His Tainted Heart

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Alexander was shockingly correct.

They did get along just fine.

Although Adrianna did have her doubts about it at first, Alexander managed to astonish her with his quiet intellectual focus on their lab assignment. Everything from his quick observations to his precise calculations was completed with efficiency. Any subtle conversations they did manage to have was directed to their lab work.

By the time they finished, there was still twelve minutes left of class. Most of the other students were still madly trying to finish up the first part of the lab assignment before the bell rang.

Adrianna shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she tried to find a way to release the silence that was suffocating her. She glanced at Alexander who looked as impassive as ever. He did not seem to be effected by the awkward silence between them. Maybe part of the reason was because he was distracted by his phone.

Adrianna sighed and decided to try to strike up a conversation with him. "So Alexander what do you like to do for fun?

He glanced up at her from his phone and gave her a look that asked if she was serious. "Nothing," he replied before turning back to his cellular device and tapping something into it.

Adrianna stared at him skeptically. "Somehow I find that hard to believe..." she trailed off before switching to another subject. "Okay fine how about family? Do you live with them? What about siblings-"

Alexander suddenly narrowed his frosty blue eyes at her. "Listen Adrianna I'm not in the mood to play twenty fucking questions. My personal life does not concern you. You'd run the other direction if you knew."

Adrianna frowned at his rude response. She felt almost disappointed at his change in attitude towards her. "Well you're the one who wanted to start over with this whole being 'friends' thing. So I was hoping to try it out because here you were for the last forty minutes acting like a normal person until you suddenly become cold and closed off. I honestly don't get you," she muttered as she stood up and shoved her things into her bag.

Alexander was silent for a couple of seconds, but when he replied, it sent chills down Adrianna's back. "Fine if you really want to know then I'll tell you. Don't say I didn't warn you," he snapped before his voice lowered so that only she could hear. "When I was three, I watched my mother blast her brains out with a gun. When I was four, my oldest brother tried to drown me. When I was five, I was locked in a metal cubicle for days without food. The list keeps going. Are you happy now?"

Adrianna's face turned sickly pale. Her body felt cold and numb. She tried to open her mouth to speak but nothing came out. What can someone say to something like that? That they are sorry about what happened to them?

It was hard to imagine that anyone could come out unscathed from those incidents, much less a small child. She didn't want to believe it. She hoped he was lying just to scare her and yet his grim expression told her that it was all true.

Adrianna's heart broke. Every part of Alexander's razor sharp personality suddenly made sense to her. He may act callous and uncaring, but internally he was tormented by his past. He lost his innocence at a young age. He lost his childhood. Who wouldn't become bitter?

Adrianna bit the bottom of her lips as she tried to think of the right thing to say to him. "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to intrude on your personal life. If you want to talk about it, I'm here..."

Alexander sneered at her lousy apology. He couldn't believe that this is all she had to say to him. And here he thought she was different from everyone else. "Yeah whatever. You have no idea what my life is like, so don't get all sentimental with me."