Chapter 52

Weeks passed quickly, and all Taria's attempts to convince Steven failed. She didn't give up, but she had to give him a break as midterms were starting soon.

"Good luck, everyone. The test is not hard at all, take a deep breath and…. start"

The same words, again and again until all the subjects were tested.

"Teacher teacher thank youuuuuu"

"The test was easy thanks to you teaching us well"

"Thanks teacher"

"Don't worry about it. You did great because you are smart, I only helped you a little. Have anyone seen Steven?"

"He left just after he finished the test"

Taria went out looking for Steven, and she ran into Edrian on her way so he went with her too. They looked all over the school yet they couldn't find him, however, a crashing voice behind the school led them to his location.

Steven was held by two men while another one was hitting him hard. He was injured and his face was covered with bruises, yet his eyes were turned off and cold as a candle in the wind. Edrian told Taria that he would go call the security, while she couldn't stay still and ran towards Steven

"STOP IT", Taria said, standing between the man's fist and Steven's body bravely.

"Move aside", the man said

"HELL NO, YOU ARE SO WEAK TO FIGHT THREE MEN AGAINST A CHILD, I'M NOT SCARED OF YOU", Taria shouted, yet the man punched her on her face, leading her to fall down on the ground.

Taria got up fast and stood in front of Steven again, breathing hard and feeling pulses in her cheek that was wounded.

"Teacher move aside, you don't have to take another punch for me", Steven said, with a low yet steady voice

"I won't. Do you think that friend of yours would be happy to see you like this? Will you stay still while your teacher is being hit?", Taria said, then another punch in her stomach forced her to sway like a feather, yet she got a hold on herself fast

"I know how strong you are, I know that three men can't even harm you. This world is cruel, but that is why we must be strong. Fight them, fight for me if not for you, fight for that friend, Steven. ALLEN AND I WOULD BE SO DISAPPOINTED IF YOU DON'T", Taria shouted.

The man was going to punch her face again, so she closed her eyes, ready to take the punch and ready to stand up again, however, she felt nothing. When Taria opened her eyes again, Steven was already holding the man's fist and blocking his punch

"That is my teacher you just messed with", he said calmly, then he punched the man on his face, making him bleed.

The two men that were holding him attacked at once, yet Steven avoided their punches and punched them back faster than Taria could see. The three men were laying on the ground, and whenever one of them tried to get up, Steven would punch him hard.

"Sorry, teacher, I should have fought them before they could hit you", Steven said after seeing Taria's face that was bruised.

Her eyes got teary, and she hugged him tightly as she hugged her own son. She wanted to keep hugging him, yet the man stood up, with a dagger in his hand.

Taria swayed Steven away from the hit, and she was about to be stabbed in the back, yet someone blocked that dagger from touching her.

When she turned around to see what was happening, Edrian's palm was covered with blood with a dagger embedded in the middle of it. The security was already taking care of the three men, and Taria called the ambulance for Edrian and Steven.

"Sniff. Sniff. Thank you for saving me, does it hurt a lot?" Taria asked with teary wide eyes, holding Edrian's injured hand softly and looking into his eyes with her puppy-like crying face

"No no, it doesn't hurt that much so don't worry. To be honest, I am the one who should thank you. I was trying to heal that child's heart for a while, yet you were able to heal it within this short time. Thank you for saving that kid, Taria", Edrian said with a warm smile.

Taria smiled, feeling delighted that the mission she was working on was finally completed. Edrian stared at her brown eyes, seeing how fast they changed from being teary to being shiny again, and he felt that she was different from all the females he met in his life. A woman strong enough to stand after being punched, brave enough to fight when she has no chance of winning, and pretty enough to stay charming even with a bruised face. "She is perfect", he thought, yet Steven's voice cut that sweet thought out.

"Sorry for what happened to your hand, teacher, and thank you both for saving me", Steven said politely

"We are your teachers, of course we would defense you at times like that", Edrian said

"Don't mention it, Steev", Taria said while hugging Steven again, making his tears fall down as he hadn't heard that name for a long time.

"How did you know?" Steven said, asking about Allen and the neck name Steev

"I did some investigations", Taria said, thanking Ve for that secretly

"Allen was my one and only friend. He started boxing to encourage me even after knowing that his heart was weak. He supported me all the way, yet I was blind to not see him hurt", Steven said

".... I know how you are feeling, Steven. When you are used to seeing someone at their strongest times, when you are used to lean on that person without being afraid to fall, you won't be able to see how weak that person could be, and losing him would feel like losing the whole world", Taria said with a deep look in her eyes that Edrian couldn't understand, however, that look was replaced with a smile. "Never give up on your dream, Steev, because that dream meant a lot for him, and you must fulfill it if you want to treasure his memory", Taria said, patting Steven's head softly and forcing the warmth to get into the deepest part of his heart

"I will, teacher. I will fight", Steven said with a smile on his face

"Yyaaaaayyyyyy that's great. I will cheer you every time you compete, and when you win, I will treat you for a meal", Taria said energetically

The three of them laughed, moving aside the pain they felt. Edrian and Steven looked at Taria who was still happy to hear that Steven will start boxing again, and they both thought "she is perfect"