His mind spun with several possibilities. He decided to go and help . He had just opened the car door when he saw her being carried by a male student. He looked in the direction they were headed; the school infirmary. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief. However, he was still feeling uneasy. What was wrong with him? The girl Ayla totally had nothing to do with him. Why was he overly concerned about her? To Hayden, he only needed to teach the students in his classes and make sure they gained the knowledge. Moreover, as part of professional ethics, he wasn't allowed to have a personal relationship with the students. He knew all that. But why would he always have second thoughts about Ayla? Every time she was in trouble, he would always feel worried for her. Just like that moment. He was sitting in his car, unsure of whether to proceed with his journey home or head to the infirmary to inquire about her situation. But, how was he going to introduce himself to the doctor there? Who was he to her? Such questions made Hayden feel frustrated . This was the first time he was feeling conflicted about his decisions.
Just as he was lost in thought, his phone rang, jolting him out of his thoughts;
"Speak." He said on the phone the moment he answered the call.
"Sir, a document in the company needs your immediate attention. " his assistant said.
"Got it." Hayden said and hung up. He immediately started the car to his company. Apart from working as a lecturer, Hayden owned a company, and his trusted personal assistant was mostly in charge of it as Hayden was busy teaching students. He decided to set Ayla's matter aside for the time being.
Ayla slept the whole day and night. She woke up the following day when the sun was up in the sky.
"Miss, you're finally awake!" The nurse who had bedn keeping watch over Ayla exclaimed happily when she saw that she had woken up.
"Yes. What time is it?" Ayla asked hoarsely. Seeing this, the nurse passed her a glass of water before checking her phone to see the time.
"It's 8:30 am." The nurse said after checking her phone.
Ayla nodded. She had an hour to prepare herself for class .
She was just about to ask for her phone when she saw it on the table beside her.
"Oh, the guy who carried you here said it was yours, so he placed it here." The nurse explained when she saw what Ayla was looking at.
"Okay, thank you." Ayla picked up her phone and the medicine that had been packed and bade the nurse goodbye before she left. At least, the pain in her head wasn't as severe as it was the day before. She sighed when she thought of her roommates. Were they going to beat her to death this time? Either way, Ayla was ready for anything. She was already tired of life . It kept on revolving around the same thing, bitterness and bullying. She was expecting everything negative. After all, nothing positive ever happened to her.
To Ayla's surprise, the moment she entered the room, the two bullies just glanced at her disdainfully but said nothing. They continued with their business and treated her like air. Ayla secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
After taking a shower and changing her clothes, Ayla picked up her books for that day's class and left the room quietly. The classes were a bit far from the hostels, which was the reason why Ayla took all the books for the day so she wouldn't be going back and forth as she considered it time-consuming. She didn't forget to carry water with her so she would take the medicine later at the prescribed time. She was thankful that the two girls in her room didn't find trouble with her. What Ayla didn't know was that as they had sent her to buy lunch for them, they felt overly hungry and decided to head to the cafeteria to have their own food as she was taking too long. It was when they witnessed her fainting. Even though they witnessed it, they decided to give her time to get better before they resumed their bullying. That was why they didn't bother her when she entered the room that morning.
Ayla slowly walked to class as she wasn't very energetic, considering she had just woken up from the sick bed a few minutes ago. Fortunately, there was still time, which made her relax and walk freely to class. Even though she was feeling very hungry, she couldn't have breakfast. She had made it a habit of skipping breakfast just to save money that would sustain her through the first semester. She didn't have enough money, after all.
The final class that day happened to be Hayden's. The first thing he did when he arrived was to search for her with his eyes. Then, his gaze stopped on her figure and zeroed in on her face. Even though it was a bit pale, it wasn't as pale as it was yesterday when he saw her. It seemed like she was recovering well. He noted. He was secretly happy. As he taught, he would always glance at her from time to time. He would even ask her questions, which she would answer correctly. It satisfied him to know that she was paying attention in his class. Especially when she was feeling unwell. On campus, which lecturer didn't know how his students operated? They mostly had their things going on. Playing games on their phones, texting while in class, flirting in class. He was also a student once, and he understood that very well. How could he not be happy to know that among all the mischievous students, there were some who were paying attention to him?
Also, he noted something about Ayla. She had a very beautiful voice. Like that of an angel. It was very pleasing, and Hayden would trade anything for that voice. He didn't understand why he would think in that direction, but it didn't sound so bad .
After class, Ayla dragged her tired body to the cafeteria. She had to take something before she went to bed. She just hoped the two girls would maintain their cool, at least until she got well. Because at that moment, the only thing Ayla wanted to do was to sleep as she was feeling weak. She wanted to replenish some energy so that when the time came for her to report to the part-time work, she had been told to start the following week.
"Hi, how are you feeling now?" The guy who carried her to the infirmary asked with concern. He looked gentle and emitted a scholarly aura around him. His blue eyes made him look so handsome .
"You are?" Ayla looked at him in confusion and asked.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Shay, the guy who carried you to the infirmary." The guy introduced himself.
"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Ayla, and thanks for yesterday." Ayla smiled back at him. Even though she had decided to stay as far away from men as possible, she couldn't definitely ignore someone who helped her, could she?
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Shay asked . He was carrying his food in his hands.
"Of course not." Ayla made way so he could sit next to her.
Even though Ayla was silent, she engaged him from time to time. Which made the atmosphere at their table less awkward. Ayla loved his, and she would smile every once in a while. That could be said to be the first time she felt carefree with someone. And it turned out to be a total stranger. She had only known him for a few minutes after all.
When Ayla finished her food, Shay offered to escort her to her hostel. Of course, men weren't allowed in female hostels, so the far he would go was outside her hostel. Hayden was coming out of the car when he spotted her. She was smiling this time. This made her look even more stunning. However, his face darkened when he saw the guy next to her. He was gently looking at her as though he only had her in his eyes. For some reason, Hayden found the sight too jarring in his eyes. He didn't know why. Or was it because he felt that the guy was going to lead his focused student astray? He didn't know the exact reason, but it just didn't sit well with him. He stood there and watched as the two conversed while slowly walking .
She even showed him her hostel? Just how much did she trust him?
"Goodbye, I've arrived. " Ayla said awkwardly. She didn't want to part ways with such a humorous friend, but she had to. She was feeling under the weather.
"Yeah, sure, see you around." Shay said and nodded as he watched her ascend the stairs.
"Hey, wait -" he suddenly called out after remembering something.
"Is there anything else?" Ayla paused mid step and turned to look at him before asking.
"Can I have your contact information?" Shay passed her his phone as he asked. He didn't even give her time to reject him.
Ayla was speechless.
However, she still keyed in her number on his phone before passing it to him.
Heck, she even gave him her number? Hayden gritted his teeth in anger.