Chapter 557: It’s Not Me, But My Friend
(Author’s POV)
"Yelena~ ... what’s up? You look dead tired, babe?" Christie asked, looking at her. "Didn’t sleep well last night?"
Before she answered, an exhausting yawn escaped her mouth as she hummed, "Umhmm~ .... Kind of. Why is the lecture taking too long?" She complained.
"Haha~ ... it’s barely five minutes since the professor arrived," her classmate pointed out. "He hasn’t even started the lecture yet."
"Now we are going to discuss the limitations of thermodynamics," Prof. Westwood said. "It is not possible to determine the rates of trans~ ..."
"Now he has...." Yelena commented, rolling her eyes. "It is my third straight lecture. Goshhh~ ... I want this to end fast~ ..." She smoothed her temple with her fingers.
Christie leaned in a bit, murmuring next to her ear, "What happened? Something seems off about you. Boyfriend trouble, hmmm? Tell me, tell me. Maybe I can help."
Yelena’s eyes flickered at hearing the term ’boyfriend’; her actions stopped midway, but she shook her head, "I don’t have any."
"Then, it has to be your crush," Christie pointed. Yelena’s face unconsciously turned beetroot. "Gotcha, this time, haha~ ... tell me about it?" she insisted.
Yelena’s mind drifted to what happened after the dinner. The sight of Brave and Myra together had somehow left a sour taste in her mouth.
Though Myra told her and Wendy that there was no romantic angle to her relationship with Brave Everests, a voice kept nagging in her mind, saying otherwise. Especially the way Brave looked at Myra and treated her.
Last night, when she went to Myra’s room with warm milk, she wanted to ask her directly and clear things up. But Myra’s refusal to talk then didn’t let her sleep a wink. She was tossing and turning in her bed. One minute, she wanted to talk to her best friend; another minute, she didn’t even know what she was going to say. She didn’t even know why she was feeling this way. Anyways, her feelings, her mind, they were all in turmoil, a total mess.
"Actually. It’s not about me, but one of my friends. Not from her but from back home," Yelena started hesitantly.
’Ahhaa, cliché,’ Christie thought, but didn’t word it as she placed her elbows on the desk and looked at Yelena with pure curiosity, "Go on."
"There is this guy. Super handsome, really tall, and comes from a wealthy family. And there is the girl, my friend. She is loud, extroverted, hyper kind and comes from a well to do family as well. They haven’t met many times, but when she on their first time, she mistook him for someone else, a douchebag~ .... and hit him," Yelena stated, her tone regretful, replaying the scene.
"Yikes, that’s quite a dramatic first meeting," her classmate commented, hissing. "K-drama style."
Yelena kept on going, "But the guy, he didn’t retaliate. Instead, he noticed the injury on her foot, took her to the hospital and made sure she received treatment. He didn’t even mention the incident to anyone else, nor has he ever been rude to my friend."
"Wow, a gentleman, that’s nice," Christie’s running commentary was on. "Then~ ... what’s troubling you~ .... ~r friend?"
"Ummm~ ... there is another friend of hers. She is beauty with brains, comes from a decent family too. She knew the guy beforehand and seems to be quite close to him and his entire family. Actually, the guy’s sister and the other friend have been best friends since childhood," Yelena bit her lower lip while saying this.
"So, you think, I mean your friend thinks, a hotpot is brewing between that handsome hunk and the other chic, huh??" Christie asked.
"Uhhh~ .... her friend says they have nothing going on between them and are just normal acquaintances, but the way the guy looks at her is totally different from the rest. He is polite and accommodating in general. But when it comes to that mutual friend, he is next level attentive and recalls tiny bits of details. My friend is confused. She doesn’t know what to think. She doesn’t even know why she is confused in the first place~...." Yelena laid it all out.
"Silly~ ... what’s with the confusion, hmm? When you like someone, it is very obvious to feel jealous. Who wouldn’t feel that way seeing their crush being attentive towards another person? That’s natural," Christie stated casually.
"Like?" Yelena mumbled softly; the redness crept to her ears. "It’s not like that. She doesn’t like him like that."
Christie sighed, then advised, "Tell your friend not to stress too much and just be honest with herself. She definitely likes the guy. She should just go to the guy and make her move, confess her feelings sincerely."
"But~ ... they barely know each other. They haven’t even spent time together. And she isn’t even sure about the like part," Yelena tried to make excuses. But Christie shut her down, "Yelena~ .... Yelena~ .... don’t complicate things when they are not, sweety. Who says you have to know someone inside and out to love them, hmm? Love can happen in a fleeting moment. At first glance, in first talk, right? Do you think all couples who have been married for years love each other? No, right? Knowing someone beforehand is good, but you shouldn’t weigh on it that much. You can like or even love someone in mere seconds. Tell your friend to not wait any longer and simply confess to the guy wholeheartedly. What worse can happen? He rejects you~r friend. Big deal; that way she can at least move on and try different options and not leave sleep over him? Tell her to go for it. I am rooting for her ..." she winked, encouraging her.
Yelena pondered on her advice and nodded. Suddenly, a surge of confidence burst inside her as she took out her phone and texted Brave, "I need to talk to you about something important. Can we meet in an hour outside the engineering building?"
Christie leaned in and mumbled, "Who are you texting, babe?" but before Yelena could say anything, a thunderous voice echoed in the classroom as a chalk landed right between the two like a tracer bullet, "MS. HARPER, MS. YATES, what is so interesting that you both are not paying attention in the class? Why don’t you fill us all in, huhhh?" Ashley Westwood remarked, his face scrunched into a frown. They didn’t utter a single word, their head lowered.
He didn’t like it and barked, "What? Now you can’t even open your mouth? Ms. Yates~ .... does having your grandfather as a trustee make you break all the rules, huh? Don’t you know manners? Didn’t he teach you that?"
"PROF.~ .... DON’T SPEAK ABOUT MY GRANDPA LIKE THAT," Yelena slammed her hand on the desk, got up and warned him, her eyes brimming with rage. She was ready to unleash hell on him when her phone started to buzz in the otherwise quiet classroom.
She read the call ID and her eyes narrowed; it said, ’Secretary Grey.’
’Didn’t Grandpa’s flight take off an hour ago? So, why is he calling me?’ The thought struck her, and an inexplicable discomfort thumped in her heart. Without waiting for permission, she picked up the phone. "Hello~ .... Secretary Grey."
The line was dead silent for a while, which made her uneasy.
"What is this, Yates? How uncouth, impudent of you," Ashley rebuked her, but she ignored him and spoke again, "Hello~ .... Secre~ ..."
"Ms. Yates~ ..." Oliver’s voice finally came, strangled and broken, "Your grandfather~ ... he is~ .... BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP~~~~~~"
The phone slipped from her hand and landed on the floor, the edges cracking as she stood stunned.
"Yelena~ ... what happened?" Christie picked up her phone and asked, her voice etched with worry.
Yelena came to her senses, picked up her phone and without answering, sprinted out of the class.
To Be Continued . . . . . . . . .
