Chapter Sixteen

Ba Wei returned from the vending machines with two bags of chips and two drinks. I studied his hands and to my surprise they were all things I liked. He handed me one of each and I said thank you. He took a seat beside me and began to eat. Although I wasn't really hungry I opened mine and began to eat also

"Do you usually eat and drink these kinds of things for breakfast," I asked covering my mouth as I spoke?

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I never have time to cook," he said sighing. "It's not a big deal so don't make it one." I nearly choked on the chips in my mouth.

"What do you mean," I said struggling to keep my breath? "Why would I make a big deal out of it?"

He looked over at me. "Just a hunch." I narrowed my eyes at him and he just chuckled. The small smile that spread across  his lips in that moment made my heart pound. My face immediately started to redden. I quickly lowered my head to try to hide it, but Ba Wei still noticed.

"Why is your face all red?" I didn't respond and Ba Wei laughed. "You're easy to embarrass ."

"No I'm not," I quickly responded.

"Lying is useless when you have reactions like that." I couldn't say anything because he was right when it came to my reactions but I wasn't lying. I barely got embarrassed, but for some reason around him I do. It seems like every little thing he does makes my face heat up.

"I'm not lying," I said looking up at him, "this only happens around you." He raised an eyebrow and a smile spread across his face putting his perfect teeth on display.

Our eyes met, "So, I'm special then?"

"Yeah I guess so." I could have said that he wasn't, but it would've been a lie. He was the only person that I did this around. Come to think of it, he was the only person that I could stand to be around.

"I'll enjoy the special treatment then," he said as he broke eye contact. Before I could say anything in return a high pitched voice called my name.

"Ji Nan!"

That voice was all too familiar, and as I turned to look where it came from; I was surprised to see Ya Ling approaching me since she had been ignoring me since Monday. I didn't move from where I was and neither did the guy beside me.

"Ji Nan," she said as she stopped in front of me. Her eyes met mine then they shifted to Ba Wei. "Can I speak with you?"

"You are." I responded coldly.

"I mean alone." As she said this she glanced at Ba Wei, and he seemed to notice. I thought he would leave but he just crossed his legs and continued eating.

"You can say what you have to say right here." She seemed to be annoyed by my statement, but I didn't care.

"Um okay. I wanted to say I'm sorry."

I raised an eyebrow, "for what exactly?" I didn't know what she was apologizing for. She seemed uncomfortable, and it was quite amusing.

"For Saturday." In truth I hadn't been thinking about Saturday. My mind had been occupied by mostly Ba Wei, and even if it wasn't I wouldn't have thought about her.

"Don't worry about it," I said as I started to eat my chips again. "It's not a big deal."

"You accept my apology?" We made eye contact and for the first time I saw pain in those big eyes of hers. Seeing that didn't make me feel bad, it just made me annoyed.

"Yeah. It wasn't that serious to begin with." She pushed her hair behind her ear and looked as if she was about to say something, but in the end she just left.

"Is that usually how your conversations go," Ba Wei asked?

"No. We actually usually don't talk."

"So she just follows you around and you don't utter a word to each other?"

"Well, I don't really enjoy her presence so speaking to her isn't one of my priorities."

"Understandable," he said as he stood up. "I think you should head to class. It's almost time for the students to start pouring in." I glanced down at my watch and he was right. Students would start coming soon.

"Aren't you heading to class also?" I stood up and picked up the drink that I didn't open.

"No, I actually don't go to class until thirty minutes after the first bell."

"Everyday." I asked shocked?

"Yeah, my teacher has no issue with it so." I could feel the anger bubbling up in me. Him skipping thirty minutes was probably the reason why he struggled so much.

"What subject is it?"

"Science I think." I grew even more angrier, but instead of letting it show; I pushed it down. He walked over to a trash can and tossed his trash in and I did the same. I stayed as calm as possible and began to speak.

"Science is your weakest subject and if I had to guess, I would say that you skipping thirty minutes each day is the reason." He turned around to look at me and our eyes met. I tried to read them, but I couldn't. Why are you so hard to read?

"That's very passive aggressive."

"It's not passive aggressive at all. It's straight to the point," I argued.

"I'm not gonna change my schedule because you don't like it." He walked pass me heading back towards the halls. I followed behind him closely.

"Why not? I changed mine to accommodate tutoring you." I was seriously pissed off at this point. I grabbed his arm and pulled on it. This seemed to catch his attention. "The least you can do is go to class on time." I raised my voice as I said this and Ba Wei's eyes widened. He stopped walking and he just stared at me.

"Cute," he muttered.

"What?" Maybe I heard him wrong.

"So cute." Why does he always deflect from the problem by saying things like that?

"Can you not say strange things like that to deflect from what I say." I crossed my arms and our eyes met. As I stared into his eyes one thing was swirling within them. Amusement.

"If you don't want me to call you cute. You shouldn't act cute."

My eyebrows knitted together, "I'm not acting cute."

"You are," he said chuckling. Before I could say anything Ba Wei reached out and pinched my cheeks. My eyes widened and my face immediately turned beat red. "See. Cute."

I stood there silently looking at him and for some reason I felt uncomfortable. More uncomfortable than I've ever felt, but I tried not to show it. I cleared my throat, and diverted my eyes.

"Um, I should head to class." My voice was flat. It lacked emotion, and Ba Wei seemed to catch onto that.

"Hey, you alright?" Although his voice was how it usually was, I could've sworn I heard worry within it.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I wasn't okay. My heart was pounding and even though I wanted to look up at Ba Wei I couldn't. My face was still red and every time I heard Ba Wei's voice it only got redder.

He nudged me with his elbow, "I was just messing around. Don't pout." His voice held a playful tone.

"I'm not pouting. I just..."

"You're just pouting." I finally looked up at him and as our eyes met a smile spread across his face. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Do you know that you're annoying?"

"How am I annoying?"

"Just know that you are. Let's get to class."