Chapter 23
The waves crashed against each other, swaying small boats nearby. The balcony had such a peaceful view. It seemed to be the only peaceful thing happening in my life. Somewhere on this ship, Hero and Ayden were being detained. Separated from the rest of us. Separated from me.
I wanted to make sure they were okay, but I had no idea where they were. Were they allowed to get off the ship to visit Paris? Oh, I really hoped so.
I had to spend the full day without them.
Stares from my classmates lasted a while before I snapped and told them to leave me alone.
Their pity on me irritated me more than anyone could ever imagine.
If they truly felt bad for me, they should tell me straight to my face.
Instead, they stand from afar, glaring at me with their ‘pitying’ faces. It was so annoying.
Violet wasn’t in that crowd, though. She never once stopped to stare at me. I spotted her a couple of times, but she never paid any attention to what had happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t even know about the incident. Maybe nobody told her. If she knew, would she also stare?
Reading an interesting romance-fantasy book that I found in the library section, I had been comfortably sitting down in a chair at the corner of the library for two whole hours. Away from everyone else. Alone with my thoughts, and the words on the pages of the book.
I had only come to the library to get away from everyone, but I ended up finding comfort in these books. I couldn’t go back to the room because it only flooded my brain with thoughts of Hero and Ayden, and I had to get away from that too.
Within a few minutes of browsing around, I came across a great book, and I hadn’t been able to put it down since. I was on page 98 when I whiffed the scent of lavender. It smelt so good that it distracted me from reading. Where was that smell coming from?
I glanced up from the book to see a tan, curly brown-haired boy.
Was it his cologne? He was scanning the fantasy aisle, occasionally picking up a book and reading the blurb before putting it back and brushing his hands against his pants.
He made eye-contact with me, and I immediately looked down and stared at the page.
What was this feeling?
The brown-haired boy continued to walk down the aisle, getting closer to me. The lavender scent was growing stronger. As he approached the end of the aisle, he picked up a book and walked in my direction.
My heart started beating faster. But this feeling was wrong. I refused to have this type of feeling when I had Hero as my boyfriend. Hero was my soulmate, and I wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of our relationship. Hero was the only one for me.
I wanted this boy to leave.
But he didn’t.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked, gesturing to the chair next to me.
Yes, I wanted to say— I needed to say, so he would leave.
“No— no you can sit there,” I stuttered, staring into his hazel eyes. They were a slightly darker shade than Ayden’s eye color.
I couldn’t bring myself to say yes. His cologne and hazel eyes lured me, like a siren luring sailors to their death.
He politely smiled and sat down. He crossed his legs and leaned back in the chair, opening the book he was holding.
I tried my hardest to continue reading, but I couldn’t concentrate. He was invading my mind. Before I could even think, my mouth had a mind of its own.
“Hi.”
What did I just do?
“Hello,” he replied, smiling. His smile felt so welcoming and warm—all of my worries disappeared in that moment.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Benjamin, but people just call me Benji,” he answered. “What about you?”
“Nice to meet you Benji, I’m Pepper.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
“Thank you,” I said, flustered.
Benji placed his book down on the end table between us. “Do you happen to be one of Miss Kennedy’s students?”
I nodded. “How did you know?”
“Just an educated guess.” He shrugged. “I was supposed to be transferred into her class, but this field trip happened before I could be fully transferred.”
“So how are you here?”
“Miss Kennedy thought it was unfair to exclude me, so she still invited me.”
“Oh, how come I didn’t see you on the bus?”
“My father offered to drive me instead. I’m not used to…” he paused, “public transportation.”
I wasn’t sure I would consider it public transportation when it was owned by the school. Was he a spoiled rich kid?
He shrugged. “Plus, I didn’t know any of you so I figured it would be awkward.”
I nodded. “I get that.”
It had only been five minutes of meeting Benji, yet it felt like I was drawn to him. It felt so strange. It felt like my body wasn’t in control.
“You weren’t at dinner yesterday,” I commented.
“I got cold feet.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
“Well, anyway, I hope we can be friends.”
“Of course.” I smiled. Friends. I had to make sure it stayed that way.
He leaned forward. “So, did you hear about what happened between two of our classmates?”
“They’re my friends,” I said. That question led me to rant about Hero and Ayden for a whole hour. Not just about what happened on the cruise, but from the very beginning.
Benji was highly attentive—nodding and sympathizing with me as I ranted.
Throughout my rant, a few people entered the library and eventually they started to give me weird looks for being too loud—I physically couldn’t keep quiet as I was telling him about the part where Hero almost drowned everyone—so I decided to bring him to my room.
I sat down on my bed, and he observed the room before sitting down on Ayden’s bed.
As I was continuing my rant, I suddenly stopped in the middle of my sentence as I was telling him about Blake.
I got hit with the realization that I was telling a stranger my life story.
He was about to be my classmate, but he wasn’t yet.
I had never even told Ayden the whole story about Blake, and he was my literal best friend.
Guilt washed over my face.
Benji got off Ayden’s bed and walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, you don’t have to continue. You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not comfortable with.”
I nodded, looking up at him. “Thank you.”
Without thinking, I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist. Once I realized what I had done, I instantly began to unwrap my arms around him, but he gently grabbed ahold of my arms.
“I don’t mind,” he whispered, then let my arms go. I slowly wrapped my arms around him again. He didn’t hesitate before putting his arms around me too. “Is it alright if I sit down next to you?”
I nodded.
Sitting down next to me, he asked, “Since you trusted me with so much information, would you be willing to hear what I have to say about it?”
“Of course,” I said. “I would like that.”
He exhaled. “Based on what you told me, neither of them seems like the right fit for you.”
My eyes widened.
“You don’t agree?” he asked. “I assume you mean Hero, right? Why do you think he is the one?”
“Because there’s a strong connection between us,” I whispered. “We love each other so much, and we want the best for each other.”
“This might not be my place to say, but…” he paused, “would somebody who loves you almost kill you?”
“You’re right, it’s not your place to say,” I seethed.
“Okay, okay.” He gently raised his hands up, as if surrendering. “But…what if I said there might be a way to make sure he won’t hurt anyone ever again?”
I was suddenly very intrigued. I leaned forward, hoping he would continue.
“You want to know?” He smirked, amused.
“Obviously,” I said. “You can’t just leave me hanging like that.”
“Right.” He grinned. “Well, I am not so sure that I should say. I mean, I just don’t think you’d agree to it.” He sighed, moving his hair aside.
“How do you know that I wouldn’t do it?” I asked, tilting my head. “You haven’t known me very long, y’know.”
“Based on your hour-long rant, I think I have an idea of what you would and wouldn’t do—well, things related to Ayden and Hero.” He was on the verge of bursting into laughter.
“Oh, shut up,” I said playfully.
Why did it seem like Benji genuinely cared about me? He shouldn’t. I would only end up hurting him. Maybe not directly, but I knew that I was the cause for Ayden being hurt. If I never forced them to hang out with each other, this wouldn’t have happened. They would’ve gone their separate ways.
I was so selfish. It was all my fault.
“You really won’t tell me?” I asked Benji.
He softened his gaze and innocently smiled. Before he could answer, his watch made a beeping sound, causing him to look down at it.
“Listen, I have to get going.” He hopped off the bed. “I enjoyed speaking with you, and I would love to continue this conversation another time.”
“Same here,” I said, escorting him to the door.
“See you, Pepper.” A breeze passed me as Benji paced out the room and turned the corner. I decided to leave the room as well, heading to the tenth floor—where the pool was located.
As I got there, there were so many people in the pool and around it. I wasn’t planning to go in the pool today; I just hoped to spot Violet. A lot of the times when Violet had walked past me, she was wrapped in a towel and wearing a bathing suit. Based on this, I assumed she went to the pool often.
I surveyed the area, and sure enough, she was there, tanning in the sun with heart sunglasses on. Her silky hair appeared even shinier as the sun was directly hitting her.
I slowly approached her, thinking of ways to start the conversation. Or what I even wanted to say to her.
As I got closer, she noticed me and shot up in the lounge chair. “Pepper!” she exclaimed, seeming surprised to see me.
“Yeah, it’s me,” I said, trying to put a smile on my face. I stepped closer. “Are you enjoying the field trip so far?”
“I guess,” she muttered. “It’s hard to have fun when I have no friends to hang out with.”
“Oh, right.” I sat down on the side of the lounge chair, turning my head towards Violet. “Did you hear about what happened?”
“Obviously.” She frowned. “Gwen has a big mouth.”