Hidden Desires

CHAPTER 23: YOU'RE PART OF THE WHAT?

It has been a month since the night of the letter and the forgotten Olivia incident. Jade returned from well where she had left to and was filled in about Olivia's visit. She wasn't quite too happy about it but she's been silent regarding the matter. She's returned about a day later after the incident and has been by my side 24 hours of the day and 7 days of the week since, the only time I'm ever alone is when I go to the bathroom. We do not have the same courses but Zayn has been here more frequently and supposedly always close by. I haven't seen Jason since that night, almost as if he had disappeared and quite literally vanished. He's a pain in the ass but I do miss him. Of course not in the romantic aspect but I miss his presence.

It's Wednesday, which means that after school I have to head over to his company and be Jason's assistant and IT tech. Why did he pick me? There are many others who were just as qualified in the class and not so pitiful. I'm not complaining though because I do need this job and I do enjoy the benefits of the car. The morning of the tension filled night I woke up to my phone alerting me of money entering my account and a parked car on the side of the road. I didn't think he would actually pull through, in fact I was calling his bluff. Woke up to 5000 more than I had in my bank account and I couldn't be happier.

I'm currently in the IT lab working on a project where we have to create a software that allows to control the robotics built by the mechanical engineer students. This software is supposed to allow the robotics to do certain human like things humanlike but of course due to its difficulty we have 4 months to complete this, the one with the best design gets an opportunity of a lifetime. We would get to compete in a competition where different skills performed by the robots will be tested and the winner will get to meet Teressa Brooks, tech mogul and literal icon. Self made billionaire, founder of Brookes industries and probably one of the most powerful black women in the industry. I love her. I want to be just like her. She inspired me to love coding the way she does and a chance to get to meet her would be a dream come true. So of course I'm in the IT lab working on it on my free period. The assignment was assigned last month and we had to work in pairs, meaning by my better judgment working with a partner is mandatory. It would be nice if my partner had been helping me but no, he sits on his ass all day and watches me do the damn thing, not to mention he always shows up late which according to my watch he's about to show up just about...

"Hey, sorry I'm late", Alex saunters into the classroom in a leisurely pace. So disrespectful. "You're always late Alex", I said distastefully as I watch him sit on a chair across from me. Does he even know what to do. Does he even know how to code for peace sake. Out of all the students I had to be paired with him and of course Jade isn't happy about it but so far she hasn't annunciated her annoyance of the pairing. I wonder if she's okay. I wonder if Jason is okay. "How far are you?" I look up to meet uninterested olive green eyes staring at me as I'm lost in thought. Irritated, my blood boils. "Maybe, just maybe if you helped we could have gotten far but no, you cynically lazy idiot is doing nothing at all, are you hoping we fail this project because it sure looks like it, we've got 3 months left to finish this assignment so if you could be so kind, get your lazy ass up from that chair and HELP. ME! " I say tossing my pencils at my last words angered by his neglect and disinterest. Does he plan on failing or was this his plan the whole time, aiming for a C at best.

Shocked at my outburst and behavior I decide not to look at his face and continue working on the assignment. I can't believe I just said that! Feeling a little bad I take a deep breath and prepare to apologise. "Hey, look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you I'm just stressed out and I have a lot on my mind", I finish as I look up to see him smirking. Smirking at my apology. He finds this amusing. Nothing about this situation is amusing. He quietly stands up from his seat and walks over towards where I'm stood and quietly looks over at the laptop. He studies the code I entered in with mild concentration as the smirk is still plastered on his face. His hand reaches onto the laptop keyboard and our hands lightly brush against each other. His frame leaning over me, his head in the crook of my neck as he leans even closer. I could feel his breath on my neck and I felt tingles down my spine. I flusteredly move my hands from the keyboard to let him fiddle with the code how he sees fit. How he sees fit? Have I lost my mind? I bite my lip in reluctance and nervousness as I watch him change some of the code entered. He expertly enters in keys and commands that I must have missed while I was thinking about Jason. He wasn't going to make us fail the assignment, I was. Watching him entering different instructions with clear confidence caused me to hang my head low, embarassed and ashamed for even calling him an idiot. "Try it now", he says, his voice calm and calculated as he leans back, giving me space to stand up. I stand up and turn around but he's still standing directly in front of me looking down at me with something indescribable floating around in his eyes that fit his skin tone perfectly. Still flustered I look down and ask him to move so I can program the AI. He slowly steps to the side as I quickly find my way to the Robotic mechanism located on the left side of the classroom. I program it and it starts to move both its arms unanimously and smoothly almost humanlike. He finished the first part of the project in less than 15 minutes while it took me days. Most days distracted by the thought of Jason and his well- being. "Thank you", I say shyly as I feel him slowly approach me. He stands directly in front of me and uses his index finger to lift my chin up so my eyes meet his. "You're welcome, so much for a 'cynically lazy idiot' right?" he says amused as he watches my face deteriorate in embarrassment. Gathering my courage I ask him: "why didn't you help me before and why are you helping me now". He lets his smirk widen as a cocky glint surfaces in both eyes. "Had to make sure you do your part of the assignment",he shrugs as he smoothly walks back to his seat. "What made you think I wouldn't participate in doing this project", I ask slightly offended. If anything I'm always paired with up the lazy dipshits that make me do all the work by myself just to take the credit. That outburst didn't come from nowhere. It was provoked. Multiple times and I was sick of it. "I heard that you're pretty good at manipulating others into getting whatever you want, so out of curiosity I thought you would try that on me although I don't break easily".