Leus
I turned to my seatmate. "How about you? Are you okay? Does your head hurt?" I asked Aera.
Aera gave me the thumbs up and pointed back at me.
I gave her an okay sign. "I am good. We just finished our training a while ago," I replied. "I heard that you are going viral because of the social media influencer who posted your photos and videos with Lance in the amusement park." I added.
She took out her phone and began typing her notes.
'Lizzy and Aya helped me understand it a while ago. I did not know it was this big. I agreed because I thought it was not a big deal. I did not know that was what he meant last night. Our classmates explained it further. They showed me the photos and videos.'
"It's okay. You really did well on his work. It showcased your beauty," I replied. "I will order my food first. I will go first." I added and ran towards the line.
She was not aware of the tech world. But it's good that she did not know about it at first. She would not have agreed to that influencer if she had known about it. It was a big catch!
I went back to our place when I got my food. Aera showed me her phone. It was a photo of the amusement park. She pointed at the image before pointing at me.
"If I went to an amusement park already?" I asked if I understood what she meant about it, and she nodded her head. "Yes, I went there a few times. Have you enjoyed it?" I asked.
She nodded her head excitedly and started typing on her phone.
'It was my first time going there. I had fun.'
I smiled at her. "It's good to know you enjoyed it. Let's visit other places as well, so that you will know a lot of places and that it is fun. For now, let's eat. Tell me if you want to eat more." I said.
After we ate our lunch, we all headed back to our rooms. When we got to our chairs, Aera handed me her notes.
"Can we rest for a few minutes? I am still full," I told her, but she insisted on opening her notebook and showing it to me. "I can't absorb them right now. Let's just rest for a few minutes. After the break, we will start listening again to our lecture. That is tiring." I added.
She nodded and sat down in her chair. She types on her phone before showing it to me.
'Rest for a few minutes. After that, we will review for five minutes before our next professor comes. You will not be able to review after class. Do you want me to accompany you later?'
"Why are you even asking? I will ask you to come with me later, though," I replied. "Ah, right. Before I forget, next season, can you be our muse?" I added.
Aera quickly shook her hands. She was turning my offer down as well.
"Why? Is it because you feel you do not deserve it, and they might bully us too?" I asked. Her eyes widened at my question. "I heard that the men's badminton club asked you about it. But this time, you have us now. You should try to come out of your comfort zone,"
"Think of this as your training ground. Even if you still turn down our offer, it's okay. But you have to start coming out of your comfort zone. Sooner or later, you have to communicate a lot with your clients. What will you do if you are still not comfortable around people? Your restaurant will boom in the future. A lot of people will want to work with you. You can't be shy forever." I reminded her.
This is my new goal now. Aside from touring her around and making friends, I need to help her be more confident and comfortable with other people. Not only that, I will teach her how to be strong too. I would not let Sandra always hurt her. She needs to learn how to fight back.
I pointed at myself. "I will be your teacher too. I have a lot of things to teach you. I will make you confident and strong. So that, even if we are not around and some bad guys want to hurt you, you will be able to defend yourself," I shared. "You can still think about my offer, but I hope you consider it." I added and laughed at my remarks.
'Do you think I will be able to do that?'
"Of course you can! It's like what you did last night. You agreed to let him take photos and videos of you, although you did not know much about it but still did. It's just like that. You are trying different things and seeing or experiencing what is good and bad," I replied. "Don't you foresee that one day, you will be able to defend yourself from getting hit by Sandra? Defending yourself does not mean hitting her back, you just have to learn to avoid and stop her from doing so." I added.
Aera kept on playing with her hands. I held her hands, and that made her look at me.
I showed her my big smile. "There is nothing wrong with trying, Aera. And this does not mean you have to do it already. Let's take our time. We have a lot of time for this. We will just help you prepare yourself. There is no harm in trying here." I assured her.
We have a lot of time on our hands. We will do all of them slowly. There is no reason to rush ourselves.
"You would not notice it since all of us will do that. I have already made a big plan." I added.
I have to tell her friends about my plan. I can just ask Lizzy to call Bricx and her brother to meet me. I will share my plan with them and do it if they are with Aera. She can see and learn how to do this and that in that way.
In this way, she is strong enough to face the challenges she might encounter in the future. It would greatly help her, and that is what is important.
She would be able to stand alone without our help. She will learn how to fight for herself. And I can't wait to see her do that.