THE PRESIDENTIAL SON (English)

Chapter 3: A DIRECT ENCOUNTER

(AYA)

THE AFTERNOON practice is excruciating for the volleyball team. The youth league is still months away but we already have a practice regimen in preparation for it. We will be up against strong international teams and we plan to win. We finish practice at six in the evening and we are the last sports club left on the campus.

All my teammates have to go as fast as they can because their drivers are already waiting for them. So as usual, I volunteer to stay with the team managers. Dara and Emma are scholarship students like me. They get additional allowance by being managers and they both love volleyball. We are riding the same service van out of Luxe Verde.

However, when I try to help them collect the balls and clean the gym they refuse. “Just go and shower already, captain. We can handle this. This is our job,” Dara says.

“But –”

“Just go Aya. Millie said you practiced hard in the morning too. Aren’t you the one who always tells the team not to push themselves too hard? That taking a rest is also as important as a practice? So go and treat yourself with a long and hot shower.”

I know at that moment that they will not waver with their decision to push me away. I sigh. Then I give them a thankful smile. After telling them I will wait for them in the shower area I walk away to go to the back of the gym. Since we are not the only sports club in Golden Cross, the clubrooms and the shower area are separated. Our locker rooms are in the back area of the gym. Just outside, near the Olympic swimming pool next to the gym, is the long line of shower stalls. Regular students also use them when the physical education class is swimming.

With my gym bag in my hand, I go to the nearest stall. I am the only one present. I think Dara, Emma, and I are the only students left in that part of the campus. Just as they said, I take my time under the shower. I let the warm water relax my aching muscles. I realize I really did a lot of practice today.

All because I need to get my brain rid of someone.

I shake my head and finish up my shower. I am already out of the stall with a towel wrapped around my body when I hear movements from outside. I straighten up. “It must be Dara and Emma,” I mutter to myself. I move to the door so I can tell them what stall I am in. But when I open the door, my mouth already opens to speak, the words got stuck in my throat.

I didn’t expect the person standing directly in front of the shower stall where I was in. I am so surprised I freeze on the spot.

Trei Daniels!

He is standing so casually there as if it is a normal thing for him to be in front of the sports club’s shower rooms. Unlike me who feels like I see a ghost, he is not surprised to see me. His eyebrows arched though, probably because of my reaction. Then his eyes begin to travel from my face down to my body.

It is only then that I realize I am almost naked. I gasp and quickly move back to the stall until my body is covered by the door and my head is the only part of my body visible. “What are you doing here?!”

His gaze goes back to my face. “We need to talk.”

“At this time?! And what for?”

His brows arch again. “I think you know what we will talk about, though?”

My heart slam against my chest. I tighten my hold on the doorknob. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The corner of his lips lifts in a smirk. But it is not an amused expression. In fact, he looks like he is losing patience with me. “I never forget a person’s face when I see it once. Now stop wasting both our time and get dressed. Unless you want me to barge in there and do this conversation while you are almost naked? If that’s what you want, I am game.”

My cheeks heat in embarrassment. I throw him a sharp and annoyed look. “How about you leave me alone? Whatever I saw this morning I already promised to forget. You have nothing to worry about so go home before our team’s managers come here.”

I don’t wait for him to answer. I am about to close the door but one moment he is just standing there, the next his hand is already on the door to stop me. He is too fast that he took me off guard. I fail to stop him from barging inside the stall.

My eyes widen when he closes the door behind him and twists the lock. “What are you doing?!” I tighten my hold on the towel covering my body.

He leans against the door and crosses his arms on his chest. His expression is suddenly cold and ruthless, an expression opposite of what he showed during the opening ceremony. I don’t want to look intimidated but my feet automatically move backward until my back is pressed against the inner door to the shower area.

“I think you have a wrong impression of me,” Trei says.

“Uh. I don’t think so.”

[My impression of you is that you are not really the polite and kind guy everyone thinks you are. And I think I am right.]

He continues as if I didn’t say anything. “Contrary to what others think I don’t have much patience. I also hate it when people don’t listen to what I say. We will get this conversation over with and that’s that. Do you understand me?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I don’t like your tone.”

“I don’t like you,” he answers in a tone so harsh it feels like a physical slap on my face.

 “Why? You don’t even know me,” I uttered in surprise.

Trei pushes away from the door he was leaning in. My heart jumps to my throat when he reaches me in just two huge steps. I jolt when he lifts his arms and presses his hands on the door behind me. I am now trapped between his arms.

In this position that his body is just inches away from mine, I confirm how big he is. I am a tall girl but my neck still hurts to look up at him. His eyes are intense and almost violent as he looks down on me. “You shouldn’t have gone to her office this morning. I was doing my best to ignore your existence but you really had to show yourself to me.”

I get even more confused. “W-what? What are you talking about? If this is about you and miss Anderson, I promise I will not tell anyone.”

Trei looks at me for a long time as if he is trying to read my reaction. “You don’t know me, huh.”

I blink. “I know you. You are the student council president.”

His jaw clenches and his eyes narrows. For some reason, he looks even more annoyed than before. But then his expression changes again. “You really have no idea huh,” he mutters in a tone I can’t understand.

I gasp when one of his hands go to my nape. His fingers softly play with the tip of my wet hair. But because my hair is too short, I can feel the ghost of his touch on my skin. Goosebumps begin to travel from my scalp down to the tip of my toes.

“This is unfair,” he whispers. I feel his hot breath on my face and that was when I realize he got too close.

“Unfair? Aren’t you the one being unfair to me now? I didn’t intend to see the two of you this morning. Why do you act like I’ve done you wrong? I already told you I will not –”

“I don’t trust you,” he cuts me off.

My eyes widen when our gazes meet. There is a cruel promise in his eyes. It sends a shiver down my spine. When he speaks again his voice is low and menacing, “I don’t trust that you won’t tell anyone about what you saw. I need to keep an eye on you just to make sure.”

I inhale sharply. “H-how would you do that? I’m sure you are too busy to pay attention to me.”

The side of his lips quirks up. “Oh, I can. And you will regret it.”

He touches my hair again but this time he intentionally slips his fingers on my neck. I gasp when my stomach clenched. What is happening to me? What is this nervous excitement that makes my heart beat faster? I only feel like this before the start of a volleyball game.

“You will wish you didn’t catch my eye, Aya Sagara. You’ll see.”

Trei finally steps away from me. He gives my face one last look before he turns around and swiftly goes out of the shower stall. The air suddenly feels lighter now that his intense presence is gone. My knees buckle and I have to really lean on the door to avoid falling on the floor.

My head is spinning. I feel like I don’t understand what happened and I need time to think about everything he had said. And then I suddenly realize something and my eyes widen.

Trei Daniels called my full name. He really knows me. And I have a feeling it is not because of me being the captain of the volleyball team. There was something in his eyes, something sinister and mysterious. I have to know what that means and to achieve that I must face Trei again. 

But is it worth it? Or am I just getting myself into more trouble?