Thorns of White Rose

Chapter 14 - Wholesome Gent

I realized that I spent the best days of my life so far here in the capital city. My mind is free from negative thoughts. I get to experience new things, I see a bigger world. This is what being reborn in the same life feels like.

We are almost done with the projects for midterm, and so we focus now on reviewing for the exams. Aubrey was really stressed out lately. Back in highschool, she used to have a tutor but now she does everything on her own. I always tell her how proud I am. Slowly, we crawl to the real world and I am glad that we have each other. It helps too that the guy she's dating right now is supportive and understanding. He waits for Aubrey patiently everyday so they can have dinner together. I can never afford their lifestyle, but it's fun to watch.

It's Wednesday and I did not notice the time. The midterm week starts tomorrow and will last until Thursday next week. I stood to stretch my arms. I have been sitting for 3 hours memorizing formulas for Physics and Calculus. It's past 10 now, no wonder I'm starving.

I gathered my things and left the library. Unlike the normal days, the campus is noticeably quiet that night. There are no varsities walking around or students walking around, everyone must be busy preparing for the exam. It's also raining cats and dogs. I checked my phone while walking to the lobby. Big thanks to the covered pathway I can get to the lobby without getting wet.

"Damn..." I whispered to myself when I couldn't book any car or taxi on the online app. It's been 20 minutes since I arrived at the school lobby but there is no available driver or car. I need to sleep early too to prepare for the exam tomorrow. And my phone is not cooperating, it's about to shutdown due to low battery. I searched my bag for the charger and I feel like crying when I cannot find it there. I must have left it at home. I opened the last zipper of my bag hoping to find my charger there when I heard someone called my name. I almost froze when I saw Kale.

"Laurian, why are you still here at this hour?" It's a casual question. I closed my bag and faced him.

"I-I'm about to go home too. Just waiting for the taxi." I hope he doesn't notice the tears building up right now. I hate appearing pathetic.

He looked at my phone and nodded.

"I just heard from my secretary that there's a flooded area nearby so it might be hard to book cars right now. If you have someone you can call to take you home, it might be better that way. It's late also, 10:37." He sounds concerned, but I can tell also that he's trying not to cross the line between professor and student relationship that we agreed to keep.

"It's okay. For sure I will be able to book one later. Keep safe, Sir Kale. It's raining heavily." That's my attempt to end the conversation.

He sat in the bleacher near me, and started checking something on his phone too.

"Aren't you going home yet?" I asked.

"My driver is on the way. I can give you a lift but that's only if you're comfortable to go with me. I won't force you. If you say no then it's no."

Why of all people I know in the campus it's him seeing me in this pathetic situation.

I thought about his offer, and he patiently waited. I know it's safe to be with him. The problem is my ego and my heart.

"A-are you sure it's okay if you drive me home?" I turned to him. A simple smile showed in his face. I can tell that he's tired also. I appreciate his offer.

"It's my pleasure. I will be worried too if you take a taxi at this hour while it's raining like this."

I smiled too. He's really kind to his students. I hope he knows that he's inspiring a lot of my classmates. He's young and has a great personality. The boys are learning a lot from him. He's respected in our class.

"Thank you. I'll make it up to you. Why are you still here at this hour?" I understand now why the girls fall for him. He tilted his head and showed his infamous smirk enough to make my heart skipped a beat. He is charming, he is all the nice words. It's my first time meeting a wholesome guy like him, I guess that explains why I'm so drawn into him.

"You don't have to return the favor, Laurian. From now on, you can call me anytime you can't book a car. If I can't come, I will send my driver to pick you up. I had a meeting online and it finished late. I returned the keys and saw you here. What a coincidence, right?" I'm sure my cheeks let me down again. I can't stop feeling hot when he's around.

It's still raining heavily, but the ambiance has changed now. Suddenly, I want to stay here a little longer and listen to his hoarse yet calm voice that he exclusively use when we're alone.

"I'm glad you found me here." I just answered. My phone vibrated and I thought I finally got a booking but it was message from Brynne. 3 consecutive messages from him.

(Good luck with the midterm exam Lauryyy! If you need notes, just lmk)

(Also please be our volunteer for the outreach activity in Bohol. Pleaseeee?)

(It will encourage more freshmen to join, you're really famous in your batch. Let's talk after all your exams) And there's a winking emoji.

He's cute.

"What's the outreach activity that Brynne mentioned? He's asking me to volunteer." I asked Kale.

"I see you're textmates now. He asked you to volunteer? We have enough people." I hate that he sounded like he doesn't want me to be part of it.

"I'm interested to join." His jaw clenched as of he was challenged.

"Alright. You can join the next meeting with the organizers. What about the Math Assoc, are you considering?" His face was so serious when he asked the last question.

"I'm still thinking about that. I'm still in my first year and I'm trying to familiarize myself with the organizations here and how it works." He snorted and crossed his arm on his chest. That's really sexy of him.

"One ask from Brynne and you're saying yes." He murmured but I clearly heard.

"What's your point?" I asked but his phone vibrated and he immediately stood.

"Let's go. My driver is here." He said in a cold tone which made me roll my eyes. He can't possibly be mad right now because I mentione Brynne, right?

His driver handed us one umbrella and when we tried to cross the distance between the lobby and the car, I can see that Kale was getting wet because the umbrella was only covering me. He won't even get close so we can fit under it. I just hurried to get in the car.

"You got drenched in!" I exclaimed when he finally got in the car beside me.

"I'm alright. I will take a shower anyway as soom as I get home. Where do you live so we can go there first." He looks cool while combing his wet hair using his hand.

I told him the address and he told his driver the fastest route for that.

"Are your things okay? It didn't get soaked in?" He asked when the engine started. It took me a moment to answer as I was appreciating the interior of an Audi A5.

"Yes it's fine. Can I just tell you something?" His brow raised and smiled evily.

"What is it this time, Ms. Savedra?"

"Why are you so short-tempered? Your mood easily changes, that's really a turn off. You once gave a surprise quiz because no one wanted to volunteer during recitation for that one extremely hard question. Then earlier I said I'm still thinking about your offer, but your mood alsp changed." He chuckled after I said the last sentence.

"You're the first to actually tell me."

"Okay, now you know. Can you please not do that again? As your student, we can't do anything when you turn into..." He cut me off.

"I'll try for you, Laurian. I'm really amazed you are brave-enough to tell me." He laughed. Nothing is funny about this. He's scary when his mood changes.

"Also... regarding your offer for Math Association, I can consider any representative level for now. I need to focus on my studies too. I will try higher positions later." He's watching me carefully.

"Happy to hear that. I will ask you to go to the faculty room to discuss after the midterm exam. Did you study well?" Now he's back to his sweet tone. My heart cannot do this anymore.

"Yes. I prepared a lot for this."

"Good." I gulped when I heard his acknowledgement. What did he do to me. Why am I so thirsty for his approval. This can't be happening. If I keep getting closer with him, I might actually end up developing complicated feelings for him.

"You better not give us out-of-this-world questions!" He laughed.

"The questionaires have been turned in to the Math Department and most likely printed already too. I can't change anything at this point, so do well. Okay?"

"Okay, sir."

"You seriously can drop the sir when it's just the two of us."

"I don't want to. You're nothing but a professor to me."

"Okay, you can tell me that next time you're not blushing while we're talking."

"What? I-I think you misunderstood." I bite my lower lip. He noticed how I blush everytime!! I want to cry from embarrassment. He's watching my reaction right now, he's waiting for my next statement.

"I naturally have reddish cheeks." He gave a singular laugh and nodded as if teasing me.

"Okay. If you said so."

"Ahhh I hate you." I murmured after a while because he's still smiling from ear to ear.

"Kidding aside, make sure to get proper sleep tonight. You saod you've prepared a lot, that's good enough. Have a good night sleep after taking a shower so your mind will be relaxed tomorrow when you take the exam. Don't skip your normal meals too."

"That's noted, Sir Kale."

"And if something like this happens again, just call me or send me a message. You have my number."

I looked at him and said thank you. He's really just nice.

That night, I took a hot shower and tucled myself in bed. I turned the airconditioning in a cool temperature and my last thought before falling asleep was still Kale. Is it okay to keep falling like this for that man? Is it safe for my heart and my dreams?