“Alice,” she groaned, “you’re super confusing me.”

“You’re super confusing me.” I made a face. “Now do you know her or not?”

“I’ve never heard of her before in my life,” Liv said and handed me back the laptop. “Do you want me to call Aiden and see what’s up?”

“I don’t know. Do you think that will be obvious?” I asked her as I gazed down at Aiden’s profile again. “Oh shit,” I groaned out loud as I gave Elizabeth’s comment a like. “I just liked her post on his wall. What should I do?”

“Unlike it quickly,” Liv said as she shook her head. “And then like a different post, so if Aiden gets notifications, he will see you have a like somewhere.”

“Ugh, he’s going to know I was Facebook-stalking him.” I sighed. “I’m such a loser.”

“Alice, it’s fine.” She jumped off of the bed. “I’m sure he won’t think anything of it.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Guys don’t analyze Facebook likes and comments like we do.” She smiled at me encouragingly. “He most probably won’t even notice that you liked anything.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I nodded hesitantly, my heart racing in fear. Liv was talking as if she knew what she was talking about, and she most probably thought she knew everything about men now that she was dating Xander, but I knew that she didn’t really know that much. I mean, she hadn’t been dating Xander for very long, and I was the one who had given her all her dating advice up until she started dating him. So essentially, Liv was giving me the advice I would have given her, and in all honesty, I had absolutely no idea what I’d been talking about when I was the one giving advice.

***

Have you ever done something you know you shouldn’t do? Like sending a guy a Facebook message in the middle of the night, when you knew you absolutely should not be sending him a message? And doing it sober, no less. Drunk messaging and drunk dialing can be forgiven, but sober messaging is done by fools, like me.

I knew I shouldn’t send Aiden a message. I knew I should wait for him to contact me. That’s what all the rules say, right? If a guy is interested, he’ll contact you. I knew that, but I was worried that he would think I had something for Scott—his brother. He caught me kissing Scott. Well, really he caught Scott kissing me, but ever since that night, Aiden has acted like I’m a leper or invisible. And I don’t even like Scott, which he should know, but you know men. They can be weird and stupid and totally obnoxious and arrogant, and so that was why I sent Aiden a Facebook message at 11 p.m.

Hi Aiden, it’s me, Alice. Hehe, obviously as it’s from my Facebook page. Just wanted to say Hi. So Hi. And then I hit send. And then I fell back on my pillow and groaned. Why oh why had I sent a Facebook message to Aiden? Ugh. Then I heard a small ding and sat up again. Someone had sent me a message. I quickly looked at my Facebook account.

Hi Alice. That was all Aiden had said in his reply, but I felt as giddy as a drunk mouse as I stared at the screen. He had replied to me. He didn’t hate me! I quickly clicked on my profile to see what photo I had up as my profile photo. I groaned as I saw myself grinning like a fool, my medium-length blonde hair looking messy and my blue eyes squinting. This was not the photo I wanted Aiden to be staring at as he typed back to me.

You’re up late, I typed back quickly. I know, I know, I really shouldn’t have sent another message. He hadn’t exactly been enthusiastic in his response, but I didn’t care. The fact that he had responded, period, was good enough for me.

It’s 11pm. Not exactly last call. I rolled my eyes at his response.

I don’t go drinking every night, so I wouldn’t know, I typed back quickly. Asshole.

Just a few times a week? Only when Brock and Jock are available?

Haha. Very Funny. I made a face. Brock and Jock were twins that I had hired to pose as boyfriends for Liv and me in order to make Xander jealous when things hadn’t been going too well for them. It hadn’t worked out very well, and Brock and Jock hadn’t fooled anyone into believing that they were our boyfriends.

What are you doing up so late? Looking to get into trouble? My heart stopped as I read his words. Was he trying to pick me up?

What kind of trouble? I typed back quickly.

You tell me.

What are you asking me, Aiden?

Nothing. I was just joking.

Oh okay. What are you doing?

About to hit the sack. I have a big meeting at work tomorrow.

Oh okay. Disappointment filled me. Tonight wasn’t going to be the night that Aiden Taylor professed his love for me.

Aiden: Sweet Dreams, Alice. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Alice: That might be hard.

Aiden: I’m well aware of that. :)

Alice: What does that mean?

Aiden: What do you think it means?

Alice: I’m not 16 anymore.

Aiden: I’m glad to hear it.

Alice:It was an honest mistake. I lied. It hadn’t been a mistake at all.

Aiden: I know. You told me.

Alice: I got confused about whose bed was whose.

Aiden: Sure you did.

Alice: What does that mean? Sure you did.

Aiden: Alice, sweet dreams.

Alice: We should talk about this Aiden. I don’t want you thinking anything that you shouldn’t be thinking.

Aiden: That was a long time ago, Alice. I’m over it.

Alice:Fine. Good Night.

I closed my laptop and jumped out of bed, feeling antsy. What did he mean he was over it? Was he still mad at me? Was he angry? Was he trying to tell me that he was over me and letting me know that I had no shot with him? I groaned as I walked to the kitchen and heard Liv and Xander whispering and doing heaven knows what in the living room.

“Get a room, guys!” I shouted into the living room with a snarl, suddenly feeling upset and angry at the both of them.

“Alice?” Liv sounded surprised, and I heard her get up off of the couch and walk into the kitchen. “Everything okay?”

“I’m fine. Just wondering why you guys think it’s okay to make out in our joint living room,” I said churlishly as I opened the fridge. “Isn’t your boyfriend a millionaire or something? Do you guys have to make out in our living room, like some randy teenagers?”

“We weren’t making out,” Liv said simply. “We were watching a movie.”

“So why did I hear whispering and kissing?”

“You heard kissing?” Liv raised an eyebrow at me. “Xander asked me to pass him the popcorn, and I told him to get his own,” she explained and studied my face. “What’s going on, Alice?”

“Nothing.” I bit my lower lip, my face hot with shame. “Sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” She continued to stand there. “Are you sad about Aiden?”

“He’s just a jerk,” I groaned again as I pulled out the carton of chocolate milk. “I don’t know why he gets to me so much.”

“Because you like him.” She smiled.

“Yeah, I guess so.” I poured a tall glass and then looked for some cookies. My stomach was in knots and I needed a sugar high to make me feel better.

“It’s fine, Alice,” she continued. “He’s just being an ass. He’ll come around, and he’ll forget that silly little kiss.”

“That’s not everything,” I said softly as I pulled out my purple box of Cadbury Fingers. They were my expensive treat to myself. They were more expensive than regular cookies because they were imported from England, but I loved my sticks of biscuit covered by milk chocolate. They were worth going broke for.