[Hellion Brothers: Book #1] Hellion Brothers

39: Starting Secrets

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Sehun's eyes narrowed, while the rest of the boys looked at me intently.

"i am most definitely absolutely sure. Now go fetch your ice creams." I patted their backs and tried to shoo them off but of course, Tao and Kai just had to whip around and give me more narrowed eyes.

"Why don't you want us to go with you?"

"I'll be okay," I laughed as if their concerns for me were funny. "I'm just in the campus. I'll call you when I'm done doing... stuff."

"What if---"

"I'll send a text if I feel danger lurking. See?" I lifted my phone to show a drafted message with all their 11 names as recipients and stuff, just one send button away from spreading. "I already told you, they're just school papers and advanced studies. I'll be okay."

Tao narrowed his eyes even more for a few more seconds (if that was even possible without his eyes disappearing), before finally walking away towards Sweet Heaven (the ice cream parlor Chen fangirls about all the time), bringing the rest of the boys with him. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. That was a nerve-wracking 10 minutes of my life. It's like I poured out all my intelligence just to make reasonable excuses on the spot. I know this is not a good thing, but I think I'm starting to be good at lying.

Before I could forget anything else, I broke into a run towards the school building. Gwen. I have to find Gwen. Being the diligent student she were, she could be expected to stay late in either one of these places: the faculty room, the SYNC's office, the IV-A room, or the library.

Wait, scratch the last one. Lupus High doesn't have a library. So yeah, I think it's best to start from the 4th floor. And so, I ran like the ninja I were and reached my destination in just a few seconds. I tiptoed across the rooms and BINGO!

There she was, busy placing handouts in every single table in the IV-D room. Biting my lip to suppress my giggle, I stood by the doorway, hesitantly revealing myself. I cleared my throat.

"Um,hey."

Of course, she gasped in shock and stumbled a few steps back. Then she let out a shaky sigh when she recognized me.

"Maeji..."

"I reaaally want to be your friend." I flashed a bright smile. I immediately grabbed the separate pile of handouts laid on the front desk, and started placing them on tables she haven't gotten to yet.

I heard her sigh. "Maeji..."

I pretended not to hear her effort to begin another "I-don't-want-you-to-talk-to-me" speech.

"Did you carry all this all throughout afternoon? You should've just handed them out right after you got them here. Your arms might hurt a lot already."

"They don't like talking to me," she suddenly said, making me turn around. "They would run away even before I could move an inch towards them. And they might even throw all this away once they find out it's me that distributed them."

"What??" I immediately objected. "No way! I know people here like to stare and avoid others, but I don't think they would do such things. Come on, try to be a little more optimistic!"

"Maeji, I've stayed here longer than you. I've seen a lot of things. You may have heard a lot of stories from the Hellions, but I don't think you've heard enough."

Then she grabbed her bag and walked out of the room, but I was determined to follow. "Then could you tell me those things I still don't know?"

She stopped and turned to me to give me a firm stare, but also one that pleaded me to stay away from her. "Ask them. I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it from my perspective."

"How could you be so sure when you haven't tried?"

"Please Maeji," her voice suddenly cracked. It was like she was about to cry, but was just desperately holding it back. I froze. "I'm not a person you should be talking to. I'm not pushing you away for my own sake. It's for your sake. So please, Maeji. I ask you one last time. Stay. AWAY. From me."

She whipped around and descended the stairs, wiping away something from her eyes. Once again, she left me dumbstruck. Was she really that serious? I didn't expect her to cry...

But I won't let her get away this time.

I ran after her and grabbed her shoulders when she tried to hide in one of the 2nd floor corridors. I held her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"I still don't fully understand you, but I'm willing to risk my own sake to be friends with you. I want to help you escape whatever that keeps you from being happy. I don't care how many times you reject me, but I know what I want to do and I will get it done."

Eyes wide, her lips trembled as her tears started welling up in her eyes. She didn't say anything. She didn't push me away. For once, I think I hit the right note. She really were broken on the inside.

I pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair as I let her cry on my shoulders. I couldn't explain how happy I felt at that moment. Being able to comfort a friend.

"Maeji...," she lifted her head and wiped away her tears. "You look so fragile yet so stubborn. Just like how I used to be."

Then she laughed. I chuckled and patted her back, giving her another hug.

"Sooo....." I held her at arm's length, and flashed a bright smile. "Does this mean we can have lunch together tomorrow?"

*~THE NEXT DAY~*

"I'm really sorry Lay, but I won't be able to eat lunch with you guys today." I showed my best sorry face as we went out of class.

"School papers again?"

"Uh.. yeah! School papers! I forgot some of them yesterday, so I promised to get them today. Just tell the others, okay?" I started walking backwards as I waved goodbye at his confused form. "Oh, and Kai! Tell Kai he doesn't have to help me. I don't want him to. Thanks!"

With one last wave, I ran up the stairs. I glanced behind me every now and then to make sure Lay didnt actually follow me. As I reached the 4th floor, a hand grabbed me just before I ran into the corridor.

"GWEN!!!" I flung my hands around her. Students immediately looked our way, noticing a new thing to stare upon. Gwen immediately pulled me to somewhere away from the public eye and whispered.

"Ok, I'm glad to see you too, Maeji. But we agreed to make it as low profile as possible, right?"

"Oh yah. Alright." I bit my lip to avoid giggling. "So where do you eat lunch?"

Her eyes sparkled as she started dragging me up the stairs. Then we went into the 5th floor, but we went to the right side, opposite to where the HB's meeting place was located. I just didn't say anything since she probably didn't know about it. Of course, why would she even choose a place so close to the people she's afraid of if she knew about it?

Eventually, we reached a big room, as big as the HB's meeting place, but we didn't stop there. There was a smaller room at the end, probably the unfinished comfort room. It was just big enough to be the perfect personal space. Gwen sighed happily as she sat on the cracked, tiled floor.

"Nice lair you got here." I showed her two thumbs up, making her laugh. She waved it off with her hand and opened her lunchbox. As I was about to open mine, my phone beeped. I checked it.

"Why don't you want me to help you? ---Kai"

I froze and bit my lip. What should I say to him? Should I reply? Should I not?

"Is that... them?" Gwen whispered, face scrunching up in anxiety. I quickly forced a smile and tried to laugh it off to lift her spirit.

"Don't worry, I got it all covered. I've talked to them about this." Her brows remained furrowed.

"Really?"

I switched my phone to silent mode and tossed it into my bag. I turned back to Gwen with the fakest smile I ever put on in my life. "Yeah, really."

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Girl in picture is Gwen :) Spazz, comment, and vote! <3