Chapter 26

Hera's POV

The next morning, most of the students are seated in the basketball hall at school, to watch the rehearsals of the upcoming school competition.

I sit with Makayla in the front row, and we are dressed in our PE uniforms. Brianna and her cheerleading team are practicing their dance, while the boys are playing basketball including Shawn, Baek, and Jacob.

Baek has lived more than a thousand years old roaming the earth. I doubt if there is anything he can not do.

All the ladies have their eyes on Shawn including me. But that was until Baek showed up.

He plays the basketball so smoothly and all the girls wow at this, but of course they haven't seen even a bit of him more than I have.

We are all paying attention to the basketball hotties but Brianna ruins it as she yells at a girl in her team.

"Why don't you ever get anything right?!"

Her voice echoes through the entire hall.

"If you don't have the strength to lift me up from beneath, then get your despicable ass out of my team!"

Everybody starts to mutter. Makayla groans.

"I hate this bitch."

Brianna folds her arms and her minions giggle and whisper into each other's ears.

The bullied girl cries and walks out of the hall in total shame. I wish I could go over there and give her a piece of my mind.

"You do not walk away till I order you to! You're disqualified!" Brianna stamps her feet in finality.

After the rehearsals, most students have left the hall except for a few. Makayla is busy hanging out with Jacob.

I pick a bottle of water from my bag, and hand it over to Baek who is packing his stuff inside his backpack.

"Thanks" he smiles at me.

He drinks the water, I hear it gulp down his throat. Something I find really breathtaking. He pours the remaining water on his head and shakes the water off.

I fake a smile at him and he returns a genuine smile back at me. I search for something to say in my head but I realize my mind is short of words.

I leave his sight immediately and head for the science lab to work on a school project.

The laboratory is empty, and I am the only person in it with my books. No wonder most people call me a dork. Not that I ever cared.

I have my goggles on and proceed to mixing some chemical liquid for experiment. I always study ahead of class, that's why my grades are always high.

Somebody walks in and it is Baek. He has both hands in his pocket as usual.

"Hey." I smile at him before continuing with what I was doing. "You study ahead of class too?" I ask without staring at him.

"What is there to study?" He draws a chair close and sits down. I immediately remember he is a god and has lived for a very long time amongst humans.

"Oh I see, tell me something would you?"

"Go on."

"What do you not know?" The earth is a massive universe. There is absolutely no freaking way you know everything and all of the places on earth. There are so many things to try here on this planet. I feel like there is no way a person would be familiar with everything on this planet even if you have lived a million years. Or even a thousand."

"Well, I know most things. And I mind my business a lot."

I hum, drop my goggles and head for the tall cupboard to pick up a funnel. I try to reach it but my hands are too short. I stand on my toes trying to add a little height but it doesn't count.

"Do you need help with that?" He asks me.

Obviously, duh.

"No. I'm good. I've got this." I lie through my teeth and still continue my struggle to reach for it.

I attempt for a few more times before giving in.

I sigh, "I think I need a hand."

He smiles sarcastically and walks towards me. He tries to reach for the funnel but his hands couldn't either. It's too far from human reach. The chairs are too weak to hold my weight, talk more of him.

"Come on. I'll carry you on my shoulder to get it. What do you sa?" He suggests.

"There's no way I'm doing that. What if I fall down and break a leg?"

He gives me a bored expression.

"You wanna get it or not?"

"Fine. But be careful." I hope I don't fall for real.

He helps me get on his shoulder and I try to reach for the funnel again.

"Higher. I can't reach it" I struggle. He lifts me a little higher and I put all my weight on him and stretch up a little more.

My hands finally reach the funnel and I grab it just in time for us to fall out of balance. He catches me before I could crash on the ground and holds me close and protectively towards his body.

I try to free myself from his grip but he wouldn't let go.

He stares into my eyes, lost in it. I stare into his eyes too, getting lost in the moment. The air around us is tense. He slowly brings his face closer to mine and I know this time, I have nothing on my face.

He is really leaning in for a kiss. He is going to kiss me!

My heart beats faster and faster. I freeze as our lips slowly and finally meet. I feel the warmth of his lips as he captures mine into his. His mouth tastes like mint and coffee.

Just then, somebody walks in and I quickly push Baek away, startled.

It is Makayla.

She gasps and smiles at the same time.

"I think I should leave." She turns to go but I rush and catch up with her outside the lab.

"What are you doing?" She asks me, her eyes wide open in disbelief.

"What am I doing?" Is she mad because she saw me with Baek or something?

"Get back in there. You were just having your first kiss. Goddammit, girl!"

"Uh....I…" I stammer.

"Would you stop being weird and get back in there right now?"

"We already had our kiss, Makayla." I feel flustered as I reveal the secret.

"Woah! Congrats on your first kiss, girl!" She pulls me in a rough hug and I laugh. How Makayla manages to pull off her dramatic behaviors surprises me sometimes.

We both pause as we stare at each other and giggle silently.

"I knew something was up between you two. And I can't believe you didn't tell me anything about it until I had to find out for myself. I am so mad at you right now."

"Now is not a good time to talk about it. He might be listening. Believe me, he reads minds and hears the smallest whispers."

Oh god. Did I just say that? I know she won't take it that deep.

"Aww. You guys make the cutest couples ever." She pinches my cheeks and giggles excitedly.

"Wait. Hold your horses, girl. We are not dating."

"Doesn't look like that to me. And seriously, the both of you really make a great couple. A dork and a god."

My eyes fly open.

Wait, did she just say god? Did she just call Baek a god?

"Did you just call him a god?" I ask her, my heart beating fast against my chest.

"Of course. Every hot dude is called a god. What are you? A lame nerd?"

My heart falls again in relief. She almost got me.

"Oh. Why were you looking for me anyway?"

"Holy shit! I almost forgot. Come with me." She holds me by the arm and drags to the school cafeteria where we see students gathered in the cafe, discussing something.

Did something big happen?

"Oh man. it's already over. You missed it." Makayla groans.

"What happened?" I get really curious.

"Brianna and her minions trashed the cheerleader they bullied earlier in the hall, around the cafe."

"Brianna again? She is such a drama queen. What's with her and the poor girl anyway?"

"Her reasons were that the girl disrespectfully walked out of her in the basketball pitch earlier."

"She only picks on people she knows she is stronger than."

"I really respect the other day you pushed her pretty face into a pudding in front of everyone. That was extreme." She laughs.

"Come on. I am starving." She says after she had finished laughing.

Later that day, when Baek drives me home, I expect him to talk about what happened in the laboratory but he doesn't.

I figure he thought what we had was a mistake and didn't want to talk about it. My heart breaks at the thought.

Is it that I am expecting too much of him? Or is my stupid brain trying to ignore the fact that he is the grim reaper and I am just an ordinary human. Gods and humans never fall in love.

Gods and humans never kiss.