Raise Love

Aria was in her third year of junior high school that year.

Ryder, who was in the same grade as her, was a well-known and admired figure in school. This boy, who had unconsciously begun to stir vague feelings in her, would take the bus home with her and Maya Brooks every holiday week.

That day was different; he had made plans with friends to go to the internet cafe, and Maya Brooks was not there, leaving her alone.

Aria had always been a delicate girl.

Her mother had just passed away, a devastating blow for a girl not yet fifteen. Relatives told her to be sensible, to stop throwing tantrums because her father was busy with work and grieving.

But she was grieving too; she no longer had her mother.

During that time, Aria was in a poor state.

After finishing her duty day, she left school and walked to the bus stop alone. As night fell and the bus still didn't come, she was the only one left at the sign, the traffic under the night sky silently amplifying her loneliness a thousandfold, and she suddenly broke down.

She even forgot about the option to take a taxi.

When someone in extreme helplessness suddenly encounters a helping hand, the consequences are immeasurable. The butterfly's wings uncontrollably cause a massive storm, and the Pandora's box brings desire and unattainable longing.

For Aria, Ryder was that storm and longing that day.

To live, one needs courage, a refuge, and a beam of light to illuminate the difficult path.

For Aria, Ryder, with his impatient expression but who draped his coat over her that night, was the light she desperately clung to and could not let go in her panic.

He frowned his handsome brows, took her home, cooked her a bowl of noodles and specially added egg, the noodles were light but delicious, carrying a warm and homely flavor that almost made her choke again with emotion. Because of her presence, he went to sleep in a hotel downstairs.

Perhaps it was just a small act for him. Because she was Maya Brooks's good friend, she fortuitously received this help.

Gentle and attentive.

So that's what she learned about him.

He lived alone.

He could cook.

Those were the details Aria extracted.

That was the closest she had been to him in all these years, with his coat still on her shoulders, imbued with his pleasant scent, tightly enveloping her.

As if she was embraced by him.

He was gentler than the wind and more handsome than the moon hanging in the sky.

Later, Aria thought, his chivalry and upbringing would have made girls' hearts flutter even without this timely help.

Including Aria.

Aria was never the exception.

It's strange to say, but even after more than five years, Aria still remembers those images clearly. Even though he pulled her up so forcefully, his movements were gentle.

She didn't feel any discomfort.

After five years, similar words, the gentle upbringing that was uniquely Ryder's.

A pang of pain in her waist made Aria involuntarily let out a low "ah," quickly pulling her back from her reminiscing thoughts.

Maya Brooks, without changing her expression, retracted her hand and whispered, "What are you daydreaming about? I'm talking to you."

No one knows that Aria likes Ryder.

Not even Maya Brooks.

She only knows that Aria's college entrance exam results that year were not that bad. Although she didn't perform very well, she had more than enough to get into a decent undergraduate program, but she chose to repeat a year.

Maya Brooks can vaguely guess that Aria seems to have a person she really likes but doesn't know who it is.

But when it comes to emotions, outsiders can't interfere, so she never asks.

Aria unconsciously looked at Ryder.

Ryder seemed to have been looking at her for a long time, his peach blossom eyes slightly raised, the dark depths twinkling with a faint, teasing smile, as if laughing at her.

Aria blinked, her face uncontrollably flushing red, her cheeks becoming hot.

She lightly pursed her lips, took a small breath, and thought fortunately that the private room only had small lights on, and they were sitting in a dim corner, so it shouldn't be too noticeable.

She let out a quiet sigh of relief.

She calmly picked up the glass in front of her, took a small sip, it was sour and sweet, a bit fizzy, and she slightly curved her lips, looking at him and said, "Thank you."

Her tone was not enthusiastic.

"Oh." Ryder's eyebrows raised slightly, nonchalant.

"You're welcome."

At this moment, someone called for Lila Torres. Lila Torres glanced at Ryder, whispered something into his ear, got up, and joined Finn Alvarez's game.

Aria bit her straw and looked over a couple more times.

The girl walked over and quickly joined in.

She had recognized her as the pretty girl who had been very intimate with Ryder at the anime base in the afternoon, the type he liked.

Ryder was indeed as the forum said, not very enthusiastic even when dating.

He seemed to have not said a word to that girl from beginning to end, as if it had nothing to do with him, only immersed in his own world.

That was better than her.

Thinking of this, she lowered her eyes, imperceptibly drooped the corners of her mouth, her eyebrows listless, out of place with the lively atmosphere.

The sound of glass cups colliding was clear and crisp.

Ryder put down his phone, played with the lighter out of boredom, and with the other hand, crushed and restored the almost empty can, his long legs wide open, playing repeatedly until he lost interest and tossed it aside.

Like a big cat that couldn't find anything interesting.

After fiddling with his phone for a while, he finally raised his eyelids impatiently, glanced around, and finally, his gaze stopped casually back on the girl across the way wearing black wired headphones.

He tugged at the corner of his lips.

He has always had an impression of this girl named Aria.

She was very close to Maya Brooks.

The junior high school was next to the vocational school, and the surrounding environment was not very safe, with many thugs. He was forced by his uncle to escort Maya Brooks home on holidays, and after doing it a few times, he vaguely remembered the girl's face.

A very quiet girl.

The two had never had much interaction.

Ryder's feeling towards Aria was that she was very clean and comfortable. She was not particularly beautiful, but quite well-behaved. There were not many memorable points.

The impression was deeper later on.

It was really because the girl looked too pitiful squatting on the street in her third year of junior high. He was not someone who liked to meddle, and when he came out of the internet cafe and saw that small figure, he didn't plan to care, but when he was about to walk away, he suddenly remembered something.

Didn't take that step.

It was better to send Maya Brooks home, and he had done it a few times on the way.

If Maya Brooks knew he passed by and didn't care, she didn't know how to gossip with her mother.

Who knew the girl could cry so much, and after patiently saying a few words, she ignored it. It was so late, and she didn't have any self-protection awareness, saying she would go home with him.

After eating, she didn't know to leave.

Let her take a bath, she took a bath; let her sleep, she slept.

He was a big man, and he couldn't be the one to drive the girl away.

That was the rare time Ryder felt helpless. If someone with ill intentions knew, they didn't know how to bully her, but as an outsider, a man, it was not appropriate for him to say anything.

He didn't change his clothes, took his cigarette and coat, and went to the small hotel downstairs.

Ryder is actually quite particular.

He not only has a selective bed but also has a cleanliness obsession, couldn't sleep, and sat in the hotel with a cigarette all night.

Sat until dawn, washed away the smell of smoke, checked out, and left.

The girl was the same at that time. The next day, he brought breakfast back, and she quietly finished eating, coldly said thank you to him, and left with her school bag.

In the future, when he saw him again, it was still such a cold look.

Ryder has grown up and has never met a girl who was so indifferent to him. He was a bit angry, a bit want to laugh, thinking it was still a little white-eyed wolf, and he had taken her in for nothing.

Apart from the way home, he really didn't have much scene impression of Aria.

He saw her once at the school gate on graduation day. The girl was sitting in the passenger seat, her eyes red, and her nose tip was also red. She had cried again, probably reluctant to leave her little sisters after graduation, and at that time, he had made an appointment with Finn Alvarez to go to the internet cafe for the night.

He glanced at it in a hurry, that's all.

He thought he would not have any more intersections in the future, but he didn't expect to see her here.

Ryder's thoughts were turning, but his face didn't change much. It was the girl's emotionless thank you that made him want to laugh for some reason, and a low laugh