“Aria, You did not get chosen?” Ellie asked surprised.
“Yeah. Guess I was unfortunate.” Aria said and forced a smile.
“So where are you off to?” She asked.
“Café and after that I will be studying with Jake.” She said and Aria's face brightened up.
“Jake?” She asked with an undertone of surprise.
“Yeah, just now he asked if we could study together and I agreed, not like I have any other thing to do anyways.” Ellie said.
“Can I join?” Aria asked.
“Sure.” Ellie replied.
“Then let's go have breakfast.” Ellie urged her. They smiled at each other and started walking towards the café.
<><><><><><><><><>
“Hey.” Jake said as he pulled out a chair and took a seat beside Ellie.
“Hmm.” Ellie nodded at him as she was about taking a bite out of her hamburger.
He smiled at her and turned to look at the person that was sitting with them. Aria smiled a little. He only nodded his head and his stomach rumbled which made a sound.
Ellie giggled and Jake looked at her accusingly. He stood up quickly and walked towards the counter before Ellie could say any word. Ellie started laughing. Aria only chuckled.
“You know there was really no reason to laugh me. People get hungry too.” He said and scoffed. He placed his tray of food on the table.
She chuckled at him.
“Never knew that Jake of the popular and well-known J-Stars gets hungry. Shouldn’t there be any special treatment for you?” She teased playfully.
“I am just a student like you. Don’t glorify me, please.” He said as he ate out his rice and sauce.
Aria watched how they talked happily. She admired his humility. Jake felt someone's eyes on him. He slowly looked up and saw Aria staring at him. He moved his head sideways and Ellie watched him them she started laughing.
“Aria.” She called and Aria blinked her eyes and looked away. Her cheeks turned into a shade of pink.
“I get that Jake might be handsome and hot, but at least have some self control. He has someone he loves.” She teased. Jake turned towards her with chicken in his mouth.
He carried the juice and drank. He swallowed it all.
“You… who told you have someone I love?” He asked.
“Huh? Don’t you?” She asked as she drank her juice also.
“I don’t.” He said and looked away.
“Wait, don’t tell me that the J-Stars are all single?” Ellie asked. Jake cleared his throat.
“Impossible and unbelievable. I don’t believe it. Even if Jayson doesn’t have. You..” She trailed off pointing fingers at him.
“I don’t have.” He said simply and this lighten a little hope in Aria.
“Aria, tell me. Do you believe that Jake is single?” Ellie asked her.
“How am I supposed to know? I mean we don’t talk so..” She said and gulped.
“Okay, okay. But I don’t believe he is single. He has someone he loves.” She said, not convinced at all.
“What do you want me to do that will make you believe I am single?” He asked. She looked at him and pursed her lips.
“I was only joking with you. Besides whether you are single or not, it has nothing to do with me.” She shrugged and this kind of affected Jake somehow.
“Be quick. I have lots of things to do on my list today.” Ellie said and Jake ate up.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Aria watched how Jake and Ellie talked about other things. She felt left out but no, she wasn't going to let this opportunity of getting close to Jake go.
“So Jake, what do you love to do most?” She asked. Jake stopped talking and looked at her.
“I love staring at flowers. You know my mom has a garden so when she is not around, I just go there and watch them bloom.” He said dreamily.
“Wow.” Aria said, happy that she learnt something new about him.
“Let’s go in.” Ellie urged them and they all entered the library. They looked around for an empty table.
“Over there.” Ellie pointed to an empty table that was just right in the corner.
“Over there.” Aria pointed to a table that was placed in the middle. They both looked at each other and then at Jake.
“The one over there.” He said pointing to the one that Ellie had pointed to.
They both walked towards it even though it saddened Aria. She still wore a smile over her face. They settled down.
“Who will like to sit in the middle of the library.” Jake said as he placed the book he was going to be reading.
“Start. Any thing you don’t understand. You can ask me. I will try my best to explain.” He said with a little smile. They both nodded their head at him and started going through the books before them.
After a while, Ellie raised a question and he quietly explained. He told them every details. They kept asking one another questions and the study was quite fun.
~•~•~•~•~
“Tell me why you are not a tutor yet?” Ellie asked teasingly.
“I feel that the students won't focus since I am such an attractive guy. And also I will be quite distracting. Like the way you were distracted.” He said and Ellie stared at him with eyes wide open.
“Who was distracted? I wasn’t.” Ellie said and was about to dragged his ears when he started running.
“Come here. I will beat that pretty face of yours and you will see how really distracting you are.” She yelled chasing after him.
Aria watched them. She knew she stood no chance whenever she was with Jake.
“The way they talk and bicker even though they don’t usually see each other. It is quite obvious he likes her but he does not know.” She thought. She smiled.
“I think I should give up.” She said and walked sadly towards her dorm. At least she got to know about him.