Misunderstanding?

Vienna's POV:

Gemini and her friends left the cafeteria like they had seen a ghost and wanted to escape the haunting desperately. Meanwhile, I remained standing there, rooted to the spot in complete disbelief. 

Did he just… threaten them with expulsion on my behalf? Did I hear it correctly…?

My mind was still trying to catch up when he turned around, looking at me with concern in his eyes. 

“Are you sure you aren’t hurt anywhere?”

His voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I blinked up at him, surprised.

Oh, God. My heart is doing that weird flutter thing again. 

“No, I’m good. Thank you for stepping in to help me, though.”

The words felt strange coming out of my mouth. 

Showing gratitude to someone wasn't something I was used to. I was five when my mom passed away, and I had been doing everything on my own since then– no matter how important, or how insignificant the task was.

I had never relied on anyone, I had never felt gratitude towards anyone for taking a stand for me…

I swallowed hard but still couldn't get rid of the unfamiliar feeling lodged in my chest, and I quickly added, 

“I mean, I am thankful for your help, but I could have handled it myself, everything was under control. So, please keep in mind that if something like this happens again, you don’t need to interfere on my behalf. I can settle my own scores.”

I looked up at him, expecting some sort of reply, but instead, I found him staring at me with narrowed eyes and a curious expression– as if he was trying to figure me out– the only thing missing was

a microscope. 

As our eyes locked, I was suddenly reminded of that moment in the hallway when I kissed him, and his hazel eyes had widened in shock… or surprise? 

Back then too, he had been staring at me without saying a single word– just like he was now. 

My face grew hot, embarrassment flooding in my veins. I looked away, trying to keep myself steady. 

“And also, Professor Maddox!”

I started by clearing out my throat. 

“I’m sorry. For… you know… kissing you in the hallway like that. I was dealing with something, and I wasn’t thinking straight, but that’s no excuse for it. I shouldn’t have… uh, kissed you.” 

My voice cracked towards the end. 

“So yeah… um… sorry again.”

I shuddered internally as the words just jumped off my tongue one after another, each one making the situation more and more awkward.

Come on, I knew how to speak. So why did I sound like a bumbling idiot right now?

And then, to make matters much worse, I saw the corners of his mouth twitch into a smirk.

I guess he must be having fun, watching me stammer like a clumsy moron. 

That's when I saw him open his mouth, like he was about to say something. At the sight of it, I felt a sudden panic rise in my chest.

My face was as red as a tomato, and I had no desire to watch myself turn into beetroot. There's just no way I could bear to stick around for whatever he had to say next. 

I had been in the middle of enough embarrassing situations for one day– and with this thought, my impulses took control. 

I spun around and hurried away before he could say a single word, and I practically broke out into a run once I had left the cafeteria. 

I rushed to the second floor, my feet barely touching the ground as I headed toward my next class for the Economics lecture. 

The whole day had already been a dumpster fire, and the last thing I needed was to be late and get scolded by the professor on top of it.

I was still panting as I came to a stop, bracing myself for a scolding while I stepped inside the classroom. But to my surprise, the room was completely empty.

Except for one person. 

There was someone sitting on the desk at the front, bent over the table and jotting something down in a notebook. 

I glanced at them quickly, but before I could even fully register who it was, the person looked up, as if sensing someone was standing in the doorway.

My heart skipped a beat.

No way.

It was none other than Kai Maddox.

What the hell was going on? I had just left him in the cafeteria a couple of minutes ago, and I hadn’t seen him leave or follow me out.

Yet, here he was, sitting on the desk like he had been here for a while.

This was just not possible, I mean, unless he knew how to jump from one place to another! Wait, did he actually know how to teleport or something?

My confusion must have been written across my forehead in bold letters, because he offered an explanation on his own. 

“Are you here for your Economics class? Professor Nara has called in sick today. Didn’t you get the message?” 

He smiled at me, and that expression gave me instant deja vu from the cafeteria.

What was going on? Why was I running into him everywhere today? Is this some kind of prank, or black magic!?

I couldn’t stop myself and instead of responding to his question, I marched up to him. 

“How did you get here so fast?”

He looked at me, looking slightly puzzled. 

“I’m sorry, what do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean. I just met you in the cafeteria, and I'm pretty sure I left before you did. So how did you get here before me?”

Professor Kai chuckled, and I frowned. Why did he keep smiling at my questions, was he enjoying this…?

Before I could fire some more bullets from my arsenal in the form of questions, he shook his head in amusement. 

“I get it now! That wasn’t me whom you just met in the cafeteria, Miss…?”

"Vienna.”

"Miss Vienna, you must have run into my twin brother, Fynn.”

I froze, my mind going blank. 

Twin brother?

Of course! That explained it all… oh gosh, have I been blabbering to the wrong person all along… all because of my misunderstanding?!