Pursued by Apollo

03

Chapter Three

In which he hatched a plan.

-

[Chasen Aclen.]

Catching Vien’s attention will never be easy.

At least, that is the case for me.

Due to the flood of people I carry with me, Vien knew better than keeping her distance. While it is hard for her to do so, I could not simply push them all away. Not every attention that I get will be positive, but most from her side will always be negative. If she was not friends with someone like Mxen, I am sure that Vien would be having a harder time as she does now. It didn’t make it easier for her to ignore the attention when I made things harder for her not to notice me.

Even if she does everything physically possible to toss me aside, I know that I have a chance to genuinely has a shot. That is if I stopped doing everything that makes her bolt in the other direction.

“Why does that feel so wrong?” Braden mentioned the second I told him what I have planned, even c*****g a brow in my direction as if needing another reason to show that the plan had major flaws. Unfortunately for me, he is the only person in the room who can hear my monologue. While I do not want someone like him to listen to my whole plan, I do not have any other choice.

In the remainder of my friends who still attend Ambrose High, Braden is my best shot in having a decent conversation.

“Braden, take this seriously.”

The man paused, catching the nerves that are bugging him. Despite that, he could not stop himself from shrugging his shoulders. “But it does work. It gives you both the chance to gain something in the end. Vien would not decline it, as it gives her something she needed. While it seemed so wrong, it does have a shot.” I mentally cheered myself upon hearing that. Despite how Braden perceives himself, he does have a good eye when it comes to things like things. He always has a knack for seeing the probability of things—one of the reasons why K seeks him on most days.

Well, almost most of us always run for Braden in such situations.

“But,” he cut through my small moment of joy. “For that little plan of yours to work, you needed some extra help.”

At this moment, I finally realized that we had reached where I needed to go; a few steps before us was a room that I never knew that I would be willing to knock into. Through that door lies a ferocious dragon—that is Lucas Ambrose’s aunt. The headmaster of this school, and the source of most of our childhood nightmares.

Do I dare to do this?

“Any moment now,” Braden mentioned, even nudging me a little. I hissed, eyes glaring at the man for acting like a five-year-old child. He shot a grin. “If you wanted to get out of that damn zone, you need her help. This is something you have to do.”

“I know. Give me a second. I am not even sure if she’ll allow me.”

What should I say? Maybe—

“Allow you to do what, child?”

My head snapped in the direction of the voice, letting me catch the way that Braden softly tumbled. Standing behind us is the woman itself. She has a unique voice—or maybe it’s just the years we had spent listening to her reprimands when we were young. Her frosted white tumbler rests on her hand as a folder rest on the other.

“I do not have all day, child.”

The way she had caught me off guard made things more challenging for me to vocalize what I wanted to ask of her. A small intrusion gets between my throat, making me feel like I have done something wrong despite not proposing anything. I only had this in theory and was looking through the possibility of it working, and now—the key to my success is now standing before me.

Panicked, I shook my head as I showed a soft smile. “No. I was finding some—”

“Enter my office, Mr. Aclen.” She said, cutting my words. Her eyes snapped to Braden, to which the man offered a soft smile. “And you, Mr. Kingsley, should head back to your room. It is almost time for your next subject.”

Without hesitation, both of us answered her with a synchronized, “yes, ma’am.”

Braden patted my shoulders as a sign of good luck before walking back to our room, leaving me alone before the hands of the dragon. Aunt’s eyes were transfixed on me, as no emotions were set on them. Her face is still void of emotion as she does this, which does not make things easier for me to think. Carefully, she points towards her office door.

I just needed to remember that I am doing all of this for the woman who makes me happier than anything else in the world. While it is always a very dangerous task to have some favor asked for this woman, I knew that this was the risk that I needed to take.

My mind was silent when I sat on the opposite chair from her. She was a lovely woman, one who loved us all dearly and wholeheartedly, but she’s very different in this room. In this office, she was the head of the school. One that controls everything will see us nothing but the students enrolled here.

Nothing more.

“Why are you lingering around my door, Chasen? To what do I owe the pleasure of your attendance today?” She asked softly, taking a seat in the leather seat.

I gulped from the tone of her voice, close to sweating as I struggled to find the right words. Yet before that happened and my feet could grow cold, I showed a soft smile as I looked at her. “I... um. I have something to ask for you, Auntie.”

“If you’re here to ask me something, it must be important.”

My lips pushed a soft chuckle, having her eyes glow in mischief even if all the other parts of her face were still stern. She is well aware that we are scared to face her in this school, enough that even Lucas is willing to have some time off in being such an asshole from time to time since she’s looking out for all of us.

“This should be good.” She said, carefully putting her bottle down. Her relaxed posture made it easier for me to feel a tad confident. “How can I help the rising pop star?”

With a soft chuckle, I showed a regularly given folder to me. Since I am signed in a label and often have scheduled during school hours, I would generally get my tasks bound in a large folder. “I have skimmed through the paper that I have received this week. Inside this folder seemed like one that should not be here,” I pulled a pamphlet that gave me the idea. Showing it to her, I added. “And I found out that there is a new tutor program in the school.”

“The teacher must have accidentally slipped this in your folder,” she mentioned, placing the paper on her tableside. Looking at me dead in the eyes, she must have caught onto where this was going, as she was quick to add, “Chasen, You will not be participating in that.”

The words made me pause as they put a complete stop to what I was planning to propose to her. With a soft voice, I asked. “Why not?”

She sighed, seemingly discouraged that I could not see a fault in my words. “You realize that you are not just a normal student. Even if you have some freedom in this school due to my rules, many students have transferred to this place because of you. I do not want kids purposely failing their class just to have a tutorial session with you.”

“Oh. I do not mean to a tutor, auntie.” I crackled, shaking my head at the misunderstanding on her side. Then again, I had always been good at handling my subjects since I was young. “There is something about that idea that had ignited some interest in me, and I have been wanting to hear about the updates, but there were none so far.”

Her eyes sparkled for a moment, clearly informing me that this was her idea. “Oh yes! I’ve been planning to give some tasks to students who always rank the highest. They are to teach others who are struggling, and they could name their perks.”

“Then it is officially sealed?” I questioned. My hope was slowly rising in every second.

“It’s still a running paper as of now.” She had answered with a frown. Despite her facade, she cares about the students more than everyone. When it comes to students who need some help, she does her best to help in the best way that she can.

She took a second to pause, rummaging to her table.

Her words, despite some inkling of hope still placed on a table, still had set a slight frown to settle on my lips. I have now realized the hole in my plan. The whole thing seemed to be still in the planning stage. It could take a long time for it to actually happen. If the world does not work in my favor, everything about my idea would face its ruin. It could crumble on the very sight of me before it could even start.

“Oh, here it is.” Her stern voice suddenly cut my thinking. Inside her hand was a thick folder that seemed to be pretty laid out for something still in the running. “I’m missing one more student to list, but it can be processed once it’s been filled.”

My eyes met her, eyes shining with the news, “I might have someone to add if that’s the case!”

“You’re excited about this, child.”

I coughed, keeping my cool as I nodded. “Well, I have told you that I needed some favor for you, auntie.”

“Go on,” she said, crossing her arms as she pushed her back to the chair.

She frowned at the words that were escaping my mouth by the second, and I knew that I needed some time to re-evaluate everything, but it was way too exciting to do that. To hear what I needed some help on was enough to let her know that it was simply a ruse. She had to tilt her head on the side as she saw the growing form of my smile. No matter how much I wanted to hide the happiness radiating off of me this very second, I couldn’t.

Before, for once, I finally had a plan that could work.

“I always seem to underestimate how your mind works.”

From what it looked like, she seems like she was on board.

“That’s fine. I can make that happen for you.” My face lit up, excited by the words that she had uttered. She took one look at the name that I have slipped through the file as if making sure if the person is eligible. She took a soft pause, and I knew that she is well aware of who the child was. “After losing Lucas and Ayne’s display in these halls, I needed some new entertainment.”