THE PRESIDENTIAL SON (English)

Chapter 6: LIKE A MOTH TO A FLAME

(Aya)

I HATE THAT I AM SO EARLY. Even the driver of the service vehicle for scholarship students was surprised to see me. He is not expecting anyone for one more hour. He refuses to drive since I am the only passenger so I take a ride with the school utility staff service. That’s how early I am.

I know I can just ignore Trei’s demand for me to go to school early. I can just pretend I woke up late to avoid going to the student council office. After all, Justine already sent me via email the passwords and instructions on how to access the student council files that are related to the Sports Fest. I can just read through it alone.

[So why are you here, Aya?]

I sigh as I stare up at the building dedicated to the school organizations in Golden Cross International School.  It is eerily quiet. The windows are closed, the curtains are drawn, and no sign of life in the rooms.

When I enter the building and climb the stairs I can hear the echo of my footsteps. It only makes me more uncomfortable. When I get to the floor where the student council offices are located, I can’t help but glance at the door of Miss Anderson’s office.

[This is because of that morning. If I didn’t go to school earlier than usual, Mrs. Morgan wouldn’t have asked me to go to Miss Anderson. Then I wouldn’t have seen that scene and Trei Daniels wouldn’t have set his eyes on me.]

But it is too late for regrets. It already happened and I can’t turn back time to start all over again. So I take a deep breath and gather my courage. Then I go to the office where I met the student council officers yesterday. I turn the doorknob. It is not locked. The utility staff in charge of this building probably opened the doors for the students.

I don’t bother to knock because it will be crazy if there is a student earlier than me. The light is turned off inside the room so I know I am right. I touch the wall beside the door, looking for the switch to turn on the light. But before I can do that I hear a ruffling sound inside the room. I freeze and my eyes widen as I look around. I can clearly see the entirety of the office with the help of the light coming from the hallway. There is no one in here.

A ghost? A shiver runs down my spine and goosebumps crawl in my skin. I am about to take a step back and get away from the office when I notice something. Inside the student council office, on the left side, there are two inner doors. One looks like it leads to a bathroom. The second one is closed but I can see through the floor that the light is open inside.

I sigh in relief. There is no ghost. It’s just that someone came earlier than me. My relief is short-lived though when I realize who it might be.

Trei Daniels is inside that room.

I take a deep breath before closing the door behind me and start to walk. I am already standing in front of the inner door when I realize that I didn’t switch on the light in the office. I don’t bother to come back to do so. My hand is already in the doorknob while my ears are straining to hear inside.

It is quiet. No murmurs or ruffling of clothes. I will not see anything inappropriate inside right? I draw in a deep breath then I open the door.

It is a smaller office. There is one table piled with books and papers on one side, bookshelves on the walls, one small center table filled with folders, papers, a laptop, and one long couch. On that couch lies Trei Daniels.

He is sleeping with his head resting on the armrest nearest to the door while his feet dangle on the other side. I know that it’s normal for someone to sleep but I am still amazed to see him this… vulnerable. 

I slowly and quietly approach him. Then I stop directly on top of his head and look down at him.

[Oh, wow. I’ve never seen someone who looks this good while asleep]

Trei looks soft and angelic when he sleeps. Maybe it is because his intense eyes are closed and his face doesn’t have a cruel expression at that moment. His skin is milky white and he doesn’t have even one blemish on his face. His black eyebrows are shaped like they are groomed to be beautiful but I bet they are natural. His eyelashes are long and thick to the point that they create light shadows on his high cheekbones. His nose too is tall and perfect. It is paired with plump and reddish lips that are slightly open.

[It is unfair to look this beautiful. Especially if the person who owns this face is cruel and evil inside]

Annoyance washes over me when I remember all the times we’ve met. With narrowed eyes I lean down, trying to look properly at his face so I can find something to frown upon. An imperfection or some sign of the real Trei inside this beautiful exterior.

My face is only a few inches away from his. I get frustrated because he really is flawless. I am about to stand straight when Trei suddenly opens his eyes. I gasp and my eyes widen when our gazes meet. I don’t even get the chance to pull away because he firmly holds my upper arm, trapping me in that awkward position of me leaning over him.

“Did you enjoy staring at me, Aya? Did you already had your fill or do you still need more time to salivate over me?”

“Salivate?!” I repeat, scandalized by the adjective he used. “I didn’t salivate! I didn’t enjoy staring at you. I was just trying to find –”

I stop talking when I realize something. I inhale sharply. “You were awake. How long have you been awake?”

Trei lifts his brows but doesn’t loosen his hold on my upper arm. “Since I heard the opening of the front door.”

My mouth falls open in surprise and embarrassment. “Y-you pretended to sleep! You knew it was me who arrived.”

The corner of his lips curls up and a sadistic joy glimmers in his eyes. “I want to see how you will react when you see me looking vulnerable. Will you wake me up the moment you come in? Will you take a look? Will you attack me?”

I know that my cheeks are starting to get red. My face is too hot and I can feel my blood rushing up to my head. I am so angry that he is playing with me but I also feel embarrassed that I did look at his sleeping face far too long than necessary.

I need to save face so I try to pull my arm away from his hold as I say, “I was planning to attack you actually. I am ready to choke you but you woke up.”

“Really? I thought you were about to do a different kind of attack.”

My brows drew together. “What do you mean –?”

Trei suddenly tugs at my arm so hard I lost my balance. I almost fall on his face. Good thing I was able to grab the backrest of the couch. However, because he pulled me my face is now only a few inches away from him.

“I mean like this,” he mutters, his hot breath brushing against my lips.

My eyes widen. Heat spread throughout my body upon realizing that the ‘attack’ he was talking about is not the violent, physical harm kind. It is something else. Something like what he and miss Anderson did when I saw them that morning.

“I-I won’t do that to you! Never!”

He smiles in that strange way that makes my stomach clench. “You’re in trouble Aya Sagara,” he whispers. “You cannot resist me even if you try. You are like a moth. You keep on getting attracted to the flame that will burn you.”

[I know. That’s why you should let me go so I can run away from you.]

“You will be the one in trouble if you don’t let me go. I can really do physical harm, I swear,” I say instead of the thoughts running in my mind.

He doesn’t seem to be threatened. In fact, he looks amused. That angers me. I clench my hand that is holding the backrest just a moment ago. My fist moves to punch him but his free hand is quick to hold my wrist. He is stronger than I thought.

“You cannot hurt me. This body and this face don’t belong to me.”

I get caught off guard by that statement. “What? That is your body and that is your face. They belong to no one else but you. What are you talking about?”

He seems to be startled by that. He stares at my face for a few seconds. Then in one swift movement, he gets up into a sitting position without letting my wrist and arm go. He pulls me until I get forced to sit down beside him. That is only the time he lets go of me.

“Playtime is over. We have a lot of work to do,” Trei says and motions at the open laptop on the table in front of the couch.

His sudden change of demeanor gives me whiplash. But I know trying to argue with him will not do me any good. At least for now. I glance at the laptop screen. I groan in frustration when I see the complicated data table and long sentences in there. I know that is just one page of all the pages I have to read before the Sports Fest meetings start next week.

Trei is right. We really have a lot of work to do.