“I’m sorry,” I looked up to his face and it was Aaron, the first thing I saw were his beautiful blue eyes. They looked like two sapphires, especially reflecting in the sunlight. They were simply… Wow.
“Are you comfortable? If you are, you can stay as long as you want, I don’t mind,” he said, waking me from my trance and making me blush. I immediately got up and offered my hand to help him up, he accepted without hesitation.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. I felt so stupid.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” he said while brushing off his pants. “But can you explain why you were so distracted? You didn’t look well at all.”
I looked back to see if Nick was still with that girl. I shouldn’t have done that. He’s there with his arm around her, looking at me, and she’s looking at him. Nick’s gaze shifts to Aaron. His eyes seem to gleam with anger when he sees Aaron and me. I look in the direction Nick is looking, and only then do I realize that Aaron’s hand is on my shoulder.
He took my hand and led me to a path on the left, I don’t know where it leads, and I don’t care.
I stopped in the middle of a garden full of flowers. I released Aaron’s hand and walked over to some beautiful red flowers. I bent down and touched them.
“I see you like tulips,” he said, and I looked at him. I shrugged.
“They are very beautiful,” he sat down next to me.
“Yes, I know. I found this place a few days before I started teaching here,” he picked a white rose, plucked it, and gently placed it behind my ear. “It looks perfect on you.”
That simple gesture made me blush. I got up and checked the time, trying to hide my face behind my hair.
“I think it’s time to go, I’m going to be late for my history class.”
“I don’t think the professor will scold you.”
“Do you know him? Isn’t he strict?”
“Yes, he is, but not as much as you think,” with that, we both headed back to the entrance and there was no one in the courtyard, it was deserted.
“I can’t be late for another class,” I whispered and started to walk quickly leaving Aaron behind. I found my class quickly luckily it was on the ground floor. I entered and looked for a seat. Eva waved at me to sit next to her. I gave her a forced smile and approached her.
“I saved you a seat,” she smiled from ear to ear. I put my backpack on the floor and settled in.
“Thanks,” was all I said.
“Is something wrong?”
“Am I that obvious?” I asked, looking at her.
“Very much so,” she laughed.
“Just a thing with my stepbrother. Nothing important.”
“Yes, today everyone saw Cady and Nick kissing at the entrance,” I clenched my hands into fists on my thighs.
“Cady?” I asked, trying to hide my anger.
“Yes, she’s the most known girl. And not for good things if you know what I mean,” I nodded my head. “She and Nick were dating. But they never stopped cheating on each other, they don’t love each other. They are just together for appearances. As far as I understand, Cady is the daughter of Nick’s mother’s boss.”
Just as I was going to ask more questions the professor walked in. It was Aaron.
“Look, there’s your admirer,” Eva whispered in my ear. Aaron looked around the room until he found me and winked at me.
I have a feeling something is going to go wrong with this guy. Very, very wrong.
“I told you!” Eva exclaimed as we were leaving the last class.
“What?” she rolled her eyes as if the answer was quite obvious.
“The professor. He passed by the window just to look at you many times, haven’t you noticed?” Of course I noticed. The man didn’t hide it at all. But I wanted to end this topic, even though he’s cute he’s my professor and I shouldn’t be interested in whether he likes me or not.
“Compared to others, I pay attention to the class,” I lied.
“Ha Ha. Very funny. Hey! Do you want me to give you a ride?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” I sighed. Otherwise, I would have to walk to Olivia’s house, as I don’t want to see Nick at all.
I won’t ask for any explanations, nor will I talk to him. I won’t say or do anything. The kiss never happened, none of our confessions – at least mine – meant anything. If he can’t understand it, I’ll make him understand.
His actions hurt me, and I think he’s very aware they do. If he truly loved me as he said he wouldn’t hurt me, he wouldn’t confuse me.
“Can I ask what happened between Nick and you?” Eva asked, looking at the ground, nervous.
I was going to say no but something else occupied all my thoughts and my mouth stopped working, but what was working very well were my eyes, too well, I would say. We were entering the parking lot and I saw him. He was laughing with that Cady, he had her backed up against his car and he took her by the waist to pull her closer to him. He placed his cheek against hers and whispered something in her ear, she nodded, gave him a kiss on the lips and left.
Nick looked up and his eyes met mine. The expression on his face was of someone worried. I didn’t realize I was crying until Eva took my arm and asked:
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I wiped the tears that were running down my cheeks and gave her a forced smile.
“Nothing, can we go?” I wanted to get out of there, now. She nodded and with her keys opened the car doors. I got in quickly seeing Nick running towards the car. Before Eva put on her seatbelt, Nick opened the door on my side and yanked me out roughly.
“What are you doing?” he growled. This is a joke, right? I’m the one who should be foaming at the mouth, not him.
“I’m leaving,” I replied. I looked away. If I look him in the eyes, I know he’ll get me to fall into his arms like a fool. He bent down, I didn’t understand what he was doing until he said:
“Thank you, I’ll take her,” and he gave Eva a panties-dropping smile. I couldn’t help but see how she blushed and nodded. Another one who falls for his charms.
“No!” I screamed. “I’m leaving with her.”
Nick glared at me and I did the same to him. Eva looked at me, then at Nick, and then back at me. The girl didn’t know what to do and I don’t blame her. If I were her, I would have left by now.
He still had his hand on my arm, he was squeezing hard.
“You’re hurting me,” I said through gritted teeth. “Let me go,” but he ignored my request, he only loosened his grip.
“She said to let her go,” I turned my head and Aaron was approaching us, throwing daggers at Nick with his gaze. “What part didn’t you understand? She said to let her go,” I knew where this was going, I looked at Nick and he was ready for a fight, as was Aaron. He let go of me and approached Aaron dangerously.
“And who the hell are you?” Nick asked, gritting his teeth.
“Her teacher and if you don’t want trouble, I recommend you leave her alone,” Aaron’s angry side is very scary but not as much as Nick’s. That expression gives me goosebumps, and I’m seeing it quite often lately.
Before anything could happen that could jeopardize Aaron’s job and lead to Nick’s immediate suspension or worse, expulsion, I took Nick’s hand.
“Let’s go,” I told him and he looked at me. Under my touch, he calmed down, gave Aaron one last look, and led me to his car. I looked at Aaron and whispered thank you, he just nodded and kept looking at me until Nick started the car and we drove away from the parking lot.