Chapter 36: Ellie’s Prince Charming
I squinted, but I still couldn’t see this person’s face. "Your elbows are bleeding. If you’ll excuse me." This man suddenly lifted me up from the ground and carried me bridal style. ’W-What?’ "Should I say a long time no see, Ellie?" He said. That’s when I saw his iconic blonde hair and the familiar sunglasses he was wearing.
"El?!"
"Let’s talk somewhere else." He said as he carried me out of the field. "W-What? What about the race?"
"Hey! What’s going on? Where are you bringing our Ellie?" El stopped walking after Andy grabbed his shirt. "Who the hell are you?"
I saw El smile. "Ellie’s prince charming?" His words were heard by the students, and it caused an uproar.
"What? Didn’t she keep saying Night is her prince charming?"
"So that’s why she’s not chasing after Night anymore."
"She’s quick to find a new good-looking man."
Those were the words I heard; honestly, it doesn’t feel good hearing them. Oh, shoot! "El, let’s just go." I can’t let Night see El, or else he might kill him. We don’t know how much of a psychopath Night is. "Andy, I’m sorry, we’ll be off," I said as I made El run away from the field. That’s how I escaped that cosplay race and caused such a scene. Why is El at our school anyway? He doesn’t even go here.
I can’t stop frowning because of what happened. "Why are you here? And why did you cause such a scene?" I’ll end up becoming the talk of the school again because of what happened.
The hallways are empty because all the students are out in the field. It’s nice that no one’s following us, and Andy didn’t cause too much trouble reacting to what happened too. Maybe Ace stopped him even though Ace is probably curious about El.
El chuckled. "I just saw you fell down, and I didn’t know what came up to me. I really thought I could be your prince charming." He said, which made me blink thousands of times. "Also, I’m here because of my younger sister. I’m inquiring about the school for her since she might go to this school next school year."
What kind of timing is this?!
"Don’t you know that you’re putting yourself in danger because of what you did?" I don’t know if I’m overthinking this, but Night won’t just shut up about El. "Someone might kill you without you knowing who it is."
El laughed so hard that he almost let go of me, and I almost fell hard to the floor. "You really have a broad imagination." He said as if what I said was a joke. He’s laughing right now because he still hasn’t seen how Night mercilessly killed people.
When we arrived at the infirmary, the nurse wasn’t there. So El decided to take it up to himself and searched for the disinfectant tools. "You know, I’m thrilled to meet you again for the third time."
What’s up with him now? "Why? Because I’m your only friend?"
"Yeah, kind of." He said. "This might sting." El poured alcohol on the wound on my elbow, making me wince as I groan. How could he just pour alcohol into it?!
"You’re supposed to disinfect it gently!"
El chuckled and ruffled my hair. "I know you’re tough. You’re going to run again if I didn’t carry you all the way here, didn’t you?" He has a point, but that doesn’t connect with pouring alcohol on a fresh wound! "I didn’t know you could run so fast. Is your foot doing well now?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
El tilted his head. "Is there something wrong? Let me see." He gently looked at my feet after he removed my high heels, and as expected, my feet were full of blisters. "This will be bad if not treated properly." After treating my elbows, he also started taking care of the blisters on my feet.
"Why are you so good at taking care of other people?"
He looked up at my face. "Am I?" El asked back. "Instead of being good, I think I’m used to it. Remember when I said I have two half-sisters?"
I nodded. "Yeah, you told me they live abroad."
"Uh-huh. But one of them wants to study here and wants to be with me." He said. "It’s kind of awkward, but I guess they’re attached to me since I always care for them when they’re younger. My youngest sister is 6 years old this year and really clumsy." El has this gentle and warm smile as he talks about his sisters. Despite saying they’re not close anymore, I can see how much he treasures them.
"My mom’s also really clumsy. That’s why I almost became an expert in treating injuries." El placed bandages on my blisters. "There you go. All good and patched up."
I looked at my feet, and he’s indeed good at this. It would have been better if I didn’t trip and won the game instead. "Why do you still look unhappy?"
"It’s because I wanted to win that race." I sighed.
El sat on the bed beside me. "Didn’t you already win the solo race?"
How did he know about that? "Why do you know that?"
"It’s because I’ve been watching you from the start." His gaze on me made me feel somewhat conscious of my appearance. "You’re outstanding. That’s why when you fell, I panicked and immediately went to where you are."
He’s been watching the whole time?! "I thought you were inquiring about the school?"
El smiled. "I did. But I got distracted with how pretty you run." He’s using his flirty gaze again on me. Does he think he can woo me with his beautiful looks? "But why do you want to win the race so bad?"
"I needed to accumulate points as much as I can, or else I won’t be able to graduate."
He tilted his head. "Why is that?"
"It’s because I’m not good at studying and skipped too many classes." I can’t stop sighing. "I’m studying for a special examination I’ll take next week, but I don’t get mathematics at all."
"Really? Don’t you have someone to tutor you?"
I have one, but he’s not the finest tutor in the world. He calls me stupid, and he’s a perfectionist that wants me to learn everything on the first try. Or maybe he just hates me so bad and wants to make me suffer. "I don’t have one. My friends are too busy to help me." I sighed.
"Then I’ll help you."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You? You’ll help me?"
"Yeah. I’m quite good at mathematics. Not to sound proud, but I’m good at studying when I was in high school."
What? "Why do you speak like you’re not in high school anymore?" He doesn’t look that much older than me, though.
"It’s because I’m a university student now. I’m just taking a break."
I mean, he does look like a carefree university student. "Why would you help me, though? You’ve been helping me countless times now." Even though I still haven’t paid him for the first help, he offered me before. "Are you doing this for fun?"
El let out his usual chuckle. I don’t understand why he’s constantly chuckling like that, though. "It’s adorable when you always doubt me like that. Can’t you trust me that I only want to help you?" How can I trust other people I don’t fully know yet? Ever since Night betrayed me, I never want to trust other people again.
"I’m in the middle of vacation, so I don’t have anything to do either way. I would rather help you with your studies than do nothing at all."
I only stared at him first before talking. "Are you really sure that you only want to help me?"
"Of course. Do I look like I have ulterior motives?" I nodded lots of times as an answer. "Wow, you’re so mean to me." He doesn’t look hurt at all. I think he’s even enjoying this. Does he like the pain, or does he like being talked down on?
I sighed. I can’t be choosy now. "If it’s fine with you, I’ll accept your offer to teach me."
"Really? That’s great. So when do we start?"
"Tomorrow. I won’t be joining the remaining games for the sports festival, so you can just meet me here again tomorrow." I said as I flashed a small smile. "Thank you for helping me again." This way, I won’t take Ace’s precious time, and she can rest while she’s not working.
El ruffled my hair, but a wind came from the open window behind us, causing my hair to go all over my face. "You look like that ghost lady from a show I watched when I was younger." He said while laughing as he tried to tidy up my hair. "Here." I was startled when he suddenly moved his face closer to mine and tucked my hair behind my ear. "Pretty."
I felt my face heating up for an unknown reason, and El smiled at me. That’s when the door opened out of the blue, and it caused me to look in that direction.
"N-Night."
