Brendan’s smile turned wider and brighter. The familiar warmth in Brendan’s voice and eyes returned in full when he arrived at the right answer.What is he worried about? Look at him. He’s improving so quickly.
Aiden unknowingly scooted even closer, angling his body so close that his shoulder jostled into Brendan’s. He opened his mouth.
“It’s fine. Don’t apologize.” Brendan didn’t look up, working diligently on the problems. “You’re helping me right now. Don’t you dare apologize.”
The warmth of Brendan’s words transferred to the tips of Aiden’s ears. He nodded. “I won’t apologize,” he whispered.
Brendan nodded and continued solving questions.
Breaths echoing like horns in his ears, Aiden moved away. He pressed his hand against his burning chest.Stop heart.His chest pounded harder.
“You know what I’m thinking?” Brendan suddenly asked.
Aiden jumped in his chair. “What?”
Brendan leaned on his arm against the table and stared at Aiden’s face. His blond hair gently fell against his eyes. “You’re going to be a great teacher. It made me excited for you. That’s all.”
Brendan turned away, returning to his math problems.
Aiden’s burning chest twisted. Tears welled up in his eyes.
He scrubbed them away before Brendan could notice.Do you really think so?He wanted to ask out loud, but before he could, Javier hopped over. “All right, switch. I’m not making progress with Christina, and you seem to have better luck with Brendan, so I’m going to take over now and you help her.”
“You suck at tutoring, you know that?” Christina called from the other table.
“Yeah, sure.” Aiden moved out of the chair and sat down beside Christina.
She tipped her head. “Are you all right?”
Aiden blinked in surprise.
“You look upset is all.”
“I…” His voice hitched outside of his control, and he forced a breath to interrupt the cry stuck in his throat. “I was just thinking about how I want to be a teacher,” he whispered.
He clutched his hands and squeezed his eyes to prevent any more tears from leaking out. Brendan said the words to him so easily, so nonchalantly. His words opened a door to a future that Aiden never saw himself in, but a vision struck. In a classroom, he learned his students’ names. He decorated the walls with cartoon characters explaining difficult concepts. A bookshelf sat in the corner, filled to the brim with various picture books, chapter books, and graphic novels. His students moaned and groaned over difficult questions, and he swooped in with a smile, watching the stress ease from their tiny, scrunched foreheads only to be replaced with a proud swelling of the chest and the straightening of their backs.
He saw himself having fun the same way he was having fun tutoring Brendan, and the vision struck his heart with fervor and pain.
“I want to be a teacher,” he repeated. He continued squeezing his eyes, but the tears escaped from underneath, dripping down his cheeks.
He opened his eyes, ashamed, but Christina just listened. She nodded. “Then be a teacher, Aiden. Be whatever you want to be.”
But I can’t.He scooted forward and asked to see Christina’s exam. A swirl of joy and sorrow intermingled inside him, and he sagged in exhaustion at the both warring inside his heart. As the night continued, as Christina started to understand, sorrow won over the joy.I can’t be a teacher.
Even if his stepsiblings and stepmother didn’t love him, he didn’t have it in his heart to abandon them.
• • •
Mr. Chen reminded Aiden of the delicate softness and comforting colors of flower petals. He wore professional clothes, but his tie often remained loose around his neck. His arms hung against his side softly. He wielded a gun, but it was concealed within the folds of his loose jacket, and his body rarely tensed or prepared itself to grab it.
His voice chimed. His face was exceptionally beautiful with pale skin, a small nose, and moon-shaped eyes. He carried himself with such grace that his long legs appeared to dance across the floor. His greying hair did little to disrupt his appearance and only added agelessness to his profile.
The servants adored him. Aiden knew from the second he entered the house. They didn’t scurry away in fear like Mr. Yang's did. They didn’t straighten, silence themselves, and scramble to appear busy like Mr. Zhou's staff. They greeted him with smiles and polite nods, they continued conversations, and they worked at their own pace.
Mr. Chen’s office was brightly lit against tall bookshelves. He offered his hand to Aiden and had a firm yet gentle handshake. “It’s good to see you again, Xiao Hui. I owe a great deal to your brother, and I am sorry for your loss.”
He means it.Aiden couldn’t believe it.
