Chapter 5
Peace Offering.
AVA
The lecture hall is packed this morning and I am seated in my usual spot near the center of the third row with my black pen spinning between my fingers and my laptop open in front of me, my favorite teal notebook resting beside it. Everyone in here is having fun while waiting for the first professor to walk in, so right now, the hall is loud and noisy.
My best friend, Susan, is sitting by my left side and currently, she is showing me a video of a golden retriever puppy falling off a couch. Susan loves dog videos.
In fact, I think it is safe to say she is OBSESSED with dog videos and she is even planning to adopt a golden retriever as a pet.
To my right, someone suddenly dumps a heavy duffel bag onto the desk there with a loud thud and I don't even have to look up to know who it is because his sandalwood cologne has already given him away.
Kevin fucking Carter.
“Hey Tutor,” he says and I hear him sliding into the chair next to mine on my right.
Damn. Why is he so buggy and annoying?
Susan is still focused on her dog videos and honestly, whenever she is neck-deep in those videos, nothing else matters.
Not even fuckboys like Kevin.
Sighing, I finally look at him. He is wearing his dark blue hockey team hoodie with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, revealing his tanned veiny forearms. His dark hair is slightly damp and messy in an effortlessly handsome way that usually makes half the girls on campus drool all over him.
Usually, he is always smirking and getting on my nerves.
But today, he doesn't look like the cocky bad boy who casually flirts his way out of his troubles.
He looks… tired.
There are faint dark circles under his striking blue eyes.
Didn't he catch enough sleep last night?
“Here,” His voice interrupts my thoughts and I watch as he sets a tall cup of iced vanilla coffee right on my desk.
I raise an eyebrow at him.
“It's a peace offering,” he answers my silent question and scratches the back of his neck. “You lost your balance yesterday because of me, so I bought you coffee to make up for scaring you.”
He bought me coffee?
I nearly scoff, my eyes briefly staring at the coffee in front of me before my attention shifts back to him. All the memories of what happened yesterday after I lost my balance suddenly flashes through my mind:
His strong arms catching me inches from the wet pavement…
The heat of his chest beneath my hands…
The way his eyes stared into mine like the rest of the world had completely vanished from existence…
Everything.
I remember everything.
Right now, my cheeks are warming up just from thinking about all those memories again. Quickly, I clear my throat, suppressing the flush before I pick up my pen and flip to a fresh page in my notebook to write my response to him.
Done writing, I slide the notebook over to him and he reads the words:
‘Thanks for the coffee. Also, you should stop annoying me.’
“But I love being your annoying tutee, princess,” he smirks and I roll my eyes so hard it almost hurts.
Before I can grab my notebook back from him, Dan, a guy with slicked-back hair who constantly speaks at top volume just to hear his own voice, suddenly appears right in front of my desk.
“Hey… Ava!” He says loudly. “Did... you... finish... the... data... charts... for... our... presentation?!”
I glare at him, my face instantly hardening with anger.
This asshole just spoke to me in slow, exaggerated words like he is addressing a small toddler and this happens all the time whenever he is physically talking to me. The moment most people realize I don't use my vocal cords, they automatically assume my brain operates at half capacity too.
It is exhausting, annoying, and completely ridiculous.
Already pissed, I grab my phone, my thumbs quickly moving at lightning speed with my response:
‘Yes Dan. I finished them two days ago. I even formatted the spreadsheet and emailed them to the whole group last night at 8 PM, so check your damn inbox instead of yelling at my face like a lost idiot.’
Done typing, I shove the screen right in front of his face.
But the asshole just glances at the screen, waves his hand dismissively in the air, and turns directly to Susan.
He didn’t even bother reading the text.
“Susan, did your friend finish the presentation or not? Professor Lee is going to destroy our team grade if the bar graphs aren't formatted correctly, so can you make sure she actually understood the assignment?” Dan asks, speaking OVER me right across my desk like I am an invisible piece of furniture.
My blood boils.
“No one has the right to insult my friend you son of a bitch!” Susan snaps at him, already dumping her phone into my lap and ready for a fight.
Dan flinches. “I am not—”
“You should watch your mouth you fucking idiot,” Kevin's sharp voice cuts in and I freeze at the sound of his angry baritone.