Falling For The Girl I Bullied
Chapter 33

Violet’s P.O.V.

“We can work on the assignment together this weekend at my place”, I said to Kyle in a hesitant tone because I didn’t want him to come to my place again. We were standing outside the diner near Ethan’s car. I was gripping the handle of my bike tightly due to anxiousness. He was looking calm now. “Do you think that we can finish the assignment in two days?” he asked me in a calm tone and I pursed my lips into a thin line. “I… uhhhh…. I am going to work on the assignment tonight. I … I will show you what I will do tomorrow morning. You… you also can do some work on… on the assignment and then we can discuss in the morning”, I suggested and he narrowed his eyes. He was thinking about what I suggested.

“It’s getting late, Kyle. She has to go home too”, Ethan interrupted our conversation while looking at his watch. I looked at Kyle timidly because Ethan was right here. The diner was once again packed tonight and we closed late again. “Give me your phone”, suddenly Kyle asked me for my phone which made me raise my brows in confusion. I slowly took my phone out of my hoodie’s pocket and gave it to him after unlocking it. I saw him dialling a number that made me take a deep breath helplessly. His phone vibrated in his pocket. Without asking me what to do, he saved his number on my phone which annoyed me a little, but I didn’t say anything.

“I will call you later and then we will discuss what to do first”, he said, no, he almost commanded me and I just nodded. “You should drive now. We will follow you” he spoke again and I just nodded while taking my phone from his hand. He then opened the door of the car and hopped inside. Ethan also walked away after passing a smile to me and I hopped on my bike. I didn’t want them to follow me but if they had decided to do so then no one could change their minds. It was clear to me that Kyle was staying with Ethan. It meant that he really didn’t go back to his home. I was not surprised when I saw them together outside the diner because I knew how stubborn Kyle was. He rarely compromises and after what I came to know about his situation with his parents, I don’t think that he should compromise in this situation.

I slowly drove my bike in the beginning and then increased my speed. The roads were not completely deserted, still deserted enough to drive safely at a good speed. Kyle kept his word and Ethan drove beside me at my speed. I glanced over them a little and saw them talking about something in a low voice. The window of the car was opened and I could see Kyle’s face as I was driving beside his side. He was looking tired and exhausted, yet the calmness on his face was something that I had seen in a long time. For the past few days, he was agitated and lost in his own world. I was glad that he was now looking better than before.

Soon I reached outside my home and looked at them. Ethan didn’t stop the car and drove away to take a U-turn. I came down from the bike and watched them driving away from my house. “Were they following you, Violet?” I flinched hard when Mrs Hank suddenly asked me in a loud voice from her courtyard. “No… no, Mrs Hank… they are my classmates. They came with me to leave home safely. We closed late today and they were worried for me”, I immediately told her the situation and a smile crept onto her lips. The light was not so bright but I could see the relief on her face. “Your classmates are really thoughtful”, she said in a light tone and I just smiled back. “They think that it’s not safe for me to drive alone late at night”, I replied to her while going towards the door and she nodded immediately. “They are right in this matter, honey”, she said with a sigh and then walked inside her home.

I opened the door after parking my bike and closed the door behind me. The whole day was exhausting today and I was so tired. I decided to take a warm bath to get rid of the tiredness because I had to do some work before going to bed. I checked all the doors and windows before going upstairs. I put down my bag and phone on the table near the window and sat down on the chair for a while. Kyle’s face from school came into my mind. How could his parents force him to date any girl that he didn’t like? It should be our choice whom to like and whom to hate. He was not a toddler for whom his parents had to decide what was right and what was wrong. I didn’t have parents but I did have caring guardians who were concerned about my life just like a parent should be about their child’s life.

Sam always asked me about boys from school and asked me whether I liked someone or had a crush on anyone else. To be honest, I was not comfortable with these kinds of talk, but it was not like I didn’t have any likings. I didn’t know why but I liked Kyle and that surprised myself too. He was the one whom I hated the most and he was also the one whom I liked the most among all the boys in my school. He was a bully but I couldn’t deny that he was also a good friend and a good captain. He cared about his friends and team members and always shows his concern and care in every way. He was devilishly handsome but he never used his charm to get into the pants of any girl. In fact, I have never seen him with any girl since I met him.

He used to date a transfer student in middle school but that was also for a small time period. The girl went away after a year and then I didn’t hear anything about both of them. Kyle was upset for a few days but his friends stayed with him all the time and he recovered soon. He was not a playboy and this made him more charming than he was already. I rolled my neck to get rid of the stiffness and then stood up. I woke up early in the morning and didn’t get time to take rest throughout the day. I was really exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep without doing some work on my assignment. I went to the cupboard and took out my night clothes. I was about to step inside the bathroom when my phone started ringing.

I walked towards the table once again in confusion because I was not expecting any calls this time. I huffed when I saw Kyle’s name on the caller ID. Now he could call me any time and torment me. I picked up the call after some hesitation. “I think… we can start working from tomorrow. It’s already late and you looked tired”, he said in a calm tone but his words took me off guard. Kyle was showing his concern for me? “You should sleep now. We will discuss the topic after the practice and then we will start working on our parts of the assignment”, he spoke again and I only said okay in response. I didn’t know what to say except okay. Without waiting for me to say something more, he hung up and I cringed my nose annoyingly.

I looked at the blank screen of my phone annoyingly and then put it down on the table once again. I g*****d tiredly while walking towards the washroom. I didn’t want to think about him or the assignment anymore. I was sleepy and all I needed right now was my bed. I took a warm shower to ease the pain in my muscles and then came out of the washroom after wrapping the towel around my chest. I came out of the washroom while drying my hair with the other towel. I didn’t like using a hair dryer. I put on my clothes and then threw myself on the bed. My hair was still wet but it didn’t bother me. The weather was still a little warm. I was about to tuck myself inside the sheet when I remembered that I left my phone on the table.

I didn’t want to lift my body from the body but I had no choice here. I had set the alarm on my phone. I once again stood up from the bed and almost stomped towards the table. I took my phone from the table and came back to the bed. After checking the alarm, I put down the phone on the nightstand and lay down once again. My eyelids were already heavy due to sleep and it took no time to drift into the dreamland. I usually had dreamless sleep and tonight was I guess no exception for me. I was woken up by the ringing of my phone. I was really annoyed by the caller because I didn’t want to open my eyes.

Somehow, I managed to get my phone from the nightstand and tried to open my sleepy eyes. I g*****d once again in anger when I somehow managed to get the name of the caller on the caller ID. I was about to pick up the call when it ended. I didn’t think and put my head down on the pillow again and closed my eyes. I was startled by the ringing of my phone again as the phone was still in my hands. “Now what, Knight?” I asked in an annoying and sleepy tone after picking up the call. “What?” he immediately asked me and I took a deep breath. “It’s already past midnight. Why are you still awake?” I asked him in a sleepy tone while putting my head back on the pillow. I had my phone on my ear.

“I didn’t see the time”, he replied to me and I just hummed in response. I was barely managing to stay awake so that I could listen to him. “The thing is that I was going through our assignment and found that we could finish this assignment in two days, depending on our writing speed”, he said and I huffed internally. What did he want from me? Earlier he said that we would discuss the assignment tomorrow and now he wanted to discuss the assignment like right now, in the middle of the night? “Okay… then what do you want to do now?” I asked him in a sleepy tone. There was no sound from his side for a few seconds and it made me drift into sleep once again. “Did you tell anyone about last night?” he asked me in a low tone. “No… why would I do that?” I asked him again in a sleepy tone.

There was no sound again for a few seconds and I decided to hang up. “Do you have any vacancy in your workplace?” his next question made me open my eyes widely in confusion. “What? What did you ask?” I asked him immediately because I thought that I heard him wrong. I heard him taking a deep breath. “Forget it… we will talk tomorrow”, he said and before I could say anything, he hung up. I blinked while processing what he asked me. It was clear to me now that he was not planning to go back to his parent’s house for the time being. I took a deep breath and then put down the phone on the nightstand again.

I couldn’t say that I understood what he was feeling right now because clearly, I couldn’t. He was already 17 and had everything two days ago. I was not in his shoes because I was taken care of by my grandmother but he was all alone. He had friends but they couldn’t help him forever. He had to stand up on his feet financially if he really didn’t want to go back. I sighed aloud and closed my eyes because there was nothing here that I could do for him except replaceing a job for him. It would take a lot of courage to work in a diner or somewhere else where you always go like a customer and had to face so many people who know you. I wished Kyle to stay stronger if he really wanted to show what he said to his parents.