A Tutor For My Bully

Chapter 25: Secrets Between The Lines

Akira's POV

I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the shadow standing across the street.

Every creak of the house made my heart race.

By morning, I had convinced myself it was nothing, or at least... I tried to.

I slipped the folded note into the back pocket of my Mathematics notebook before leaving for school. If Mom found it, she would panic.

I couldn't let that happen, She already had enough burdens to carry.

As I reached the school gate, I spotted Camila waving enthusiastically. "There you are!" she called. "You look excited."

"I passed my Chemistry quiz." She said joyfully.

A smile finally found its way onto my face. "Congratulations."

"I knew you'd say that." She linked her arm with mine as we walked toward the building.

"But enough about me.” Her cheerful expression softened. "How are you?"

"I'm okay."

"Liar."

I looked at her. "What makes you think I'm lying?"

"You've looked over your shoulder at least six times since you entered the gate." Had I?

I hadn't even realized. Camila stopped walking.

"Akira..." Her voice became gentle.

"If someone is bothering you, you don't have to carry it alone." The words almost broke me, for a second… I wanted to tell her everything.

The warning, The chocolate, The figure outside my house but Instead, I smiled weakly.

"I'm just... stressed." She didn't look convinced.

But she nodded anyway. "If you ever change your mind..."

"I know."

"You can tell me."

"Thank you."

She squeezed my hand before we headed to our separate classrooms.

******

The day dragged on.

Even during lessons, I couldn't concentrate. When the final bell rang, I let out a quiet sigh of relief. I only had one more thing to do.

Tutor Kael. For some reason, the thought made me feel... safe.

>>>>>>

Kael's POV

Milky wasn't herself.

Again. She answered my questions correctly, explained every equation perfectly, smiled whenever I got the answers right. But her eyes...

They kept drifting toward the window.

Toward the front gate, toward every sound outside. She was waiting for something, Or… Someone, I thought.

"You've explained this question three times."

She blinked. "I have?"

"You've been distracted."

"I'm sorry."

"There you go again." She lowered her head.

"Sorry." I sighed. "I wasn't asking for an apology."

Silence settled between us.nI closed my notebook. "Who's bothering you?" Her head shot up. "No one."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not."

"You are." She hugged her textbook against her chest. "I just haven't been sleeping well."

I studied her face. Dark circles. Nervous fingers.

Forced smiles.

She wasn't telling me the whole truth. Before I could ask another question, a knock echoed through the house, Akira frowned. "Mom should still be at work..." She walked toward the door.

I stood up. Something didn't feel right, so she opened it slowly. Standing outside was Gerald.

My chauffeur.

He looked slightly out of breath.

"Young Master."

"What are you doing here?"

He looked at me from Akira before speaking.

"I thought you should know." My expression hardened.

"Know what?"

"I noticed the same black SUV parked near Miss Akira's street yesterday." Akira's face lost its color.

Gerald continued. "I saw it again today."

The room fell silent. "What SUV?" Akira whispered. "I don't know who owns it," Gerald admitted. "But it's been there twice."

I looked at Akira.

She looked genuinely frightened. "You knew something was wrong." She slowly shook her head.

"I..." Her voice cracked. "I didn't want anyone to worry." My jaw tightened. "You should've told me."

She looked down. "I thought it would go away."

"It doesn't work like that." Another silence followed. Finally… She reached into her school bag. "I think..." Her trembling fingers pulled out a folded piece of paper. "...this might explain it."

She handed it to me. I unfolded it.

Stay away from Kael... or next time, it won't just be your locker.

For a long moment, I simply stared at the words. Then I folded the note carefully. "When did you get this?"

"The day I lost that brown envelope."

"And you kept this to yourself?"

She nodded. "I didn't want my mom to find out."

Anger rose inside me.

Not at her. At whoever had frightened her enough to hide something like this, I slipped the note into my pocket. "I'm keeping this."

"What?"

"I'll find out who wrote it."

"You don't have to." "I know." I looked directly into her eyes. "But I'm going to." For the first time since this started… Akira didn't argue. She simply nodded, and somehow… That scared me even more.