The whole classroom became even quieter as everyone, including Atticus and Zoey, turned to face Isabella, who walked nonchalantly to the obsidian table on the platform.

As she got there and swept her gaze around the class, Isabella immediately noticed the empty space between Aislan and Eldric. She completely ignored it as though it wasn't her business.

There was little that happened in the academy, especially in the academy campus, that she didn't know about. Of course, a commotion as intense as that was sure to attract a lot of attention.

Isabella immediately began the class, each of the students listening with rapt attantion. And after 5 hours of lecture time, she finished the class and instantly left the classroom without saying anything.

As soon as Isabella left, Atticus instantly grabbed Zoey's hand, shocking the living daylights out of the poor girl.

Before Zoey could wonder what was going on, Atticus nodded at Kael and started moving out of the classroom with Zoey in tow, leaving the other students staring absentmindedly at the door the duo had just left through.

Atticus walked through the hallway of the building at a rapid pace while dragging a beautiful girl purple haired girl along with him.

The beautiful girl in question had her other hand covering her face as though trying to hide a faint blush that crept up her face. Her gaze focused on Atticus's firm hand holding hers.

Atticus kept on moving through the hallway, and after a few seconds, they both got to the elevator. Upon entering and seeing that it was empty, Atticus swiftly pushed the emergency button of the elevator, causing it to suddenly stop.

As Atticus released Zoey's hand, her heart fluttered nervously, her gaze darting away from his intense stare.

She couldn't help but flinch as he turned towards her, and she instinctively took a step back, only to find Atticus mirroring her movements with a playful smile on his face.

With each step he took forward, Zoey took one backward, her heart racing with a mix of excitement and trepidation. Atticus had been absolutely right on the mark, she was incredibly shy.

The dance continued until Zoey found herself pressed against the wall, her heart skipping a beat as she realized she had nowhere else to retreat.

"Hey," Atticus's voice was soft and charming, sending shivers down Zoey's spine as he closed the distance between them.

She could feel the warmth of his breath against her skin, her cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment.

'He's too close,' Zoey's mind raced with panicked thoughts, her gaze flickering away as she struggled to compose herself.

'He smells really nice,' random thoughts just kept popping up inside Zoey's head as her thoughts kept racing.

But as she was going through the whirlwind of emotions, a small, mischievous voice chimed in her head, "Hehe."

Zoey couldn't help but roll her eyes internally at Lumindra's teasing, trying to push aside the distracting thoughts as she focused on the moment at hand.

She already had enough on her plate right now; she really couldn't deal with Lumindra's teasing.

Seeing that Zoey seemed lost in her thoughts and didn't answer his greeting, Atticus decided to exploit her newly discovered weakness.

"I'll kiss you if you don't look at me," Atticus declared. He didn't even need to wait a second. Zoey's head instantly snapped to face him, their gazes meeting.

Atticus looked at Zoey's amethyst eyes with a profound smile as he tried not to get lost in them.

Meanwhile, Zoey struggled to maintain her composure, her heart pounding furiously. They were only a few inches away from each other! She could feel his breath.

This was the first time Zoey was ever getting this close to a man for this long, and it was a man she was interested in nonetheless.

As Atticus exhaled deeply, his smile widened. "You're perfect," he complimented, his words causing a delightful flurry of emotions within Zoey.

It took a moment for Zoey to process his words, but when she did, a rush of heat flooded her cheeks, painting them a vivid shade of crimson.

Before she could gather her thoughts, Atticus leaned in, closing the remaining distance between them.

Their lips met in a soft, tender kiss

The first few seconds were awkward, incredibly awkward.

Firstly, Zoey had been caught far too off guard with the kiss that her eyes had widened in shock as she instinctively tried to shift her head backwards, only to discover that there was no place to shift it toher head was already pressed against the wall.

She had no idea where to put her hands, and she eventually settled for putting them down against the wall.

The second reason was, well, she had no idea how to kiss! Even worse, neither of them had any idea how to kiss!

This was Atticus's first time kissing a girl, and truthfully, he was just winging it.

But it was a good thing, a very good thing, that Atticus's perception and intelligence weren't just for show. He had seen a lot of kissing in movies and even in real life back on Earth.

After a few seconds of both of them trying to get the hang of it, what was an incredibly awkward kiss with only two very stiff lips touching each other suddenly turned into something that many would be very envious of if they witnessed it.

And after a few intense seconds, they parted from each other. But this time around, Zoey wasn't the only one with a blush on her face. Surprisingly, Atticus currently had an intense blush on his face as well.

"Ahem," Atticus awkwardly cleared his throat and turned towards Zoey, who still had a hand on her lip as though not believing what had just happened.

Noticing Zoey's quiet state, Atticus didn't say anything, leaving her to her thoughts.

He quietly clicked on the emergency button of the elevator, freeing it, and then clicked on the highest floor.

The elevator started moving upwards.