Beyond The Gaze: A Love Unseen

Chapter 26

"Oh, right. Your silliness only comes out in front of certain someone," he said sarcastically, clearly referring to Ares.

At the mention of Ares, a smile appeared on my face, my gaze drifting to the walls around the room, and my cheeks feeling a little warm as I thought about him.

"...see, that's what I said," he interrupted my thoughts.

I clicked my tongue, realizing I was still on the call. Facepalming myself, I quickly cleared my throat. "It's not that, I was... doing something," I made an excuse and changed the topic. "What are your wishes?"

His thoughtful voice came through the earpiece after a brief silence, "Not now, you've got to give me three wishes, and I would use them whenever I want."

"Without knowing the wishes?" I asked, finding it absurd, given his reputation as the school troublemaker.

"Without knowing the wishes," he confirmed.

"No way, that's not—" I began to argue, but he interrupted.

"Then we can just discuss our previous topic. Where were we?" He replied casually. "Oh right, we were talking about how you became silly in front of that year 12 guy, what was his name again? Ah, right, Ares—" my eyes widened at his words.

"Fine, fine, you got your wishes, now stop talking," I quickly interrupted before he could say more.

"Hm, you're a fast learner," he replied triumphantly.

"And, you're a bully," I complained.

"I can't deny the fact," he instantly replied proudly.

"I have to sleep now, I have school tomorrow," I said.

"Wait!"

"What?" I questioned.

"I'll give you a rare opportunity," he said dramatically. "It's very, very rare, and this is your only chance," he emphasized.

"...okay, what's that?" I asked, curious.

"I, Sven Neve Damaris, am giving you a chance, Elysia Dean Lawson," he paused, and I quickly straightened up, listening attentively. "A rare chance... to be my friend," he exclaimed.

I sat back, disappointed. And I thought it was really something interesting.

"Hmph! No, thank you, bye now!" I replied and hung up when he started laughing.

A Few Weeks Later...

I peeked out from behind the pillar and observed him, laughing at something Maron said.

A smile graced my lips as I watched him, momentarily forgetting my reason for hiding behind the pillar. Ares rarely laughed, but when he did, it was the most beautiful sight.

I could watch him all day. Noticing a few students giving me strange glances as they passed by, I tried to suppress my smile and cleared my throat, glancing around.

When Ares and Maron eventually walked back to their building, it suddenly occurred to me why I had been hiding there.

"Oh, right!" I whispered to myself, quickly scanning the area to spot the man I'd been trying hard to avoid.

I spotted his friends, along with their girl group, in the other corner of the courtyard, but I couldn't find Sven among them.

That guy had been my nemesis ever since that phone call where he asked to be my friend, always making suggestive remarks whenever he saw Ares nearby in the courtyard or doing his signature "I'll be watching you" gesture whenever he passed me. Even other students had started noticing his attention toward me, and many girls had given me judgmental and perplexed looks. I was surprised Ophelia hadn't caused any trouble yet. Even Aubrey had noticed the change in his behavior towards me and seemed concerned because of Ophelia.