Layers of Heat

Layer 15

When Winnie arrived at class, her gaze unfortunately landed on the person she wanted to see the least. Miles also saw her when she entered the classroom and he looked like he had something to say, but she turned away from him and headed to her seat.

However, he didn't get the clue—or maybe he just ignored it—and immediately approached her.

She looked up at him and flatly said, "What?"

"I heard Leila's better."

"She is."

"I didn't mean to go behind your back and tell Ken."

"But you did anyway."

They stared at each other in silence, filling the entire class with a heavy atmosphere. Everyone knew that they didn't get along, but because of their personalities, their classmates knew better than to get in between the feud.

"You can't deny it ended up with a positive result," he remarked.

Unfortunately, he was right. It was obvious Leila and Ken were absolutely in love, and their feelings were finally revealed to each other. In the end, if her friend was happy, then she was happy. But she wouldn't let him take all the credit.

"They would've gotten there eventually."

Miles cracked a smile. "You're probably right."

She turned away from him, intent on ending the conversation there.

"Winnie..."

It was obvious from his soft tone what he wanted to say. Maybe if they were alone, she would've humored him, but everyone's eyes were on them. Partly out of pride, partly out of stubbornness, Winnie refused to be seen getting along with him.

"Stop. I don't want to hear it."

His brows furrowed. "You don't even know—"

"You were about to say something stupid, no doubt. Well, it's unnecessary. We're not friends. We don't owe each other anything."

Miles clenched his teeth, his jawline becoming more prominent. Winnie was proud of herself for getting on his nerves so easily, but she also didn't want to cause any serious issues. After all, they were in their last year of the program, and she was so close to finally being free of scrutiny. She would never get along with Miles, but she could at least avoid him as much as possible.

"Go take your seat," she said, spotting their professor entering the room. "Class is about to start."

Though Winnie was looking down at her notebook, she saw Miles' hands clenched into fists. But fortunately, he turned away and walked back to his chair. Sitting next to Winnie was one of the few friends she had made in the program, Georgia, who had been silently waiting for the interaction to end.

"Just when I think you two have finally gotten along," she tsked.

Winnie sneered. "Never."

"Really? I think Miles is ready to move past enemy territory into friendship."

"Even if that were true, I want nothing to do with him."

Georgia pursed her lips. "But it seems he wants something to do with you."

Miles was looking over his shoulder at Winnie, his gaze saying he wasn't done with her yet. She rolled her eyes and chose to purposely ignore him, hoping it would discourage whatever his thoughts were.

—

When the professor dismissed class, Winnie was out the door within the next second. Just as she thought she had made her escape, a pair of brisk footsteps echoed behind her, and she felt a body press against the back of her left shoulder.

"Running away?" Miles spoke, his voice high above her.

She knew it was simply a difference in height, but Winnie hated that it felt like he was always talking down to her.

"More like getting away from something noxious," she muttered.

"Noxious?" he echoed with laughter. "What am I? A poisonous mushroom?"

"I'd rather eat a poisonous mushroom than spend more time with you."

Miles became quiet, but he continued to walk behind her. She planned to go back to the dorms and relax until it was time for her next class—which she unfortunately shared with him as well—but was he really going to follow her the whole way?

Winnie sighed and asked, "What do you want, Miles?"

"To say I'm sorry."

"I knew it," she muttered beneath her breath. "Like I said, we don't owe each other anything."

Miles stood in her path before snapping, "Are we going to be this way for the rest of the year?"

"After this year is over, we won't need to see each other ever again, so does it matter?"

"It matters to me!"