Chapter 10 A Piece of Paper

Alix's POV:

We had been sitting at the desk for thirty minutes, and although I heard him talking and writing, nothing he said stayed with me.

I still could not understand why he insisted on helping me when I was just a kid who had been violated and had no strength left. He really should have walked away.

Just like that night in the park, I still did not know why he had been there either.

I sat on my chair as far away from him as possible, my arms locked over my chest, my head lowered, when he placed a sheet of paper in front of me. His arm brushed mine, and the contact made me jump.

"I'm sorry," he said as he gets up. "I'll position myself facing you, you'll feel more comfortable."

God, if he stood in front of me, I would feel his eyes on me and imagine he was thinking about that night.

"Here are some exercises. I'm going to help you do them," he said to me while handing me the pencil.

When I did not take it, he set it on the table and leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed.

"Very well, you may leave."

I lifted my head in surprise. His green eyes studied me closely as he cracked his neck, a sound that sent a shiver through me. His face had turned so cold.

"I told you, you could leave," he repeated coldly.

I lowered my gaze, packed my pencil case, grabbed my bag, stood up, and rushed out of the classroom.

I ran into the bathroom in tears, unable to understand why he had turned so cold toward me. He had been the one who offered to help, but everything came back to the promise we made. I never asked him to keep it. "I didn't ask anything of him! I just want to be left alone!"

I sobbed so hard that my chest tightened. Why does it hurt so much?

When I closed my eyes, all I could see was that icy look he gave me, and I could not make sense of the change in him.

Derek's POV:

I had not wanted to make her cry, but I felt I had no other choice. She needed to understand that she had to focus on something other than what happened that night. I hoped helping her with math would give her a moment to breathe and keep her thoughts occupied, but I had not managed to reach her.

I gathered the papers from the table and noticed she had dropped a note from her pencil case.

It was a small strip of paper, barely fifteen centimeters long, with a single sentence written across it. I read it, and my chest tightened painfully. The words on the paper said, "If I want to see him again, I must stay alive."

I dashed out of the classroom, running down the hallway toward the stairs, but I did not see her anywhere. I turned back, frustrated with myself for frightening her when all I wanted was to help.

That was when she appeared in front of me, stepping out of the restroom, her hood pulled over her head, her bright green eyes filled with tears. I could not stop myself from pulling her into my arms and holding her tightly right there in the middle of the school hallway.

Footsteps echoed in the stairwell, and I grabbed her hand, guiding her back into the restroom she had just left. I pressed her gently against the door, hoping those footsteps were not coming our way.

The steps passed by and faded down the corridor, and I let out a slow breath, suddenly aware of how close our bodies were and how damp her hand felt in mine.

She did not move at all, and as the weight of what I was doing finally hit me, I released her hand and stepped back. She raised those tear-filled green eyes toward me, and I made the worst mistake of my life by leaning in and pressing my lips to hers.

Ever since finding that note in her pencil case, I felt as if I had no strength left to resist. I knew I should not cross that line with her, but that look had held me since the night I first saw her at the nightclub, and a part of me desperately wanted to see that intensity in her green eyes again.

Alix's POV:

I pulled my hood over my head. I just wanted to go home. I could not bear seeing myself in that mirror anymore, the mirror that always brought back that night and now Derek's cold expression.

I stepped out of the bathroom, and my eyes met his intense green ones at that exact moment, tears running down my cheeks as I froze in place. He moved toward me and held me tightly in his arms.

I was stunned and confused, unable to understand why he had suddenly changed again, yet the moment he held me, something inside me felt calmer. He took my hand and pulled me back into the restroom, closing the door while still keeping me close.

We stood like that for a long moment, and I did not dare move. He was very near, but I did not feel frightened. His hand holding mine felt so warm and protective.

Then he suddenly drew back and let go of me. I instinctively lifted my head toward him, and he pressed his lips against mine. I did not dare to move, staring at his face so close to mine as he pulled away and rested his forehead against the door beside my head.

"You should leave the restroom before it rings," he said to me while taking the door handle and opening it.

I did not think for a second and rushed out of the bathroom, completely unsettled by what had just happened. It was only a kiss on the lips, yet my heart beat so fiercely that it felt as if it might burst out of my chest.

I walked down the stairs as the bell rang at the end of class, and I slipped into the first restroom on the floor below, locking myself inside a stall. I touched my lips with my fingertips, the same spot where his lips had been just moments earlier.

Marina's POV:

I could not believe that the new math teacher was that tattooed guy on a motorcycle and that the gym teacher was that handsome guy with the blue eyes.

After two hours of gymnastics and a refreshing shower to calm my emotions from the morning, I picked up my phone to find out where Alix had gone.

She had disappeared from the class after speaking with the teacher, and since she had not been on the bench at the end of the lesson, I started to worry.

I had to admit she had been acting strange since that terrible night. She had always been quiet, but now she was completely closed off, even with me. She barely talked to me when I was at her place, and she kept drawing tattoos for that biker. And now she barely looked at him during math class, and she did not go to see him during recess when I told her he wanted to talk to her.

It was the third time I called her, but it always went straight to voicemail.

"Marina, are you coming to eat with us?"

"No, I need to meet up with Alix," I replied as I left the changing rooms.

I looked around the courtyard, but she was nowhere in sight. I decided to head to the classroom where we had lessons after lunch, but I did not find her there either.

"Damn it, Alix, where are you?" I muttered to myself, irritated.

I took out my phone and tried calling her again, just as I walked past the math teacher, who greeted me.

It went straight to voicemail again.

"Alix, where are you? We were supposed to have lunch together. Answer!" I muttered under my breath, growing more annoyed.

She had really gone too far this time.

Alix's POV:

I had gone back home. I could never look Marina in the eye after what had just happened. I could barely believe it myself, wondering if it really happened or if I had imagined everything.

Luckily, my mother was working at the restaurant, so I was alone when I arrived.

I took off my sweater, dropped my phone on the floor, and noticed it flashing. I had ten missed calls from Marina and one message. I had completely forgotten to tell her I was heading home, and I called her as I slipped off my shoes.

"Where are you?!"

Marina was furious, and I could not blame her.

"I came home; I was not feeling well."

"You could've warned me; I thought you disappeared like that night."

My blood ran cold when she said that.

"I'll swing by later to bring you your notes. By the way, the math teacher has stuck to his routines. He came to school on his motorcycle, and just like that, he went out for a ride during the lunch break. After all, with the speed at which he rides, he surely could do it." She laughed.

She hung up while I was still touching my lips with my fingers, thinking about the place where his had been. I sat down at my desk, took my pencil case out of my bag, and realized the paper was gone. I turned the pencil case over, emptied the bag, shook out my notebooks, but I could not find it anywhere.

I tried to figure out where I might have dropped it, but the only place I had used my pencil case was in the... Oh my god, what if I lost it in his classroom?

Just as I panicked at the thought of losing it there and him finding it, the intercom rang.

"Is this Miss Stevens' residence? I have a package for her."

"I'll open up for you right away," I answered as I pressed the door button.

My mother must have ordered something silly online again; she loved doing that, especially when she had just been paid.

I went back to my bedroom and put on my long black cardigan, waiting for the delivery person to come up. The doorbell rang, and I opened the door.

"You were quicker than I..."

I stopped, realizing it was not the delivery person at all but Derek, looking at me with those intense green eyes.

"I'm relieved; you got home safely." He seemed genuinely relieved.

I stared at him, surprised, unable to understand what he meant or why he was standing at my door.

"I'm going back to school; it wouldn't look good if the teacher skipped class on the first day," he said to me with a smile.

Before I could react, he headed toward the elevator, paused, turned back around, and stepped up to me again. He reached into his pocket and handed me something.

"I believe this is yours," he added.

I tore my eyes away from his intense gaze for a moment and saw he was holding the small piece of paper from my pencil case. Embarrassed, I lifted my gaze back to him.

"I'm glad you survived," he told me, his green eyes soft with tenderness, before he walked back toward the elevator.