He was a stranger in people’s eyes, and suddenly, the anonymity felt like a gift from the skies.
He climbed the steps up to the library where Brendan and Christina waited. He met eyes with Javier, who suddenly took off in a mad dash. Confused, Aiden picked up his own pace, reaching the other two before Javier. His friend arrived last, bent over wheezing. “I thought I wouldn’t be the last one for once,” Javier managed to squeeze out between his gasps.
Aiden shared a glance with Brendan and Christina. “Are you an idiot?” Christina asked, knocking on Javier’s head.
“Says the girl who needs tutoring,” Javier continued to gasp.
Aiden and Brendan laughed. “Sorry, Javier. Next time, I’ll walk slower,” he said with a smile, but his heart descended slowly into his stomach.
He mustn’t believe these days could continue forever.
Suddenly, Javier straightened himself, no longer dying for air. “All right, let’s go. I’m going to blow your minds at how easy math actually is.” He rushed into the library without sparing a second glance at the others.
“He is, without doubt, a big fat liar,” Christina mumbled.
Brendan, on the other hand, was strangely quiet. He glanced at Aiden and reached into his bag to pull out a water bottle. “In case you forgot,” he said. “And as an apology ahead of time.”
Aiden accepted the water bottle. “Apology?”
“For how bad I’m going to be.”
Christina and Brendan’s faces, grey with doom, and their sagging shoulders of despair overtook the chirp in Javier’s voice and the bounce in his feet. They navigated to the private rooms in the back of the library and closed the door. Javier eagerly set down his own backpack and pointed at Aiden. “You take care of Brendan, I’ll take care of Christina, and then we’ll switch at a certain point. Got it?”
Aiden nodded and settled beside Brendan. His chest squeezed when Brendan continued to remain silent, sitting down beside him while hugging a backpack.
“You didn’t do well on your test?” Aiden finally asked.
Mouth pressed tight, Brendan nodded and showed his exam.
Aiden peeked at the failing score. A relieved sigh slipped out, and a soft smile stretched across his face. “Brendan, this isn’t bad. You don’t need to feel ashamed.”
“My parents have always been good at what they want to do,” Brendan admitted. “And I’m already failing a class in my first year.”
Ah.Aiden leaned forward on his hand.I understand.
He scooted closer to Brendan. “Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses in certain subjects. Math isn’t easy for me either. I figured out how to best study for it is all.”
“Well, Javier aces everything,” Brendan muttered.
Aiden laughed. “Javier struggles with other stuff. Like being on time. Let’s just go through each problem you missed and figure out why you got it wrong, and then we can talk about how to solve it correctly. Okay?”
Brendan nodded.
“So, some of my questions might sound obvious, but bear with me. First, why did you choose to solve the problem the way you did?”
“I…honestly don’t know.”
“That’s okay. Let’s just start with your first step.”
Don’t feel bad. This is perfectly normal.Aiden hoped his voice conveyed that sentiment as he moved his finger carefully over the points in the problem that mattered the most.I can help you. I like helping you.
You can set the mood of a group early on by curating your behavior. Set the mood to your best advantage. Make yourself the key master without needing to say a word, and you will have the ultimate control over people,Hui Ye had said, but Aiden strangely forgot. He spoke slowly, moved deliberately, and smiled small. He curated expressions and his body language. He utilized techniques to help Brendan and not himself, and his own heart fluttered with warmth, spreading it with every beat against his chest.
“Wait, I don’t understand what you just did. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” Aiden paused at the words. His hand reached for his cellphone and silenced it. “I’ll just go over it again.” Aiden shifted even closer toward Brendan, writing out the steps. “Got it?”
Brendan stared and tipped his head, but the smallest smile finally appeared at the corner of Brendan’s mouth that had been frozen in a frown. “Actually, yeah, I think so.”
