Chapter 102

When Stella woke up again, she found herself in a bright and spacious hospital room, the air carrying the distinctive scent of disinfectant. "You inhaled some dust, but it's not serious. There's no need for hospitalization." Furrowing her brow, Stella opened her eyes and instinctively squinted. She saw the doctor in a white coat leaving the room. Standing by the window was a tall figure, dressed neatly in a well-fitted suit, illuminated softly by the warm white light, his profile sharply defined. It was surprisingly Ethan. "Why are you—" Hearing movement, he walked over to the bed, hands in his pockets, and looked down at her. "Hey." Glancing at Ethan's uncharacteristic appearance, Stella quickly realized that he was the one who had brought her out of the equipment room just now. Thinking about this, she lowered her gaze and softly said, "Thank you." She didn't ask him how he knew she was in the equipment room. For whatever reason, she owed him a favor. Ethan's eyebrows twitched slightly. After a brief pause, he suddenly smiled, perhaps finding her sincere thanks somewhat refreshing. He nodded slightly, as if acknowledging her gratitude, and then handed her the water cup from the bedside table. "Have some water." Stella reached out, took the cup, and leaned back on the bed, taking a few sips. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke again, "And, about last time, I apologize to you." She tried to persuade Ethan to apologize, citing misunderstanding his temper towards classmates and the unseemliness of the suspension. Yet, if the facts weren't as she assumed, she jumped to conclusions. Moreover, he helped her again. Ethan didn't respond, his gaze fixed on her face. After a pause, he handed her something. "This is for you." It was her lost jade Buddha. "How did you get this?" Stella felt surprised as she took it. Ethan replied casually. "Oh, just picked it up." Stella hesitated but could only say, "Thank you." Ethan casually sat on a chair beside the bed and continued, "Don't you think you're too quick to thank me?" Meeting his direct gaze, Stella uncomfortably bit her lip. Finally, she relented, "Then what do you want me to do?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, teasingly drawing out his words. After enjoying Stella's reaction, he made his request, "How about tutoring me?" Stella was taken aback. "Tutoring?" "What, you don't want to?" he asked casually. "No," she shook her head. "Just tutoring?" Thinking about his earlier demeanor, she thought he might make a shameless request. "Got any better ideas?" Stella shook her head and softly replied, "Okay." Though the doctor said there was nothing serious, Stella still rested at home for a few days, until the end-of-term exams arrived. After exams came winter break, during which she didn't relax much. Except for a few days celebrating Christmas, she spent most of her time studying in her room. Throughout the winter break, the person she interacted with the most unexpectedly turned out to be Ethan. He seemed to have had a change of heart, often sending her assignments to explain, but only asking her to go through them one by one. Although tutoring him took up a considerable amount of time, it wasn't without its benefits for herself. Besides, it seemed like he had figured out exactly how to avoid making her angry; even when they disagreed, he managed to diffuse her anger in the end. When the new semester began, Stella only heard about Ella and Aria being expelled. She was somewhat surprised that the discussions didn't implicate her, but instead suggested that the two had run into Ethan's crossfire. This eased her mind. Due to Ella's departure, the class numbers shifted from odd to even, prompting Mr. Fox to rearrange the seating. Unfortunately for Stella, her new seatmate turned out to be Ethan. Fortunately, after the holiday, their relationship seemed to have improved quite a bit—at least they weren't at each other's throats anymore. His occasionally moody attitude also seemed more bearable. On Friday, Stella was looking over her last monthly exam paper when Liora, who sat in front of her, turned around and lightly tapped her desk, signaling her to look toward the door. Seeing the person in the hallway, Stella put down the paper and got up to leave the classroom. Aaron had come to deliver movie tickets for his sister, Kate, who had invited Stella to watch a movie over the weekend. "Thanks." It was the same distant expression of gratitude. Aaron clenched his fist slightly, and after a moment of helplessness, his tone carried a hint of self-deprecation: "You've always been very polite to me, from the past until now." "Have I?" Surprised that Aaron brought this up, Stella looked up, only to find a complicated expression in his eyes. Indeed, she had avoided him at first because of his strange behavior. Even now, she didn't understand why Aaron, who Kate had mentioned used to be somewhat fond of Avery, had ‘changed his nature'. However, this wasn't something she needed to concern herself with. Although her relationship with Avery was distant, Avery had been sent far from Seattle because she could no longer tolerate the Fletcher family's harassment, so she couldn't affect her any longer. "Are you—" Halfway through his sentence, Aaron suddenly stopped. Puzzled, Stella asked, "What?" Assessing her expression, Aaron sighed with relief, quickly reverting to his usual gentle tone, "Nothing." Stella didn't press further. "Thanks for delivering the tickets. It's almost class time, so I'll head back," she said, without pausing. Watching her slender figure leave, Aaron furrowed his brow, suddenly feeling that familiar sense of frustration that things often didn't go as planned. Some things seemed to follow a fixed trajectory. The bell rang shortly after. Just as she sat down in her seat, another person appeared beside her. Glancing sideways, Ethan casually tapped on the desk and nonchalantly asked, "What's that?" After placing her textbooks down, Stella replied casually, "Movie tickets." Ethan raised an eyebrow slightly at her words, recalling the earlier scene, his expression subtly hardening. Seeing his silence, Stella added, "It's called 'South City Joy,' just released, and I heard it's pretty good." Ethan withdrew his gaze and responded flatly, "Boring." Stella didn't reply anything. She regretted her unnecessary comment. Knowing his strange temper, she quietly sighed, realizing that she needed to be much more generous than someone like Ethan.