Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Athena’s P.O.V.

Brent’s sweet smile disappeared when I returned him the white rose. “I’m sorry. I can’t accept this,” I directly told him.

It would be much better if, at this early stage, I already made everything clear to him. Frankly speaking, I did not want to give him a chance, not even a one percent chance. I did not want to get his hopes too high. I did not want him to expect anything from me, not even friendship.

Now I knew the reason why there was always something by the way he looked at me. He liked me, and that made me cringe in distaste.

“But, Helena…” he tried to complain.

He did not want to get the flower, so I had no other choice but to place it on his desk. “No buts, no ifs.” I brusquely said, putting an end to what he had not yet started.

“Uh oh, busted!” His groupmates teased Brent. I even heard Jack mentioned my name. “Helena doesn’t even know how to break a pedal, she only knew how to break a heart! It’s okay, bro. We’re still here for you!”

I went back to my desk chair, irritatingly arranged my things, and did not look at them again. Noticing that Cristoff was reading a book and could not seem to care about what just happened, I did not care anymore if Brent got mad at me.

It was not my intention to embarrass Brent in front of our classmates here. I just wanted to make myself clear right from the start. I was even compassionate in that situation because I did not directly say and broadcast to everyone here that I did not like him at all!

When I took my seat, I opened my bag to get my cellular phone and Bluetooth headset, then I listened to the music. One of my hobbies was composing songs, and I was proud to say that I composed the majority of them in my playlist. I also opened one of my folders to sanity check our Annual Camp report until I got distracted by someone who sat beside me.

“From what I’ve heard, Jenny is absent today, so would you mind if I sit here for a while?” My music volume was not that loud, so I was still able to hear what he said. Jenny was my seatmate on the left side. I looked at him and was stumped why he was grinning like he was having so much fun.

I ended up rolling my eyes and smirked. “As if I care, suit yourself!” I snapped at Cristoff. I did not want him to smile like that, or else he would only be dragged into my annoyance.

But deep inside, I knew it was only a front—a mask to cover what I felt for him. I actually liked how he naturally brushed his hair up today, and it made him different from anybody else.

“Okay, I’ll give way to your peevishness… but let’s have lunch later, huh? I will accompany you to the clinic after that.” He even winked at me with his smile reaching both his ears.

Badly glancing at him was my way to hide my unidentified feelings. I just focused on listening to my songs until Mrs. Cheng entered our classroom.

A few hours went by, and our first subject already ended. As usual, Cristoff could not stop himself from reciting over and over, as he was not even giving any chance to our classmates who would also like to solve in front.

No wonder he was grade conscious!

But unlike before, where he kept on debating with me, he was giving me all the time in the world now. What I meant was before, I wasn’t yet done explaining my side, and yet, he was already chiming in. Now, he kept on listening to me like a full-package gentleman. But his smiles? He looked creepy and crazy at the same time!

Before Mrs. Cheng went out of the classroom, Cristoff and I submitted our Annual Camp project proposal. She said that they, together with the higher office, would still review our report, and would let us know of any changes to the plan.

All of our classmates were about to leave when Brent approached me. He had not yet opened his mouth, and yet, I could already feel his sincerity through his blue-gray eyes.

Unquestionably, he was the kind of a teen heartthrob that could make every teenage girl fall in love with him. He had a face that could launch a thousand ships, but I did not have even the slightest feeling for him. I could not like him back just because he liked me.

“I’m sorry for what happened a while ago, Helena. I just want you to know my true feelings for you. Actually,” he paused for a few seconds before continuing his sentence, “I had a big crush on you, and it has been a long time ever since. I guessed it all started when we became groupmates in History during the first grading. But if you don’t like it, I promise that I won’t confess to you again. Please don’t act differently because of what happened earlier.”

I just nodded at him, which seemed to be a signal for him to turn his back and stepped away from me. I did not say a word because I might not be able to keep my mouth shut that could lead me to say something cold and unnecessary. His friends were still teasing him before they finally left the classroom. Jack even mentioned the first name of Cristoff.

“Oh! So, that’s the reason why even before, that crook looked at you differently—it was as if he was full of lust whenever he saw you. And roses? Poor guy, if only he knew that your favorite color was red and not white. Well, it was a great thing that you rejected him!” Cristoff scornfully commented when no one else was around us.

And how could he say that Brent looked at me suspiciously before? Unless Cristoff was looking at me too. And he knew what happened this morning, huh? I thought he was busy while reading a book? I suppressed a smile with my thoughts.

“Correction—I did not reject him because, in the first place, he wasn’t courting me,” I pretended to correct him while sorting my folders, not looking at him.

“So, are you telling me that he has a chance in case he courts you?” he asked. I was not yet done organizing my folders, but I could visualize that he was furrowing his eyebrows while questioning me at the moment.

“Hmm, I will think about it… but why not? He is quite handsome. Honestly, he looks like a teen heartthrob every girl in this school will fall for.” I quickly looked at him and saw how distraught crossed his entire face after hearing my answer.

I retained my deadpan expression, but I slyly smiled because I could not help it anymore. Is Cristoff jealous?

The truth was I did not see Brent as my boyfriend even though he was undeniably handsome. We might end up exploding towards each other because we were both as white as snow. I still preferred the one with naturally tanned skin because it looked even more manly for a guy. And I knew someone who was qualified.

Like…

“Come on, let’s just eat together.” He changed the topic, at the same time, instinctively knocking my thoughts away.

“I don’t want to, and I’m not hungry yet.” I did not look at him and just stayed in my seat. Even though I was done with the arrangement of my folders, I opted to look away. I did not know what was about his hairstyle and why he looked so handsome today.

Hmm, it looks like his no-gel-hair suited him better. The natural and unruly one…

Cristoff was literally a tall, dark, and handsome teen heartthrob. His deep brown eyes, pointed nose, promising full lips that seemed to be so soft, and perfectly chiseled jawlines were attracting me towards him. As much as possible, I was restraining myself from anything that might happen. I did not want to hurt him, or rather, be hurt in the process.

“How would you feel better if you would not eat?” he argued.

His hairstyle plus his concerns for me? What more could I ask for?

Oh my God, Athena. Stop!

“Why do you have to keep on nagging me? I told you, I am not even hungry, so how many times do I have to tell you that? Maybe, I’ll go to the clinic first.” I retorted. Standing up, I then slung my bag over my right shoulder before hugging the folders on my chest.

“And I told you that I am going to accompany you to the clinic whether you liked it or not! So, let us go to the clinic first if that is what you want. I’ll have your bag too, Helena. And I’ll take it now because I don’t want you to feel dizzy on the road carrying loads of stuff. I’m afraid that something bad might happen to you, so let me do this because I will not accept ‘no’ for an answer!”

I was about to protest again when something, or rather, someone, caught my attention. And that was the main reason why I looked at that person. In just a split second, my green eyes got filled with derision. For that, I unconsciously gave my bag to Cristoff.

“D-Dave…”