Academic lovers

36 | Future

We hopped out of the car and watched it zoom away. Now, we were standing in front of the hotel. Ciara had given us the heads-up earlier that everyone had already made their way to the hotel, but the teachers forgot to count us. Can you believe that?

So, the school called us an Uber to get us back to the hotel. And here we were, stepping into the hotel lobby. It was pretty quiet and kind of dark since it was nighttime.

There weren't many people around, just a few scattered here and there.

"Oh Zhera, Aiden! It's such a relief to see you guys safe and sound," exclaimed one of the teachers as they made their way towards us.

With a grateful smile, I responded, "Yeah, we're doing alright. Thanks a lot for giving us a ride."

"Yeah, thanks."

The teacher reassured us, "No problem at all. Now, it's time for you both to get some rest. We still have two more days left on this trip, so make sure to get a good night's sleep."

After exchanging our goodbyes, we parted ways with the teacher.

As we were about to part ways, Aiden gently halted my steps. "Let me walk you to your room. It's dangerous wandering around at night," he insisted.

I nodded appreciatively, feeling a sense of comfort in his protective gesture. We then hopped into the elevator.

Finally arriving at the front of my room, I turned to face Aiden, a soft smile gracing my lips. "See you tomorrow?" I inquired

Aiden returned my smile. "See you, sweetheart,". Before leaving, he leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead, leaving a lingering warmth.

When I stepped into my room, I closed the door behind me and leaned in on it. Today was officially one of my favourite days. Spending the night with Aiden, discovering new things about him, and just being in his presence made me happy.

As I saw Ciara walking towards me, a smile spread across her face. "It looks like someone's in love," she teased.

My smile widened, but I quickly denied it. "No, I'm not."

"There's no point in denying it, Zhera."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I can't be in love so quickly."

Ciara raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe you secretly liked him before?" she suggested.

"W-what, you know I hated him for a long time, like years? How could I have possibly been in love with him?"

"You tell me," she said, her voice trailing off as she made her way to her bed. I was left with a whirlwind of thoughts swirling in my head. It was impossible for me to have feelings for Aiden back then; he was the last person on Earth that I could tolerate.

Liking him? No way. It was only recently, after spending more time with him outside of school, that I began to see a different side of him. Slowly but surely, I realized that he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

Maybe, just maybe, there were some lingering feelings deep down inside me all along. And now, those feelings have turned into something more, something unexpected.