"Ha." A short chuckle came from Adrian. The sound was clear and cold, like ice cubes hitting a glass. My heart skipped a beat inexplicably, and I couldn't help stealing a glance at him. But he just lowered his head and swiped his phone, his profile as cold and hard as if that chuckle had been just my imagination.
I scratched my head and asked carefully, "Um... Where should I sit?" Adrián completely lost his temper. He punched the steering wheel, and the horn let out a shrill scream. "Get in! Sit wherever you want!"
"Okay..." Just then, the back - door was pushed open a little from the inside, and Adrian moved inside. I quickly squeezed in sideways and said softly, "Thank you, eldest brother." As expected, he didn't even lift his eyelids.
I didn't care and started struggling with the seat - belt. How on earth do you fasten this thing? Before I could figure it out, Adrián stepped on the accelerator to the floor. The strong inertia made my whole face hit the back of the front seat hard. The dull "thud" sound was especially clear in the quiet car.
Adrian sighed and finally took his eyes off the phone screen. He leaned over and neatly fastened the seat - belt for me in a few seconds, muttering, "Such a hassle."
"Sorry," I whispered. Adrián glanced at me in the rear - view mirror and said impatiently, "Is it fastened? Don't let her damage my car."
"Okay." Adrian put his earphones back on. I held my breath and tried my best to make myself as small as possible. This journey seemed to last an eternity. As we were approaching the college entrance, I quickly said, "Second - brother, just let me off at the next intersection." It wasn't for anything else; I was just afraid of embarrassing them. I knew they probably didn't want their friends to know that they were associated with someone like me.
Sure enough, Adrián didn't ask anything and just pulled over to the side of the road, as if getting rid of something dirty. Great, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. I took out the meat pie that I had secretly taken from the kitchen before leaving home and had been keeping warm in my pocket, and took a big bite. Mmm, it was still warm.
When I first stepped into that noble college where even the floor tiles shone with the luster of obsidian, I was like a country bumpkin in the Grand View Garden, full of curiosity and at a loss. After looking around for a while, I hurriedly ran towards the classroom.
As a transfer student, self - introduction was inevitable. As soon as I announced my name, "Lillian", someone in the class shouted, "Lillian? What's your relationship with Adrian and Adrián?"
I subconsciously looked at them. Adrian was propping his chin and looking out of the window, looking absent - minded; Adrián was quickly calculating something in his notebook without even raising his head. Neither of them looked at me. So I quickly shook my head and said, "No relationship. Don't you see we don't even have the same surname?"
The teacher pointed to a seat. When I saw it was the empty seat next to Adrián, my scalp went numb. But I still gritted my teeth and sat down, already imagining the scene of Adrián overturning the table when we got home.
I took out my books and tried to concentrate. But even more desperate things happened. The teacher on the podium seamlessly switched between English, Chinese, and French. My once - proud rural English was like a joke here. All the students in the class understood French, and I was like a "deaf - mute", completely unable to understand. The gap between us was like an insurmountable chasm.
Just when I was extremely anxious, Adrián threw me a wireless earphone and said coldly, "This is from the laboratory's discarded items. Take it." Intuition told me it must be useful, so I put it on without hesitation. Miraculously, the teacher's words were instantly translated into clear Chinese subtitles and projected on the built - in miniature screen of the earphone.
I wrote in the corner of my draft paper: [Thank you, eldest brother.] Then I quietly pushed it over. Adrián caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye and flicked the paper back with his fingertip.
During the break, the classroom was empty. I took out my phone and frantically memorized French words. At this time, a girl walked up to my desk and gently tapped on it with her finger. She said, "Hey, Lillian? Wanna be friends?"
I looked up and saw the name on her name tag - Isabella. She was the recognized campus belle in the college, with a vampire - like charming appearance. But for some reason, I thought she was just average - looking.
Since then, Isabella always dragged me to go shopping and have meals together. But I suspected that Adrián didn't like me having friends, because every time Isabella came to me, he would "slam" a thick "Advanced Physics" book on my desk and say, "Finish reading this chapter."
I couldn't refuse because he rarely agreed to tutor me. It all started when I asked Adrian where I could find a reliable physics tutor. He was tying his tie in front of the mirror at that time and didn't even lift his eyelids when he heard my question. He just made a phone call. A few seconds later, Adrián appeared at the door and asked in a stiff tone, "What's up?"
Adrian glanced at me and said, "From now on, you'll tutor this cheap little sister in physics."
My eyes lit up, and I leaned over and said, "Eldest brother, you're so nice! It's great to have you as my big brother!" Adrian's hand tying the tie paused, and his ears turned suspiciously red. He pushed me away in disgust and said, "Get out of here quickly! Study hard with him!"
"..." Adrián was silent, and the vein on his forehead twitched. I seized the opportunity and softened my voice and said, "Eldest brother... Please help me? Please?" He took a deep breath, as if making a great decision, and finally nodded.
It was a pity that I probably lacked the talent for physics. I often made Adrián extremely angry. He would tap my head with his pen and scold me for being stupid, and then grind his teeth and redraw the diagrams to explain again. Looking at the increasingly high scores on the test papers, I sincerely praised him, "Eldest brother, you're really a genius tutor!"
Adrián still had a cold face and said, "Shut up. I just hope you won't tell people that I taught you physics. I can't afford to lose this face." I just smiled and didn't care at all.
During this period, I could clearly feel that they weren't as cold to me as before. In fact, they even seemed to be protecting me. Once, Adrian got up late, and I packed breakfast for him. When I passed by their class, I heard his deskmate ask, "Adrian, this meat pie smells so good. Let me have a taste?" Adrian snatched the bag back like a hungry wolf protecting its food and said, "In your dreams. This is from my sister. Want one? Go ask your sister for it."