After Death, Love Unveiled (Elara and Lysander)

A cheeky thought crossed her mind, and Elara couldn't resist teasing Lysander. "Why won't you look at me? Do I really look!

that bad?

Her grades were never anything impressive, but she'd always been considered quite the looker.

Growing up in a sheltered environment, she was practically untouched by sunlight, giving her that perfect, porcelain-doll complexion. If it wasn't for Asher and his bullshit, she wouldn't even be in that mess before.

Lysander finally looked her way, his voice calm. "That's not it. He seemed composed, but if one looked close enough, one could see the tips of his cars turning red.

Elara's lips curled into a smirk. I heard you're always top of the class. That true?"

Lysander shifted in his seat, feeling a little weird with how friendly she was being out of nowhere. "Uh... yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Know any good tutors you can recommend?" she asked.

She'd already decided not to rely on Asher anymore. She wasn't about to keep making the same mistakes-leaning on her dad and slacking off' in school.

Now that she had the time, she was set on pulling her grades up. And if Lysander knew someone, they had to be good.

"A tutor? I thought Asher was... Lysander trailed off. He'd heard she had a classmate tutor her, which was why Asher had spent so much time at her house.

"I let him go, she said flatly. Asher hadn't just looked down on her, he had zero patience when it came to tutoring. It was a waste of money.

Lysander raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. He studied her face, realizing she wasn't joking. To hide his unease, he took a sip of his drink before responding. "I never used a tutor. I've always studied on my own. But... if you're cool with it, I could stop by every day and help you out."

He wasn't expecting her to take him seriously. She barely even acknowledged him before tonight, and this dinner invite was already unexpected enough.

Elara's face lit up with genuine surprise. "Really?"

Lysander nodded quickly, caught off guard by how happy she looked. "Yeah, if it works for you, I'm available whenever."

Elara gave him a warm smile. Td really appreciate that, but are you sure it won't mess with your own stuff? You've got your own work to do."

Lysander waved her concern off. "Nah, don't worry about it. It won't be a problem."

Truth is, he'd already finished the high school curriculum and had a guaranteed spot at university. But to spare her feelings, he decided to keep that to himself.

"Wow, thank you so much!" Elara said, her eyes lighting up. "Just... don't think I'm dumb, okay? My grades suck. She sighed, thinking back to those awful tutoring sessions with Asher.

He might've had good grades, but he was a total asshole when it came to teaching her. If she didn't get something right away, he'd lose his temper. Her grades went from bad to worse, and with them, her confidence tanked.

Lysander's voice softened, reassuring. "I don't think that at all. I'll come by after school tomorrow. Sound good?"

As they ate and chatted, Lysander stayed mostly quiet, prompting Elara to pick up her fork and serve him some food. "Come an, don't be shy. Make yourself at home"

Just then, Asher stormed in after dropping off Daphne. He was already in a foul mood-he'd just found out his father had been fired and had gutten an earful from him on the way.

As he saw Elara sitting there, eating, with the dishes already touched, his expression turned stormy. "Elara!"

She gave him a cold glance and continued eating, completely unfazed

Asher had come intending to ask about Jefferson, but seeing I ysander sitting there, his irritation only grew. "What the fuck is he doing here?" he demanded.

Before her time travell, Elara would have kept her distance from other guys to keep him happy Whenever Lysander came around, she'd send him away. But now she'd actually let him stay for dinner.

Elara calmly put down her cutlery and met his glare. "He's my guest. You got a problem with that?

Asher dropped into a chair, scowling. "What? You invite him just to get under my skin?

Elara knew he didn't like Lysander-never had, because Lysander was always beating him in competitions. So Asher thought there was no way she suddenly enjoyed his company. Lysander remained silent, not even bothering to react.

Elara held Asher's gaze, her voice steady. "You're overthinking it. Asher. You just don't mean that much to me anymore."

There was a time when she thought the world revolved around Asher, but now all she felt was disgust. Liking someone like him would only drag her down further into the dark.

Asher scoffed. "If you think hanging around other guys is gonna make me jealous, Elara, you're fucking clueless, Seeing you. with someone else? Shit, that's a relief-I won't have to deal with your bullshit anymore. With that, he stormed upstairs slamming the door behind

him.

Elara sat there, momentarily speechless, caught off guard by his outburst.

After he left, she noticed Lysander's expression shift slightly. Feeling awkward, she quickly added, "Don't listen to his crap. 'He's really pissed about this?' she thought, a bit uncertain.

Lysander just gave a vague "sure and stayed quiet,

After dinner, she walked him to the door. "Take care on your way home," she said.

"Yeah," he replied with a short nod and left without another word

When Elara went back inside, she found Asher had come back downstairs, now wearing a short-sleeved shirt instead of his school uniform.

Even though she was furious with him, she couldn't deny that his face was still annoyingly handsome, with that effortless charm that had drawn her in once upon a time.

But this time, Asher wasn't playing around. His tone was serious as he asked, "Why did you fire my dad

He'd waited until they were alone to ask, not wanting anyone else to know he was just the driver's son, especially not Lysander. Elara's response was icy. "Do I really need to explain why I fired my driver?"

"He's my dad," Asher shot back, clearly agitated. "I'm the one who told him to do it. It wasn't his fault. If you're pissed off, take it out on me-kick me out!"

"Kicking you out?" Elara's lips curled into a sly smile as she locked eyes with him. "Alright"

"What the hell did you just say?" Asher stared at her in shock.

Elara pressed on. "You've always thought I was a dumbass, haven't you? Fine then, let's just call it quits. Get your stuff and get out of my house. I'll find another tutor. Ever since you started teaching me, my grades have gone down the drain. Honestly. you're not worth a damn cent I'm paying you."

Asher had assumed at first that Elara was just throwing another one of her fits. But when he saw the look on her face, it hit him

she was dead serious about firing him and cutting him loose as her tutor.

Annoyed, he stapped back, "Your grades are crap because you can't keep up, not because of me! I explain something once to Daphne, and she gets it right away. But you? You're as slow as a goddamn rock! How is that on me? Go ahead, get another tutor, but nothing's gonna change

2:56 PM c d

"That's my issue, not yours!" Elara shot back, her frustration rising. "Just get the fuck out!"

Frowning, Asher countered, "Elara, you're still a student. Maybe you should focus on school for once? You're always obsessing over dating me-that's why your grades are tanking"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Elara blurted, utterly baffled

With a mocking laugh, Asher pressed further, "You're throwing this tantrum because you're jealous of Daphne, aren't you? Admit it-you're pissed because I won't date you! But here's the thing: I'm focusing on getting into a good college. I'm not like you, who can just coast through life without worrying about money or your future. So yeah, there's no way I'm getting with

you."

Elara stared at him in disbelief. It took her a second to process what he'd just said before she exploded, "Who the hell said I wanted to be with you? Asher, where the fuck do you get off thinking I'd ever be interested in you?"

To her, he was nothing-someone she could just brush off like a speck of dust, if she wanted to.

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