Chapter 83 Chapter 3: Elva

Chapter 83 Chapter 3: Elva
Elva:

Alex and I have been spending some time together because of the project obviously, but is it weird if I say a part of me kind of like it? There’s something about his smile, he rarely does that, so whenever I catch sight of his grin, it makes my stomach tightens.

Today, Alex texted me to meet me outside the academy. I pick out the appropriate clothes and see him outside the academy with his motorbike. Wow, I didn’t even know he owned a motorbike. When he sees me, he waves with that bright smile, oblivious to the amount of students scattered around the courtyard.

My stomach does that stupid flip again.

This is for your project, Elva. Focus. There is no time for a mindless crush, or is this a crush? It seems like something more than that.

“Hey,” I swallow, feeling the tightness crawl up to my throat. Seriously, when did speaking become this hard?

“Hey,” he looks down at me, smiling. His brown hair is styled backward making those very brown eyes sparkle. “I’ve missed you.”

Those three simple words make my heart thunder. Goddess, I think I am going to suffocate. Alex stuffs his hand into the pocket of his black jacket. “What do you think?” he gestures at his matte black motorbike.

I stare at his motorbike, it’s evident Alex is a good and obviously reckless driver, the day he saved me flickers across my mind. That insane car ride that I still think about.

My knight in ordinary clothes.

“So what are we doing?” I ask, feeling the breeze.

“Just an outing,” he still has that stupid grin on that for some unknown reason is making me feel very excited. “Just a quick ride, wait- give me your backpack.”

I do as told and hand it to him, Alex tosses it smoothly into the leather side compartment alongside with his backpack and shuts it with a click.

An outing sounds like a really dangerous thing especially when our curfew is in the next few hours and everyone is supposed to be in the dorm by then. My palms feel sweaty like I am about to rob a bank.

“Relax, Elva.” Alex is in front of me, steadying my shoulders gently. I look up into his hazel eyes and it makes me feel safe. “If you don’t want to go, it’s alright.”

“No!” my voice comes out shrill. “I want to go, let me just send a quick text to the girls.” Alex watches with a smirk as I shakily pull out my phone and send a text to Nixie and Anna, informing them I won’t be back until later. Anna responds with a bunch of cucumber emojis, in which it does not correspond to the text I sent. Nixie replies with ‘Fuck him hard!’ My face reddens and I shove the phone back into my pocket. “Alright, let’s go.”

Alex nods, and I struggle to get on the bike. I am pretty sure Alex notices my struggle because he steps closer, his warm hand around the small of my back. “Stay still, let me help.” I stiffen at our proximity. For goodness’ sake, I kissed this guy!

I barely have time to react before he sweeps me off my feet- literally-and puts me on his bike. My face turns beet red, because I can feel the student’s gazes on me. Oh goodness.

“They are looking.” I turn to Alex as I adjust on his motorbike.

“Let them look.” Alex smirks, “I don’t care.”

He hops on the bike. “Hold on to me, Elva.”

I really like the way he pronounces my name in such a rich accent, it makes me unable to breathe again. I hesitate for a bit, before I slip my hand around his back. My chest presses lightly against his back. He revs the engine and the roar makes my heart pound. I wish I can tell Ale right now I am doing something risky! He would be so freaking proud of me. The automatic gate lets us out of the academy and soon we are driving through the forest until we get into town.

The town is busier, with people stuttering around even when night is fast approaching, city lights blurring my vision. Finally, Alex finds a quiet spot beside a fountain and parks his motorbike there.

Like before, he carries me down, his hand accidentally brushes against my bare skin and I feel electricity cackle through me. I am sure Alex feels it too because he’s looking at me with some kind of hunger that I can’t interpret. That gleam in his hazel eyes, something wild yet something so gentle.

Though, I really like that look. The breeze messes with his brown hair, making it appear tousled, but it adds to his beauty.

Alex opens the compartment and hands me our backpacks, pointing at a bench. “Please sit there while I park the motorbike.”

I nod my head, sitting on the bench. I watch as Alex parks his car, his muscles flexing through his dark shirt. What an amazing eye candy.

His backpack on the bench is slightly open and as I try to close it, a sketchbook is peeking out. I bring it out, staring at it. I probably shouldn’t do this, it might be a diary but then again, can someone like Alex Vale keep a diary? I don’t think so. My curiosity gets the best of me and I flip it open, it’s a drawing of a woman, slightly older but with a bright smile. I flip the book again, it’s the same woman.

The other page is a drawing of a castle, which somehow looks like a pack-house, then there’s just a scribbling of what doesn’t make any sense. And when I flip again, it’s a woman with ginger curls that reaches my neck alongside green eyes, with freckles lining up her nose. Uh...weird, that looks like me.

I flip it again, damn it. It is me in different positions, it’s me in the library reading, me in the cafeteria the day I was talking to him about the project, me in his room looking at the wall. How in the hell did he capture this with such a vivid imagination? And so accurately well.

“You found my sketchbook.” Alex’s voice startles me and I swear, I almost drop the sketchbook; he doesn’t seem mad about it, he just takes a seat beside me and flings his hand over the bench, gazing at the sky.

Will it be weird if I ask why there are countless drawings of me? Alex seems to notice, how does he always know what I am thinking? And Alejandro says it’s impossible to read my face, since I am always cold blank.

“It’s my way of coping.” Alex says and I keep quiet, holding quiet. “After my mother died when I was sixteen...uh....my dad put me in therapy and my therapist...she suggested I can get a sketchbook and draw what makes me happy. Two years later, it is what keeps me going.”

My mouth is agape and I look at the book on my lap, the woman in the first page is obviously his mother, I don’t even need to ask to know it’s her. And then me? Do I make him happy?

“I am sorry about your mother.” I offer my condolences.

Alex’s hands tremble, evidence that he still misses her. “You know, she always saw the best in me. Right or wrong, she was always there and when she died, things just didn’t make sense anymore. My father was constantly busy trying to train my elder brother who’s set to become an Alpha. No one paid attention to me,” his voice is sad, unlike the confident Alex that I know. This time feels so special to me, the fact that Alex is sharing something he doesn’t really tell people makes me feel like I am special.

“You make me happy.” Alex says, now looking at me. I feel those eyes concentrating on me. “Ever since that day I saw you. It has been impossible to get you off my mind.”

I am suddenly breathless, not saying a word, but I know the truth. He makes me feel safe, and somehow, in a very weird way. He makes me happy too.

I rest my head on his shoulder, relaxing. We both stare at the sky in silence, not the kind of awkward silence in which you debate what to say in your mind. It’s the kind that makes you breathe in and out and not worry whether you are going to fuck up the next sentence. 

I don’t know when I close my eyes and sleep takes over.

\--

Alex:

I am in the middle of completing the shade of Elva’s freckles when she opens her eyes into the night sky.

“Alex!” she almost leaps out of the chair, but I grab her wrist letting her sit down. “Oh goodness, why didn’t you wake me up? I was asleep on your shoulder for three hours!” her nostrils flare and honestly, it’s quite cute when she is mad, however I don’t think now is the right time to point that out.

“I wasn’t complaining.” And honestly, I don’t think I ever will. I close my sketchbook, and there goes my drawing. At first, when my therapist suggested I pick up drawing because I have a ‘long lasting’ memory, I thought it was a batshit idea, but then it turned out to be pretty therapeutic and even as Elva was sleeping, I captured her sleeping face and kept myself company.

“The curfew!” I can’t even tell if she is pissed at me for not waking her up or if she’s pissed at herself for not waking up, either still, she does not look happy one bit. She is already bouncing off the bench, grabbing my hand and my backpack at the same time. “We have to get back to our dorms; else the supervising dude might catch us. Goodness, are we going to get suspended, or worse expelled?” 

I didn’t know Elva could rattle on and on about something. “Relax, I’ll go start my motorbike and we will get back to school, no one will notice a thing. Alright?”

She nods, trying her best to believe me. I start the motorbike and carry Elva on it, as we drive back to the academy; Elva keeps on panicking on what will happen if we get caught, it’s really cute when she is all worked up. When we reach the academy, all the lights are already off and everywhere is freaking quiet and it is just ten in the night.

I park my motorbike, carrying both Elva’s and I’s backpack. We take the back door to the now quiet hallway.

“We might not get caught after all.” Elva says in surprise as we walk down the hallway, we hear the sound of footsteps that absolutely don't belong to us and Elva’s eyes widen in shock, turning to me. “Fuck, we are going to get caught.”

“Shh.” I say under my breath, grabbing her hand. The footsteps are getting closer now and we see the flash of torchlight. We take the left route that leads to the boy’s dorm. Elva and I are quiet as we go up the stairs. My room is quiet as we step in, no sign of my roommate anywhere; he is probably out partying or something. I rarely see much of him.

“Make yourself comfortable.” I say, removing my jacket and tossing it on the floor. Elva looks around with those same curious eyes she had on when she first came here.

“Your roommate?” She asks, standing close to my bed.

“He’s not always around much, so I don’t think he will be here till tomorrow, so you are free to stay here.”

Elva’s widens her eyes like I have just asked her to jump into a volcano, “But-”  

“If you go out now, you’ll get caught. It’s just for a few hours then you can sneak back to your room.” I say, keeping my voice low. Her face turns red and it’s my turn to raise my brows.

“What’s on your mind?” A smirk slowly forms on my lips as I step closer.

“Nothing.” She says a little too quickly, taking a step back. Her back hit the wall and her whole body tenses, lips parted in surprise. I move slower, my hands on the walls, trapping her from escaping.

“I just like it when your whole face gets so red just because I am near.” I honestly mean it; she stares at me with a challenging glint in her eyes, before swatting my hand.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” However, there is a tiny smile on her lips and that smile is just enough to light up my world. “I am not sure staying alone with a guy in his room will turn out to be productive.”

“You are thinking something else, Costa.” I tease, watching her face go bright pink. “I was actually thinking we could read ‘The last Alpha’ by your favourite author.” I say, moving towards the shelf. Elva widens her eyes, jogging towards me.

“No freaking way, you have the books I like?” She says in disbelief.

I don’t want to tell her that ever since my stalking of her in her socials, I have found out her favourite book, well all her socials consists of all the books she likes and read.

I pick the two books I brought when coming to the academy, handing it over to Elva; she stares at the book cover in awe, clearly fascinated. I have read half of the book just to get immersed in what Elva likes.

“You read books?” Elva asks me. I sit on the bed and watch as she sits beside me.

“I want to like what you like, read what you read, understand what you understand. Hell, I’ll worship the ground you walk on.”

Elva stares at me in surprise. “I-I...”

“Let’s just read.” I say quietly. We both rest against the headboard of my bed, engrossed in the book. Elva seems really interested in the book even though she has obviously read the book at least a dozen times.

Ten minutes later, our positions change. Elva’s resting on my shoulder, still reading her book, however the book is the least thing on my mind because she is here. Resting on my shoulder.

I pull the covers up, the room is barely lit. My mind flickers through countless things, I look at her again and this time, she has already fallen asleep. I stare at her features, the rise and fall of her chest, and the way her lips are parted.

She looks so......beautiful even while she is sleeping; I reach out to brush a strand of hair from her face. I pick up her opened book and place it on the nightstand.

“Goodnight, princess.” I say silently, turning off the lamp and falling asleep next to her.