—
The trees and street lights blurred as the red Lamborghini drove faster on the road. Inside the expensive car floated a soft and mellow melody of a 90s song, the complete opposite of its ferocious speed and dashing color.
The driver hums along with the music whilst tapping his finger on the steering wheel. The guy is too relaxed while driving the car at a speed of almost 60 kilometers per hour. He was dressed in his thick and expensive leather jacket, sitting languidly on his seat like the doesn't even care about crashing and dying.
On the other seat sits a petite girl in her violet cocktail dress. On top of her dress is a thick black coat, trying to protect her delicate skin from frostbite.
The said girl was glaring at the driver through his reflection in the window she was leaning on. She was not bothered by the speed of the car at all. Her glare did not even falter when he increased his speed.
The man, upon noticing her murderous glares, showed a lazy and attractive smile on his ravishing red lips. Althea wants to reach out and pull his lips to destroy that smile. What an infuriating smile it was!
"Althea, no matter how much you glare at me, I will not pull back and send you to your apartment. I mean, you've agreed to come."
Althea rolled her eyes and sat up straight. She watched the seemingly unending road ahead of them. No one knew she quit looking at him through the reflection because she was envious of his sinful lips.
'Darn,' she thought. 'His lips look more appealing than mine, a girl. Not just that though, I noticed that his skin is much smoother than mine. That is, again, a girl. How though?! He does sports, how come his skin has that kind of texture? What skincare does he use? What routine? Argh, the perks of having tons of money.'
Despite her rambling inside, she replied calmly. "You forced the responsibility on me."
He shot her a sideways glance, the corners of his lips raising for a playful smirk.
"You hold the decision, though. You can agree, and you can also decline. I'm fine with either of the two, by the way. But, in the end, you choose to accept."
She surpassed the urge to send him flying with a kick for the fear of her dear life, besides, Althea could not refuse his words. She accepted and said yes. But—!!!
They were forcing me!
Her shout resounded in her ears. She refused to let her frustration out and just dismissed the topic with a harrumph.
Tyler, fully aware of her forcing the topic down, chuckled. His low laugh drowned the music that was playing. Althea thought that he would push out a taunt, but, to her surprise, he remained silent. Hiding a smile on his pretty lips.
She thought that Tyler never backed down with anything and talked back with a taunt or teasing, but he just stayed silent and it looked like he was ignoring her completely.
'Well,' Althea once again started her inner monologue. 'Not that I know this, uh, a crush of mine.' She nearly laughed at what she referred to him. It was not a lie, though.
Come to think of it, I transferred here in September. Then a week passed, and that is when I met Tyler. Not met, 'met', since we did not talk, just, just sudden eye contact, accidentally, I tell you. Then I began observing him from afar. Then, in November. Yes, it was November when he first talked to me.'
Althea mentally face-palmed, just remembering that scene.
'After that super ass lame hitting, for some reason, I decided to avoid him, and after just two months, here I am, sitting in his car.'
The two friends of Tyler did not give her a breather after he said those words, making her easily lose her calm. She wanted to throw the groceries she bought toward them and ran for them, but she couldn't. If her mother gets wind of her wasting food, she needs to prepare and pack back home. Wasting money is a big no-no.
She, of course, doesn't want to agree. But they told her that if she went, they would help her out by distracting Tyler so she could go home early. She only hesitated for a minute before giving in.
Don't get her wrong. Not that she hates attending parties, but this city is different from where she came from. And, of course, she knew no one here. Just some classmates, and some familiar faces, but they cannot be considered friends. They are not close enough either. Just classmates or schoolmates' relationships. A very formal one.
The old Althea doesn't like noisy places. As much as possible, she wants peace. She was often alone when she was in elementary. When she was already in the middle of middle school, she was afraid of being left out, so, sometimes Althea attends parties created by her previous classmates in the past.
Getting used to the loud music, and stinky place with sweats is hard. It took her a lot of effort to not push the monkeys that were trying so hard to get close to her. But she is gradually getting used to it and she sometimes enjoys parties and such.
So she sees attending parties as so-so. Not bad, but also not good.
And besides, she can't deal with two annoying monk-humans
at once.Althea heard their conversation earlier.
'Come on Tyler, the girls won't come if you don't!'
She snorted in her mind once again. She already knew that Tyler is pretty popular around the campus, so maybe nearly half of the female population was after him. She also once heard that he likes parties and girls. After hearing this, she unconsciously draws a line between them.
"We're here."
Tyler's voice pulled her wandering mind back to her head. Althea looked out from the window. Tyler's car entered a huge lawn. Even though in the dark, you can see expensive cars parked neatly on the other side. Tyler drove past them and found a free space to park his own.
His car stopped, and he unbuckled his seatbelt and then reached out to turn the music off. Althea did not wait for him. She got out of the red car and was welcomed by a very cold breeze of winter.
Althea was grateful that she wore a coat.
Meters away from where the cars were parked stood a mansion where loud music was booming. She can hear the faint voices of the students partying wildly inside.
Althea wants to go back home already. Her precious weekend is now ruined.
"There's no backing out, you know."
She heard Tyler's voice behind her back. She shrugged, now not wanting to retort back.
"I know."
Tyler chuckled and shot her a sideways glance. "Let's go."
Tyler went ahead, and she trailed quietly behind him. Althea looked at his wide back and unconsciously gulped.
'Such wide shoulders and arms. If he ever loses his mind and tries to crush me, I, with no doubt, will break in two.'
She shuddered at the thought and looked up, only to meet Tyler's smiling eyes. Even in the lack of light, his eyes shone brightly.
It was winter, but his eyes were very warm. Comfortably warm. Like the spring after the winter. The feeling was also like finding shelter amidst a raging blizzard. She felt her heartstrings move.
Heartstrings-- what stupidity is that?!
Althea looked away. He chuckled and looked back in front. He thought that it was a shame that she withdraws rather easily. But he was also oddly satisfied with her reaction.
There was silence after that. Althea can hear their footsteps against the paved floor and the distant music. She looked at the mansion with tired eyes.
"I wish there were many chairs there." She unconsciously mumbled.
Tyler did not stop walking, but he laughed hard at what she said. His whole body was shaking while he was basking in mirth. Althea's face, after realizing what foolishness she just mumbled, went pale, then red from embarrassment and anger.
"Who sits at a party?"
Althea wanted to kick him. "I'm sorry, but I do!"
Tyler laughed heartily before slowing down his pace until they were both walking side by side. His laughter stopped, and he glanced at her briefly.
"Well, if there are not enough chairs, I will make it so there's none," Tyler spoke slowly, every word was spoken out languidly. "But sitting on my lap will do.”
Althea stopped dead in her tracks, while Tyler's laughing voice sounded in her ears as she glared at his back.
CHAPTER FOUR; Jealousy — "Hi, Tyler," "Tyler!" "Dude!" "Hi, sweetie." Both of them are not completely in at the venue yet but they were clogged near the entrance. Almost every single soul inside greeted Tyler, and he also greeted back with all smiles. They all chatted even though the music was deafening, and also, they completely ignored the one who was trailing behind him like a toad. The toad has also pushed back away from him. The toad watched as a crowd of people began to form around him. Althea was grateful though, she is. The less attention she receives, the less bother she will have. All is well, all is well. It was a good thing that Tyler's popularity was not only giving her misfortune. When they finally entered the sea of crowd, she thought she would be freed from Tyler since he was being dragged here and there, but, damn him, even when she went to get food, he never let her out of his sight. And if she somehow moves further away, he quickly makes an excuse
CHAPTER FIVE; Sincere.—She was pulled out of the party. Tyler was holding her wrist, dragging her out of the party effortlessly. Althea struggled in futility. She cursed herself for being weaker than the other. She gave up on trying to pry his iron-like hand off her wrist and sighed helplessly. He won't budge no matter how hard she tries. Also, she's too lazy to try it again. "Tyler," she called out. "Where are we going?"They passed countless people, all of them ignoring the two. Althea did not dare to look at them, nor did Tyler.They were passing through a dimly lit part of the huge asset mansion. She knew immediately what this place was for.It's for those people who can't ignore their earthly lust and decide to engage in public sex. It's a place for those who want to quench their thirst. An unholy place.She is already fifteen. She is fully aware that most of the girls her age lost their virginity to an asshole. Althea is not part of those outgoing and careless teenagers. Ha
CHAPTER SIX; Old ways—"Knock, knock!"Early in the morning, Althea heard a knock. She was preparing for school and was about to go out when she heard it. She paused for a moment before heading towards the door and opening it."Good morning!" Said the delivery man in red, smiling brightly.The corners of her lips almost twitched. How can this guy smile like that so early in the morning?"Good morning," she also greeted, but unlike him, she was calm like a pond. "What is it?""Here!" He said cheerfully handing over a bouquet of purple flowers. "Flowers for Althea Grahams!""..."She stared at the flowers for a minute. It took a while before she understood him.'Wait- Pardon- What?'Althea looked at the flowers again, petrified. The delivery man nudges the bouquet to her again, urging her to take it. His arms are aching already. She hesitated for a moment before taking it."Thank, uh, thank you." She was unsure what to say. She wanted to ask what the hell is this and who the hell sent i
CHAPTER SEVEN; Courting-"Man!" Exclaimed a man leaning on a pillar of the school's entrance. All the buttons of his school uniform are undone, showing his underneath white shirt. "Why do I have to study? Why do I have to go to school? School sucks!"His group of friends snickered."Adler, dude," another man said. Unlike the other, he was not wearing his school uniform at all. "Suck it up! There's no way your family is letting you run off. When you are the only child of your family, you have no other choice but to inherit the business.""You have it hard, Adler." Another one said with laughter evident in his eyes."The only heir. Sucks for you.""Shut up!" He angrily shouted at the two.They laughed at him. Adler also laughed along. He and his unfortunate life.To many, being the successor of a big company is a blessing, but to those heirs, it's a long and painful task."But Tyler, you have it hard too, don't you?" Everyone turned their head towards the person on the topic.Of all the
CHAPTER EIGHT: Courting (2) – "Althea, can you do this part?" Althea read it and agreed. "Sure." "Great," Sheryl smiled at her before turning to one of their classmates. "You do this one." Althea silently typed on her laptop after determining what to do. She muted out the whispers of her group mates at the table and buried herself in her little world. Five days ago, Tyler brought her to a botanical garden at the back of the school building. In exchange, Tyler wanted to take part in Althea's group project. Instead of relaxing and having a peaceful time studying, she was pestered by him instead. Nevertheless, Althea still didn't tell him the place. She never had a peaceful four days after that. She sighed and leaned on her chair. The day had just begun, but Althea was already tired. School works after school works, everything seems so unending. She glanced at Sheryl, one of the beauties in their room. She's also smart and soft-spoken. Althea can't help but heave a sigh in her
CHAPTER NINE: Jealousy...?—"Althea, I like you."Of all the phrases that Althea wants to hear why he is still talking and flirting with her even though the bet has ended, why this?Receiving such a confession out of the blue is too much for her. Her brain short-circuited.Tyler watched her blankly for a moment before looking away, her ears red as cherries. Amusement danced in his eyes. This was one of the reasons why he kept pestering her. Her reactions are just too cute and precious. The urge to pinch her cheeks came again."Y—you—shut up… What a lie." Her words were faltering. Her mind gears were madly turning to think of any coherent words but it just over-heated.Tyler can't hold back anymore, he laughed that almost all of his body shook. "You asked! I answered! What's wrong with that? Why are you telling me to shut up suddenly?”"A—anyway!" She almost shouted that word, obviously trying too hard to change the topic. "How much did you bet?"She can't think of any topic that is wo
CHAPTER TEN: An Odd Girl—"Yes, I understand," Althea replied after listening to her mother's scolding through the phone. "I know. I won't do it again."Althea rested her head on the soft pillow then she couldn't help but sigh helplessly. On the other side of the line, her mother was still ranting. Althea was tired of listening to the point that the words entered and exited her ears without delay.Again, she sighed and looked up at the white ceiling, still holding the phone next to her ear. Currently, she's inside the school's infirmary. According to the school nurse, she fainted in the hallway. The nurse even gave her an earful, saying that if she felt unwell, she should have stayed at home. She was lucky that there was someone who saw her fainted and called for help to carry her or else she'll be there until the bell rang for a break.After that, her parents called her. Apparently, the nurse contacted them. The moment she answered the phone, her mother started cursing her endlessly
CHAPTER ELEVEN; An Awful Feeling—“…”“…”Both didn’t say a word for a while now. The unknown beautiful girl stared at her with wide sparkling eyes while Althea looked down at her with her pair of dead aquamarine eyes. To many of the passersby, they were having a staring contest. They were both amused and curious. They couldn't see two beautiful women staring and standing near each other every day. What’s more, they are nearing a corner. The two looked like they were having a serious conversation with the other, more serious and the other one was not. Some even thought that maybe they were couples thinking about their future plans, with just the one planning everything.Althea was unaware of the curious eyes and the crooked thoughts of the people. Her mind stopped at the conversation they just had. Like a broken tape, it kept on playing itself.“So, who is this fiancé of yours?”“Uhm, I think his name is… Ah! His name is Tyler!” And when her brain finally worked normally, her mind s