Chapter 34 Tactics and the Tutor

Ryan I knew the moment she was starting to hate my presence here. Or rather she was conflicted about how she felt. Her eyes told me that she wanted me here but her body was stiff, betraying her intent to chase me off as fast as she could. "Why do you hate me, Amelia?" I asked, wincing at the groan in my voice. I hadn't asked a girl out before and didn't know that this was going to be stressful. She winced. I was glad that she had the decency to wince. "I don't hate you, Ryan. I just don't want you the way you want me." I sighed. "What can I do to make you like me?" I sounded like a whining teenager but I didn't care. "You don't have to do anything, Ryan." She sounded defeated as she walked. "Can we just be classmates?" I sighed, shaking my head. "With the way I feel about you, I don't think that would be easy to do." "Ryan," she called out, sounding broken. I chose to believe she felt for me more than she was trying to show. "Amelia," I rasped out, her name sounding like mel