章節 36: Warmth

Aiden took the umbrella near the door, then he trudged the empty hallways. The rain was indeed heavy for Alaena and Amy to get them some drinks. He's really not a helpful person, but he finds it at least entertaining to do. He admits that he's not that close to his classmates because he's always hanging with Alaena, Justin and Amy after school or during lunch break. Aiden also finds it a little awkward when his female classmates are trying to come closer to him to ask him out or for his phone number.

The guy really didn't want attention. That's the first thing he hated the most, gaining attention from other people. The smaller space, the better for him. He can clearly tell who's the fake one, anyway. Just like his fake classmates trying to climb their social status up. He hates people like that.

The rain was pouring so heavily that it also deafened him from the small sounds of his surroundings. He was about to step out in the rain when he heard these small sobs from the corner of the shoe lockers. Aiden stopped. He looked around. It was afternoon and from the dim lighting, he could clearly tell that classes were over. Some students with umbrellas are also walking on the field.

Aiden tried to roam his eyes and at least find the one who owned that sob. He walked forward to the right corner and, to his surprise; he saw this girl curled in the corner of the bench. Her light brown hair touching her shaking shoulders. She had thin arms and small frail hands clenching her knees.

Unconsciously, Aiden squatted in front of her. He rubbed the back of his head, worrying about what to say. He straightened his face and was about to utter a word when the girl wiped her eyes and lifted her face.

Charlotte's amethyst eyes slowly widened as she met the guy crouching in front of her. She immediately blushed. So embarrassed to realize that she's crying. The only thing she could do was to turn her head away. To her surprise, a warm hand cupped her cheeks.

And before Aiden could realize, he already wiped the tears from Charlotte's eyes. It left the girl frozen. Both of their faces turned hot in an instant that they both didn't know what to respond. The guy backed away and stood up. "H-Hey, I didn't mean anything, I j-just d-don--" Aiden stammered that he forgot what to say.

Charlotte blinked her eyes. Staring at Aiden's red face made her feel light. She was about to stand up when she saw a handkerchief right before her eyes. "Eh?" she uttered.

Aiden clenched the handkerchief from his hands. "Don't ehh me, you're supposed to take this since you are crying" he snorted, with his red cheeks.

His words made Charlotte jolted that she unconsciously grabbed the handkerchief from the guy and wiped it to her face. After clearing the tears from her eyes, she stood up, and a thought crossed her mind. 'The handkerchief was soft'

"Why are you curling there in the corner when there are benches here?" Aiden asked. He's talking about Charlotte's spot near the bench. "Why are you crying there? Shouldn't you be heading home by now?" He asked again.

Charlotte fell silent, biting her lower lip. She's too embarrassed to tell the guy that she cried just because her supposed to be friends ignored her even if she only wanted to share an umbrella with them. Besides, she didn't expect to see the guy here in this state.

"Aish!" Aiden clicked his tongue. "You know, I'm quite busy and I still need to do something so if it---"

Charlotte quickly responded, waving her hands in the air. "No! No! I'm fine! Thank you for lending me the handkerchief. I will return it to you so you can go now!" she exclaimed.

It made the guy more annoyed. "Hah?!" Aiden snorted. "Are you out of your mind? Who told you I'm going to leave you here?!" his voice was loud yet gentle.

And before Charlotte could ever react again, the guy took her hand. Aiden walked with her to the entrance of the building. "You're okay sharing an umbrella with me, right?" he asked, opening the umbrella.

The rain was heavy, but Charlotte could clearly tell what she was feeling right now. Her chest was pounding so hard that she didn't even want to admit it. Her gaze went down to their connected hands as they trailed the rainy pathway under the big umbrella.

***

Everyone looked at them with a puzzled face. No one dared to avert their gazes, not until Aiden gave them a cold glare. "What the heck are you all looking?" he asked with his sleepy, sharp eyes.

Since Amy was his cousin, she started the first word. "Why are you with her?!" she blurted out while looking at Charlotte. As far as she knew, her cousin, Aiden, didn't know how to approach a girl, and it's impossible for the school princess, Charlotte Adams, to approach him either.

Amy came up with an idea that she almost covered her mouth. 'Wait! Did Aiden initiated to buy the drinks because he wanted to see Charlotte?!'

Did her cold cousin finally fall in love?

Feeling the awkwardness from the new atmosphere, Charlotte lowered her head. Just feeling the glares from these people made her a bit uncomfortable that she's even prepared to exit the art room.

Aiden asked her to accompany him towards the vending machine. They bought drinks and head inside the building, following Aiden in her own accord. "I-I only c-came here to h-he---"

Aiden cut her words. "She wanted to be a new member of the art class"

Everyone turned their eyes to them with a small o forming on their lips except Liechael, who's busy scanning some documents on the desk.

Aiden eyed them again with his grumpy expression. "What?! Is there something wrong?!" he snorted.

Charlotte completely froze. Her lips trembled, and she didn't know what to say. She's very confident in front of the camera, but the truth is she's scared to meet new people. She needed to act like her own self, the self she's showing in public. Always smiling and giving a confident aura. Blending to people like what she was doing around Trixie isn't new anymore.

"Welcome to the art class!!!" Amy dashed into her and gave her a warm hug. Followed by Liechael, who gave her a registration form. "Welcome, please answer this and submit if you're done," he said.

Charlotte took the paper with her trembling hands, and in her heart, she uttered. 'Thank you'