22| How To Handle A Dick?

"Someone is out there to meet you, Miss. Zoey." One of the maids Stella came to inform Zoey.

"Did he have brown hair and eyes the colour of melted caramel?" Zoey asked and the maid nodded uncomfortably. "Send him here." Zoey said and turned on the bubbles. She was sitting inside the hot tub, letting the warm water wash all the exhaustion of a busy school day.

Few minutes have passed when the door opened and someone walked inside the swimming pool area. A smirk appeared on Zoey's mouth on seeing Travis finally deciding to grace her with his presence after how he behaved earlier today.

Entering through the door, Travis' eyes looked around and when they landed on Zoey sitting in the midst of the steamy tub, his heart started jumping inside his chest. She slowly raised up in the hot tub and Travis exhaled loudly. Her hair was tied on top of her head in a bun, with drops of water slowly dripping off them. She was wearing a nude colour swimsuit and her lack of usual clothing caused his stomach to tighten.

Zoey didn't ignore the way his facial expressions changed on seeing her. He may act like an arrogant prick sometimes but he was still a hormonal teenager. Passing him a smirk, she made her way to the towel stand and wore a fluffy robe around her, all the while feeling his eyes on her.

Slowly, she made her way to Travis, keeping her eyes focused on his face. Once she reached him, she muttered, "Do you want to say something? I don't know, maybe... An apology?"

"Why would I say sorry?" Travis asked, feigning confidence. "I don't think I said anything wrong."

Zoey took another step towards him, entering his personal space. Her scent filled Travis' nostrils and he took a step back.

"You are a dick, Anderson. Good for you, I know how to handle one." She said and heat crawled up Travis' neck at her bluntness.

"Are we going to study or not?" He said in an irritated voice.

"Wait in the lounge. I'll be back in few minutes." She said and walked past him towards her room.

After she left, Travis let out a frustrated sigh and then made his way to the lounge. On his way, he met Rose and he had to explain what he was doing here after their small talk last night.

Inside the lounge, Zoey's brother Sam was already sitting there and studying. Travis silently walked to him and sat beside him.

"Hey man." He said to initiate a small conversation.

The boy lifted his head and acknowledged Travis. "Hey. You are Zoey's friend, right? I remember you." He said.

"More like her classmate." Travis said and then leaned back in his seat.

"Are you in the basketball team like Zachary?" Sam asked, interested to be talking with an older boy.

"Um... Not really. I play video games though." He told him.

"Do you have an xbox?" Sam asked and Travis shook his head. He wanted one since long but they couldn't afford wasting hard-earned money on such stuff.

"A playstation then?" He asked and Travis shook his head again.

"I have one. Would you play with me? Knowing my sister, she won't be back for at least half an hour." He asked and after contemplating for a moment, Travis nodded.

Excited, Sam rushed to the TV and turned it on, handing one remote to Travis and keeping the other with him. He started an action game and Travis remembered playing it on his mobile. Soon, they both got engrossed in playing that game and killing each other's players.

They didn't realize how much time had passed while playing and only moved when Zoey's voice reached their ears. "Your tutor is here, fatso."

"Shit, man." Sam grumbled under his breath before finally leaving the remote.

Once he left, Travis eyed Zoey from head to toe. She had dried her hair now and dressed herself into a yellow sundress. Swimsuit or sundress, she looked equally stunning in both of them. She walked to him and sat down beside him, leaving some space between them.

"So what are we supposed to do?" She asked in a disinterested voice.

"A brief character analysis on Heathcliff." Travis replied. "You can read my notes."

After giving a through read to his notes, she came to this conclusion. "Simple, he is a sadist." She said and Travis drew his eyebrows closed.

"His character is not that simple. It's a multilayered character that defies being understood. There is a possibility that Heathcliff is something other than what he seems; that his cruelty is merely an expression of his frustrated love for Catherine, or that his sinister behaviours serve to conceal the heart of a romantic hero." Travis said in one breath.

Half of what he said flew right above Zoey's head and the rest didn't make any sense either. "Or maybe you just have some masochistic tendencies." Zoey grinned at him sheepishly. "Don't worry. We all have our kinks."

"God, do you have any filter?" He groaned on hearing that.

"I have. I just prefer to not use it." She smirked in return, angering him more.

Deeply annoyed at her attitude, he stood up from the couch and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What is your problem with me?" He asked.

Mimicking him, she stood up in front of him, matching his glare. "I should be the one asking that. What is your problem? Your mood swings are worse than a woman on periods." She huffed.

Their eyes were locked together, brown eyes glaring into hazel ones, while their lips were thinned into frowns. They both looked affected by the other one's presence but neither wanted to back away and admit defeat. Momentarily, Travis' eyes lowered to her lips and the urge to kiss the hell out of her overpowered him. Only this girl had the ability to make him angry and excited at the same time.

Someone cleared the throat and that finally urged them to break their staring contest. Travis' eyes moved to the doorframe and he found his mother standing there with a tray of coffee mugs in her hands. Noticing how close they were standing, Travis immediately backed away.

"Keep it on the table." Zoey said to Rose and sat down on the couch, motioning Travis to follow his action.

"I... I'll be leaving now. We will work tomorrow." Travis said and hurriedly walked out of the lounge, ignoring both pair of eyes on him.

••••••••••

Inside Zachary's room, he was engrossed in solving the calculus questions that Maya had taught him earlier while Ethan was busy running on his treadmill. Every now and then, Zachary's thoughts diverted to something else but he forced his eyes back to his notebook.

"Come on," Ethan said, wiping the sweat off his face with a towel. "Let me take a bath and then we can go to a club or something."

"No man. I need to finish all these questions." Zachary replied, scratching his chin with his finger and Ethan looked at him as if he had grown two heads.

"Are you kidding? Since when did you start to spend your nights studying?" He asked him.

"Since my basketball career got in harm because of this stupid calculus." Zachary sighed.

"You can study tomorrow. There is still a week before your test." Ethan said and attempted to pull him off the bed.

"No Ethan, Maya is working really hard on me. I don't want to disappoint her." Zachary hesitated.

"Maya? You seem quite fond of that cute nerdy brunette." Ethan smirked.

"Well, she is an interesting girl." Zachary said and checked the answer of third question from the helping book. For his surprise, it was correct.

"I-want-to-marry-her interesting or I-want-to-fuck-the-hell-out-of-her interesting?" Ethan raised her eyebrows and the next moment, Zachary chucked a pillow at him with full force.

"Pull your mind out of gutter. I don't want to screw her or anything like that." Zachary huffed in response.

"Well, that's new." Ethan grinned.

"She isn't like that. She is a decent girl and knowing her, she is probably a virgin waiting for the right guy or something." Zachary said.

"Well, good luck with your virgin then." Ethan said, looking out of the window. His eyes fell on Althea sitting in the garden alone. "I'll see you later." He said to Zachary.

"Where are you going?" Zachary asked.

"To woo your sister." Ethan shrugged.

"I would have punched you if I didn't know my sister any better. She will deal with you herself." Zachary smirked.

"Laugh all you want but I am going to marry that girl one day." Ethan winked.

"You wish." He chuckled.

After he left, Zachary busied himself with the work. Although he never understood what the teacher was teaching, Maya's methods were easier to understand. Now that he thinks of her, she was quite cute. Her eyes were very penetrative and her curly looks makes her look different than all the other girls with wavy or straight hair.

Shaking his head, he solved all questions one by one and when he was finally done, he called Maya. After one or two ringtone, she picked it up and her voice echoed from the other side. "Hello."

"Hi. I have solved all the questions you gave me and guess what, all of them were correct." He said into the phone.

"Good." She replied briefly.

For a moment, neither of them spoke anything and an uncomfortable silence prevailed between them. "Um... So... What are you doing?" He asked.

"I am in my room, studying." She replied. "What about you?"

"Nothing much. Just planning to work out a little or maybe I will hit a club." He replied.

"Club? But we aren't legal yet." She commented.

"Who cares? I have a fake ID. I can even help you get one if you want." He said and heard a chuckle in response.

"No thanks. I'd rather wait until it's legal for me to enter a club." She replied.

"As expected." Zachary whispered under his breath. "You are such a Goody two shoes."

"I am not a goody two shoes. I am just a responsible citizen." She explained.

"Awwww." Zachary teased and in response, Maya groaned in the phone.

"God, you are disturbing me. Let me study now." She said and Zachary's smile widened on it's own.

"Good luck with your studies then, Miss. Do-gooder." He whispered and then cut the call, hopping out of the bed.

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