Chapter 5: Go on, Beg me!

"Is there something else you both aren't telling me?" Brianna asked, narrowing her eyes. Aiden stayed silent, not bothering to reply.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk and clasping her hands together. "Well, it's not really my place to say this, but—"

"I can just transfer to another school," Aiden interrupted before she could finish. "It's not like I'll need permission for that especially since I'm not in high school anymore."

Without waiting for a response, he walked out of the office, ignoring the lecturer's calls behind him.

******

Tristan arrived in class and found Catherine sitting in his seat, clearly waiting for him. He kept walking until he reached her.

She smiled and scooted over, tapping the empty spot next to her as if inviting him to sit which he did. She pulled out a small goodie bag and offered it to him, but he just stared at it, not understanding why she was giving him a gift.

"It's a way of thanking you for finding me the book, despite what happened yesterday," she murmured, biting her lip nervously as she continued to extend the bag toward him. Reluctantly, he took it, sensing she would feel bad if he refused.

"Oh my God, your face!" she exclaimed when she noticed the bruises on him. She hadn’t seen them before, too focused on the gift. She instinctively reached out to touch his face, but Tristan quickly tilted his head back to avoid her hand.

“It’s nothing serious,” he said flatly. She nodded, giving him a small smile despite being slightly hurt by his reaction.

There was a brief silence between them before she finally spoke up again.

"Um..." she stammered, making Tristan look up at her, urging her to continue.

"I... I was wondering if it would be okay for me to bring in questions I don’t understand, and maybe you could help..."

"I'm busy," he interrupted bluntly. She nodded, visibly disappointed. Tristan noticed and sighed softly, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them. "But... you can bring them. I'll spare a few minutes to help before I head to the library." he added, and her face instantly brightened.

"Thanks, Tristan!" she said, her excitement clear. He only nodded in response.

"See you around then," she said, smiling as she stood up, waved, and left the class, her smile growing wider as she walked away.

"Yoh!" someone called out from behind Tristan, but he didn’t bother to reply or even acknowledge the person, so they sat down next to him.

"Hey, buddy. Thinking about your life again?" the person teased.

"I’m always thinking about my life, Faustino," Tristan replied casually, pulling a textbook from his backpack and placing it on his desk. It was a free period since he had deliberately missed the first class.

"What's with the hottie who just left? Is she..." Faustino trailed off, giving Tristan a teasing look.

"Oh, please. I’m busy," Tristan said, attempting to plug in his earphones when Faustino grabbed them.

"I'm curious about something," Faustino said suddenly. "What's your deal with Aiden, the junior student?" he asked, causing Tristan to glare as he yanked the earphones from Faustino's hand.

"You two seem to hate each other. I mean, the whole school knows about it," Faustino added, but Tristan ignored him, drowning out the conversation by putting on his earphones and turning up the music.

"He's so cold," Faustino muttered with a grin, shaking his head as he pulled out his own book to study. He considered himself Tristan's only friend because Tristan rarely got along with others. Tristan disliked having too many people around, fearing they would intrude on his privacy, something he wasn’t willing to tolerate.

*****

Aiden had only offered a brief "thank you" to Troy and the rest of his friends who had taken care of him. After that, he became unusually quiet, not speaking to anyone.

Troy cleared his throat, pulling a small box from his bag and placing it in front of Aiden. Aiden, who had been staring out the window, shifted his gaze to the box and then to Troy.

"It's a gift from Selene," Troy said. Aiden's expression hardened as he pushed the gift box back toward Troy.

"What's your deal with women, anyway?" Jefferson suddenly asked, sitting beside Aiden. Aiden chose not to respond.

"If you hate women this much, do you even like your mom?" Colby, seated in front of Aiden, turned to face him. Aiden sighed, trying to brush off the comment.

"I hate 'moms' the most," he replied casually. His friends burst into laughter. Aiden shot them a serious look, and they immediately stopped. What was so funny? Why were they laughing when he was being dead serious?

"Wait... You hate..." Sam began, but Aiden cut him off.

"Don't finish that sentence. Just know I hate 'moms'." His friends exchanged confused glances. Was he really serious? Curiosity gnawed at them—they wanted to know what was going on with Aiden, but they didn't dare ask, fully aware of his short temper.

Before they could dwell on it any longer, a lecturer walked into the room, signaling the start of class.

*****

Tristan sat alone in the cafeteria, working on his laptop while quietly eating his sandwich. Soon, a voice called his name, and he looked up to see Catherine.

"Busy?" she asked, taking a seat across from him.

"Hmm," he hummed in response, his fingers still typing on the keyboard. The rector had tasked him with tutoring Aiden, threatening that his own grade would depend on Aiden's performance. This frustrated Tristan, but he had no choice. He needed to teach Aiden, but how could he, when they hadn't been on good terms since high school?

"Alright..." Catherine muttered, glancing over at her friends with a wide smile. One of them, seated in the third row, gave her a thumbs up, and she grinned in return, giggling softly as she turned her attention to her food. Just being this close to Tristan made her happy.

"Hey, Tristan." He heard another voice call his name, this time a male voice. Tristan sighed, finally looking up.

"Are you busy?" Faustino asked as he moved to take a seat. Without a word, Tristan closed his laptop and stood up.

Faustino frowned. "What's the matter?"

"I'll see you later. I need to go to the library," Tristan said, picking up his laptop and heading for the cafeteria door. But a few meters from the exit, he stopped.

He saw Aiden stumbling toward him, clearly about to fall. Tristan glanced down and noticed Aiden had slipped on a puddle of water. Despite his dislike for Aiden, he instinctively moved to help. But as Tristan extended his hand, Aiden deliberately redirected his body, crashing to the floor with a loud thud instead.

The cafeteria went silent, and everyone gasped. Tristan paused, resisting the urge to shake his head at Aiden’s foolishness, and continued walking out, regretting his brief impulse to help.

Aiden stood up, brushing himself off as if nothing had happened. When he looked around, he noticed everyone staring at him.

"Never seen someone fall before?" he snapped with a scoff, making his way toward his friends.

"What was that all about?" Kai, Jefferson, and Colby chorused in unison.

,******

It was the end of the day, and Aiden and his friends were discussing basketball games when Tristan entered the classroom with two other people.

The conversation died instantly as everyone, except Aiden, turned to look at the door. Aiden, with his back to the entrance, didn’t notice Tristan at first.

“What?” Aiden asked, confused by the sudden silence. He glanced over his shoulder to see Tristan standing there. The moment their eyes met, Aiden felt a sharp twist in his stomach—a mix of hatred and anger. Still, he decided to fight the urge to react. He wasn’t in the mood today. Ignoring Tristan seemed like the best option.

“We need to talk, Aiden,” Tristan said firmly. But Aiden acted as if he hadn’t heard him, trying to engage his friends in conversation again.

“Aiden!” Tristan called more seriously this time, grabbing Aiden by the shoulder and turning him to face him.

“Don’t touch me, you shithead,” Aiden snapped, glaring at Tristan, while Cathrine scoffed softly from the side, shooting Aiden a deadly glare.

“I’m not here to fight or argue. Just tell me when you're ready for the lesson,” Tristan said, trying to remain calm. Aiden chuckled in annoyance.

“Stop pretending to be calm!” Aiden shouted. “I know exactly what you are. I hate you, and I wish I could destroy that smug face of yours,” Aiden muttered bitterly.

Tristan just stared at him, a slow, twisted smile creeping across his face—an unusual expression for him.

“No, you don’t,” Tristan sniggered, causing Aiden’s brow to furrow. He didn’t move as Tristan stepped closer, closing the space between them.

“You don’t hate me, Aiden,” Tristan whispered, his lips just inches from Aiden’s ear. “You’re just afraid of how much you’ll need me. How much you want me in your messy life. How much you crave for me to love you like a brother. Go on, beg me, and maybe I’ll see you as the brother you never had.”