Chapter 8

Today was a sweltering day. I was on my way to the academy. The sun shone intensely hot. I could feel the heat burned into my skin. The sun did a good job heating the earth. It was just oppressively hot. Aargh! I hate summer. I didn’t feel like doing anything, really. I just wanted to lie on my bed.

When I came into the usual practice room, I didn’t see Aaron. I looked at my watch. It was already time to start the practice. I looked around the room and he was nowhere to be seen. He was never late before. Oh well, maybe he was just a bit late today.

I sat on a bench in the side of the room, waiting for Aaron. I took my cell phone out from my pocket. I began taking pictures of myself using my cell phone. I always loved taking pictures of myself.

Five minutes… Ten minutes... Fifteen minutes… Twenty minutes had passed. Aaron still had not come. What took him so long? I got annoyed waiting. I didn’t like waiting, especially in this weather.

As I was still having fun with my cell phone, I heard footsteps from the distance. Maybe it was Aaron. I didn’t bother to check who it was. I knew it must be Aaron. I put my cell phone inside the bag and realized the person was already standing before me.

“Why are you here?” He asked. I recognized his voice. Wait! It wasn’t Aaron’s.

I lifted up my head and true enough, it wasn’t Aaron. It was Calvin. “Am I not supposed to be here? I have practice every day here. Remember?”

Calvin let out a chuckle. “Of course I know you come here every day.”

“Then, what’s with the why are you here question?” I asked in an annoyance tone. The weather had worsened my mood. I wasn’t in a good mood anymore. Oh never mind. I wasn’t in a good mood from the beginning.

“Didn’t Aaron tell you?”

“Huh?” What did he mean? What was Aaron supposed to tell me?

“I bet he didn’t.” Calvin flashed his charming smile at me. It lessened my bad mood a bit.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

Calvin took a sit next to me, “Aaron is not coming today. He’s sick.”

“Aaron…” I felt a thrill go through me as I said Aaron’s name. I hated it. “A-Aaron is sick? How? He was perfectly fine yesterday. Is h-he okay?” I asked anxiously. I began worrying about him. But who was I to worry about him?

Calvin chuckled softly. “Relax. He’s fine. He has a fever. He should be resting right now.” He explained.

“I hope he’s all right.” I said quietly.

“Looks like you care a lot about him.” His face turned serious, “Do you--”

“NO! No! No! I-I don’t like him. I mean yea I like him but not like ‘like’, you know… He’s my instructor. As his student, I have to care about him. Don’t you think?”

Calvin laughed, “Hey! Why are you so nervous? I didn’t ask whether you like him or not. I was going to say; do you know that you’re the only student who is close to Aaron?” He chuckled.

I bowed my head down as I blushed. I felt embarrassed. I should not have cut off his sentence. Now I felt so stupid. “How am I the only student who’s close to him?”

“I don’t know if it’s just my feeling but I think you’re somewhat--” Calvin sighed softly. “Forget it. Never mind.”

~~

The sun was finally setting. I was on my way home now. Although Aaron didn’t come today, I didn’t know why I still wanted to practice. So I did practice by myself. I repeated the moves Aaron had taught me before.

I saw a figure was standing in front of my house. I could tell he was a guy, but I didn’t know who it was because he was facing the other way and he was wearing a hood.

I walked toward my house, wondering who the guy was. He turned around instantly. Maybe he heard footsteps were coming his way.

“Achord! What are you doing here?” I asked. What he was doing here? Somehow I didn’t feel happy upon seeing him here. I wondered why.

His lips curved into a smile. He walked up to me, pulled me into a hug, and kissed me on my cheek. “You’re finally here. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Why didn’t you call first? Did you wait long?” I forced a smile.

He shook his head, smiling. “Nope. I’ll do anything for my special girl.”

“Yeah right.”

“I meant it.” He argued.

“Okay. So why are you here?” I asked curiously.

“I’m so sorry about the other night. You’re not mad, are you?”

“Nah, it’s all right.” I tried to keep my voice calm. I didn’t know why I didn’t feel like talking to Achord right now.

He shot a smile. “Thank you. The day after tomorrow is our five months anniversary. I’ll bring you somewhere, so make sure you dress up beautifully.”

I smiled at his cuteness. He was adorable. I never thought he would remember such a date. Most guys wouldn’t care about month anniversary.

“But I also want to bring you on a date tonight. Let’s go!” He held my hand. Without a chance to speak, he already walked, dragging me with him.

~~

“I don’t know why he even said that….” Holding hand by hand, Achord and I strolled along downtown. Achord was telling me about his colleagues in the company he worked in. I didn’t feel like listening to his story, really. Maybe I wasn’t just in the mood.

I stared at our hands. I sighed softly. I remembered how Aaron held my hand quietly, without saying a word. He made my heart pound very fast. He made me thrilled that day. I didn’t know why I didn’t feel the same way with Achord. What exactly was wrong with me?

I began spacing out. I remembered everything that happened between me and Aaron. First, he saved me from the big fat bully girls. Then he saved me from old fat guys. I couldn’t help myself from thinking about him. I had to admit he was cool and gentle.

Aaron was sick today. I wondered if someone was taking care of him right now… What is he doing? Has he eaten? Has he drunk his medicine? How is he feeling right now?... These questions were just flowing in my head.

What the heck was I thinking? Why did I keep thinking about Aaron?

I shook my head. No. No. I can’t keep thinking about him. He would be fine. It was my date tonight. I didn’t want to ruin it by thinking about my instructor.

Maybe seeing Aaron every day had become a habit to me. Did not see him today, I felt like something was missing. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe it was like a habit. I shouldn’t worry too much about it.

“Gui! Gui, are you all right?” Achord nudged me. We had stopped walking at this moment.

I snapped out from my thoughts. “Huh? Yeah. I’m all right.”

He looked at me in disbelief. “You weren’t listening to me. What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

I laughed nervously. “I-I was listening. There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m okay.” I assured him.

“Okay. Okay. I was asking what do you want to eat but you didn’t answer, so I was worried.” He explained.

“I’m sorry. I was just--” I bowed my head down. I couldn’t finish my sentence. I didn’t know what was wrong with me.

Achord held my face and lifted it up to face him. He stared into my eyes and flashed a comforting smile at me. “It’s okay.”

Without asking anything, Achord held my hand and we started walking again.

At this moment, I knew Achord really cared about me. He didn’t even bother to ask why I was spacing out. I was wrong to think about Aaron at this time. I had no idea what had struck into me.

I’m sorry, Achord. I really am.

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I’m really sorry guys for the late update.
Okay, I’m off to write my 12 pages essay now :( I’ll try to update soon <3