I Hate You, but I Love You!

Chapter 24: Weird Feelings

No doubt Brian was incredibly annoying. And cocky. And egotistical. And ignorant. But he was also charming. Thoughtful. Patient. Helpful. Not to mention attractive, and rich, and smart, and perfect in every other sense...

I shook my head. No. I was not allowed to think these thoughts. I was not allowed to feel these things. Especially not about Brian Villamor.

I felt the stranger's eyes on me.

I chose to ignore him, instead pretending to look busy by scanning the parking lot.

"Advanced Calculus, huh?" I suddenly heard him say conversationally. His voice was light and not too deep.

My books were placed neatly beside me, since I had decided to carry them instead of stuff them in my bag. I glanced over at the stranger.

Oh.

I hadn't realized that he was cute. Light brown eyes, sun-kissed skin, just the right amount of stubble to make it attractive. I nodded slightly. "Uh, yeah."

"It's a bitch, isn't it? Gave me hell last semester." He smiled.

I rolled my eyes. "I know what you mean. I think I may want to die."

He laughed, and I noticed that his eyes did a cute little crinkle in the corners when he did so. "I'll say." He paused before he said, "I'm Tristan, by the way."

I raised an eyebrow at him and chuckled teasingly. "That was smooth." Even though it most certainly wasn't.

He gave me an amused look. "I don't know what you're talking about. But I didn't quite catch your name."

I hesitated, assessing him with my eyes. With a slight smile, I said, "It's Chloe."

He nodded, his mouth doing a weird frown-smile. "Huh. That would be Chloe...?"

"Just Chloe."

"Huh," He said again, the casual smile reappearing on his lips. "Well, just-Chloe, why'd you decide to torture yourself with Advanced Calculus? I mean the options were endless, ranging from the electric chair to starvation to boiling your hand, and you chose Advanced Calculus?"

I actually laughed, which seemed to satisfy him. He seemed to have this aura about him that you couldn't help but like.

"Well, I guess I was thinking the same thing as you were last semester."

"Huh? Which is?"

"At least with this form of torture you can get a degree."

He chuckled. He had a boyish chuckle, a sweet and almost innocent sound. He uncrossed his leg and ruffled his hair, which the wind had slightly messed up. I supposed his hair had to be messy, but in a certain kind of way.

"True, very true. So what do you major in?"

"Social science."

His face contorted comically. "You need Advanced Calculus for Social Science?"

I shrugged. "Apparently."

"That sucks! I feel for you."

I smiled. "Thanks. What do you major in?"

"Mechanical Engineering."

"That's impressive." I said, nodding my head.

"Thanks. I come from a family of engineers, so it kind of made sense for me to be one too."

"I see. So -" I was caught off by the sound of Brian's bike parking in front of us. He wasn't wearing his helmet, instead it was perched behind him waiting for me.