A Tutor For My Bully

Chapter 24: Something Isn't Right

Kael's POV

Milky had lied to me again, I watched her disappear into the hallway, her small figure blending into the crowd of students. She walked with her head lowered as usual, clutching her books against her chest. But something was different today. She wasn't just quiet, She looked... frightened. I had known her long enough to notice the little things, The way she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear whenever she was nervous.

The way she avoided eye contact when she was hiding something, the way she apologized too quickly, even when no one blamed her. Today, she had done all three.

"Bro." Adrienne's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "You've been staring at the hallway for a whole minute." "I wasn't."

"You literally were."

"Oh,I was thinking." He smirked.

"About the girl?"

"What girl?" I quickly asked.

"The one with the glasses," he said, smiling weirdly. I shot him a look. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't."

He laughed before tossing an apple toward me. I caught it effortlessly. "You've changed."

"I haven't."

"You don't even bully her the same way anymore." I frowned. "What does that even mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean." I took a bite of the apple, hoping the conversation would end there, but it didn't.

"You used to make her run errands every day," he continued.

"So?"

"Now you carry her books."

"I picked them up because Jenny knocked them over," I quickly defended myself.

"You waited outside the library for her last week."

"Coincidence."

"You took her to my birthday party."

"I needed someone."

"You fixed her hair." I nearly choked on the apple.

"How do you know that?" Adrienne grinned.

"Gerald talks too much." Great.

I made a mental note to have a serious conversation with my chauffeur. "You care about her." “No,I don't."

"You do." He replied with a wry smile.

"I don't." He folded his arms. "Then why were you glaring at Justin during lunch like you wanted to punch him?" I stayed silent, because I didn't have an answer. The bell rang before Adrienne could tease me any further. "Saved by the bell," he muttered with a laugh.

*******

Practice should have cleared my head. Instead, it only made everything worse. The image of Justin standing beside Milky kept replaying in my mind.

Coach blew the whistle. "Blackwood! Focus!"

I stole the puck from one of the defenders and raced toward the goal. Shoot, I did.

The puck slammed against the post.

Again. Coach sighed loudly.

"Take five." I skated toward the bench and sat down, resting my elbows on my knees, something wasn't right. Justin wasn't interested in Milky by coincidence.

He had been watching us, watching her. The thought irritated me more than I wanted to admit.

"Mind if I sit?" I looked up.

Coach lowered himself onto the bench beside me. "You've been distracted for days." He said.

"I'm fine." "You've said that three times."

I remained quiet. Coach smiled faintly.

"You remind me of myself at your age."

"I doubt that."

"I thought I could solve every problem alone." He leaned back, watching the players on the ice.

"I learned the hard way that some problems get bigger when you ignore them." His words lingered in my mind long after he walked away.

>>>>>>

That evening, I found myself standing outside Milky's house much earlier than usual. The porch light was already on, I raised my hand and knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened.

Milky looked up at me and smiled politely. "You're early." "You noticed."

"I always notice." She stepped aside so I could come in. Something about those words stayed with me. I always notice, maybe she did.

Maybe she noticed every little change in me… Just as I noticed every little change in her.

She spread our books across the table.

"Let's start with quadratic equations today." I nodded.

She explained the first question the same calm way she always did. But halfway through the explanation… She stopped talking.

Her eyes had drifted toward the window.

"Milky?" She blinked. "Hm?"

"You've been staring outside for almost a minute."

"Oh..." She laughed nervously. "I thought I saw someone." I instinctively turned toward the window, The yard was empty. Only the evening breeze moved the leaves.

"No one's there."

"I guess I imagined it." She tried to smile again.

Tried. It didn't reach her eyes.

The lesson continued, but she kept glancing toward the window every few minutes. By the time we finished, I had made up my mind, She was hiding something. And whatever it was… It frightened her.

I picked up my backpack and walked toward the door.

"Kael?" I turned around. "Yes?" She hesitated.

"...Nothing." For the first time since I'd met her… I wished she hadn't said "nothing." Because somehow… I knew that "nothing" was slowly turning into something much bigger.

As I stepped off the porch, a movement across the street caught my attention.

A tall figure stood beneath a tree, half-hidden by the darkness, watching the house. The moment our eyes met… The stranger turned and walked away. I didn't think.

I ran. "Hey!" I shouted.

The figure disappeared around the corner, when I reached the street… There was no one there.

Only silence, and a single chocolate wrapper lying on the ground.