Chapter 22
Ayden wasn’t there when we went back to our room. I wondered where he was, but I didn’t dwell on it for long. Hero was the main thought in my mind. We quickly washed off in the shower—not at the same time, of course—and changed into our pajamas.
“Goodnight.” He kissed my forehead, then plopped into bed.
I slept well, knowing that the boy of my dreams was now my boyfriend—although, I still had to break up with Ayden.
* * *
The next morning, I woke up to the obnoxious sound of Ayden using a hairdryer. He was a ‘morning showers’ type of person. I rubbed my eyes, adjusting to the light he had turned on from the vanity mirror. He was holding a hairdryer in one hand and a hairbrush in the other.
I peeked over at Hero who was still under the blanket, sound asleep. He was the type of person to sleep through an earthquake.
“Ugh…turn that off,” I groaned.
“I have to dry my hair and style it,” he replied, not seeming to care that he had waken me up. “I forgot to bring my hairspray.”
“What time even is it?” I asked, shouting over the loud hairdryer.
“Six a.m.,” he answered, looking at the clock.
“Six a.m.?!” I repeated incredulously. “Why are you up this early?”
“I usually wake up at this hour, so I want to keep a good habit of my sleep schedule,” he said, finally shutting off the hairdryer.
“Well, now I can’t go back to sleep,” I said, annoyed. I sat up in my bed, yawning.
Ayden opened one of the drawers and placed the hairdryer and brush down.
“Wait, you showered?” I asked, realizing. “What about your scratches?”
“I only washed my hair, standing outside of the shower,” he replied, fidgeting with his rings and closing the drawer. He glanced at Hero. “I can’t believe he didn’t wake up to the sound of the hairdryer.”
“Yeah, me neither,” I said, then realization hit me. “Wait, were you purposely trying to wake him up?”
He didn’t respond.
I got closer to him, examining his hair. “Did you lie about washing your hair?”
He touched his hair defensively. “Why are you asking so many questions? You know I’m still mad at you, right?”
“Nevermind,” I said, putting my bunny slippers on. “Don’t wake him up while I’m gone.” I took my thermal cup from the vanity table and walked to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Going to get coffee to fully wake me up.”
“In your pajamas?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Nobody is going to care that I am in my pajamas,” I retorted, rolling my eyes. I walked out of the room and headed to the buffet.
When I got there, there were a few early birds drinking coffee. As I expected, I was not the only one wearing pajamas. Filling up my thermal cup with steaming hot coffee, I added cream and sugar. I used a straw to stir it, then put a lid on it and headed back to the room.
I tried opening the door, then remembered I had forgotten to bring my keycard with me.
I knocked on the door. “Ayden!” I called. “Can you come open the door?”
No answer.
A few seconds later, I heard footsteps heading towards the door. The door opened, revealing Hero on the other side. His hair was extremely messy; it was obvious he had just gotten out of bed.
“Oh, did Ayden wake you up?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Ayden already left. The knocking woke me up.”
How ironic, he woke up from a knock on a door but not the loud noise of a hairdryer.
“Ayden left?” I asked, but it was a rhetorical question. I didn’t see him on the way back, so he couldn’t have gone to the buffet. Where did he go?
I walked past Hero and placed the thermal cup on the vanity table. He closed the door behind me and sat back down on his bed. He blew the hair out of his face, then watched me as I brushed my hair.
“So, you talked to Ayden this morning?” he asked, looking at me through the mirror.
I turned around, leaning against the vanity. “Yeah, the sound of his hairdryer woke me up. You slept through that so peacefully.”
“That sounds like me.” He lightly chuckled.
I smiled, then returned to a serious gaze. “I didn’t get the chance to talk to him about the other thing, though.”
He nodded, approaching the vanity to brush his hair. As he brushed his hair, he asked, “What hairstyle are you doing today?”
“The usual.” I began to braid the left side of my hair.
“Can I try braiding the other side?” he asked.
I blushed, nodding. He gently grabbed ahold of my hair, braiding the right side. He stared intently at my hair, making sure to do his best.
And he did. It wasn’t even noticeable that two different people braided my hair.
“Did I mess it up?” he asked, biting his lip.
He was a perfectionist.
I shook my head, hugging him. “You did great, Ro.”
* * *
After getting dressed, we decided to head back to the buffet to eat breakfast.
“Don’t forget your coffee,” Hero reminded.
“Thanks,” I said, picking up the cup.
As I was entering the buffet, I bumped into Ayden. Literally. I turned the corner and crashed into him. He grabbed me, keeping me from falling backwards. Then, he glanced behind me to see Hero and let go of me, looking genuinely terrified, then turned to me with a straight face.
“What are you doing?” he whispered. “Why are you here with him?”
“I think this is a good time to tell you,” I said, glancing back at Hero before gazing directly into Ayden’s eyes.
“What are you talking about?” Ayden asked.
“I’m breaking up with you,” I said. “I’m sorry, this just isn’t working.”
“This was Hero’s idea, wasn’t it?” he asked. “He’s manipulating you.”
“No!” I said, a little louder than I should have. “No, I am the one that chose this. I am choosing to be with him.”
His eyes widened and he backed away. “You’re…you can’t be serious. Do you know how stupid you sound right now?”
“Don’t call her stupid,” Hero chimed in angrily, walking up next to me.
Ayden swallowed and backed up more. “I can’t…I can’t do this.” He stormed past us, starting to cry.
“Let’s go,” Hero said, pulling me into the buffet area. Some of our classmates were in line getting food. I decided to get eggs and bacon, while Hero got cereal.
Typical.
We found a two-person table that was further away from our classmates. They gave us dirty looks as we passed them. They saw that Hero and I were no longer on bad terms, which didn’t make me look good. But who cared what those bullies think?
I certainly didn’t.
“I’m glad that you forced me to be in your group,” he admitted.
I laughed. “I’m glad too.”
We talked for thirty minutes straight. I almost forgot that we were in a public place; it felt as though I was in the room with him, and only him. We had finished our breakfast, and I was half-way finished with my coffee.
Hero clenched his jaw while staring at something behind me. I swung my body around and spotted Ayden far away.
But he wasn’t alone.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was with the group of bullies. Laughing with them.
Maybe Reese was right. Maybe he did belong with them. Not that he was a bully or anything, but he seemed to fit in. He seemed himself.
“I can’t stand him,” Hero scoffed, shaking his head. “He’s doing this just to piss me off.”
I turned back around. “You really think so?”
“You don’t?” he asked, looking at me. “Why else would he be hanging out with that group?”
“I admit it’s strange,” I said, “but doesn’t he look happier?”
Hero glanced at Ayden again, then shrugged. “I guess, but it has to be an act. He hates them.”
“I just don’t think it’s an act,” I muttered quietly, gazing at Ayden.
Gwendolyn noticed us staring and told the rest of the group. They all turned their heads and made judgy faces. Ayden said something that made them all laugh.
That only made Hero even more riled up. He stuck the middle finger up and mouthed some vulgar words.
“Don’t pay them any mind,” I instructed, but it was too late for that. The whole group marched over to our table. They allowed Ayden to lead.
“Do you even like Pepper?”
“I do,” Hero said without hesitation. “I love her.”
Whoa.
He said he loved me.
Ayden was caught off guard by that. Xavier put a hand on his shoulder. “No, don’t,” he said, pushing Xavier’s hand off.
“What are you doing here?” I interjected. I wasn’t interested in entertaining them for much longer.
“Did you think we would just take that level of disrespect?” Colin spoke up.
Ayden crossed his arms and nodded. “What he said.”
“Don’t be a bully like them, Ayden,” I muttered.
“Shut it, Red,” Gwendolyn snapped. Still not accepting the fact that they’re bullies, I see.
“So original,” Hero mocked. He then muttered under his breath, “I wish they’d jump off the ship.”
Ayden stepped closer to Hero, who was still sitting in his chair. “If you have something to say, say it to our face.”
Hero stood up, standing two inches taller than Ayden.
“Not on the cruise ship, guys, no,” I warned. Getting into a physical fight on the ship would be bad. Extremely bad. “Think of the consequences.”
“I don’t mind, as long as he gets the consequences too.” Ayden smirked, but I spotted a hint of sadness in his eyes.
“Same here,” Hero said, not breaking eye contact with him.
I stood up. “I’m begging you guys. Don’t do this.”
But it was no use.
They had completely tuned me out. Waiting for the other to make the first move. It was obvious none of them actually wanted to get in trouble, but they still wanted to fight. Knowing that the one who starts the fight would get into more trouble, both of them hesitated to throw the first punch.
“How does it feel that Pepper is mine?” Hero provoked.
That was the last straw.
Ayden clenched his left fist and punched Hero. Hard. The bullies laughed, and jumped up and down, clearly enjoying this.
“Once again, I threw the first punch.” Ayden chuckled, rubbing his knuckles.
Hero held a hand to his right cheek and tightened his jaw. His cheek was red. He then extended a hand to grab my thermal cup, opening the lid with the other.
“NO!” I attempted to grab my cup, but my reflexes weren’t quick enough.