Trials Of A Heart | ✔️

13

~Brielle's POV~

"Ms. Costa," Professor Higgins called me before I could leave math, making both Phoenix and I stop and glance over at him. He paid no mind to Phoenix and stared at me. "I need you to stay back for a moment." He told me, causing my heart to fall. Was I possibly in trouble? As far as I knew, I hadn't done anything wrong, but who could really say?

I nodded my head and walked over to his desk, noticing Professor Higgins' gaze flick over to Phoenix, who had still not left the classroom yet. He raised his brows at Phoenix. "You may go, Mr. Boyd." He said dismissively, waving a hand for him to leave. Though with a bit of hesitation at first, Phoenix eventually left the classroom, leaving me alone with Professor Higgins. I looked over at the Professor and he sat down in his desk chair, staring up at me with a smile on his face. "You're doing very well in my class, Ms. Costa." He said with praise, causing my nerves to ease quite a bit. It seemed I wasn't in trouble, and that relieved me greatly.

A small smile formed on my lips. "Oh." I said dumbly, causing him to smile in amusement. "Yes, oh." He affirmed with a nod of his head. I shuffled awkwardly on my feet and clasped my hands together in front of my body. "Anyway, I asked you to stay behind because I had a proposal for you that I thought you might be interested in." He said with honesty, leaning against his desk with his forearms on the surface. "Extra credit." He stated, as if I'd instantly know what that meant. Confused, I furrowed my brows in confusion and cocked my head to the side, unsure what this extra credit was. I'd never really done extra credit before, and I honestly wasn't sure if I even wanted to because it seemed like too much, whatever this extra work entailed. Considering I still had a job on top of school and all my other classes, I didn't really have a lot of free time. The free time that I did have I generally just wanted to spend doing things that I wanted, things that relaxed me.

"Well, actually, Professor Higgins..." I began softly, deciding that I didn't really want nor need to hear anything else about it. "I don't really have any interest in doing extra credit. Plus my schedule is already pretty packed as it is, so I don't think I'd even have the time to do more even if I wanted to." I told him truthfully, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Though Professor Higgins' face fell, I was glad to see that he didn't look angry, or disappointed in me. He merely looked upset that I had refused his offer, especially without even hearing it first. Even so, I knew it wouldn't change anything if I had heard it. It didn't change the fact that I didn't have the time nor interest. "Alright, then." He nodded his head and gave me a smile. "I guess that you should probably be on your way, now." He said, giving me a smile. I nodded my head and politely bid him goodbye before I left the classroom, gently letting the door swing shut behind me.

I looked up at the clock on the wall as I adjusted my bag and began to head down the hallway, knowing that I had already missed the bus. That meant that I would have to walk all the way back to my apartment, and I wasn't very happy about that.

As I was walking down the hall, someone suddenly fell into step with me, long legs making it easy for them to keep up with my steps. I glanced up and found it was Phoenix, who was frowning down at me with a furrow in his brow. "Phoenix?" I spoke with a slight frown on my lips. "I thought you already left." I told him, continuing to walk down the hall. He shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "No, I was just waiting for you." He admitted, surprising me a little. Biting gently on my lower lip, I fiddled with the straps hanging from my backpack. "You didn't have to do that." I said softly, feeling a little bad that I had made him wait. Sure, it hadn't been for very long, but I still felt bad about it. "Well, of course I didn't have to." He snorted, a smile forming on his handsome face as he glanced down at me.

"But I wanted to. We're friends, aren't we?" He hummed. I felt my face burn as he playfully bumped his elbow against mine, though with a little more force than he probably meant to. "You think we're friends?" I asked, uncertain. For some reason, I always hated calling someone my friend if I wasn't sure if they considered me their friend as well. It almost made me feel pathetic, as if they were laughing at me for thinking that, even if they didn't know I thought of them as a friend. It was an odd feeling, but not one I knew how to get rid of. I had learned to live with it by now, like a lot of my flaws.

Phoenix raised a brow down at me. "Yeah. Why the hell else would I pester you all the time?" He asked, snorting to himself. I shyly shrugged my shoulders and scratched the back of my head. "I dunno. Maybe you find it amusing?" I suggested with uncertainty, chewing on the inside of my cheek a little. He actually looked a little offended by my suggestion, and I wondered if I shouldn't have said that. Was it mean of me to say? "I don't talk to you just because it's amusing to tease you. If that was the case, do you know how many people I'd be doing the same shit to?" He said.

"Besides," He smiled slightly. "I have been interested in you since the first time I saw you trying to jump around in the crowd, Ellie. You're a cute little thing." He said, causing my face to flame red hot. He thought I was cute? Nobody ever called me cute. "N-No, I'm not." I protested weakly, flustered and embarrassed by his words.

The two of us turned down the hall, making our way towards the front of the building. "Bullshit." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "There's no way in hell that you don't know how attractive you are. One look at you and my hands are itching to get under your clothes." He said casually. It caught me incredibly off guard, making me choke on my own spit as I gazed up at him with wide, shocked eyes. "P-Phoenix!" I exclaimed, quickly shaking my head. He laughed, amused at my utter appall. "What? I'm being honest. Can't I do that?" He shrugged like what he'd just said was no big deal. I fiddled with the straps on my bag again, a little more shakily than before. "I didn't know you could be so vulgar." I confessed, still worked up over what he'd said.

He chuckled, the sound low and husky in a way that made my belly pool with an odd warmth. "You've not got even a clue, Ellie. The way I am with you is not how I usually am with other girls." He said, and I wasn't sure what he even meant by that. Was it meant to be a bad thing? A good thing? Or perhaps was it neither good nor bad, but rather just a fact? "Huh?" I frowned, confused. "What do you mean?" I asked. My brows furrowed as I stared up at him, meeting his gaze when he flicked his eyes down to mine. "I'm far nicer to you, let's just put it that way." He chuckled, but I wasn't very satisfied with that answer. My curiosity had always been too large for my own good. "I want to know." I insisted, causing him to pause, as if thinking it over.

"I'm kind of...an asshole, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and looked away from me. "Most of the time when I talk to girls, it's just to get them in bed. I don't really make friends very often, like I did with you—boys or girls. It doesn't matter. I don't have much of an interest in making more friends, but from the second we met, I wanted to talk to you. It dawned on me pretty quickly that I can't treat you the way I do other girls, because I'm not trying to fuck you and then dump you." He explained. His eyes found me again and he gave me a sly grin. "Though, I'll admit I certainly wouldn't mind having you in my bed."

It seemed as if I was blushing every waking moment that I was around Phoenix, I had come to realize. Shaking my head, I gave him a small smile and pushed a strand of my hair back. "I-I didn't know that about you." I said quietly. He was always very nice to me. Sure, he teased me a lot, but that was just part of his personality, I was pretty sure. "Yeah, 'cause I didn't want you to think I'm a piece of shit for treating them like that. I know it's not right, but it's just what I do. Sex doesn't mean anything to me unless I like the girl, so I don't see the point in making them believe it does." He told me, causing me to smile slightly.

"I don't think you're bad or anything. I'm not a very judgmental person, I don't think." I said thoughtfully, pushing open the door to go outside. The air was still hot when we stepped out, making me have to push my hair back. "I mean, I know better than anyone that people aren't perfect. Most people are just trying their best, and that's good enough for me." I added softly. His gaze could be felt on the side of my face, and I found myself a little bit glad that he didn't know anything about my parents. If he did, would he still see me the same? Would he even have wanted to know my name? Most people didn't.

As if he could sense that my thoughts were heading down the drain, Phoenix decided to change the subject. "Where's your car?" He asked, causing me to glance up at him and furrow my brows. "Car? I don't have one. I take the bus." I told him. He blinked, and cocked his head slightly. "You know the bus already left, right?" He asked, to which I simply nodded my head. "Yeah. I'll have to walk back home." I answered, earning an appalled look from him. "Oh? I don't fucking think so." He snorted as we stopped next to a nice looking black car. It beeped when he pressed a button on the keys that he dug out of his pocket.

"Get in." He smiled as he opened up the door. "I'll drive you home."