"Dude. You're kidding me."

Aden groans, throwing his head back in his chair and letting his arms hang by the sides as he avoids eye contact with Jia. She snaps her fingers, and he closes his eyes, holding his hands up in front of the laptop screen as if that would stop her from speaking further.

It doesn't.

"Come on. He invited you. What are you going to do? Just say no?"

He opens his eyes, raising his head back up to smile sheepishly at her through the screen. "Technically, he didn't give me the chance to respond, so I wouldn't be saying anything."

Jia looks so offended, he almost lets out a laugh. Almost. When she gets really annoyed, her face sours in that specific way that always amuses Aden to no end. "You're lucky I'm not there to smack you upside the head."

"You're mean, and a bully, and I don't know why we're friends."

She scrunches her nose, her voice taking on a mocking tone when she replies, "You're whipped, but too big of a coward to confess, and I don't know why we're friends either, princess."

Aden sighs, dropping his head in his hands. He wants to go to the bonfire. He really does. It's been three days since Neo asked him at the nurse's office, and even though they have talked a few times since, Neo hasn't mentioned it again.

Plus, what is Aden supposed to do between people he doesn't even know? It's not like he can just stick around Neo for the entire evening. And wouldn't it be awkward to be at a party that's held to celebrate a win he wasn't even around for?

He narrows his eyes in thought. "Wait, how do they know they're going to win, anyway?"

Jia pops her bubblegum, scoffing. "They always win."

There's a frown on Aden's face, his eyes fixated on the ugly Skype logo on the screen when he says, "That means the people there are going to be close to each other already. And I'm not really friends with anyone aside from you. I feel like I'm just going to be awkwardly sitting there while they... I don't know... talk behind my back or something..."

"Ade."

He meets Jia's eyes when he takes note of how soft her voice is.

"You're thinking too much."

Ugh. She's right, of course. Jia knows him too well.

Sometimes, Aden feels like the only reason why he is friends with her is because they grew up together. He didn't have the time to grow awkward around her, no phase where he questioned their friendship. In fact, he doesn't even remember a time when they weren't attached at the hip.

Aden really doesn't know what he'd do without her

"It's time to flutter your little gay wings," she says, mimicking flapping wings with her hands and maybe, maybe right then Aden regrets ever becoming friends with her just a little bit. "Come on. I think it'd be fun. And definitely a nice experience for you."

"I mean... if it gets bad, there's going to be a fire. I can immediately throw myself in there if anything even remotely goes wrong."

"No."

"There goes my back-up plan."

Jia sighs again. "Do you want me to come with you? Would that make you feel better?"

Aden tries not to look like a puppy. "Will you?" He pouts, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms across his chest. "You aren't invited, though."

Obnoxiously popping her gum again, she lets out a snort. "You should know by now that I don't care."

A slow grin spreads across Aden's face. "Yeah. My bad."

Jokes aside, Aden knows he would feel better if Jia was there with him. She's been his anchor for as long as he can remember. There awareness that he's too dependent on her lives and feeds off his mind like a permanent parasite, but in all honesty, when his anxiety is at its peak, it always serves as a reminder that he'd actually depend on someone rather than give himself the chance to crash knowing he could have easily avoided it.

Jia slides her hand between her hair and the back of her neck, and flips her hair when a few locks from the front fall before her eyes. "I'm helping you pick an outfit."

Aden looks down at himself, his plain sky blue tee shirt that could easily fit three of him, and basketball shorts that somehow make his legs look like twigs, and all arguments — joking or otherwise — die at the tip of his tongue.

He clears his throat. "Yeah."

"You should wear that beige sweater."

Aden turns and looks at the said sweater hanging behind his door before turning to give Jia a look. "This isn't a date."

"Are you ever on a date? Wear it. It's cute. And you get cold easily."

He frowns. "But what if... I look like I'm dressed to impress or something. That would be weird."

"Aden. My sweet. You are going to dress to impress. You're attractive as fuck either way, don't get me wrong. But you need to let the world see it."

Aden feels the warmth all the way to the tips of his ears. "Thanks, Jia," he mutters, not sure if there's anything else he's supposed to say. Aden isn't used to compliments. Especially about his looks.

"Besides," Jia adds, snapping her fingers, "That sweater makes your eyes pop. You have, like, the prettiest eyes ever. We're going to get you a boyfriend. You'll see."