Chapter 130: You Are The Girl In The Purple Dress!

AINA

Vance laid back on the grass, his face turned toward the warm sun above him. As he drifted in and out of sleep, he dreamt. The only face he could see behind his closed eyelids was Travis.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over his face, blocking out the light. He slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Travis staring down at him.

Vance blinked, his voice scratchy. "Travis?"

Has this guy lost his mind? Aina thought, glaring down at him. She crossed her arms, letting out an annoyed breath. "Why are you laying on the grass?"

"I was dreaming about you," Vance mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

Aina threw her hands up. "Okay, yeah, you are just as lost as Theo said you were!" She took a step closer, shaking her head. "Vance, you do not have a crush on me. I think you just feel grateful for the muffins I baked you."

Vance sat up, brushing dirt off his sleeves. "I didn’t eat those muffins."

Aina froze, her eyes widening in pure shock. "What? Do you know how long I spent baking those muffins, and you didn’t even eat them?!"

"Sorry," Vance muttered, looking away. "I forgot. By the time I saw them again, they were dry and old."

Aina gripped her head, taking a deep breath to stop herself from screaming. Calm down, Aina, she told herself mentally. Focus on why you are here. Don’t blow up on him now.

"Whatever," Aina snapped, forcing her voice back into a steady tone. "You need to clear up this whole misunderstanding with the school right now. You need to tell everyone you didn’t kiss me or something, because people are going crazy!"

"But I did kiss you," Vance said, staring up at her blankly.

"I know that!" Aina hissed, leaning down into his face. "But you don’t have to tell everyone!"

Vance stood up from the grass in one smooth motion. Before Aina could back away, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her close. He raised his free hand, covering her eyes, staring fixedly down at her mouth.

Aina gasped, trying to pull back, but Vance shifted his hand, moving his palm up to cover her forehead instead. He looked down into her blue eyes through the thick lenses of her glasses. He had never paid much attention to her face before.

Vance narrowed his eyes, studying the edges of her pupils. "You know... I’m only realizing now that you wear contacts. Why is that?"

Aina panicked, shoving his chest hard to push him away. "What are you talking about?! I don’t wear contacts!"

"You do," Vance insisted, stepping right back into her space. "I can literally see them."

"Well, as you can see, I wear glasses too!" Aina argued quickly, her heart hammering against her ribs. "I am blind as a ghost, so I wear glasses and contacts!"

Vance blinked, processing that. "Oh. Okay."

"You know what? This is completely beside the point!" Aina shouted, pointing a finger at his chest. "You need to tell the class and the whole school that there is nothing going on between us. And you need to get it through your head that there’s nothing going on! You don’t have a crush on me, Vance!"

Vance leaned back slightly, crossing his arms. "Well, I would be lying if I said that."

"But you’re not!" Aina yelled, pulling at her own hair in utter frustration. Why isn’t he getting it?! Why is he being so stubborn?!

Vance looked at her for a long second, his eyes softening slightly. "You know... if you hug me, then maybe... maybe I’ll know for sure whether I like you or not."

Aina stared at him flatly. "Seriously? That’s it? A hug?"

"Yeah," Vance nodded. "The same one you gave me that day in my room."

Aina let out a heavy sigh, wanting nothing more than to end this ridiculous conversation so she could go back to her dorm. "Fine."

She opened her arms wide. "Hug me."

Vance stepped forward, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. Aina hugged him back, patting his shoulder with zero enthusiasm.

"So? You feel nothing, right?" Aina asked, waiting for him to step back.

Vance tightened his grip around her, burying his face near her neck. "I feel a lot right now."

"No!" Aina grunted, trying to wriggle out of his hold. "You really need to concentrate! There is nothing! You do not have a crush on me!"

Before she could even react, Vance wrapped his hands under her thighs and lifted her straight off the ground.

"Hey! Vance, put me on the ground!" Aina yelled, kicking her legs in panic as her boots dangled in the air. "Put me on the ground right now!"

"You know, this thing only confirmed one thing for me," Vance said, his voice dropping low as he carried her toward the edge of the pond.

"Vance, put me down!"

"When I hug you, my heart beats really fast," Vance continued, ignoring her completely. "And when I’m around you, my heart beats really fast. And when I’m away from you, my heart beats really fast. This only confirmed one thing for me that I had been blind to before."

Aina’s eyes went wide as she looked down at the water rushing beneath them. "Vance, what are you doing?!"

Vance held his breath, and without another word, he jumped straight into the deep school pond, dragging her down with him.

SPLASH!

The freezing water hit Aina. She went under for a second before thrashing her arms and kicking her legs, coughing as she surfaced near the bank. "Oh no, no, no!" Aina gasped, choking on the water as her heavy wet clothes weighed her down. She tried to scramble onto the grassy edge, but before she could pull herself out, Vance emerged from the water right behind her.

He reached out, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist from behind, pulling her back into his chest.

"Vance, let go of me!" Aina pleaded, struggling against his wet grip.

"I can’t," Vance choked out.

The words came out as a quiet, broken whimper. He leaned down, digging his face deep into the crevice of her shoulder, his wet hair dripping down her neck.

"You know I can’t let go of you," Vance whispered, his voice trembling. "It’s odd... you know how much I’ve hated you this past month and a couple of weeks. I really did hate you. But I can’t explain it now. It’s not like me. I... I feel like I like you, Travis Whitelock. I like you, Travis."

"No, you really don’t!" Aina yelled, her voice panicked as she tugged desperately at his forearms. "And you really need to let go of me like... right now!"

She kept squirming and kicking, trying with all her strength to break free from his hold, but Vance didn’t budge an inch. They stood there in the cold pond for minutes, Aina violently fighting his grip until her muscles grew weak, and she eventually gave up, breathing heavily against his wet chest.

Slowly, as the adrenaline faded and the cold water settled, Vance’s rich, heavy alpha scent began to seep through his skin, washing over her.

Vance froze.

At the exact same time, the faint, sweet scent of wild jasmine bloomed from the skin of her neck, right where his nose was rested against her shoulder.

Vance pulled back slightly, his eyes blowing wide with absolute shock. He turned her around in the water, staring straight into her blue eyes as the realization shattered his mind.

"It’s you..." Vance whispered, his breath catching in his throat.

A heavy, suffocating silence fell between them as they stood chest-to-chest in the cold pond, staring into each other’s eyes.

Aina’s heart stopped.

"Please..." Aina whispered, her voice trembling with pure terror. "Please... you can’t tell anyone."