Closer to perfection (academic rivals)

chapter 12 ♡

C A E L A N
(This repeats events from chapter 9 in further detail and from Caslan's pov!)

I was with Samjhana, Luke and Aria.
"I need to go meet my brother.." Aria told us.
Luke groaned as I furrowed my brows. Even Sam's eye twitched ever so slightly.
Aria seemed pissed.
"Look, I get that you guys have a problem with my brother, but don't present that onto me. He's my brother, and obviously I love him, have you guys even had siblings before?" she snapped.
"Aria, calm down," Sam soothed.
We followed Aria as she headed to her meeting point. She turned her head around once more.
"And, just hide somewhere. All three of you guys being there will stress him out."
Luke pulled a face. Samjhana nudged him and shook her head. Aria isn't in the wrong for supporting her brother, I mean- they're siblings.
We hid beside the vending machine.
"Hiding beside the vending machine wasn't the smartest decision we've ever made, but it's perfect for eavesdropping," Samjhana pointed out. She was right. From here we could hear their whole conversation. I paused.
"Isn't that invading their privacy though?"
Samjhana and Luke stared at me.
"Everyone does it with us though," Luke shrugged. I facepalmed.
"Those are paparazzi. It's their job."
"Caela, don't be such a bore. It's only for a few minutes, and Aria told us to hide somewhere anyways."

As Aria searched around for her brother, she was soon out of sight. Luke complained about how long it was taking.
"Seriously, we can't even see Aria. What was the point of this?" He nearly stepped out of the hiding position, before we heard two voices.
Ivan and Heather.
"If her brother is there, then where's Aria?" Samjhana whispered.
"Be quiet, they're speaking.." I shushed her.

"... it's not like the whole school knows about it." Ivan laughed. I couldn't make out the first bit of his sentence.
Sam and Luke's whispering made it hard to hear anything.
"You two. Stay here. I'm going to have a closer look."
I crouched towards another vending machine.
"Ivan. The whole school knows he's dating Samjhana. Give it a break. In a month they'll be known as the power couple." Heather groaned.
I couldn't believe my ears. Heather thinks I'm dating Sam? What the heck? That's equivalent to me dating my own cousin.
Ivan looked at her.
"Samjhana? Who told you they were dating?"
Is Ivan helping me get with Heather or trying to take her for himself?
"Ivan don't tell me you haven't noticed, it's so obvious that they're dating," Heather laughed.
Heathers laughter was faint yet alluring, like a small butterfly flying over a field of flowers. How could anyone resist that laugh? The corners of my mouth lifted. How Ivan didn't return the laugh, I had no idea. His face remained still.
"Heather.. you know Samjhana is dating someone already."
Heather's face remained puzzled.
"You mean Caelan?"
I suppressed a laugh. Was Heather really this clueless? How could the smartest girl in our whole year- no the whole school- be so oblivious?
Ivan's still face finally gave into the laughter.
"No, Samjhana's dating my sister. Aria. And Caelan is aware. They were all childhood friends."
Looks like Ivan dropped the bombshell. I couldn't even get angry at him. How could I? At this point, he's informing Heather that I'm single.
"Wait- what? So you're telling me-" Heather seemed flustered. I hoped that it was because she now knows I'm single, but knowing her, she was probably embarrassed that she was so confident about something so wrong.
"Sam and my sister were dating." Ivan confirmed.
Heather shook her head. "Then- if Samjhana isn't his girlfriend, who is his girlfriend he was boasting about in French?"
Ivan looked at her.
"Heather are you slow?"
She turned her head.
"What did you just call me?"
"Nevermind that." Ivan sighed.
So she really doesn't know, ha.
"So- wait but if- the three of them are friends- why aren't you that close with Samjhana and Caelan? And even Luke?" Heather asked.
Ouch. Luke frowned. I didn't suppose he would tell her.
"Sorry, that was a bit impulsive of me to say." Heather apologised.
I was so absorbed in their conversation, when I felt moisture around my neck. I turned my head.
"Hi." Luke stared at me, with Sam and Aria crouched right behind.
"What's happening?" Sam asked.
I nearly had a heart attack.
"When did Aria get here." I thought she was a ghost.
"I don't even know." She shrugged. "Anyways, what's happening?"
"Shush, just listen."
I lost track of Ivan and Heather's conversation because of these monkeys, but what Ivan said helped us fill the gaps.
"We had a friend called Valerie." Ivan paused. Sam flinched and Luke turned away. Aria remained unfazed.
"Her parents own "Valentina cosmetics." Valerie was- well where do I begin? She was smart, she was pretty, she was kind, she was rich, and she had a nice family. Or so I thought. But Valerie- what else was perfect about her? I'll admit, she was perfect. But I never found her romantically attractive, I couldn't." Ivan continued.

"What kind of bullshit is this?" Luke whisper- scoffed.

"I don't think I've ever experienced an attraction for anyone Heather. And it's not like an "oh I haven't met the right person yet." It's "romance is sickening and I can't imagine being loved by or loving someone." I really do treasure my friendships Heather, I mean it. But romance is different. I hate it."
"Now, Valerie and I were publically engaged at the age of 14, and announced to be wed at 21. It was arranged by our parents, a beneficial alliance. It's stupid, but that's how it works here.
I told Valerie's parents I wouldn't go through with the marriage. I told them that if they forced me, I would leave her and force her to be a widow at a young age."
We saw him hesitate.
"I didn't mean it."

"Oh Ivan," Aria silently sighed.

"I loved Valerie, is it stupid to say I still do? But, just not in that romantic way. The threat was a bit harsh, I know, and as a result her parents annulled the engagement. But that's not all. They told Valerie that I told them that I hated her and the thought of marrying her made me sick."
Heather gasped. Sam's hands were shaking and Luke's eyes widened.
"That wasn't true." Ivan started to minimally shake.
He's nervous.
"I received a lot of backlash from my parents, but after a certain number of failed blind dates, they grew to accept that I'm aromantic. My sister was there to support me as well, but the others all stopped contacting me. I tried to reach out to them, but my family said there was no point. My mother cut of all contact with their companies as well. Without any interest in a partner, I grew to be independent."
"Ivan.. you shouldn't have been criticised for not wanting to go through with the marriage... that's stupid." Heather finally replied. Ivan smiled.
"Thanks for being here for me. If it weren't for you and my sister, I probably would've left the school already."
They walked away.
"Let's go find my sister."

Aria stood up abruptly, like a tiger ready to hunt its prey. "That's my cue to leave! Bye guys!"
"Aria, wait." I paused her.
"Wait so- Ivan never said that he hated Val..?" Luke asked her.
"I had no idea Aria. Why didn't you tell us? I would've believed you." Sam looked down at the floor.
Aria sighed.
"Ivan is soft natured. If you found out the truth you'd probably go back to him, and he'd be frightened. He received a lot of backlash from the situation, and his trauma will take time to heal. I know you want to apologise to him, and probably have questions to ask, but you have to approach him slowly."
The three of us couldn't believe that we had interpreted a situation so wrong.