C2 – He's holding a nobody's hand.

"Ally, I can't find the Auditing Problems book. Is it on loan?" Kattie asked her.

She was sorting through books in the library and tidying up the shelves when her classmate approached.

Kattie, the typical nerd with glasses, was a genius in terms of academic grades. She was the one who looked like she was a walking library with a stack of books. However, she was also Allison's trusted friend.

"It's with Michael," she gestured towards the male version of Kattie, who was busy reading at the second table in the library corner.

"Oh, that explains it," she excused herself as she headed towards Michael.

Ally hoped she could join them, but she was in the library as a Student Assistant to work. She could only read when their instructor was absent, and they spent the entire period there.

She sighed as she absentmindedly touched her right arm, which had taken a hard hit during her fall earlier. It was already turning black and blue. Luckily, it was somewhat concealed by the shirt dress she was wearing.

She finished her tasks as her vacant period was coming to an end. She decided to join Kattie and Michael.

"Ally, have you finished our assignment?" Michael asked as they descended the stairs. The library was on the fourth floor.

"Yes, I completed it last night. I just hope it's correct," as she barely had an hour each night to work on her assignments. Fortunately, she had never failed due to her rushed work. She was starting to believe that she performed better under time constraints and pressure.

"When did you ever make a mistake, Ally? You're amazing because even if you don't read much, you still manage to pass," Kattie praised her.

"Oh, come on. In that case, what's my comparison to both of you?" she smiled at her friends. While looking at them, she accidentally bumped into someone passing by in a hurry, causing her to lose balance.

They were still four steps away from the ground floor, and Michael, who was beside her, couldn't reach her in time. Ally braced herself for another hard fall that day.

'Please, not on my right!' she silently wished.

Her descent felt like slow motion. She closed her eyes, anticipating the impact with the floor. But then, she felt herself being caught around the waist!

"Ethan!" her eyes widened when she saw who saved her.

"It's you again!" He said, smiling down at her.

'Oh my God...'

Ally felt like an overripe apple. Ethan's face was so close, and his gorgeous eyes were staring at her. 

Leio, who was on Ethan's right, whistled. "And we met again," he remarked teasingly.

"Ally! Are you okay?" Kattie approached with concern. "Thank you, Ethan."

Only then did she realize that Ethan was still holding her. As he helped her stand, he unintentionally touched her right arm, causing her to wince in pain.

"Ouch," she muttered.

But Ethan noticed it and immediately examined her arm. He lifted her sleeve until the large bruise was visible.

"You've got a bruise!" he exclaimed. "I knew it. You were the girl this morning!"

"Thank you for catching me," she replied to avoid the topic. "Kattie, Michael, let's go."

"Hey," Zion, who was silent earlier, spoke up. "Mr. Zamora will not be in today," referring to their next class instructor, where the three of them were classmates again.

It was amusing how they knew about it. Before, they were invisible to them. But now, they were aware that they belonged to the same class.

"Really?!" her friends excitedly asked and hurriedly went up to the library.

'Traitors. Why did you leave me?'

She was about to follow her two friends, but a hand wrapped around her waist, stopping her.

"That means we need to talk," Ethan pulled her closer, genuinely surprising her.

"What?" she turned to him with raised eyebrows. Wrong move. She shouldn't have. Because when she turned to face Ethan, she found his face dangerously close to hers.

She blushed even more.

"You're blushing," he teased.

"What do you want?" She tried to remove his hand and create some distance. She couldn't handle being so close to anyone, especially to Ethan.

"See you later, bro," Zion and Leio tapped Ethan on both shoulders before leaving them.

"We need to talk," he held her hand, shocking her.

"What's there to talk about? Hey!" she protested as he pulled her towards a place where they attracted attention.

Why? This was Ethan, and he was holding a nobody’s hand! "Where are we going?!" She tried breaking free by pulling her hand.

"Stop that," he scolded. "You're creating a scene."

She stopped, feeling self-conscious with the crowd staring at them. This was not how she wanted to end her college life. She didn't want to attract attention. She was happy existing in the background.

"Good," he smirked before just putting his arm around her. "Now this is better."

"Ethan," she said through gritted teeth.

"Stay calm, Allison."

He said her name! Ethan knew her name!

_____

"What?" she furrowed her brows and asked Ethan uncomfortably.

He led her to the school canteen where they sat facing each other. He bought two fruit shakes that now stood between them.

He had been staring at her face since earlier. With his arms crossed and a playful smile on his lips.

What a sight of the super handsome Ethan Montenegro. Only that she wasn't enjoying the view because it seemed like he was the one enjoying her discomfort at the moment.

"If you don't tell me why we're here, I swear, I'm walking out," she pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Relax," he leaned over the table. Before she could move away, he reached to remove her eyeglasses.

"Ethan!" she automatically closed her eyes. She wouldn't be able to see clearly without her eyeglasses. "Give it back!"

"When was the last time you visited your optometrist?" he asked, probably noticing that her glasses had many scratches.

When was the last time she changed her glasses? She couldn't remember. She planned on having her eyes checked again, but not at the moment. She needed all the money she could save for her studies. Just five more months.

"I don't know! You don't care..." she still hadn't opened her eyes, but her hands were reaching out to ask for her glasses. "Just give it back, please. I'm serious!"

She heard him sigh. Then she felt him move to sit beside her and put her glasses on her.

"Open your eyes now," Ethan's hands were still on her cheeks.

"What do you want from me, Ethan?" She stressed the question and opened her eyes, finding his blue-gray ones soft with concern while looking at her. "What?" She blushed, and he touched the part of her cheek that turned pink.

"Let's have your eyes checked," he said seriously.

"Thank you for your concern," she removed his hands from her face. "But it's not like I'm going blind anytime soon."

"Allison, you only have one pair, and they're beautiful. You should take good care of them."

"Really, thank you. But even if I want to," she stopped before revealing the reason why. "What are you doing outside in the wee hours?" he referred to their early morning encounter.

"It's five in the morning."

"Still too early."

"What do you care?"

"Because I almost hit you! If it wasn't me, it could be somebody else! And you might not just get a bruise next time!"

"Come on... That's an isolated thing. I've been on that job for years!"

"Years?" he shook his head. "And how old are you now, Allison? Seventeen? Eighteen? Nineteen -"

"Twenty," she snapped, not liking his tone. "I'm an adult. And I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Where are your parents?"

"What do you want to imply, Ethan? Let's put it this way. You are a billionaire's son. Even if I explain to you now why I need to work while you rich people are still sleeping, you will never understand. Not everyone you meet is as wealthy as you." she lectured, her lips forming a straight line while Ethan listened attentively.

"Done?"

"And I don't see the point of why you're wasting your time on me," she looked away and hugged her book before standing up.

"Others wanted my attention," he frowned.

"Then give it to those who wanted it. Excuse me, you're blocking the way."

"I'll walk you to your next class," he also stood up.

"I can manage."

"Don't be stubborn."

"What's wrong with you?" she asked in frustration.

He smiled slowly before answering.

"Maybe I like those who resist me."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes and threw her hands up in surrender.

She might have hoped he would notice her, but not like this. She didn't want to be the object of his pity.

Did she touch his heart somehow?