7- NEVER: WILL I TUTOR HIM?

Violet's POV

Mr. Rider brought sleeping Rufus to the back porch, as soon as I ended my phone call with Aunt Mary and slid my phone into the back pocket of my faded grey pants.

I never wear shorts, and all of my jeans are ankle-length; Dad claims I am insecure about my legs, but I am not. The fact is that I am afraid of what people will say, and I am afraid of how they will look at me with sorrowful eyes, since no matter how tough I try to be, it always makes me cry.

I thank Mr. Rider for his help, and I tell him to inform Silver I am leaving and that she shouldn't go about calling people names because of a goddamn census, whatever that meant.

I hear the rumbling of thunder as I walk home.

Some kids who were standing by the park looked like the guys who robbed Allen's bakery last fall; I won't blame them; everyone is starving. They begin to panic at the sound of the thunder, so they take out their bicycles from the bicycle stand and ride off in a flash.

I watch them with a small smile as they ride away. I've always wanted to learn how to ride a bicycle. It was a part of my impossible nine wishes. Sorry, impossible ten. I don't know what made me believe, Ethan would want to talk to me or listen to anything I'd have to say.

I became so terrified that I tossed away the clipboard without realizing it. I cried myself to sleep when I got home that day. I lost the only thing I have left of my Mum. I told Silver to help me find it, she was helpful but unproductive since she found nothing.

Rufus whines feebly and moves on my chest. I pat his head and snuggle him closer to me. " You'd be fine, Rufus, I promise." I could keep on giving myself false hope since it makes me feel a bit better.

When I reached home, I could hear the whistling of the kettle and pressure cooker. I hold a moan when the sweet smell of roast beef and corn hits my nostrils. I can feel the gastric aside in my stomach rise. The only time we eat well is at night; there is no lunch, and breakfast is always pancakes with water.

" Aunt Mary, I'm home." I take off my flats and carefully place Rufus on the sofa. There is a power supply today, so every device that needs electricity to run is in full swing. I turn on the television and put on Rufus' favorite movie. He taps his paws on the couch, happily. I snicker.

I remove my sweatshirt and rush to the kitchen to steal some beef from Aunt Mary, but I stop dead in my tracks when I notice someone else in the kitchen with her.

Aunt Mary looks at me with a smirk on her face, and so does the boy next to her.

I don't think I am seeing clearly. Maybe this is another one of my daydreams about Ethan.

There is no possibility he is standing in my kitchen, wearing an apron while holding a knife in one hand and an onion in the other.

I think I am ready to die now.

" Violet, don't be rude, say hi to him." Aunt Mary says, stretching her eyebrows teasingly.

I chuckle as I walk to the island and remove a piece of roast meat from the platter. " Say hi to who? Isn't this a dream?"

Before I can throw the meat into my mouth, Aunt Mary smacks me in the arm. " Ouw." I wince at her assault.

She takes the beef from me and throws it into her mouth. " That's for taking the food without asking and that's also for you to realize you are not dreaming."

My eyes take the shape of the moon when I see Ethan still in the kitchen, staring at me with a flash of amusement in his eyes. I move backward so quickly I nearly slide over and hit my head on the counter, but my hands are quick to grab the edge of the counter tiles.

" E-Ethan?"

He rubs his neck and takes off his apron before taking a step towards me. " I thought you'd be home when I came. I wanted to leave and wait till you'd return but your Aunt wanted me to help her cook."

My mouth is hung open, and I am nodding, still unable to believe what I am seeing.

" Turns out, he's a good cook." Aunt says with a proud smile. " You will stay for dinner right, Honey?"

Ethan looked a bit skeptical, but he nodded in response.

" Great, you both can go to the living room and chat, while I finish up here."

I wash my hands very quickly and practically run out of the kitchen because adrenaline has taken the better part of me. I am still trying to understand if I am in a dream or not, I hope it isn't a dream.

" Thank you for helping my Aunt in the kitchen," I tell Ethan when he enters the living room and stops a good three feet away from me.

" I don't enjoy cooking but she's too nice to say no to." I feel his gaze hard on me and I pretend to be fascinated by Rufus' tail so I wouldn't look at him.

" How's your fist?" I glance at his back when he turns to take a seat by the coffee table.

I swallow as I see his muscles flex effortlessly as he walks. When he looks at me, I look away. " It looked pretty bad the other day."

" Are you upset about what I did to Jacob?"

Rufus crawls on my body and I hold him close. " Why are you here, Ethan? You haven't spoken a word to me before, except that day you got into a fight. So, I don't understand why you are here and speaking to me."

I look at him.

There was no way I was going to answer his questions when there was a clear, awkward tension between us.

He released a breath and looked out the window. He always enjoys looking out the window. " I wanted to talk to you at school but you weren't in school today and yesterday."

" I needed to take care of my dog."

He looks at Rufus as if noticing him for the first time. I almost smile at the look on Ethan's face. I understand his surprise. Rufus looked like a brown pillow with eyes.

" Oh." He looks at me. " I didn't see him."

" Don't worry, it's not the first time, I'm getting this reaction from someone." I smile at him, and he looks away quickly like my smile is poisonous.

Aunt Mary came into the living room and asked for assistance in the kitchen. Ethan and I helped carry the food to the dining room.

Normally, we'd wait for Dad to return before we had dinner, but he's staying over at his friend's place for the night.

Ethan sits on the chair in front of me while Aunt Mary sits next to me. She said a short prayer before serving the food.

I glance over at Ethan, and I am worried about how he'll get home since it's already seven pm.

" So, how long have you two known each other?" Aunt Mary asks after serving Ethan his food.

I do not say anything because I want Ethan to answer the question. I want to know if he remembers who I am.

He looks at his food when he says, " I see her in school; we do not really speak to each other."

" Oh, so you guys aren't dating?"

I nearly choke on the water I am drinking. Ethan and Aunt Mary looked at me in confusion. I flush and stare down at my food.

" Why would you ask such a question?" The heat on my cheeks is starting to sting.

" What's wrong with my question? Is it bad to hope my niece is dating a handsome guy who knows his way in the kitchen?"

I throw her a look, signaling for her to keep quiet. She shoots out her hand in surrender before focusing on her food once again. " You two would look great together, just saying." She shrugs.

I hide my face in embarrassment. I wonder how uncomfortable Ethan must be feeling. I am afraid he'd stand up and leave if Aunt keeps on saying rubbish. I am glad he doesn't say anything to hurt her feelings, instead he just remains quiet.

" So, do you play soccer or basketball? You give off Sports guy vibes."

I remember seeing Ethan on television when we were a lot younger. He played Hockey for a national competition but got disqualified when he hit a kid very hard in the nose with his Hockey stick. I felt really bad for him because the spectators began to boo him and call him a lot of negative adjectives that shouldn't be said to a kid his age.

I have never seen Ethan play hockey ever since. I haven't seen him do anything much. He just comes to school and leaves when the closing bell rings.

He was supposed to graduate last year but due to his grades, he had to repeat twelfth grade. I think there are a lot of things bothering Ethan that make him so quiet and angry all the time.

" No, I do not play sports."

" What about Hockey?" I add quickly and he looks at me with a slight scowl. " You, uh, used to play Hockey as a kid."

" When?" He says with a straight face and it makes me wonder if he had any memory of me or anything in his past.

I don't say anything else. Aunt Mary kept on asking him questions and he always gave her a short reply. His expression dropped ever since I brought up hockey.

I clear off the plates and wash the dishes. Momentarily, I looked at him as Aunt talked to him. He looked at me often, and I always looked away before his eyes could meet mine. I wonder if he came to speak to me or Aunt Mary.

" I will be leaving now." I hear him say. I glance at him and he is on his feet and walking towards the kitchen where I am.

" I don't play Hockey anymore." He is standing close to me but not close enough like I want him to.

"Huh?"

" You asked about Hockey earlier." He clarified, and I nodded. He doesn't say anything for a minute before he releases a breath. " The reason why I came here is to ask you for a favor."

I dry my hand with the dishcloth and look at him. I spot Aunt Mary's ear peeking out of the kitchen door. I roll my eyes and walk to door.

" Let's talk outside."

He raises a brow in confusion. I gesture towards the eavesdropper by the door and his mouth curves into an 'o' when he sees her.

We got outside and stop by the front porch. He looks at me, and this time, I don't look away. I don't think I can ever get used to his beauty. He isn't exactly the pitch-perfect description of a gorgeous man in every romance novel, but he is perfect in my eyes. From his hair to his feet, he is beautiful. His jaw looks slightly broken, and I resist all urges to touch it. I resist the urge to touch him.

" You wanted to ask for a favor?" My gaze returns to his eyes.

" Yes… I saw all my test results yesterday. Uh, it is not something I am proud of. Principal Michaels said if I do not get better grades, I will be expelled." He exhales. " He said I should get a tutor and I wanted to ask you if you would be my tutor."

" I would pay for each hour you spend tutoring me."

I bite my lips as I think about what he'd said. There are a lot of people smarter than I am. Ashton always gets first position in class, and he is close to Ethan, so why didn't he ask him instead? I don't think I'd be able to concentrate while teaching Ethan since he has such an attractive face.

" I'll think about it."

He looked a tad disappointed. " Okay, you can come to my place tomorrow evening if you eventually agree."

I nod and he doesn't look away from me.

" I am sorry, I pushed you the other day. I was surprised someone was talking to me and I started to panic. " His green eyes looks so earnest I have no choice but to believe him.

" You should start getting used to it." I say with a smile.

His tries to lift his lips but he winces and frowns. " All right, Violet Griffin." His eyes smiles and I am all shades of red.

I want to hear him say my name again. I want to hear the sound of my name on his bold voice. I am trying to stop myself from blushing but I can't.

" I will see you tomorrow?"

" Maybe." I shrug.

He nods and turns on his heels, wanting to leave when it begins to drizzle. My eyes goes wide and I don't know when I grab his arm and jerk him back. There is a metal covering around the foyer and patio that protects us from the rain.

I am still holding on to Ethan because I don't want him to get hurt. I expect him to push me away but he doesn't. His body is touching mine and I can feel the tightness of his muscles on me. I can smell him. I can feel him and he doesn't pull away.

My heart is beating loudly and I don't want this moment to end.

" Violet." Ethan breathes my name " What are you doing?"

" I don't want you to get hurt." I confess.

He pulls away gently and my heart cracks when our bodies aren't touching anymore. He looks at the rain that had begun to fall heavily and then at me. " I will not get hurt."

" I will get you some safety wears and an umbrella." The umbrella is made up of steel, so it is unaffected by the toxic rain.

" But we do not know if the rain is good or not." He looks at the rain again, his expression is hard this time. " I will have to find out."