Masuk_Aurora’s POV_He picked up the essay, flipping to the first page.“I did.”“No, you read it academically.” He wouldn't be giving me a C if he read it with love. Nikolai sent me a stare.“That’s generally how essays are marked.” He answered. The sass on this man…“I want emotional marking.”“I’m afraid the university hasn’t adopted that policy.”I groaned loudly enough that someone walking past his office glanced through the glass panel in the door.I smiled sweetly until they walked away. Then I turned back to Nikolai.“You gave me a C.” I forced out through gritted teeth. I wasn’t going to accept a C when I knew I could have gotten much better. “You earned a C.” He said and I groaned once again. “You’re repeating yourself.” And it was starting to get frustrating. Because whyyy the helllll.“So are you.”All this man was doing was repeating what I was saying ot what he said and it was starting to frustrate me. “This relationship is becoming toxic.” I shook my head. He leaned
_Aurora’s POV_I stared at the large red letter written across the top of my paper.There was no missing the large ink. C.Just…C?I blinked once. Then twice. Hoping I was somehow hallucinating the grade on the very first test I had written in this school. Surely I was holding it upside down.I turned the paper around, holding it magically morphed into an A or at least, a B. But nope. Still a C.“…You’re joking.”Across the office, Nikolai didn’t even look up from the laptop on his desk, his fingers rapidly moving over his keyboard. He had his glasses sitting at the bridge of his nose and up till now i Havent yet figured out if they were actually medicated or not. “I’m not.” He answered, his gaze still pinned on me. I looked back at the paper, confirming it was my name that was written on it.Aurora Kingston. That was my name alright, but it wasn’t my grade. I looked back at him. Then back at the paper.“There has been a mistake,” I said, but Nikolai didn't even look up from
_Aurora’s POV_“Because if it stopped hurting…”I swallowed hard.“…it almost feels like I’m forgetting him.”That tiny acceptance was enough to make me feel a bit better.“You aren’t.” My gaze snapped to his. Nikolai was staring at me with deep emotions written on his face. I tore my gaze away after a few seconds, looking at the artist once again. “It feels like I am,” I confessed. It felt strange discussing this with Nikolai. We were on a date and I was talking about a past love. Who even does that? And it was different that he was letting me. “It isn’t the same thing,” Nikolai repeated, like he was expecting me to get it into my head. I looked down at the pavement.“I don’t know.”He waited another few seconds before speaking.“Do you remember your first day at university?”I looked at him, my brows furrowed. “…Today?” A smile tugged at his mouth.“Exactly.”“I don’t understand.” I was so confused about where he was getting at. I waited for him to explain what he meant.
_Aurora’s POV_We walked side by side, our shoulders brushing now and then whenever the pavement narrowed.My grip tightened on his and mt other inside his blazer pocket.It smelled like him, the blazer that is.And I hated how much I liked that.“I have a question,” I said after a while and Nikolai glanced at me.“I was wondering how long it would take,” he said and I frowned.What did he mean by that?“What?” I asked, hoping he could fix it by saying something else. “You’ve been unusually quiet,” he said and I rolled my eyes. Why is he sounding like it was just a hard thing for me to be quiet?“I can be quiet,” I said, but he does some sort of sound with his tongue and I turned to stare at him.What did that mean?“Yeah, right. You can.” The sass in his tone made me pause in my tracks and I shot him a nasty look. What was that tone for?“You don’t sound convinced.” I pointed out and he stopped to look at me.“I’m not.”I rolled my eyes at him, walking to catch up to him. My heel
Aurora’s POVNikolai’s fingers remained wrapped around mine.And it felt comforting to me, to be honest. “…I’ll be right there.”The words settled somewhere deep inside me, somewhere I hadn’t let anyone reach in a very long time.I looked down at our joined hands before slowly looking back at him.I felt warm. Really warm. “You say things like that very easily.”His thumb brushed absentmindedly against the back of my hand.“I don’t.”My breath hitched at his words. Then how was it so wrong for him to say it to me?“No?” I asked, finding it hard to believe. “No.”His expression remained calm, but there was something honest in his eyes that made it impossible to look away.“I only say things I intend to keep.”My heart stumbled.God.How was someone supposed to respond to that?Thankfully, the waiter returned before my brain had the chance to embarrass me.He set dessert in front of us before disappearing once again.I stared down at the chocolate cake.It looked delicious. Really de
_Aurora’s POV_I pinched the bridge of my nose, letting out a deep breath.I had asked him to stay in one place. I asked him to do just one thing. What was so difficult about that?“It’s nothing,” I answered, waving them away. I was starting to get hungry, and they were getting on my nerves.The girls lingered for another second before the hostess called their names.“Oh! That’s us.”Lillian glanced at me one last time, her eyes narrowing slightly.“It was… nice meeting you.”“I can’t say the same,” I replied with a sweet smile.I didn’t really want to see them in class.Who knew university women were this way? They were acting like they were still in high school.And that was when it hit me. I might be five years older than these women.Five.That seemed to tick me off just by thinking of it.“Go!” I hissed, clicking my tongue. Her lips pressed into a thin line before she spun on her heel, following the others deeper into the restaurant.The moment they disappeared around the corn







