Chapter 5

I was supposed to listen to the professor after a school break, but I heard nothing he had discussed. The classes ended, and I understand nothing. My mind kept on wondering somewhere. I shouldn’t be thinking about Gavin because we only talked yesterday until that morning.

I felt guilty about what I said to him before I went to school. I was thinking I hurt him for real that time. Because I knew what he felt for me was genuine. I could see it in his eyes every time he spoke to me with full of admiration. I groaned in frustration and stomped my head on the table. Some students who were going out turned around in surprise to where I was sitting beside the window. Thinking I was just acting baffling, they went on without sparing me a glance anymore.

I didn’t need to be distracted while studying or else it would ruin my plan of finishing a degree before going faraway. It was also my fault. I shouldn’t have responded to him when he entered the coffee shop. Ignoring him was the best choice, but I failed on it.

There was no use in thinking about him more. I put my notebooks and pen in my bag pack and walked out of the classroom. I found my only friend Tristan waiting for me. He was sitting at the bottom of the stairs. He stopped from watching a certain clip on his phone and waved his hand when he saw me.

I moved closer to him as he stood up to greet me.

“I saw your friend. I never think he is in this university as well,” he said to me when we were facing each other.

I looked at him with a confused expression on my face since I didn’t have any friend other than him.

“Who’s friend? I don’t know who you’re referring to,” I told him as I hang my bag pack on my left shoulder.

His forehead furrowed as he was thinking because of my response. After his train of thought ended in a second, he looked at me in the eye.

“If not, he’s your friend. He’s your boyfriend then.” He pointed his finger at me with a silly look in his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me? Do you think it would disgust me just because you like men?”

I smacked his head lightly to wake him up from his delusion. “What are you even saying? There’s nothing to tell since I don’t have a boyfriend.”

I walked, and he went with me to my left.

“What’s he’s doing in your house then? I called you this early morning to check up on you since you didn’t reply last night. He answered me,” he told me.

I stopped since I didn’t understand he was sure he met Gavin. “How did you know it was him?” I asked.

“Because he greeted me in the hallway earlier.”

“How does he look when you saw him?”

“Why are you asking? Are you that head over heels in him?” he teased me.

“Just answer me.” I raised my hand to smack him once more, and he flinched. I rubbed his head instead to encourage him to speak.

“He’s stunning.”

“That’s not what I want to hear,” I told him as I put my hand in my pocket. “Does he look like a student here?”

“Of course. He even knew the professor from aerospace engineering.”

Once I heard his answered, I had guessed Gavin saw me in the university and started tailing me. He was really studying even though he didn’t need it.

“Where did you see him, exactly?” I questioned my friend. But I didn’t give a chance to answer. I reminded myself to forget about him. “Nevermind. Did you bring the files?” I added to change the subjects.

He took out the black flash drive from his pocket that contained the papers Maggie had prepared.

“Do you need anything else? I can call her,” he said to me as he handed me the flash drive.

“I already have everything. I just need to go to the faculty room. How’s she?” I received the device and put it inside the side pocket of my backpack.

“I told you she’s fine. Don’t worry.” He tapped my shoulders. “It wasn’t your fault a man tried to kidnap her. Let’s go now to the faculty room. I have to monitor you since she thought you would forget to give the papers.”

“She didn’t trust me,” I said as we walked down the stairs.

“A little. Don’t blame her, she was just thinking about her grades. I knew you understand since you both supporting yourselves. I am still wondering why you didn’t become friends with her. You’re taking the same class for months now.”

“I told you I am not looking for friends. If you didn’t force me to be your friends, we wouldn’t be talking right now.”

“Don’t say it like that. I really found you cool when I strike a conversation with you in our freshman year. And thanks to you, I have now a girlfriend.”

He was not saying it wrong. I had a major role in why they were in a relationship. I became their bridge for a couple of weeks before they finally talked to each other.

As we were about the reach the of the stairs, I paused after seeing Gavin leaning on the wall. He raised his hand to greet me while smiling. Tristan gave my arm a nudge, wiggling his thick eyebrows to tease me. I stared at my friend and ignored Gavin.

Gavin’s face became sullen the moment I looked away from him. Tristan stayed quiet, and we continued taking the stairs. When I was about to step out of the stairs, Gavin grabbed my wrist that made me turned around. I glared at him and he shook his head lightly to respond. I planned to yank my hand to release my wrist from his grip, but it wouldn’t budge. His hold got tighter.

No matter what I would say, he kept on ignoring them.

Seeing that Gavin was stopping me, Tristan suddenly excuse himself.

“I forgot I have something to do,” Tristan told me and whispered. “Talk to him and tell me later how you met.”

I wanted to kick him but he had already runaway. I looked at his back until he disappeared after turning to the right of the empty hall.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. “Fine. I will listen if you have something to say,” I said to him without looking at him. I only turned around when he let go my wrist.

I sat down on the stairs, and he copied what I did. He looked at me afterward while I stared in front. I waited for him to speak, and it took him a minute before he finally told me something.

“Can yo let me stay by you side? I promise, I will not force myself on you,” he said to his sincerest voice he could muster.

I ignored what he had just said.

“What made you change your mind?” I asked him since it has been bothering me all morning. I spared him a glance. “From the past year, you just watch me from a far.”

This time he was the who looked away.

“I knew the moment you locked eyes with that bald man, everything will change. To protect you, I had to be on your side all the time. It will only happen if I told you my feelings, since it’s the only reason I have to be close to you.”

“Wait. This means you knew where he came from?”

He met me in the eye. “Yes. He came from the same pack that wanted you dead.”

“You even knew that about me,” I said, and it didn’t surprise me. In the back of my mind, I already expected it.

“Yeah. Do you think it is wrong?”

“No. It just confuses me because I thought you only started knowing me when I noticed you,” I explained, so that he would not get the wrong idea about what I said.

“What I told you last night was real. I’ve known you for a long time before you saw me. And I never expected to see you here in this university when I transferred here a year ago.”

I studied his face. He was not making it up. “How?” I asked.

He closed his mouth. It meant he wasn’t planning to answer me. I punched him lightly on his side and he giggled to tell me he was happy that I already changed my mind.

“I will not tell you a thing. I am sure you will remember, since we’ll always be together every day from this moment on.” He stood up and hopped to get down the stairs.

“Aren’t you really going to tell me?” I gritted my teeth. “I will punch you.”

He smiled at me and pinched my cheeks. “You never change when you’re mad. You need to remember me just like how I remember you. I have to go. There’s a class I need to catch.”

He kept on pinching my cheek, so I slapped his hand to stop him. He freed my cheek and smiled widely. It didn’t end there, he also winked at me and walked away since he knew I would kick him.