Chapter 8 - Heartless

"What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.

"Tsk! I should be asking you that. What are you doing in there?" I replied. Still in shock.

She didn't answer right away. I noticed her expression suddenly turned sad.

"Tsk! Are you hiding there because you're afraid of Damian? I thought you were brave and would never back down, but it seems like you're the one backing off now." I taunted her.

"What tail? You're the one with the tail, you monkey, Can you please just shut up? I'm so tired leave me alone." she retorted.

"Hey! Do you want to—" I didn't finish what I was about to say.

I noticed she looked pale and had a cut on her lip with a small bandage on it.

"Are you going to punch me too, like Damian did?" she asked.

"Tsk, just get out of there. Why are you even here? The students have all gone home. Are you planning to sleep here?" I asked, irritated.

"I don't care. You leave!" she shouted angrily.

"Tsk, hey! I can't leave. Coach has given me work to do in the gym." I said.

If she doesn't leave now, she'll find out that Coach has tasked me with cleaning the entire gym. She'll just make fun of me and I'll be the loser again, tsk.

"I'm staying here. Just let me be. I can't go home." she said.

"I don't care. Get out, Aria! Before I drag you out of the gym myself." I said, very annoyed.

"Just let me stay here, even if it's just for now." she said calmly. So, I thought for a moment. What's her problem? Why is she hiding here?

"Tell me why you're here and why you don't want to leave." I said. It took her a while to respond.

"Because my brother can't see me like this. He'll worry about me." she said in a soft voice, then she lowered her head.

"I can't hide my lip injury. I don't know what to tell him. I don't want him to know what I'm going through at this school." Aria added.

I didn't know what to say.

"So just leave me here. Maybe my cut will heal by tomorrow. I'll go home then." she said.

"Tsk, why don't you want him to know? Why do you need to hide it? What's the big deal if you have an injury?" I said.

She suddenly looked up at me with a harsh expression. For the first time, I saw tears welling up in her eyes.

She had been hurt, mocked, and tormented many times, but I had never seen her cry. But now, it was different.

"You won't understand, and someone like you, who's heartless, won't understand what I'm feeling. If he sees me like this, he'll be hurt and worried. How can he focus on his studies? I always want him to be happy, and I don't want him to worry about what's happening to me. That's why I don't want to go home like this. You wouldn't understand those things." she said, wiping her eyes before any tears could fall.

I didn't know how to respond. I felt like she was right; I couldn't understand her because I don't have a sibling.

"Fine, stay there. Do whatever you want. But on one condition: you'll clean the gym. It's messy and dirty. You should be embarrassed to be here like this. You might as well clean up." I said.

I didn't mention that Coach had given me the task. I'm really smart; Coach can't outsmart me.

I didn't know why, but she didn't argue with me. She immediately got cleaning supplies and started cleaning. Maybe she really wanted to stay here. She was right, I couldn't understand her.

"Hey Aria! There's still a ball over there! Get it!" I shouted to her.

She gave me a dirty look but didn't say anything. She picked up the ball and put it in the cart.

I had a mischievous thought. I grabbed a ball from the storage and threw it on the floor.

"Aria! There's a ball over there!" I shouted at her, trying to hold back my laughter. Aria walked over to the ball. Then, unexpectedly, she picked it up and threw it at me with all her strength.

It was headed straight for my face. Because it was sudden, I could only raise my hand to protect my face. The ball hit my hand instead. I collapsed on the floor from the pain in my hand, which got injured again.

"Ouch!!!! My hand. You're really a pain, Aria!!" I shouted while still on the floor, holding my injured hand.

Aria approached me and looked at me. She had a scowl on her face, but when she saw my injury, she knelt down slightly to examine it. I adjusted my sitting position, still holding my hand because of the pain.

"Tsk, what happened there? It's impossible for your hand to get like this just from being hit by a ball." she said.

"Tsk, well, it's still your fault that my hand is like this." I said irritably.

"Let me see your hand." she said.

"Huh? Why? Please don't touch me!!" I shouted at her angrily. But she didn't listen. She took my hand and blew on it.

"What are you doing! Don't blow on my hand! It might get saliva on it!" I snapped at her.

"Why don't I strangled you instead? I'm trying to help you." she yelled at me.

But the way she blew on my hand was actually effective; the sting eased a bit. After a while, she took two band-aids from her pocket and put them on my wound.

"Stop moving around. I can't apply the band-aids properly if you keep fidgeting." she said irritably.

"It stings." I replied.

"Deal with it." she said.

"There, that's done. Don't move your hand too much for now." Aria said after putting on the band-aids.

Then she collapsed onto the floor, lying down.

"I'M EXHAUSTED!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the gym.

"Hey, what are you doing? You look ridiculous." I said.

"Nothing, I'm just tired from everything that's happened recently." she replied.

"Just wait there." I said, getting up from the floor. I went out of the gym to my car. There was water and some food there; Hannah hadn't finished the biscuits we bought from the cafeteria, so she left them in the car earlier. I took those and went back to the gym.

When I returned, Aria was still lying on the floor.

"Hey, get up! Here." I said, handing her the mineral water and biscuits.

She looked at them and took a while to grab them.

"Don't want them? Fine, I'll drink the water then... I was really thirsty earlier." I said, opening the bottle and quickly taking a sip. She quickly got up and tried to grab the water from me, but I kept it away.

"Hey! Give it to me! I never said I didn't want it. I've been thirsty for a while!" she yelled, reaching for the water.

I left her half and handed it over. She drank it quickly, clearly very thirsty.

She then sat down and ate the biscuits. I also sat down on the floor.

"Earlier, you were right. I can't understand you because I don't have a sibling. I don't know how to worry about others. I'm just living for myself, that's it. So, sorry about that." I said to Aria. She looked at me.

"Isn't it sad to be without a sibling? To be an only child?" she asked.

"Well, no. At least I don't have to share things, and my friends are here. So why should I be sad? I'm happy with my life." I said.

"You're lying." Aria responded.

I was taken aback by Aria's comment. How dare she say I'm lying? And how could she say that?

"I'm rich, so I'm happy. I get everything I want. Nothing's happier than getting everything you desire." I said.

"Well, good for you. But remember, money can't buy love." Aria said. And that made me stop.

"What I mean is, the love of family and friends. Those are things money can't buy." she added.

"Tsk." I said, shaking my head.

"I'm leaving. You're done cleaning. Leave early tomorrow morning before Coach gets here." I said and walked out of the gym.

As I walked to the parking lot, I thought about what Aria had said. I don't know, but I was annoyed with her. Why is she like this? And why am I so irritated with her? I don't like her eyes, I don't like the way she looks at me. It bothers me.