Aria's P.O.V.
My head hurt when I opened my eyes. I looked around the room and saw Cairo leaning back on a chair, seemingly asleep with his eyes closed. I tried to recall what happened—I remembered running away from Cairo, drinking a lot of alcohol, then… I fell into the pool, and… Cairo saved me. That's as far as I could remember. Moments later, Cairo woke up and immediately approached me.
"Aria, how are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm fine, thank you for saving me." I replied.
"It's nothing, just rest." he said.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"You're in the hospital. We brought you here after you lost consciousness. Luckily, you didn't drown because I saved you right away, but you passed out because you were drunk." Cairo explained.
"Who brought me here?" I asked again.
"Who else do you think?" he answered sarcastically.
"You?" I asked.
"Yes, me." he confirmed.
I couldn't believe that he was the one who brought me to the hospital. I mean, why would someone like him go out of his way to help me? Who am I to deserve his time?
"Hey!" he said loudly, snapping me out of my thoughts. I hadn't realized I was staring at him.
"Wait, what time is it? I need to go home." I said, coming back to reality.
"Just rest." Cairo insisted.
"But I have class tomorrow, so I need to go home." I argued.
"Can you please stop being stubborn?" he said, sounding annoyed. So, I stayed quiet.
"Besides, don't worry I'm here." Cairo added.
"That's exactly why I want to go home—because you're here." I teased.
"You little... hey, I saved you, you know. You're really ungrateful." he said, irritated.
"Move over." he told me.
"Huh? And why do you want me to move?" I asked, confused.
"Because I want to lie down, and I need space." he said.
"What? Are you crazy?" I asked, shocked.
"Why? You're so fussy for someone I'm looking after." he shot back.
"Just sleep on the chair, you can't lie down next to me." I said firmly.
"You're such a snob. You think you're all that, don't you?" he said, annoyed.
"Ugh, you're so annoying. I don't want to lie next to you, so stop pushing it." I replied.
"I'm not even wet anymore. I already changed my clothes, luckily, I had a spare in the car." he said.
"So what? You still can't." I insisted.
"I'm not going to do anything bad. I'm just tired and want to lie down." he said seriously.
"Ugh, you're always so irritating." I said, frustrated, then placed a pillow in the middle of the bed. "Fine, lie down then."
"Tsk, you even put a pillow in the middle like I'm interested in you." he said, which annoyed me more. I just glared at him.
"I'm warning you, Cairo—if you try anything, you'll have to answer to me!" I shouted.
"What? You think you're that beautiful?" he shouted back at me, equally annoyed.
"Whatever, just know you'll pay if you do anything." I said.
He just lay down on the bed with the pillow between us. I don't trust him at all—he's crazy, ugh. I turned away from him, facing the other side. I didn't want to face him.
I just wanted to sleep and not talk to him.
"Aria, can you please not drink next time?" he said, but I didn't turn to face him. I pretended to be asleep, I didn't want to talk to him—I just wanted to sleep.
"Hey, are you asleep?" he asked.
"Tsk, you really don't want to talk to me, huh." he added, then went silent. Good, stay quiet, I wish he'd just sleep already.
"You don't know how scared I was earlier when I saw you drowning," he said softly, but loud enough for me to hear.
What? He was scared when he saw me drowning? I kind of wanted to turn to him and ask, but oh right, I'm pretending to be asleep because I don't want to talk to him, remember? I just wanted us to sleep. He probably thought I was already asleep.
"I admit, I really do have a bad attitude. I have a short temper. I always look for trouble and fights. I want to get everything I want. I don't care about other people. I only think about myself. But when I met you, I don't know why, but I started asking myself, what does it feel like to care for someone? What does it feel like to love someone other than myself? When I saw you hiding in the gym because you didn't want your brother to see your wound, and you cried… I've seen you cry twice because of your brother. It's something I don't understand… Maybe my heart really is empty, just like you said. I don't know how to love and care for other people because I can't understand what you're feeling… Aria, how does one love and care for others? Why is it so hard?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't know if I should respond or talk to him after hearing all of that. I felt like he was struggling with who he was, with not caring about people. I thought he didn't care, but it turns out he's aware of his bad attitude.
If that's the case, maybe he isn't inherently bad, especially since he's here now, saving me and staying with me. He wouldn't be here if he were truly a bad person. I just don't know why he became like this—like he has no heart for other people.
Hannah once told me that he was bullied as a child because he was overweight. But is that reason enough? To close his heart to people and be selfish?
Cairo, I realized I didn't really know him deeply. The bad things I see in him… I don't know, but maybe it's wrong for me to judge him. I still didn't turn to face him. I just kept thinking about what he said.
And then, I didn't hear him speak again. Moments later, I could hear him snoring—tsk, he had fallen asleep. He really must have been tired. I finally turned to face him and saw his gentle face; he was facing me… but he was already asleep.
I watched his face closely. When he's asleep, his face looks so gentle, and he's really handsome. But I know the moment he wakes up, I'll see his bad attitude again that annoys me so much.
But should I try to understand him a little more? Is it still possible for him to change?