School Celebrity

The sound of the alarm woke Derek and Aiden up early Monday morning. It was earlier than either of them usually got up since Derek not only had to get himself ready for work but he had to assist Aiden in getting ready for school as well. He didn't mind in the slightest though.

Once again, Derek princess carried Aiden into the bathroom. He got him a wet washcloth to wash his face and prepared his toothbrush. After that, he carried him back to the bed and asked what clothes he wanted to wear. Because of the cast, Aiden's options were a bit limited. Since he would be stuck in the wheelchair anyway, he decided not to try too hard and settled on sweatpants and an off the shoulder shirt with a black tank top underneath.

When Derek was done helping him get dressed, he took him downstairs to the dining room before going back upstairs to get a shower. Mrs. Hudson was already there and making breakfast for them.

"Good morning, dear! How are you feeling today?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Good morning. I'm alright. I'm glad I get to move around today."

"That's good. Just remember to take it easy. You're still recovering."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"You better. Oh and I made you a packed lunch for today so you don't have to worry about waiting in the cafeteria line or managing a tray."

"Wow. Thanks Mrs. Hudson."

"Not at all, dear." She brought Aiden some tea and continued cooking. A few minutes later, Derek came back already dressed for work. Mrs. Hudson brought their plates at almost the same time. "Here you are."

After they finished eating, Derek brought Aiden's medicine. He was prescribed pain medication at the hospital as well as anti-inflammatories. He had to take them twice a day for the next couple weeks.

About an hour later, they were both ready to leave and Derek carried Aiden to the car while Milo loaded his wheelchair. Derek got in his own car but they both went to the school. Derek was intent on helping Aiden till the last possible second and said he'd only head to work once Aiden was inside the school building. Aiden thought it was sweet despite being extremely overprotective so he didn't argue.

They arrived at the school on time and a lot of students sent curious glances their way when Derek helped Aiden out of the car. Of course, word had spread about what happened during the class trip. The whole school knew, although they didn't have all the details. The story they got was just about some crazy guy caused an explosion which led to an avalanche that Aiden got caught in. They weren't aware of Becca's involvement or of Zeke's bet with the crazy grenade wielding guy.

Whispers and gossip exploded in every direction when they caught sight of Aiden and his wheelchair. Teachers tried to shoo the students to their classrooms as Derek wheeled Aiden over to where Yuki was happily waiting.

"Morning Aiden! How are you feeling?" Yuki asked.

"I'm fine, thanks. And are you sure you don't mind wheeling me around the school? I can do it myself if it's too much."

"What? No way! I totally got this!" Aiden smiled.

"Alright." Derek placed a hand on Aiden's shoulder.

"Don't over do it today. If you get tired or anything, go home early. Milo will be staying here so you don't have to wait when you want to leave. I'll get going, alright?"

"Relax. I'll be fine. Just go to work already!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." Aiden and Yuki both waved as Derek got back in his car. Then, Yuki wheeled Aiden inside.

The hallways were packed with people but they all moved aside to let Aiden and Yuki go through. Aiden heard his name several times from the whispers that echoed around him. Yuki felt anxious attracting so much attention so he walked faster.

"What's with everybody?" Aiden asked. "What, they've never seen someone in a wheelchair before? I expected some level of gossip and staring but this is a bit much."

"It's probably because of what happened at the lodge after the avalanche."

"Huh? What happened?"

"Well…" Yuki started to explain.

Apparently right after the avalanche, the lodge called for search and rescue but things were proceeding extremely slowly because of the inclement weather and according to the radar, it was only going to get worse. Everyone thought Aiden was going to die waiting for the rescue team and it was complete chaos.

However, a bunch of mercenary type men showed up with helicopters, snow mobiles, special searching equipment, and medical supplies. They took control of the entire operation in a matter of minutes. The only information they gave was that they worked for Mr. Atwood.

"Hm? Atwood?" Aiden thought for a moment. The name sounded familiar but it took a bit for him to remember where he heard it. "...Oh, shit! That's Isaac's last name!"

"Yeah and according to some of the wealthier students, they've seen him before at banquets and important events they attended with their parents. Everyone was super respectful to him no matter who they were. That's why people are talking a lot about you. They're trying to guess why someone that powerful would come to your rescue."

"Damn! Just what does he do for a living? I wonder how bad the gossip's going to get when they learn he's my bio dad."

"It'll be crazy."

"Wait, you knew?" Aiden asked.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. He kind of announced it at the hospital. Not on purpose though. When the doctor came out and was trying to figure out who was responsible for you, Lyla said she was your guardian, Derek said you lived with him, and Isaac blurted out that he was your father. I don't think he even realized he said it till later. Mikael told me not to say anything until after you found out."

"Yeah, I get it."

In no time at all, they arrived at their first class. It was the second semester so it was a miracle that they were still in the same class in the morning. As soon as Yuki pushed Aiden inside, the room erupted in applause. Aiden was surprised and Yuki jumped. The students who were already inside rushed up to them and surrounded Aiden, all talking at the same time.

"Aiden, welcome back!"

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

"Hey, can we sign your cast?" Aiden felt like a celebrity surrounded by fans and paparazzi. It was insane. The teacher ended up having to intervene.

"Alright, everyone back to your seats! I'll let you have the last ten minutes of class today to catch up. Aiden, welcome back. If you have any trouble catching up with the work you missed or if you don't understand something we went over while you were out, don't hesitate to let me know." The class returned to normal, for the most part. Occasionally, people would turn to look at him and then whisper to their friends or start texting on their phones.

In the last ten minutes of class, everybody wanted to talk to him about his injuries, the avalanche, and especially Issac. Aiden responded in vague, roundabout ways and never gave them definitive answers and then he distracted them all by letting everyone sign his cast.

When the class finally ended, Aiden wasn't looking forward to the next. Just one class and he was already tired. He guessed that the rest of his classes would most likely go the same way. However, he didn't want to go home early because that would cause Derek and Mrs. Hudson to worry to no end. They didn't need any more reasons to be worried about him.

Yuki took Aiden to his next class but regrettably they weren't taking it together. He said he'd come back and take him to the cafeteria when their classes ended and to wait for him and Aiden agreed. Yuki left and, just as he expected, everyone in the class surrounded him and started bombarding him with questions.

The class Aiden was in was his art class. He didn't know anything about the class or the teacher yet but just the teacher's arrival was enough to shut everyone up. The teacher was a tall, gloomy looking guy. He wore all black and his black wavy hair was messy and covered his eyes. When he noticed Aiden, he paused.

"Oh right, there was another one. You're the kid who almost died, right?" Aiden was a bit taken aback but he answered with a smile.

"Yes, that's me."

"'Kay. Don't fall behind the rest of the class." With that, the teacher sat down at his easel and didn't say another word. Not having any idea what he was supposed to do, Aiden asked for help from the person closest to him who introduced themselves as Millie. She was kind enough to get all his art supplies as well as tell him everything he missed.

By the time lunch rolled around, Aiden just wanted the day to end. The time when he was happy to be getting out of the house for a little while seemed so far away.