Dorian no longer felt the confidence he once had when facing Aveline. Now, all that remained was an overwhelming sense of awkwardness.
For the longest time, he had assumed Aveline came from a modest background, believing that her closeness to Orion was due to money. But the truth struck like a thunderbolt-his family’s business was merely a tiny distributor under the Barnet family’s vast empire. The disparity between them was far beyond anything he had imagined.
“Aveline, are you leaving?” Dorian asked, his voice strained and unnatural.
“Yes, I’m leaving,” she replied calmly. Aveline didn’t dislike Dorian. Despite his occasional narcissism, he wasn’t an unlikable person overall.
“Aveline, I know you and Orion have been close since childhood, but I want to say this-I really like you.”
Aveline didn’t expect him to be so persistent. She found it strange. After all, they were only in middle school. How could someone so young truly understand what it meant to like someone? Even though she had spent her entire life with Orion, she wasn’t sure if her feelings for him were romantic.
Could someone who had only seen her a handful of times truly understand what “liking” meant?
“My answer is the same as before-I don’t like you,” she said firmly.
“You don’t have to like me. It’s enough that I like you,” Dorian replied, his tone resolute.
“It’s not that I doubt your sincerity, Dorian. I just find it odd. Do you really know what it means to like someone? You’ve only seen me a few times. You don’t even know what kind of person I am in private.”
“I may not know you completely, but I know you like white, you enjoy sweets, you prefer quiet places, and you dislike noisy crowds. You like soda water, but you hate flies…”
Aveline was startled. They weren’t even in the same class, yet he knew so much about her.
A voice interrupted, calm but cutting:
“She likes dresses, matcha ice cream, classic literature, and spending time in bookshops. She doesn’t dislike noise-she dislikes people with ulterior motives trying to please her. And she prefers freshly made yogurt over soda water. As for flies, it’s not just them-she hates all black-winged insects. She doesn’t eat meat often, but recently she’s started liking it.
When it comes to understanding her, you don’t even know a fraction of what I do. Dorian, is it? Forget it. Aveline has been mine since before she was even born.”
Orion had appeared out of nowhere, his voice steady and unwavering. Nearby, Joyce clapped her hands enthusiastically. “Orion, you’re amazing!” she exclaimed.
Orion took the book from Aveline’s hands as if it were second nature. He turned to Dorian, who stood there looking utterly defeated.
“With me here, you’ll never have a chance in this lifetime,” Orion said, his tone final. “Aveline, let’s go. Mr. Barnet and Mrs. Barnet are waiting for us.”
“Alright. Goodbye, Dorian,” Aveline said indifferently. Who in the world could compare to Orion in terms of attentiveness? He knew every embarrassing thing about her, let alone her preferences.
Dorian watched them leave, the girl in the white dress forever etched into his memory.
“Aveline, why won’t you believe that I really like you?” he thought.
He would never forget the first time he saw her. She had been wearing a white dress, her hair tied simply at the back. Most of the other students were accompanied by their parents for registration, but she had walked alone, her face carrying a distant, frosty expression as she wove through the crowded throng.
In that instant, he had spotted her, and for the first time in his life, he understood what it meant to fall in love at first sight.
He had seen scenes like this on TV-the heroine descending in a flowing white dress, mesmerizing everyone around her. He had always thought those moments were exaggerated, created for novels or TV dramas.
But when he saw Aveline, he realized it wasn’t exaggerated at all.
It wasn’t until she had walked far away that he snapped out of his daze. Thanks to his striking looks, he quickly attracted the attention of many girls, but his heart stayed fixated on the girl in white.
He had searched for her relentlessly, and it hadn’t been difficult. Aveline’s beauty naturally caught the attention of others, making it easy to learn her name.
Within days, many boys had confessed to her, only to be rejected. She was colder than he had imagined.
Whenever he had the chance, he would find ways to cross paths with her, hoping she might notice him. But it was as though her world consisted only of herself. She never even glanced at the boys around her, not even during the three “coincidental” encounters he had orchestrated.
Despite his frustration, he continued to wait for her at the same spot every day, timing it perfectly to see her pass by.
Though she was cold, every time he saw her, the world seemed to brighten.
That was the strange thing about liking someone. A fleeting moment could leave a lifelong impression.
—
Aveline noticed Orion’s dark expression and tugged at his sleeve. “Orion, are you upset?”
“No,” he replied curtly.
“Ha! Orion is jealous!” Joyce teased, clearly enjoying the drama. “It’s because other boys like Aveline just as much as you do.”
“No one in this world can like her more than I do,” Orion said, his voice steady but firm.
Still, the fact that another boy had learned so much about Aveline didn’t sit well with him. It was as if the treasure he had held so dearly in his palm had been discovered by someone else.
“Orion, I don’t like him at all. Isn’t that enough to make you happy?” Aveline asked, exasperated.
She quickly understood how he felt when Celestia, wearing a hat, approached Orion.
“Orion, can I talk to you alone? Just for a moment,” Celestia said, her voice soft and pitiful.
Aveline remembered how Celestia always acted sweet in public but schemed behind the scenes. She immediately suspected that Celestia was looking for an opportunity to flirt with Orion.
Her mood soured instantly, and a chilling aura surrounded her.
“There’s nothing for us to talk about,” Orion said, brushing her off without hesitation.
“Orion…” Celestia’s voice trailed off mournfully as she watched them leave.
Joyce, ever the observer, commented with a grin, “Aveline, you don’t look too happy either. It seems like both of you are quite popular at school.”
“Joyce!” Aveline glared at her fiercely.
“Aveline, isn’t it a good thing that people like Orion? It just proves how charming he is,” Joyce added with a mischievous smile.
Aveline’s expression shifted. “You’re right. By the way, didn’t Mom say she recently met a very capable woman? She’s planning to introduce her to Uncle Ashy for a blind date, isn’t she? I’ll be sure to tell Uncle Ashy later.”
Joyce’s face immediately fell. “Uncle Ashy doesn’t want to go on blind dates. He’s perfectly fine as he is now.”
Aveline found Joyce’s reaction puzzling. She assumed it was due to her younger sister’s possessiveness. Though Joyce’s feelings toward Asher seemed odd at times, Aveline didn’t give it much thought. Still, whenever Joyce got out of hand, Aveline always knew that teasing her about Asher was the perfect way to rein her in.