Alorah Reagen
All of us stared at Cameron, taking in his words. Later on, Emma's eyes slowly moved to Julian, who sat there staring at the table in silence.

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting out? You know that's bad behavior," Cynthia hissed at Cameron, who looked unfazed by her.

"I don't think it's nonsense if the person himself looked as stunned as all of you. It means that I hit something. If I didn't, my words would not affect him," Cameron shrugged.

If others sat in my seat, they would think that Cameron was glaring at Julian because his eyes moved to the side to glance at Julian while his body was facing in my direction. I joined the others, and all of us were staring at Julian.

I'm not sure what we were expecting from him. Perhaps nothing at all, and we only needed to focus on someone as we processed Cameron's words. If that were the case, then Julian's luck wasn't on his side for this one.

"Now that you mentioned it, Julian looked different than usual. He seemed...happier?" Cynthia muttered.

"The aura he's emitting is quite different from the gossip circulating in the school," Emma added, resting her head on her hand.

Julian and I were the only people in the group who hadn't said anything. I have no intention of adding my thoughts on this, as I didn't believe the rumors that were going around about him in the first place.

I had an inkling from the start that whatever picture painted of him, I shouldn't believe it. If I wanted to get to know the person himself, I shouldn't base it on the comments coming out of their mouth.

However, Cameron's words were ringing in my head.

"He doesn't look in pain anymore. Like he wasn't being forced to do something or be someone else."

"As if he weren't forced to be someone else," I murmured.

"It was because I am their scapegoat, who will take all the blame while they remain untouched."

Someone who is close to him and would treat Julian as their scapegoat. Someone who he hangs out with in school. The rumors and those who can influence or boost his "image."

"The kind of group-" My eyes widened when I rewinded to Julian pouring his drink on me. His group of friends was shocked by what had happened, but at the same time, they looked proud. Because they didn't expect him to do it? But he did, which would make sense why they felt that way.

I felt my nails digging into my skin and angry tears forming in my eyes. How could they treat Julian like that? This behavior utterly disgusts me to the bone.

"Maybe I did change. Maybe I didn't. What's for sure is that you wouldn't be hearing that from me," Julian winked at us before changing the subject, saying, "Come on, we've got a few things to finish up before calling it a day, and you wouldn't want to stay here until late at night, would you?"

"Oh, hell no. Cynthia, chop chop," Cameron said, motioning for her to pick up the pace, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at him.

I snapped back to reality when I felt my phone vibrating. I grabbed it out of my pocket and saw my screen lit up with a message coming from Julian. I turned to face him as I was halfway through reading his text message.

He had his phone in one hand, and his other hand was resting on his laptop. Julian looked at me with worry and mouthed a few words that took me a while to decipher.

I shook my head at him, telling him indirectly that I wasn't alright. Who would be? Whether I'm correct or not, I wouldn't feel completely ok knowing he was treated like a pet or that I was accusing them without any valid evidence.

I turned away from him and set my phone down, the screen facing the table, to hide anything that could distract me from my work.

***

"Alorah, wait up," I could hear Julian's voice a couple of feet away from me, but I didn't stop walking.

The rest of the guys left as they had other things to do before night fell, leaving Julian and me in the small pavilion doing the final checking before calling it a day.

When we packed our stuff into our bags, my hands unconsciously began to speed up, and I was the first to finish cleaning up between the two of us. Julian was about to say something when I turned and walked away from him.

It seemed like he didn't want to leave me alone, as he'd been trying to catch up with me from the gazebo to the empty hallway.

Why am I acting this way? Why am I running away from him?

There were times when I wouldn't understand human emotions or actions. Sometimes it wouldn't match the situation, like with the two of us.

"Alorah, stop," I winced at his grip on my arm, and I turned to face him while biting the inner flesh of my mouth. I could feel my tears forming again. Gosh, why do I cry so easily?

"Let go. It hurts, Julian," I said as I locked my gaze on him, my voice cracking from those simple five words.

Julian immediately let go of his grip on my arm, but it slowly moved to grab my hand.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to. I just... What happened back there? The atmosphere around you suddenly changed when they were talking about..." He broke our eye contact and gazed at our intertwined hands.

He knew what they were referring to. They knew he was showing a different side of himself today, but they weren't aware of why he was acting that way before.

"Julian, can you be honest with me?" I gave his hand a little squeeze as I gazed at his face. He slowly raised his head with a puzzled looked on his face.

Gosh, I might get used to hearing that nickname for the rest of my life.

"I'm not saying you haven't been truthful to me. It's just... what I'm going to ask you is something personal."

"Didn't I tell you a few days ago? I wanted to deepen whatever bond we have together. If it means learning a few personal things about myself, go for it," he smiled, making me melt.

I have no idea what kind of relationship we're developing, but being around him isn't so bad.

"Are the people who framed you and forced you to act in a certain way people you've known for a long time? Perhaps... those in our class who were proud of you for pouring a drink on me?"