.
She didn't move away.
"I like when we hang out like this," she said softly.
He grinned. "Me too. You're… different from everyone else."
"How?"
"You make me feel calm. I'm never calm."
He stepped closer.
She smiled.
That moment?
It felt like almost. Almost a kiss. Almost a confession.
But not yet.
---
Lana and Noah sat near the café window, still pretending they were just "studying."
"Why do you always organize your notes like this?" Lana asked.
"Because life makes more sense when it's in bullet points."
She stared at him. "You know you're kind of adorable in a terrifying way?"
Noah raised a brow. "Terrifying?"
"You alphabetize your snacks, Noah."
"I like structure."
Lana leaned in just a little.
"Maybe you could try some chaos."
He didn't lean away.
Instead, he quietly said:
"Maybe I already am."
They both felt it. That pull. That invisible string.
---
The Group Chat – Sunday Night
[Aiden]: who's down for a late night walk this week?
[Aria]: only if you bring hot chocolate
[Noah]: I'll join. We could all use a break.
[Ethan]: let's make it a memory
[Lana]: it already is.
---
They didn't say it out loud, but everyone felt the shift.
Things weren't just about detention anymore.
They were about something bigger.
Friendship.
Romance.
Growth.
And the quiet thrill of discovering who they were becoming—together.