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04

Chapter 4| Shai

"I turned out liking you a lot more than I originally planned."

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As I sat squashed in the middle of two guys, people around us started to wolf whistle. Some of the girls even joined in as well. My face felt like it was on fire. Aiden may have realised this and he started whispering comforting things to me, careful not to let others see it. Shai, on the other hand, took a much different approach. He stood up from his seat and started yelling at those who were wolf whistling which only brought more attention on to us.

The teacher walked in just in time, quieting down the class immediately. When the teacher was not looking, Shai snuck a middle finger up and got plenty of eye rolls back.

It wasn't always like this. Over the years it seems I have geared towards befriending guys in general instead of girls. Sometimes I really do find that girls can be quite dramatic. They gossip, spread rumours and act cool to fit in. Of course, I was a part of that before and...I didn't like it. Guys, on the other hand, have their own set of drama yes, but it just feels like so much of a lighter burden because I was never a part of that drama, unlike how I was with the girls where no matter what you do to hide yourself, you will be involved in some ways or another.

This may also be contributed to the fact that I have a brother. You see, brothers just change the dynamics at home, especially when its an older brother. Sibling love also taught me how to care and what being cared for should feel like. I think this is a skill set that could come into play sometime in my future.

After greetings to the teacher, Shai spoke up as we sat down. "Erm, hey, sorry about that Kira... and for yesterday too, I was being a little mean I suppose. Maybe I pushed you too far. I was thinking we could forget that and start anew?"

To say that I was baffled by the sudden change of tone and attitude from Shai as compared to our previous interaction would be an understatement. I have always assumed that jocks are just rude, narcissistic creatures that lack the ability to empathise with others.

It took me a couple seconds for me to regroup myself and register whatever Shai was telling me but I finally replied shakily, "S-Sure."

That was when Shai, for the first time ever, smiled at me. The smile was small and subtle but...I hardly ever saw Shai smile at others. Or maybe I just never took notice.

It could simply be a figment of my imagination though I was almost certain that when I turned back around to actually pay attention to the lesson, from the corner of my eyes I spotted Aiden with one of his hands tightly balled into a fist.

Quickly, I shook off my thoughts and willed myself not to think too much about it. My brain must have drifted off because the next thing I was daydreaming about was Shai and his sudden change of attitude. Just the way he speaks and actions don't seem as boisterous anymore...almost sweet...wait...what. When the realisation dawned upon me, I quickly blurred them all away. Soon enough, I was whisked back into the torture of the math lesson.

Throughout the class, I was surprised several times when Shai actually explained to me some of the formulas I was having trouble with. I was already pretty good at Math and I certainly didn't expect Shai to be better at it than me just because he seems to never be studying or taking notes. However, I just went with the flow and tried to understand as much of it as my brain could take in without exploding into a million pieces. Math is simply Mental Abuse To Humans. I wondered how I ever thought math was fun when I was little thinking, "There's only ever fixed answers in Math, that's why it's easy to score once you understand it." Looking back at what I said, that statement could be flipped to, "Math is hard because there's only one answer and if you don't get it don't even try, it's useless."

When class ended, Shai took off immediately, saying he has to rush somewhere and that he would love to catch up more with me during art. That leaves me with just Aiden who started acting rather strangely.

"So...how have you been doing Kira? Wait...no...I already asked that question earlier on... I meant erm, anything new or special going on in your life? Like friends, parties, you know like...been watching any movies lately?"

I watched Aiden babble on in amusement and fond, unable to take how he was acting seriously, I burst out in fits of laughter.

"Parties? Really? You know I don't have many other friends. It's just Reine, you, and now Shai I guess. Who would invite me to parties much less to watch movies?"

Aiden's eyes widened and he stammered, "N-No, I don't mean it in that way just like I mean...I could treat you to movies...but er......howdidyoumeetShai?" he rushed out the last part.

I went quiet for a bit so Aiden continued explaining, "It's just, Shai is like those cool guys you know? The jocks, the popular kids in school and you're nothing like that so I-"

I cut him off resting my hand on his shoulder, "We met in an art lesson. That's all. There's nothing more. You don't have to be so worried about me. Not every one of the popular kids is mean. I'll admit I thought Shai was just your typical self-entitled jock but he seems genuinely nice now. Besides you can rest assured if he says anything nasty I won't let his words get to me." I replied, recalling the note the other day.

Aiden gave me a weak smile as I headed off for my next class. Aiden has always been very caring.