INICIAR SESIÓNKEVINBy eight o'clock that evening, I am back home in my room. Mason is out with his friends from the track team, so the house is dead quiet.Usually, I'd have the TV blasting a sports broadcast or I'd be playing music while messing around with my hockey gear. But tonight, I can't concentrate on anything else because right now, my mind is so clouded with Ava.Sighing, I throw my duffel bag into my wardrobe and flop onto my bed, my eyes staring at the white ceiling of the room as I let out a tired sigh.Even now, I am still thinking about her but specifically, I am thinking about the gestures of her hands. I can't stop thinking about the way her fingers moved so easily in front of me before she resorted to typing on her phone’s screen. From what I have seen so far, sign language seems to be more expressive and faster for her than other forms of communication, especially when she is trying to communicate something lengthy to the other person.I sigh again, wishing I can communicate th
KEVINMy head is pounding, but for once, it has nothing to do with taking a dirty elbow to the helmet during practice.Right now, I am in the academic resource center again for my tutoring session, my ass stuck to the same desk I occupied the day before yesterday. Also, I am staring at a diagram of a human heart in my textbook and right across from me, Ava is scribbling something on the page of her spiral notebook.“Ava,” I break the silence between us and lean forward, resting my chin on my hands. “You said the right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs, so why does the diagram look like the ventricle is going everywhere at once? It’s completely backwards.”She stops writing and sighs like I just asked her a ridiculous question.Next, she lifts her head, shoots me a glare, and proceeds to typing her response on her phone before showing me the phone's screen:‘The diagram is like that because you are holding the textbook upside down, genius.’What?Quickly, I look down and realize that
AVADan turns to face him, completely startled.Kevin is standing up now and the easygoing, tired look on his face is completely gone. His blue eyes are cold now and blazing with the dangerous rage I only see on him whenever he is pissed at his opponent for taking a dirty hit at him on the hockey rink.“Ava just showed you her response,” he glares at Dan. “She typed those words for them to be seen and read, so be a good boy and read them.”“W-what?” Dan stammers. “I don't have to read them when I can just ask her friend what—”“I swear I will shove my puck down your throat if you dare finish that sentence,” Kevin warns, his deadly voice sending a shiver down my spine. “You were being an arrogant idiot to Ava. She even writes better grammar than you and she literally carries the highest GPA in this entire department so I am sure she understood the group assignment before your dumbass brain managed to locate the assignment’s textbook.”“Dude I was just asking—”“No, you weren't asking.
AVAThe lecture hall is packed this morning and I am seated in my usual spot near the center of the third row with my black pen spinning between my fingers and my laptop open in front of me, my favorite teal notebook resting beside it. Everyone in here is having fun while waiting for the first professor to walk in, so right now, the hall is loud and noisy.My best friend, Susan, is sitting by my left side and currently, she is showing me a video of a golden retriever puppy falling off a couch. Susan loves dog videos.In fact, I think it is safe to say she is OBSESSED with dog videos and she is even planning to adopt a golden retriever as a pet.To my right, someone suddenly dumps a heavy duffel bag onto the desk there with a loud thud and I don't even have to look up to know who it is because his sandalwood cologne has already given him away.Kevin fucking Carter.“Hey Tutor,” he says and I hear him sliding into the chair next to mine on my right.Damn. Why is he so buggy and annoying
KEVIN“Whoa!” My instincts quickly take over as I leap forward and catch her, my arms wrapping around her waist before my brain can even process what I am doing.The force of her momentum pulls her back against my chest as I haul her up on her feet.Fuck.She almost hurt herself."Gotcha," I breathe into her hair, my chest heaving slightly from the sudden burst of adrenaline rushing through my veins. Her hair is brushing my jaw and she smells like vanilla and apples.Unable to resist, I find myself silently inhaling the scent.Fuck.Her hands are pressed flat on my chest, right over my thumping heart as she clutches at my jacket for support before she slowly tilts her head up to look at me, her wide, green eyes filled with sudden shock.For a moment, the world just... stops.I stare down at her, fully expecting her to shove me away and pull out her phone to fuck me off.But she doesn't move.She is frozen. In my arms.And still staring up at me while breathing softly through her parte
KEVINMonday afternoon arrives much faster than I want.The Academic Resource Center is painfully quiet. I am not a bookworm who dwells in silence. I am a fucking hockey player who is loud and messy on the ice, so me being here is pure torture already.But I can't escape.My grades are really bad and I need this ‘tutoring’ fix.Ava is already sitting at a corner table where my eyes are on her right now as I approach her. She also has her notebooks stacked into perfect piles on the table, including some colored highlighters, sticky notes, and her open laptop.When I finally reach her, she doesn't even look up to see me.“Hey Tutor,” I force a smile on my face before checking my phone for the time. “Oops. Sorry. I am only seven minutes late. Practice ran over and my fan club was blocking the hallway.”She lifts her wrist and points at her watch without looking at me.Damn. She is obviously pissed that I am late on our very first day.Before I can say anything, she reaches for a small no







