Kyla's Flashback 4

The fresh breeze from the air conditioner swept across Kyla's legs. She stood in front of the help desk computer and typed in barcodes she wrote down prior to coming to the library. In the middle of looking for the specific study materials that she was searching for, her phone screen flashed brightly into her eyes. A notification popped up on her screen.

"Are you coming tonight? My brother is coming back for the party too." She read the message for a split second.

It's been a month and a half since Kyla's confession. Ever since that night, Kyla had avoided visiting the Wang residence even when Isaac wasn't home. Instead, she spent her time organizing her study schedule for the next year. At first, she wanted to plan out all three years, but she thought it would be too hasty. As a result, she only planned out a year's length of her study plans.

After reading Jessica's text, Kyla quickly replied. "No, I have to start studying. Remember our promise, you can't tell anyone about my bet. I'll meet up with you another day. (kiss emoticon)"

In the past month and a half, Kyla had been focusing on listing the best study materials and practice books she could purchase at a low price online. Since she placed a bet with her father, her allowance had been cut and he refused to give her money for any textbooks. He only gave her money when she needed to go out to buy food and drinks. It was ridiculous to the extent where he calculated what she would order and the amount it would cost after taxes before handing her the money.

Her father also kept track of the cash flows in the house by checking receipts to make sure her mother didn't secretly give her any money for practice books. Kyla thought about countless ways to save the money she received from him, but he was smart to check the receipts of her purchases. If items didn't add up, he would inquire about where the leftover change went.

Hence, Kyla could only look for books available in the local public library for her studying use. Luckily, she found at least five of the fifteen books she had in her cart from online. This way, she could still practice and have the chances of improving her testing skills.

As she roamed through aisles, she found the section where the books she was looking for was located. One by one, she took it off the shelves and placed it in her arms. "Phew, this is heavy. I should've brought a bag before coming here." She mumbled to herself, thinking nobody was listening to her.

"The first two books are outdated. If you are going to study, you should use these two books as reference." A familiar voice sounded her ears as her attention shifted from the shelves in front of her to her classmate, Zach Kin. Her eyes glowed with hopefulness when she saw the genius from her middle school standing beside her.

As per usual, Zach visited the library to study quietly. He was wearing a red and black plaid shirt matched with blue jeans and a pair of Nike sneakers. His back was straight, and his eyes were fixated on the practice book in his hands. After skimming through the content for a minute or two, his eyes wandered to his right where he met her gaze.

"What is it?" He asked after noticing her intense stare for a while now.

"Help me study, please!" She wished she should clap her palms together, but she had a heavy mountain of practice books in her hands.

"Kyla Os, we've known each other since primary school and the word 'study' was never in your dictionary. Are you sure you don't have a fever? Do you want me to take you to the doctor?" Though he looked calm, he was astonished by her response. He knew who Kyla was since they were always in the same class. They just never spoke to each other.

She gave an embarrassed cough and looked at him with a small smile. "I realized studying is not too bad. I want to get ready for the university exam, so I'm getting a head start. Can you help me practice? We could help each other out. You know, be study buddies!" She tried sounding cool, but realized she sounded more like telemarketer scams.

"As much as I want to believe in your words, your eyes are saying otherwise. Anyway, that's your business. I'm used to studying by myself, so I'll pass on the idea of studying together." He closed the book in his hands and walked to an empty table.

Following closely behind him, Kyla walked into the library quiet zone. When she released the books in her embrace onto the table, it resulted in a loud thump against the wooden surface. She let out a huge sigh and massaged her shoulder.

Zach seemed undisturbed by her presence as he immersed himself into solving problems from the practice section of the book. Finally, she decided to tell him the truth. Pulling the chair out from the opposite side of where he sat, she positioned herself on the chair.

"Fine. Fine. I'll tell you why I want to study all of a sudden. I hope after telling you my reason; you would reconsider helping me out because it is very important to me." Hearing the sincere tone of hers, Zach looked up from his book as if he was waiting for her to continue.

Sighing, she cupped her cheeks and looked at him with a faint smile. "There is a guy I've liked since childhood. He is someone whom I've been trying to catch up to, but it always seems impossible. To minimize our gap as much as possible, I worked hard to get into Wayne High School and I target Xavier University as my next goal. I've already confessed to him, but I was shot down."

"You probably think I am pathetic, but I've tried suppressing my feelings for him before; it never worked. But I am doing this not just for him, it is also for myself. My family has worked as bodyguards for generations and I am an only child. My father placed all his expectations on me. Truth is, I have no talent in that area at all. I also have no interest in that field, so I'm fighting for myself."

Staring deeply into his eyes, the smile on her face was gone - she was frowning. "If I don't get into Xavier University, I will be forced to follow my parents' plan to attend some overseas bodyguard university. I don't want that to happen. I want to live for myself. So, these are the reasons why I'm working hard in studying. Can you please help me?"

Zach crossed his arms, leaned back on the chair and observed her expressions carefully. He nodded, "Alright. I'll help you, but let me warn you I am not a lenient teacher. I will scold and explain further when necessary. Before helping you out, I want you to take this practice exam. This will determine your weaknesses and where you should begin studying from."

He flipped to a certain page of the book he picked out and pushed it towards Kyla's direction. Under his supervision and a time limit, she began working on the practice test.