Chapter 17: "Study Buddy"

"I'm so beat..." Chet complained as our class ends.

"Ah... I really hate school..." I sighed.

"By the way, how was your date yesterday?" Luke looked at me.

"Date? What date?" I cluelessly asked while sipping on my cartoon milk.

"Your date with Mr. School President." He added.

I almost choke on my drink as he mentioned it.

"It's not a date!!" I furiously said.

"What do you mean? Didn't you want to win him over? I even gave you the movie tickets so you two could have a good time together." Chet said in a serious tone.

I gritted my teeth and replied, "I wasn't referring to Zen Liang!"

Does it look like a date yesterday?

"I-I meant Miya... I want to win her over." I added.

"Oh~ so, you still like Miya. I thought you'd fall for your rival instead. Haha." Chet teased.

"W-what?! Haha. I would never. He's not my type!"

"Why are you defensive though? Haha!" Chet went closer and teased me some more.

"I-I'm not, damn it!" I clenched my fist, all flustered.

"Alright, that's enough." Luke came in between us and pushed our faces away from each other.

"Let's focus on studying. Exam week is almost coming." Luke added as he slam a stack of books on the table in front of us.

"A-ah... Right. I just remembered, the teachers called me out." I made an excuse to get away from him.

"M-me too... I have something to do." Chet added.

We were about to escape from Luke, when he suddenly caught up to us and grabbed both of our shirt's collar from behind.

"No one's leaving this table without finishing one subject." He strictly forbids.

"Damn it..." Chet whispered.

Luke is pretty serious and strict when it comes to tutoring us. He always do this especially when exam week is just around the corner.

"Please, spare me..." I mumbled.

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I eventually escaped from Luke's torturing— I mean tutoring.

"Thank goodness... He wouldn't find me here." I catch my breath while hiding behind the vending machine.

I tried to peek from the side to make sure they didn't follow me.

"What are you doing?" A warm voice from behind had spoken to my ears.

"W-what??" I was startled as I unconsciously covered my ears.

When I turn around, I saw Zen Liang. He's so close to me.

"Z-Zen Liang?!" I stuttered as my heart beats so fast.

I was just staring at him, not knowing how and when he got there.

"W-why are you here?!" I awkwardly ask.

"I just happen to pass by." He answered.

Why do I always bump into him? Are the gods toying with me?!

"O-oh, okay... I-I'll get going then." I tried excuse myself.

"Jian!" Chet's voice echoed from behind.

"Oh, no!" I quickly grabbed Zen Liang's arm to the side and hid behind him.

"Jian! Come out! I'm not letting you slack off while I suffer!" Chet called me out.

"Damn this bastard! There's no way I'm reading 100 pages!" I whispered, still hiding behind Zen Liang.

I didn't notice that Zen Liang is actually facing me, and so do I.

"Let's go to the cafeteria. He might be there." I heard Luke's voice.

It indicates that they had gone. I sighed in relief.

I slowly raised my head. Then, I saw Zen Liang's flawless face and mesmerizing eyes fixed on me.

"Ah! Sorry, m-man! Haha. T-that was close." I avoided his eyes and let go of his arms as I step back.

Why do I always get myself in these kind of situation?!!

"I'm going..." I sighed.

I was about to go when I suddenly remembered something.

"Hold on!" I went back on my way and faced Zen Liang with a plastered smile on my face.

"What now?" He raised his eyebrows and asked.

"You're the top student, right?" I enthusiastically asked while pointing my finger on him.

"No." He coldly replied and turned his back on me.

"Hey! I haven't even said anything!" I followed him.

He just completely ignored me and continued his walk.

Damn this guy!

I fastened my pace and blocked him by standing on his way with my hands on the air and raised by my side.

"Please! Help me!" I begged him, "Just this time, I promise!" I smiled and pleaded.

He stopped and stared right at me with his arm cross.

"I'm not good with academics. And I'm a slow learner. But, I will do my best and I won't hold you back!" I assured him.

I can't fail this year, especially now that we're graduating.

Zen Liang sighed in defeat. He passed by me and continued to walk.

"I guess he really hates me..." I looked down and thought to myself.

"Come to my classroom tomorrow during break time." He said and left.

I raised my head and looked at him.

"H-huh?! Really? Okay!"

Yay! There's no way I'm not passing this class!

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The next day, during our break time. I hurriedly went to Class A with my notebook and pen.

"Is he available now?"

I peeked on the corridor to see if Zen Liang is there, but I can't clearly see the students inside.

"Damn it..."

"Who are you looking for?" The vice president suddenly appeared on my side with a bright smile on his face.

I was startled, "Crap!"

"Why are they always appearing from behind?!"

"Are you looking for the president?" He asked, once again.

"Y-yeah... Is he there?"

"Yes. Come in." He invited me in their classroom.

I cautiously entered. Everyone's eyes were on me as I step in.

"Pres, someone's looking for you." The vice president guided me to Zen Liang's seat.

He is sitting on the corner, writing on a paper without a care on anyone around him. He looks cold yet gentle at the same time.

I grabbed a chair and sat beside him.

I was just staring at him for awhile. He noticed my stare causing him to put down his pen and turn his attention on me.

"H-hey!" I greeted.

"You actually came." He mumbled and turned his attention back to the paper.

"Of course! You said you'd help me."

All eyes were fixed on us, and the murmurs grew louder.

"Am I too noisy? Haha... Geez, I hate it when everyone's attention is on us"

I was quite fidgeting and uncomfortable with my position.

I was more nervous when I saw Miya came in the room. As she went in, her eyes were also fixed on us, with a hint of surprise.

"Why is he here?"

"I don't know. Is he with the president?"

"How annoying."

The other students whispered.

"I-I think I should get going—" before I could even finish my sentence, I suddenly felt Zen Liang's hand on my wrist.

"Let's go." He uttered as grabbed me with him.

"H-huh? Okay..?"

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We went to the school library. There are only few students here. We sat down on the empty table on the corner.

"Why are we here? Break time is almost over." I whispered to him.

"Do you have a class?"

"No?"

"Then, it's fine."

"What?? How about you?"

"I have two vacant classes."

"O-oh!"

He took some books from the shelves and put the papers he brought with him on the table.

"Woah! You were actually making notes awhile ago?" I asked as I scan the hand written notes he made.

"Yeah. It's much easier to understand if we jolt down the important parts." He explained.

"Haah... I can't even bring myself to open a book." I mumbled.

"Alright, let's start with math." He brought out stack of books and notes.

"Come on! I hate math!" I whined as Zen Liang handed me a questionnaire.

"Let's do some assessment first of how far your knowledge is about this subject."

"Ugh... Fine..." I took the paper and answered the questions.

After a few minutes, I handed him the paper.

"Here you go."

He checked my answers.

"So? How did I do?" I enthusiastically asked.

"Not bad..." He uttered.

"Really?!" I joyfully asked.

"Not bad for a grade schooler's brain." He mockingly answered.

"Ugh... Man, that was hard." I complained as shove my face on the table.

"How old are you? Most of these questions are basic math."

"I'm just not good with numbers, okay?!"

He sighed and took out a pen. "Let's start from basic then."

"Can we just skip math?" I pleaded.

"No." He directly answered without hesitation.

"Ahh! I really hate exams!" I whined.

"Stop talking and start reading."

"Yes, sir!"

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We spent our vacant hours in the library studying. After some hours, it's already time to go home.

"Damn... I'm so stiff!" I cracked my neck and shook my hands after a long time sitting.

"Don't forget to review the notes I gave you." He reminded me as he clean our table.

"Yeah, yeah, will do."

He actually helped me despite his tight schedule.

"Um... Hey, Zen Liang..." I called him.

"What?" He answered, still fixing his materials and not looking at me.

"I just want to say... Uh... Thank you." I scratched the back of my neck as I avoid looking at him directly.

"Even though your schedule is hectic. You still helped me..." I continued.

He faced me and flicked my forehead.

"What the hell?! What was that for?!" I exclaimed as I held my forehead.

"Shh! No shouting." The librarian glared at me.

"O-oh, sorry ma'am."

"Don't thank me yet, you still have a lot of things to study." Zen Liang stated as he looked at me on the eyes.

"And besides, I can also benefit from this. This will also serve as my review." He added.

This jerk can be good sometimes too.

"Alright! Then, I'll do my best!" I enthusiastically assured him.

I raised my pinky finger.

"What's that?"

"Huh? Don't you know what pinky promise is? Seriously, are you an alien?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"That's ridiculous."

"Come on, don't be a bummer." I took his pinky finger and locked it on mine.

"I promise that I'll make you proud." I said and gave him a bright smile.

I saw a glimpse of smile formed on his face for a split second.

"So childish." He sighed.

"Hey!! Did you just smile?!" I was surprised of his reaction.

"No." He turned his back on me with his emotionless face once again.

"Liar! I saw you! Smile again! I wanna see it." I was quite persistent.

"No." He just kept on dodging me.

"Ah! So stingy!"

"Shh! Be quiet!" The librarian reminded us once more.

"S-sorry, ma'am." We apologized and bowed our heads.

"Tch, kids nowadays."

I glanced at Zen Liang. His face looking relaxed and less stiff than before.

I felt relieved and happy... But, I can't figure out why.

"I didn't know he can actually smile." I thought to myself.

"Hey, Zen Liang." I called him.

He looked at me.

"You should smile more. It really suits you."

I want to see you smile more often.