The people in the private room turned to look at this corner as if startled.
After a few seconds of silence, Ryder finally lifted his eyelids. His dark peach blossom eyes were listless and devoid of emotion as he glanced sideways at Maya Brooks.
Maya Brooks smiled, "Do I need to repeat myself?"
Maya Brooks was not afraid of him and couldn't see his indifferent and careless coldness. Her gaze lightly fell on his long legs sprawled out.
"The little girl has quite the temper," Ryder said, his expression unchanged, with a light chuckle and a casual sound of disapproval, lazily moving his legs aside.
Then, his dark gaze shifted to the side and landed on Aria.
His eyebrows lifted imperceptibly.
His gaze was distant and indifferent, without any aggressiveness, not sharp but rather soft. Yet, just a casual glance was enough to make one dare not meet his eyes.
It seemed as if any little thoughts would be seen through by him.
Aria quickly lowered her eyelashes, no longer looking, and pursed her lips as she sat down across the aisle.
She nestled into the sofa, trying to minimize her presence.
"Aren't you tired of being surrounded by pretty girls all the time?" Maya Brooks scrutinized Lila Torres critically, with a rude sneer, "Your taste is getting worse."
Lila Torres's smile froze on her face.
Maya Brooks and Lila Torres have always been at odds in the student council. Whenever they meet, they put on a stern face.
She called her a tea, and she called her a vulgar seductress.
Ryder and Maya Brooks have mothers who are best friends, and they are half-siblings, growing up together with their parents getting married and having children, even buying sister suites for their wedding houses. So the two have known each other since childhood, but they never became childhood sweethearts as written in novels.
There were little moments of affection, but the innocence ran away.
Growing up, not a single spark was ignited between them.
Maya Brooks usually has a bold attitude and has always looked down on the pretty girls around Ryder. Ryder is a few days older than Maya Brooks, and according to Finn Alvarez, he still has some conscience and, with the demeanor of an older brother, is willing to indulge her and not take her seriously.
"Whoa... Brother! Finn!"
Someone winked at Finn Alvarez, "What's going on? Did Ryderoo offend the princess again?"
Maya Brooks is bold and can dance on Senior Kens's head in the student council. Everyone admires and envies her, often wanting to do the same.
But no one dares to really do it.
This admiration for the strong has led people to bestow upon Maya Brooks the title of "legitimate princess."
"You're asking me? I have no fucking idea," Finn Alvarez shrugged, watching the scene with a playful expression, even wanting to cheer for a fight.
The atmosphere gradually became strange.
Aria slightly lowered her head, lightly pursed her lips, and caught a glimpse of Ryder's face from the corner of her eye. She tugged at Maya Brooks's hand and shook her head at her.
She whispered, "Stop messing around, let's sit down."
Maya Brooks curled her lips and gave Ryder an annoyed look.
Ryder lazily glanced at her, and after a while, leaned back against the sofa, crossed his legs, and casually chuckled, "What, planning to rebel against your brother?"
"I wouldn't dare," Maya Brooks snorted coldly.
Ryder smirked, his gaze lingering on the quiet girl across from him who was sipping a cocktail with her head down.
The girl was not heavily made up, quite pure.
The slowly moving colorful lights overhead swept across her overly fair and delicate face, giving her lips, moistened by the alcohol, a glossy sheen, with a faint peach-pink color. Her apricot eyes were round and clear, with an undeniable liveliness.
Ryder could tell at a glance that she was a good girl.
So well-behaved that she didn't seem like she should be in this kind of place, but rather in the school library.
Still the same as before.
Aria felt the gaze from the person opposite her, her fingers clenched, her expression unchanged, but her heartbeat quickened uncontrollably.
From slow to deafening.
All clamoring.
Her hand, hanging by her side, reflexively curled up, and she calmly looked up, meeting the eyes that she always dared not look at for too long.
"Is there something?" she asked.
Ryder seemed not to expect her to suddenly look up, and after a moment of surprise, he curved his lips, lifted his chin, and casually reminded her.
"Even low-alcohol drinks are still alcohol, drink less."
Aria was taken aback, and instinctively glanced at the drink in her hand.
The pink color was very beautiful, shimmering with waves when it flowed, as if it would shatter at a touch.
It was very much like her heart that had liked him for many years but didn't dare to reveal even a little. She was used to hiding it for too long, and it seemed that any possibility of exposure would make her collapse instantly.
The private room was very noisy.
Ryder thought she didn't hear clearly, and repeated in a lazy tone, with patience.
"Girls should know how to protect themselves when they are outside, drink this," he said, casually pushing a glass of untouched sparkling drink in front of him forward, just to the spot not far in front of her.
Not overstepping, with a clear sense of boundaries.
Aria remembered the tags her roommates browsed on the forum in the afternoon.
His pale fingertips touched a bit of the mist on the glass wall, casually twirling it.
He leaned back again, with a lazy and boneless demeanor.
For some reason, at this moment, Aria's nose felt sour again.
He always seemed to be off-key, always a bit of a scoundrel, but he was never stingy with some small tenderness. This seemed to be his innate upbringing, but it made Aria's heart race fiercely.
She remembered that summer night a few years ago, with a drizzle like silk, falling on her skin and making it cool and refreshing. This person was also in this casual state, looking down at her who was helplessly crying on the street.
At that time, she was not like now, liking him to the point of being almost incurable.
Aria is a person who easily gets bored and is also a face-obsessed person. She liked one handsome guy after another, and she never thought that she would like someone for so many years and never forget.
There were people who pursued her in high school. She was not as dazzling as those who pursued him, nor was she outstanding, but her features were good after all.
The boys who pursued her were also very good.
Without his bad, without his indifference.
But she didn't know that she really wanted him and couldn't forget him.
Even to the point of pain when thinking about it.
The young man with short black hair, wet from the rain, had a cigarette between his fingers, flickering on and off, and it had already burned more than half. He impatiently took off his coat and threw it on her.
"What are you doing squatting here at night, not going home?"
Aria only remembered crying at that time, not looking up, and not talking to people.
A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy had no idea how to comfort a girl. He had little patience and quickly became even more impatient.
He let out a low sneer, and without any discussion, grabbed her wrist, pulling her up from the ground. He stuffed the coat into her arms, making her put it on.
Aria didn't react.
Seeing her unmoving, he cursed in a low voice, resignedly draped the coat over her shoulders.
The faint smell of mint and tobacco instantly enveloped her.
She finally came back to her senses. When she realized who the guy was, her expression obviously froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting Ryder to appear here.
Her face was streaked with tears, her long eyelashes wet, and she stared at him blankly.
Ryder walked past her.
Aria had been crying for too long, her eyes were swollen, and her vision was a bit blurred. She turned her head and watched him walk to the trash can, casually extinguish the cigarette, wrap it in paper before throwing it away.
He looked indifferent, leaning against the pillar and asking her, "What are you doing here? Girls should know how to protect themselves, you know. Don't wander around outside at night."