Kael

Kael's POV

“Stay away from me, Kael.” Arian said as he saw me coming towards him.

I found him just outside the administration building, a few feet from the old stone bench where students usually waited before being called in.

‘Poor boy,’ I said to myself as I took in his sight. He was standing rigid, his eyes were red, and the wind brushing against him like it could blow him apart if it blew hard enough.

“How can I stay away from you now?” I asked as I got close enough for him to hear me.

He didn't answer me immediately, he just crossed his arms and stared at me like he was preparing to give someone a punch.

“Arian,” I called his name, checking if he was still presently minded.

“What do you want, Kael? Are you here to mock me like the others?” he snapped as if a switch had flipped inside of him.

“Mock you?” I asked, flashing him a puzzled look. “I heard what happened and I saw the post. But that doesn't mean I would use the situation against you.”

“Congratulations for being different,” he said, rolling his red eyes.

Here comes that smart mouth of his again. Why would he be in this kind of situation and still run his mouth like an open tap? Can't he be normal for once?

I pushed aside the thought of giving him the best comeback. I came here for a business and it is wise to focus on it. I don't need a diversion.

“I want to help,” I said, stepping closer. “Whatever this is, whoever did this to you, I can help you find out.

He finally looked at me. Like he really looked at me. And I wish he hadn’t because he burst out laughing. The sound was loud and bitter. It was like he forced himself to laugh just because he wanted to mock me or look down on him.

For a nobody like him, he really had a huge audacity. The size of his ego is larger than this city.

“You want to help me? What makes you think you can help me? Your fancy car?” he said with the highest form of sarcasm.

There was no warmth in his eyes. Not the spark I saw during book club meetings. Not the brightness he carries whenever he is talking to his pink-haired friend.

“Why are you like this? I just want to help you,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed about his response.

“Help?” he repeated, his voice low this time. “Do you even know how that sounds?”

“I know how it looks…” I started but he cut in.

“No, Kael. You don't know how it looks,” he snapped, his voice sharp enough to cut glass. “You don’t know what it feels like to wake up to half the school calling you a thief. You don’t know what it’s like to build something from the ground up and then be told you can’t touch it anymore. To be stripped of everything you’ve worked hard for.”

A lump formed in my throat as I listened to him. To be honest, I kind of pity him. I might not know what it is like to be called a thief but I know what it is like to be an outcast. I'm also an outcast for not graduating with my class.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “You’re right. I don’t know what that feels like. But I can help you fix this mess.”

He gave a bitter laugh again. “You think this is something you can fix with money or a call to your rich daddy?

His words hit a nerve in me. Why would he talk like that when he doesn't even know me? He is angry but that doesn't mean he can provoke me too.

“Can you just keep your smart mouth aside, and think straight for once in your life?” I said, trying to suppress my anger.

“I'm sorry, I can't be straight,” he said.

“That's not what I meant, dumb ass,” I said, without thinking.

“So what do you mean? I met you for the first time last night. And this morning, my world turned upside down. Now, you are offering to help me get out of the mess you might have caused,” he said, laying emphasis on the ‘might’.

I shook my head, frustrated but trying to stay calm. “Foremost, I didn't cause anything. I don't even know if the club has money or donations. Secondly, I'm just trying to help. I’m not trying to take control of your life. I just... I don’t want you to go through this alone when I can be of help to you.”

There was a long pause before I continued.

“You crashed in my house last night and you didn't die before dawn. Why can't you let me help you now?”

“I’ve been going through life alone long before you showed up, Kael,” he said, quieter this time. “Because I crashed at your place overnight doesn't mean I need your help.”

“What the fuck, Arian? Why are you making life difficult for yourself?”

“I don't need your help,” he said.

“Why?” I asked because I don't understand him.

I thought he would be easy to manipulate because of his situation. But Arian is a guy with multiple layers. You sure can't judge a book by its cover.

“I don’t trust you,” he said. “I don’t even know you. And I don’t have time to figure you out right now.”

He doesn't have the time to figure me out? That one hurt me, I won't deny it. I stalked him for a day and night but he didn't have the time to figure me out?

“Fuck you, Arian,” I was tempted to say but I didn't.

Instead, I said, “If you finally realise that you can't do this shit alone, you know where to find me.”

He didn’t wait to give me a response. He turned and walked off, his steps were stiff and determined, like if he stopped moving the world would crush him.

I stood there, watching him go. Letting him go now doesn't mean I was done with him. I wasn't close to being done with him.

And for the first time since I met Arian Smith, I realized something that terrified me more than my father, more than not graduating from college, more than anything else in the world.

I wanted him to trust me and I had no idea how to make him trust me. So I have to change my strategy. First, I have to find any possible way to earn his trust.