CHAPTER 15

"Doc, that is impossible. We hated each other on our first meeting. We were always bickering and annoyed by each other. How come I like him?"

"You maybe don't realize it since you don't have experience. But time will come and you will be able to acknowledge your feelings soon."

"Thank you doc, but I am planning to ignore these feelings for him."

After the consultation from the doctor about my illness, I went out of the hospital with a dazed expression and thought of everything. "I can't believe what I have heard from the doctor. It's impossible that I like Zion, since we are always bickering towards each other." I mumbled.

As I was thinking about what the doctor said, I was suddenly startled when my phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Dave to inform me about a practice for next weekend and reminded me that the competition is coming soon and I need to keep on practicing every weekend. "Not bad! This is a good chance to stop thinking about my feelings for Zion.. I need to keep myself busy." I whispered.

Luckily, after what happened to me all day, I found a part-time job at a coffee shop near our school. I applied without my disguise. It's a good thing that I can use the code name in the name tag because it's hard for my schoolmates to find out about my disguise. I need to avoid the mess and jealousy of women.

As I parked my scooter at the university, I saw Zion approaching me and he called me. "Arien, let's go to the school building together." I didn't look back because I was afraid that when I looked at him, my heart would beat. He tapped me on the shoulder because he thought I had not heard him. "Arien, are you okay? I called you but you didn't hear me." I looked at Zion and she smiled at me so sweetly. And I gasped when I saw all the women on campus were staring at me fiercely.

"I'm fine, Zion." I answered him. "You can go first. I'm still going to Cassy and to tell her something. We couldn't talk last night because I got home late." I added.

"I'll accompany you wherever you go. The class hasn't started yet, anyway."

"No, I am OK by myself." and I pleaded with him that he should not accompany me.

"Are you avoiding me, Arien? I thought we were OK, and we were friends now." Said Zion.

"Yes, we're friends now, but look at the women staring at me. It's like they want to blow up me with a bomb here."

When I got off the scooter, I suddenly tripped and fortunately Zion caught me. "Thank you and sorry, Zion!" I said. And the eyes of those who watched us both glazed over with anger, when Zion embraced me in my stumbling block. I looked at those who were watching us and suddenly I pushed Zion hard. Zion crashed into his car with the force of my push. "Oh my God, My apologies. Are you hurt, Zion? I asked and I checked on him if he was hurt somewhere.

"I think I broke a bone in my hand when I stood up so I wouldn't fall down." He answered me. I was suddenly startled to hear what he said and I no longer noticed the sharp eyes of the women staring at us, as if stabbing me in the back. I escorted Zion to the infirmary to treat his hand. As we walked to the infirmary, Zion smiled. "Why are you smiling? I guess you're still happy that you're crippled! I told him. And he replied, "I'm not smiling, I'm just grinning because of the pain of my crippled hand." And he giggled secretly as if he was enjoying himself because of what had happened to his hand. After bandaging his lame hand, he asked me. "Arien, how can I eat like this now? I can't use my hand." I looked at him and wondered how he could eat. "You can use your left hand." I answered him. "But it's hard to use my left hand on food. What if you just feed me? " I was surprised by what he said.

"Hey, Zion! Do you want your female admirers to beat me up here on campus? The ugly look on my face makes you want to ruin them even more!" I frowned at him. Zion laughed and pinched my nose. "What are you saying? You're not ugly and I will never allow any of them to beat you up." He told me. "You can't say that. You don't know what a jealous woman can do. That happened to me before when I was in high school." I sadly mentioned to Zion my past experience. "What happened to you before? Is that why you want to avoid me?" Zion asked me. I nodded and told him. "I don't want to avoid you, but it's necessary to avoid trouble. You're very popular here. And wherever you go, women and men are attracted to you. What will others say when you talk to me or you're with someone like me? They will curse me, that's for sure." I explained to Zion. Zion bent his knees to match his height with my height. He aligned his face with mine closely. He patted my head and said, "I don't care what other people say about you. I want to be with you and talk to you because I enjoy your company and you are a kind woman. I prefer to talk to you than to beautiful women. There are bad motives towards me and they want to flirt with me. I would rather choose a simple person like you than them. You are a very understanding person. I don't care what you look like. As of now, I feel happy every time I'm with you, maybe because I want to know you more and to be my friend." Explanation of Zion. "Why me? There are a lot of good people here too." I asked him. "I also don't know myself. When I first met you, I just wanted to tease you, and tease Dave. I didn't expect you to be angry with me at that time. So I apologize to you. I was rude to you without knowing your past and your personality. But now I will get back to you. I am grateful for your help when you saw me being beaten by a group. I did not think that, despite my bullying of you, you were still ready to help me. You did not hold a grudge with those People who used to abuse and bully you. That's why I like being friends with you. And I hope you don't avoid me anymore. I promise I will protect you from them." Zion said those words with a smile and tenderness.