Chapter 4: He Defends Me!?

Verena Layton 

“Amara, we should meet at somewhere besides the canteen,” Julia suggests. 

“I too think so, Amara,” I nod, taking a bite of my sandwich. “You know, Julia dislikes being in a crowd and this hour is well known for being the rush hour.”

“Suggest a place where we shall meet,” Amara says, munching on her pasta.

“Rooftop of the Prosthetics building will do,” Julia adds. “Hardly anyone goes there.”

Amara glances at me, seeking my opinion. I nod, agreeing with Julia. 

To be honest, I don’t care where we have to meet. As long as we are together and can have our meals peacefully, I’m fine. 

“Alright then.” Amara shrugs. “Let's meet up at the rooftop of the prosthetics building. Since it's a bit away from the canteen, how about I buy lunch and bring it there since usually I’m the late one.”

“I don’t think it's a bad idea,” I hum. “Let's do this. Whoever finishes their classes early will buy lunch and wait at the rooftop.”

“I’m in,” Julia agrees. 

“It's such a pity that I cannot come to the canteen and fangirl over the handsome hunks,” Amara says, resting her chin on her palm.

She looks to her left side, eyeing the handsome guys of the orthotics and prosthetics department.

Well, I won’t lie but not meeting at the canteen means missing out on the eye candies. Most of the guys in the Orthotics & Prosthetics department and biotechnology appear like Greek gods. Their immense confidence complements their physique and knowledge, making girls of the college drool over them. 

I don’t drool over them but that necessarily doesn’t mean that I don’t steal glances at them. 

“Then we will quickly finish our lunch and come here to soothe our eyes,” I suggest the most stupid idea. “What do you think, Amara?”

“That’s the coole-”

“That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” Julia interrupts my other friend before shooting a sharp glare at me. 

“I’m just kidding,” I laugh, nudging her with my elbow. 

I like to tease her like this. The way she looks at me appears like she is some angry squirrel wanting to have its nuts that are stolen from her. Over time I noticed that Julia isn’t very fond of men. It's not like she strongly hates men but she never likes them. I pestered her a lot asking why but she never disclosed her secret of disliking men. 

“Hey, you know, we had two new transfer students today!” Amara excitedly states while her eyes light up. “They are so damn handsome.”

“Here’s the sucker for a pretty face,” Julia scoffs, putting a spoonful of soup into her mouth. “I’m telling you Amara, this weird habit of yours to run after handsome faces will land you in big trouble.”

“See.” Amara points her index finger at Julia and looks at me, appearing kinda offended. “This girl always has to interrupt me whenever I talk about boys. At this rate, I’ll die single.”

“That will never happen, my child,” Julia speaks with great confidence and she appears serious. “I’ll personally find a good guy for you to marry and will take care of all the duties of your maternal side.” 

“It sounds hella scary coming out of your mouth,” Amara gulps. 

I laugh softly. “Our department too has a newcomer.”

“You too?” Amara’s eyes widen. “The guys who joined our class are Orlo and Dylan. Aren’t their names sexy as well?”

“Our guy is Lorcan,” I say, putting more emphasis on the name since I don’t wanna lose the childish competition of which newcomer is more handsome and sexy. 

“Oh, man! I wanna see him,” Amara giggles. 

“Speak of the devil and there he is.” Julia rolls her eyes.

I glance in the direction since I have already noticed Lorcan as soon as I have arrived at the canteen. Oh? There are other guys and both of them are in black attire. Do they belong to some cult or something? Why are they all in black clothes?

“Where?” Amara looks around, swiftly moving her eyeballs like a predator searching for its prey. 

“I bet even his underwear is black in color,” Julia remarks, visibly irritated. 

“What?!” Amara presses her lips together to prevent her from laughing. 

“Hey, Julia,” I burst into laughter. “You should take it easy. I’ve heard of love at first sight but in your case, it's always hate at first sight. Forget about us. You will be the one to die single first.”

“That’s much better than having extra emotional breakdowns every now and then because of some jackass.”

Amara follows Julia’s gaze and finally finds her target. Her eyes widen and she gasps.

“There’s Orlo and Dylan!” She points at the other guys besides Lorcan. “Do they know each other?”

“They are the newcomers?” I frown as I look at their direction to have a better view of their faces. 

I glance at Julia who is busy minding her own business. She peacefully slurps on her soup. 

Suddenly, the most cheerful guy among the three looks in our direction and his gaze meets Amara’s. She flashes a bright smile and aggressively waves her hand. That guy smiles and waves his hand gently. 

“That’s Orlo,” Amara smiles as she breaks eye contact with him and looks at us. “Isn’t he cute?”

“Are you fascinated by him?” I ask, unable to believe her weird behavior. 

“Nah!” Amara shakes her head. “He is just too pretty and I’m just fangirling over him.”

“Don’t fall for him,” Julia says in a low voice, glancing at Amara through her lashes. “Pretty faces are the most dangerous ones.” 

Amara makes a face and Julia glares at her. A chuckle escapes my lips. I shake my head and munch on my food. Amara is an orphan and Julia is overprotective of her. Well, she is overprotective of both of us. 

Out of the blue, Amara stands up. 

‘Hey, what’s up?” I ask, looking bewildered. 

“I’m done with my lunch,” Amara replies happily. “I’m gonna meet Orlo.”

“We are not done yet,” Julia says in a cold tone. 

“Then enjoy your meal and join me later.”

“Hey Ama-”

Before I could finish my sentence, Amara hops off. 

I blink and lower my hand which hangs mid-air as I intend to stop my stupid friend. I look at Julia. She sighs and shrugs her shoulders before taking a quick glance at the corner. 

Amara seems very excited and she chirps like a sparrow and that Orlo guy appears to keep up with her spirit. Though I look at that table, my focus mainly stays on Lorcan Judson. The other guy who must be Dylan tries to appear attentive in the conversation but Lorcan appears as uninterested as he was in our medicine class. 

Does anything ever fascinate him?

 I wonder. 

Atleast he can smile, right? Or even he can nod. How is he unable to react to such a bubbly girl like Amara? 

Abruptly, Lorcan looks at me and our gazes meet. I flinch and bite my lower lip out of reflex. Again my heartbeat increases at the unexpected eye contact. His eyebrows knit together as soon as our eyes meet and he looks away as if he is annoyed.

He looked away again!? AGAIN?! 

As if doing it once in class isn’t enough, he does it again. 

I pull my lips to the right as I’m so annoyed right now. I look at Julia who seems very concerned about our friend. Her plate is empty. So, she is waiting for me to finish up.

“Julia, if you are worried about her, you can join her,” I say, tapping her shoulder. 

“What about you?” She wiggles her eyebrows. Her gaze averts between my unfinished food and me. 

“I will join you after I finish my lunch. It won’t take long.”

Julia reluctantly agrees and leaves the table after I assure her that I will take care of her and Amara’s plates and leave them at the dump. 

I quickly stuff my soup and sandwiches into my mouth. I don’t wanna worry my worrywart anymore than now. 

I pile up the dishes into a nice stack with flat plates at the bottom and soup bowls on the top with cutlery in my hands. 

Pooh! 

Every time we carry our own dishes. So I have never realized that we are such big eaters. Along with the main dishes, we always order pastries as if we are in a restaurant or something. Who am I to complain? I’m also a foodie. 

So, yeah, let's dump these plates first. 

As I walk to the area where plates are generally dumped, I suddenly have the urge to look at the handsome newcomer. I turn my head to the left to take a glance at Lorcan.

 And that’s the worst mistake I’ve ever made.  

Accidentally, I collide with the meanest bully in our university- Alan, a second-year master's student from the Department of Physiotherapy. 

His family is one of the wealthiest families in the country and it's said that his parents have a close relationship with the director of our university. Since he has a strong backup, he is afraid of nothing. This guy is known for being the biggest jerk in the history of our university. He doesn’t distinguish between male and female. If he targets someone, they are doomed for sure. 

The plates fall on the floor and a little bit of leftovers from one of the soup bowls spill on Alan’s dark maroon shirt, leaving a big wet patch on it. I gasp and my heart drops to my stomach, anticipating what’s coming next. 

“I’m so sorry!” I blurt out, panicking. 

“Freaking hell!” Alan curses. Holding the wet part of the shirt between the tip of his thumb and index finger, he pulls it away from his body in disgust. He lifts his head and his gaze meets mine, making me flinch. “Who the heck is this blind? Do you have your eyes beneath your feet?!”

“I’m really sorry. I-I was being careless and I-I didn’t notice you coming,” I stammer while my hands become sweaty since I have a bad tendency to give in to loud noises and commanding words.

“Oh, little blind. These pointless apologies don’t work,” Alan smirks as he takes a step toward me. 

Before I can comprehend, he grabs my wrist and pulls me in. My eyes widen in terror as a sinister smile plays on his lips.

“You should buy a new shirt of the same color and same brand to compensate,” Alan snickers. “Oh, dear! I forgot. You are on your own, right? Then there’s no way you will be able to buy me a branded shirt, let alone compensate me with a Gucci one.” He breathes out and gazes at me as if he is finding a considerate alternative for me. “Well, if you cannot compensate me with a shirt, how about compensating me with your body?”

My jaws slack while my eyeballs almost pop out of my socket. How can he suggest such a thing given that we never crossed each other’s path? How can he stoop so low?

“Let go of me!” I yell, trying my best to escape from his grasp but he doesn’t even budge. 

One of the reasons I dislike being a female is this. I’m not that weak to begin with but this guy’s deadly grip is too strong for me to break free. The harder he clenches his fingers against my slender wrist, the more I feel like my wrist is going to snap at any moment. 

“Let me go.” I whimper as my wrist bones throb with the achy pain. 

“Answer me first!” He demands, showing no mercy on me. 

Before I can let out another whimper, something as fast as light appears beside me, and the next moment the bully is lying on the ground, coughing with his hand resting on his chest. 

I turn my head to my left only to find Lorcan standing beside me. Though he appears expressionless and unbothered even in this situation, green veins pop out on his forehead. His eyes hold the murderous intent of ending the scene right here right now. 

“Who the heck are you?” Alan rises to his feet and yells, huffing like a bison. 

“That’s not important,” Lorcan says, his gaze piercing through Alan’s soul. “What’s important is you should keep in your mind what I’m about to say.” He takes in a deep breath and warns like a lion defending its hunting grounds. “Don’t you ever dare to lay your eyes on her, let alone touch her with your filthy hands, you darn leech!”