Partners

Sorry, I’m An Anti-Romantic

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By Authoress Kamara

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Chapter 1: Partners

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Aiden Morales was known to be a top student in more ways than one. He had straight As, was great at sports, could do just about anything and had good looks to top it off.

He was just about perfect.

But even with all of these great achievements, he had a flaw—though he would never admit it as one.

Aiden Morales had no friends, not a single one.

How was it even possible for such a popular guy to be friendless ? One reason could be that he never really fit in, at least, not when it came to his age.

Due to his brilliance, he was allowed to skip a grade and ever since then, school hasn’t been the same for him.

Skipping a grade was equivalent to becoming a new kid.

But that happened to him years ago.

Now Aiden was in his first year of high school and only had one goal in his mind, he planned to come out valedictorian.

Education and grades were high on his priority list, they were all that mattered.

With that in mind, he set his focus completely on school work, working so hard to the extent he had no free time to fool around after school or have fun.

The first few weeks of school had past by quickly and he had already achieved quite a lot, earning top scores in the whole grade for all the tests they have taken.

Everything was running smoothly according to plan, at least until the teacher made an announcement.

“The whole school will be having a trip “. She said. “It will be a good way to relax, since you all have been working so hard. The trip will be three days long so get the permission forms signed and handed back please “.

The teacher handed Aiden a form and he quickly skimmed over it with a scowl on his face.

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Trip to Opaeka'a Falls in Wailua, Kamokila in Hawaii.

Students will go there for a three day, two night trip on September 15th to 17th. This is for the purpose of both educational and enjoyment and is optional.

Requirements are to bring clothing, toiletries and any other items students wish to take for their own amusement.

(No alcohol or restricted items permitted)

Students will report to their home room that morning and leave at 6:15am by bus and return on the 17th at approximately 7pm.

Cost of trip: 3500 USD. (The money will cover the expenses of transportation, dorms, food and other essentials).

•Day 1: Visit to traditional folk village

•Day 2: Caribbean Bay Water Park

•Day 3: Everland Amusement Park

Students will stay in a nearby guesthouse and futons will be provided. Everybody will be expected to follow the rules and expectations of both the school and provided day.

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Aiden sighed, not bothering to read the rest.

Why are they giving us a field trip this early in the year?

He thought to himself annoyed.

The school really loves spending money on unnecessary things.

Usually they would have one small day trip in the middle of the year, sometimes they would stay overnight if they were lucky. But the longer trips were reserved for the seniors as a graduating reward, it wasn’t typical of the younger grades to receive this type of thing and more so, the whole school is included in this trip.

He disregarded the form and continued reading his book, blocking out the background noise from his excited peers.

Everybody else was thrilled with the announcement, already making plans with their friends.

One of the students raised their hand. “Will we get to share rooms ?”. She asked.

The teacher nodded.

“Yes I almost forgot, there’s going to be two people assigned per room so everyone needs to pair up. But remember, girls and boys are to be separated”. The teacher ordered.

Aiden internally groaned.

Whenever there were projects or assignments, he had always chose to do them alone, opting out of group work whenever possible.

Now that there was no choice, Aiden realized he had nowhere to go.

Everyone had already made friends and was in their own clique and such, he on the other hand had never even spoken to his classmates, he didn’t even know their names.

He sat still in his seat as everyone else jumped and ran to their friends.

But either way, Aiden had never been one to be bothered by the fact that he was alone.

Over these past few years, he learned to embrace his independence as he would like to call it. In this world, he didn’t need to rely on anyone except for himself.

Aiden just continued reading his book ignoring the squeals and cheers of his classmates.

Though his private bubble was soon popped when the teacher approached his desk.

“Aiden. Do you not have a partner ?”. The teacher asked, already aware of his stellar student’s disability to interact with others.

“I don’t “. He replied bluntly not even taking his eyes off the page.

The teacher could already tell that he was going to be a hard one to handle.

Sighing, the teacher turned around and faced the class.

If Aiden wasn’t going to make an effort to decide, then he would have it done for him.

“Would anyone be willing to pair with Aiden Morales ?”. A dozen hands shot up into the air but it only made the teacher sigh. “No ladies, you are not allowed to take part in this “.

The teacher reminded them making almost all of the hands sink down in disappointment.

All hands except for one.

The last hand left belonged to a boy named Miles Parker.

If Aiden could recall correctly, Miles was the most beloved person in their class and quite popular as well.

But Aiden didn’t care, he couldn’t care less about the school’s social hierarchies.

But the odd thing about this guy was how he managed to befriend everyone in their grade. It had only been a few weeks since the school year had started, yet, Miles was widely known throughout the school.

He spoke to just about everyone... but there was one person who he had never been able to talk to.

Aiden Morales.

Every time Miles tried to approach him, Aiden would ignore him or be too distracted to notice. But in spite of this, he still persisted.

He had become curious of Aiden’s cold aura which led him to raise his hand and volunteer to be Miles’s roommate for the trip.

This may very well be his chance to get to know the quiet boy a bit better.

So when the teacher had made this offer, Miles was more than happy to take it.

It looked like a win situation.

He would get a chance with Aiden Morales, a potential new friend.

“Thank you for volunteering, Mr Parker “. The teacher sighed in relief, glad that the problem was quickly solved.

Aiden on the other hand didn’t even glance up once to see who had chosen him.

He had already decided he won’t be going for the outing.

There was no use, it would be a waste of time as he could use the weekend of the trip to study.

“Alright then, everyone find your spot with your partner so that I can write the list “. The teacher ordered.

There was shuffling of desks as people moved around to sit beside their partners.

Miles slid his desk next to Aiden’s abruptly, hitting it and making it shake from impact.

The boy flinched and finally looked up from his page.

“Hi there, is that book interesting?”. Miles asked, the pitch of his voice oddly deep for his age.

Aiden stared at him blankly, half looking over him and half judging.

Why did this guy volunteer? Why him, out of all his classmates?

“You don’t talk much, do you ?”. Miles leaned his elbow on the boy’s desk already earning himself a yellow card.

Aiden closed his book and clenched his teeth holding back the urge to roll his eyes.

He was used to that line.

“It’s not that I don’t talk, it’s that I choose not to “. He replied.

Miles’s eyebrows raised up a little from surprise before his lips pulled into a smirk.

The reply intrigued him.

Aiden Morales had finally spoken to him for the first time.

•••

•••

The school day ended in a flash and Aiden walked out as soon as the bell rang. He walked home and entered his house, setting his backpack on the ground before taking off his shoes.

He was planning to excuse himself out of the school trip as he always did in the past.

He felt a bit sorry for ditching his classmate, Miles Parker, but he was sure that the boy would find another partner quickly.

As Aiden walked down the hall, his mother peeked out from the kitchen and smiled.

“How was your day, Aiden?”. She asked warmly.

He averted his eyes wanting to get up to his room quickly.

“It was good”. He replied trying to walk past her but his mother came over and blocked his path.

“Not so fast, you need to take off your blazer”. She said and assisted him in doing so.

As she did, a piece of paper fell out from the pocket. His mother picked it up and unfolded it, reading the bolded words on the top.

“A field trip to Hawaii ?”. She muttered.

His eyes widened and he tried to snatch the paper out from her hands.

“Aiden Morales. Were you trying to hide this from me ?”. She asked sternly.

But he didn’t reply, he looked away trying to act innocent.

“Aiden. Don’t think that I forgot the last time you did this, I remember receiving all of those school trip photos without you in it”.

That was always how his mother would find out about him skipping.

He sighed. “But mom, I don’t like going on school trips, you know that “.

She crossed her arms. “You never go out, even on the weekends. I used to worry that you would go out too often and get into trouble, but now I’m beginning to worry that you’ll never leave this house! “.

She finished the statement exclaiming.

He looked away and sighed thinking about it.

Was it really that bad of a thing that he didn’t want to go?

Trips were optional after all and it wasn’t like Aiden was wasting his time on those extra days, he was going to be studying.

Why wasn’t his mum grateful that he was taking more effort to do good in school ?

“Aiden. You are going on this trip!”.

Sirens started going off in his head as he heard those words.

“B-But, mum, I-I don’t ..., it costs a lot “. He tried to persuade her with financial reasoning this time around.

She shook her head. “It’s for your own good. You need this type of experience, do you even have one friend ?”.

His mother asked as she signed the form and pulled out her wallet. “I’m just concerned whether or not you’ll be able to function in the real world. Interacting with others is a key to society these days “.

“But mum!!”.

“No more buts. If you try to get yourself out of this by not turning this form in then I’ll walk into the class myself and hand it to your teacher. Got that?”. She asked.

He nodded, totally defeated.

He could never win an argument against his mother.

All she wanted was the best for him, he knew that, but it didn’t mean that he wanted it either ways.

Grumpy, Aiden walked up to his room, a feeling of dread overcoming him.

3 days and 2 nights ... that’s far too long for him. 

He flopped onto the bed and groaned into his pillow.

The trip was next week and he was definitely not looking forward to going.

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TBC

Written by Authoress Kamara