Never Insult Me Like That Again

"You know that I'm not only trying to earn for myself."

Aaron said this with double meaning. We all knew about the old woman who took him home and cared for him when he was abandoned. Hence, it never crossed our mind that there was still another person he was doing all these for—Me. But he successfully concealed it from us.

Aaron had wanted to study in our private school because he believed that it offered a good academic foundation to help him get to one of the best universities in the city. So when he met a philanthropist who sponsored his high school education, he was truly grateful. But for their everyday necessities, he had to earn a living.

There was a glint of sadness in my eyes as I thought about the hardships Aaron had been going through.

Aaron had became a little nervous as he became the focus of our conversation. He must have had a lot of things about himself that he didn't want to talk about. Because of his restlessness, he began to crumple the paper towels on the table.

As if my thoughts were being read, a male voice declared. "For one who truly loves and is inspired by love, one can take all the hardships life throws at him."

Stunned at the eloquent words, everyone looked towards the person who spoke them—it was Brent. We had not been aware of his arrival until he opened his mouth.

Awhile ago, after the exams, he had suddenly disappeared to meet up with a friend. Since he came to A University with James, Lizzie and Molly in his car, he was confident that they would not go home without him. Therefore, after his meeting, he went to look for us among the nearby restaurants.

After our initial shock, Brent made another surprise attack: "From what I know of Aaron's personality, he's a hopeless romantic."

Brent must have innocently revealed an unknown side of Aaron's personality, that Aaron's face and ears suddenly turned crimson and his body stiffened.

"What does being a hopeless romantic have to do with me earning for myself?" Aaron asked Brent with a hint of irritation. Having already crumpled a used piece of paper napkin into a ball, he threw it at Brent with annoyance.

"Nothing. Nothing. I was just kid..." Before he could even finish the word 'kidding', the crumpled napkin already hit him right in the middle of his forehead. Taken by surprise, he was not able to dodge it at once.

"Bullseye!" James exclaimed as Brent rubbed the part that was hit.

"Brent, Aaron's just telling you to shut up because you talk too much. Why don't you just eat?" James chuckled before he took a sip of water.

We, girls just stared at the boys with astonishment. And we thought that girls were more talkative than boys. It turned out that they also talked too much to the point of disclosing one's well-guarded secrets.

The drive back to M city took us longer than our morning drive as the roads have become congested due to Sunday being a family day.

The first fifteen minutes we were on the road, we were completely silent. Aaron must have been thinking about the conversation back at the dimsum house. He must have been embarrassed when Brent had labeled him a hopeless romantic.

Suddenly Aaron broke the silence. "Will you visit me in the military academy?"

I was taken aback by his question. Is he asking me to visit him? The camp was five hours away from T City by bus so, if I agreed to visit him, I could still get back home the same day.

As I was pondering about what to answer him, he opened his mouth again and blurted. "I won't be having anyone to visit me except for grandmother. But considering her age, she might not be able to."

Eversince Aaron lived with the old woman, he had been calling her 'Grandmother'.

"Hmm, I might visit you one day. But I heard that first year cadets are not allowed to receive visitors yet?" I was being careful with what to answer him. I didn't want to hurt him by saying 'no' nor 'yes' and give him uncertain hope.

"Yeah, I heard that, too." He nodded his head in concurrence. He was silent again concentrating on maneuvering the vehicle out of the traffic. But I had seen a glint in the corner of his eye as I glanced at him sideways.

Suddenly, I felt something clutched my heart so tightly that the pain had caused me to stop breathing for one second. As I tried to inhale, the pain worsened. But the pain didn't bother me nor caused me any discomfort because I knew was joined with Aaron in his pain.

"Do you know....how honored I am to be driving you today?" Aaron uttered with his lips curved in a smile. He glanced at me for a second after he spoke then looked ahead through the windshield. The heavy traffic in the highway slowed all the cars down.

"What do you mean?" I was puzzled by what he said that my eyebrows gathered to form a frown. I had never been a prima donna in school nor have acted a snob to anybody. I was unpretentious and kept a low-profile even though my family was well-known in the city.

"I have, in this rundown Jeep, one of the most admired senior, sitting beside me."

Even when Aaron articulated every word slowly, it took some time for those words to register in my brain. I wasn't sure if he was complementing me or what but I felt a sense of embarrassment all of a sudden. Thinking that I had began to blush, I bowed my head to avoid being noticed by the man beside me.

"Most...admired...senior?" Those three words came out of my mouth while in a trance-like state.

"You did not know?" Aaron turned his head to face me with a perplexed look. "It's a pity you did not want to be nominated in the campus king and queen popularity contest. You could have won the title of campus queen, you know. You've disappointed many of your die-hard fans."

Could have won...campus queen? Me? Campus queen?

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever want to be popular by face value only. I had strong faith in myself that I had more value than the face I owned. Mathematics might have been my waterloo, but I also excelled in other subjects.

I wouldn't say that I possessed false humility. I was just brought up to be down-to-earth. For nothing rose to greater heights without first starting at the bottom.

"Are you only with me because of my looks?" I asked jokingly while sneaking a glance at Aaron through the corner of my eyes. I thought that having spent almost one whole day amiably with him had warranted me the right to humor with him.

But then again, I had seemed to have hit a sensitive part of his heart that I did not fail to notice a grimace on his handsome face.

There was a long moment of silence before he answered in a flat and distressed tone. "I'm not that low or shallow."

I was taken aback by that reply which seemed to veer away from our topic that nothing came out of my mouth after that. Silence engulfed the Jeep the whole stretch from that point until the driveway. His affable face had long been gone and had been replaced by a stone-cold one.

When he had hit the brakes abruptly to a stop, I was almost thrown forward against the dashboard. After I had straightened myself, I unbuckled my seatbelt with trembling hands. My head had remained lowered as I softly uttered my thanks for the ride. But he had not responded nor moved a tiny bit so I raised my eyelids to catch a glimpse of him.

He had remained slumped on his seat as if there was a heavy object weighing him down. He had been looking infront of him with his lips pressed together in a straight line.

Seeing him that way, I bit my lower lip and assumed that he must be tired from the long drive. I had also considered that I must have offended him somehow. But what was it?

Consequently, I turned to my side groping for the door handle to open the car door, believing that my presence was already unwanted. The door had already opened and I was about to get out when he suddenly grabbed my wrist. I felt a little pressure on his grip that I suddenly gasped. My whole body froze at the touch of his palm against my skin.

I had turned my head to face him when I saw fury in his eyes. Between his clenched teeth, he hissed, "Never insult me like that again."

My eyelashes fluttered as I swallowed every word he said. An indescribable pain coursed through my whole being that the corner of my eyes began to swell.

Before my tears could fall, Aaron abruptly released me. It was the signal for me to get off the Jeep immediately. Without hesitation, I did what I should have done a long time ago before he said those words. Without waiting for me to close the door, he shifted a gear, stepped on the accelerator and sped away. The sudden frontward movement of the vehicle brought the car door to close by itself.

I stood on the sidewalk motionless as I watched the Jeep disappear behind the gray cloud of smoke.

The tears I had prevented to fall could not be stopped any longer. Like an open dam, the salty water came running down my cheeks. I covered my face with my hands as I leaned on the high concrete fence of the Zapanta compound. Slowly, I slid down on the ground as if the strength on my legs had been consumed then buried my head between my knees.

At that very moment, I could not tell which had affected me most, his words or his manner of leaving