Chapter 63 :The Uncomfortable Twistntitled Chapter
STEPHEN’S POV:
Hayden did'nt come out of his room all day. I noticed it around noon.
Usually, even when we’re fighting, he eventually wanders into the kitchen for food or coffee or whatever junk he lives on. Today? Nothing.
No music blasting through the walls, no sarcastic comments when I walk past his door, no sound at all. It’s… strange.
I sit at the small table in the living area with my laptop open, pretending to focus on the research paper due next week. The screen is filled with graphs and notes, but I’ve been staring at the same paragraph for ten minutes.
My eyes flick toward Hayden’s closed door. It was still quiet.
“Good,” I tell myself.
Let him suffer. He is the one who refused help.
I lean back in my chair and try to focus again—the words on the screen blur together.
Two days. If he fails that retake, he’s expelled.
I rubbed my temple while I reminded myself that it was not my problem, except Mom made it my problem and she’s definitely going to ask how studying went.
I exhale slowly and push the thought away.
Hours passed.
Around three in the afternoon, I reheated leftover pasta in the microwave. The dorm is still silent except for the hum of the appliance.
I glance toward his door again, still nothing. He hasn’t even come out to eat.
“Unbelievable,” I mutter. He was probably sleeping, watching movies, or texting whatever girl he’s currently obsessed with.
Typical Hayden.
Still, something about the silence sits wrong in my chest.
I shake it off and carry my plate back to the table.
By evening, the sun is starting to dip behind the buildings outside the window. My laptop battery is almost dead and I’ve accomplished exactly nothing productive.
Then there’s a knock on the door. I frown. Hayden isn’t expecting anyone. Another knock follows, softer this time. I stand up and walk over, pulling the door open.
I recognized her immediately. It was Lilian.
She looks past me slightly. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I say slowly.
Her eyes move toward the hallway behind me like she expects Hayden to appear any second. “Is Hayden here?”
My first instinct is to tell her the truth.
He’s been locked in his room all day.
But something about the way she looks worried stops me.
So instead I shrug. “He’s not around.”
Her brows knit together. “Oh.” For a moment she just stands there looking disappointed.
“I think he went out earlier,” I add, even though I have no idea if that’s true.
Her grip tightens on the books. “Okay… I just wanted to check on him.”
Check on him? Interesting.
“You can text him,” I say.
She nods slowly, clearly unsure. “Yeah. I will.” She hesitates like she might say something else. Then she forces a small smile. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
She turns and walks down the hallway, her footsteps quiet against the floor. I close the door. For a second I just stand there staring at it.
Check on him? Why would she need to check on him? Unless…Unless he told her about the exam.
I glance toward his room again. Something twists in my stomach.
“Great,” I mutter. “Now I feel guilty.”
I walk across the living area toward his door before I can change my mind.
I knocked once but there was no response. I knock again, harder. “Hayden.” still Nothing.
I sigh and push the door open slightly and it creaks. What I see inside makes me pause.
The room is a disaster with books everywhere and it was not just a few scattered on the desk.
It was everywhere.
The bed, the floor, the chair.
Stacks of economics textbooks, printed lecture notes, notebooks filled with messy handwriting.
Hayden is sitting on the floor in the middle of the chaos.
His back rests against the side of the bed, one knee bent while a textbook sits open in his lap.
He looks… exhausted with dark circles under his eyes. His hair is a mess like he’s been running his hands through it all day.
He glances up when the door opens and our eyes meet.
For once, he doesn’t say anything sarcastic.
“Thought you were ignoring me,” he says after a second.
“I was,” I replied. My gaze sweeps across the room again. “You did all this today?”
“Yeah.” His voice sounds rough.
I step inside slowly. “You’ve been studying all day?”
“Trying to,” he mutters.
I picked up one of the notebooks from the floor. The pages are filled with equations and some of them are wrong. Actually… a lot of them are wrong but he tried.
My chest tightens unexpectedly.
Hayden notices where I’m looking and shrugs defensively. “Before you start, I know it’s probably terrible.”
I don’t respond right away. Instead, I flipped through another notebook where I saw more attempts and mistakes but also corrections. Like he kept reworking the same problems over and over.
“You haven’t eaten,” I say.
“I did,” he replies.
“When?”
“Yesterday.” I look at him sharply.
He shrugs again. “Didn’t feel like it.”
For a moment neither of us speaks. I suddenly remember Lilian standing outside the door.
I just wanted to check on him.
Something uncomfortable twists in my chest.
Hayden rubs his face tiredly. “If you came here to say ‘I told you so,’ just do it quickly.”
I lean against the desk. “I told Lilian you weren’t here.”
His head snaps up. “What?”
“She knocked earlier.”
He looks toward the door like he might run after her even though she’s obviously gone. “Why’d you say that?”
“You looked busy.”
He exhales slowly and runs a hand through his hair. “Great.”
Silence settles between us again. My eyes move across the room one more time and the obvious frustration is written all over his face.
He had two days to prepare and if he fails, he’s expelled and despite everything… he’s actually trying.
I sigh. “This is wrong,” I say finally.
Hayden frowns. “What is?”
I hold up one of his notebooks and point at an equation. “You skipped three steps.” He blinks. “You’re supposed to solve the derivative before plugging it into the model.”
He stares at the page. “Oh.”
I grab a pen from the desk and scribble the correct steps. “There.”
He watches quietly. For a moment the room is completely still.
Then he looks up at me. “…Are you helping me?”
I hesitate, just for a second. Then I drop the notebook back onto the pile. “Don’t make a big deal out of it,” I mutter.
Hayden stares.
I drag the chair over and sit down across from him. “We have two days,” I say.
His expression slowly s
hifts from confusion to disbelief. “You’re serious?”
I sigh again. “Unfortunately.”
He studies me like he’s waiting for me to change my mind.
I pick up another textbook and open it. “Start with chapter six,” I say. “If you fail this retake, Mom will never let either of us hear the end of it.”
For the first time all day, Hayden lets out a small laugh and somehow… the room doesn’t feel quite as tense anymore.