The Bad Girl's Good Side

Chapter 23: Kill Me Now

Chapter 23: Kill Me Now

"Sam told me that you go to Caltech." I break the dreadful silence pervading in the car as we drive to fetch my car.

I recall the day Sam told me that Tristan is a Caltech student-I was astounded. I know that he is highly intelligent and I understand how he got into Caltech, not to mention that he comes from a wealthy family, so the school had to accept him. I just wish he would have told me about his application to that school. I would have loved to be next to him when he received his acceptance letter, to embrace him tightly in congratulation and to kiss him out of happiness. 

But life happened.

"Yeah." He nods without offering me a glance.

"What are you studying?" I prod further to fight the palpable tension in the car.

I never asked Sam about what Tristan is studying, but I was, and still am, interested. I was just confused at his choice of university because I remember him telling me that his father wants him to major in business so that soon he could take over the company and continue the Wilder legacy.

"Structural Engineering."

"Not business?" I scrunch my eyebrow to show my bewilderment. "I thought your dad wanted you to go into the business field."

"He did," only now he looks at me after stopping at a red traffic light. "But I told him that if he doesn't allow me to study what I want, then he'll have to wait for Evan to reach 18 so he could take over the company."

At the mention of his little brother, I suddenly feel nostalgic. I miss my family, without the secrecy, and I miss being at the Wilder's mansion. I miss the twins and how we'd stay up late watching animation movies. I even miss Lizzy scolding Evan and Emily for stay up late with us.

"So he agreed to that?" I ask Tristan, who nods in response.

"He had no choice," he casually shrugs. "He has to retire soon because of his medial condition--"

"Medical condition?" I gasp with worry. "Is he okay?"

Even though I wasn't that close with Mr. Wilder, I still care about him because he ended up becoming family as well.

"He's okay," he laughs at my worried state. "He just has a minor heart problem. The doctor said that he's condition's going to worsen as the years go by and that he has to withdrew from stress. So he has to pass down the company soon."

"That's sad." I say with a sad pout.

Tristan laughs at my reaction, immediately making me forget about the worrying topic and making me concentrate on his laughter. The sound makes me nostalgic, taking me back to the days we'd hang out and joke around all day long.

"C'mon, Angel," he pulls me out of my head, and his use of my old nickname takes me aback. "We here." He climbs out of the car, giving me a few seconds to catch a breath.

After a brief self recollection, I hop out of the car and follow Tristan into the airport and memories of the last day I'd been here resurface. Tristan leads the way to the information desk, which took about six minutes to find in this massive airport, and after a few more minutes of processing the pick up details, we are finally led to where they keep the cars.

"I finally get to drive myself again." I grin as we follow the guy assisting us to get my car.

"Finally getting your freedom back," Tristan, walking not to me, curtly nods.

We can both feel the tension circling around us, but we choose to ignore it. I've realized that it's still a sensitive topic to discuss especially with Colton and Sam being in our lives. Although, he doesn't know that nothing's going on between Colton and I. But Sam is practically in love with Tristan and if he reciprocates her feelings, then who am I to stand in their way.