Chapter 1 The First Talk

• ARC ONE:
• DAFFODIL; The Beginning
• PROLOGUE:
• —
• Pitter, patter.
• The raindrops fell one by one, clattering against the glass window. Not long after, the sky cried fully, obstructing the person inside the room to see the outside through the window.
• Yet, the person was not bothered by it at all. The sound of rain did not even reach her ears as she stared intently at her phone that was lying silently on her pale palms, her thumb anxiously rubbing against its edge.
• Moments later, Althea moved her fingers to type on the phone. She hesitated for a second before sending the text.
• : Tyler?
• She typed.
• : Can we meet?
• Althea sucked in a rather large amount of air and let it out through her mouth shakily while waiting for a reply from that person. She waited expectantly.
• But seconds, minutes passed, and Tyler has yet to reply.
• 'Again,' Althea thought inwardly. 'He did not reply to me again.'
• Her heart tightens and her tears are on the verge of falling, but Althea stubbornly holds them in, making her eyes look glassy.
• It's been like this for a couple of months now. She did not know the reason, but Tyler suddenly became cold and indifferent. They have been together for 3 years, and now, in their 4th year, he suddenly becomes like this.
• Althea can't understand. She asked, but Tyler did not bother explaining. He just shrugged it off with a few words.
• "You're just being paranoid."
• --
• Morning came.
• Althea wore her favorite purple jacket. She was going out.
• Making sure she brought everything she needed, she headed out for the small store near her apartment.
• It was cold, the winter is, after all, approaching. Althea did not hate winter, in fact, she loves it.
• When winter comes, she would occasionally sit near the window, with a thick blanket on her body and a cup of steaming hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on it at hand, together with Tyler. They would talk and laugh about the past and then plan about the future.
• They had already planned for the future.
• Those memories seem so distant now.
• Althea entered the small store, heading straight to the section she wanted, then after choosing, she headed straight to the counter and paid for everything. She then headed toward the nearest Pharmacy. And after some hesitation, she finally grabbed the product and bought 5 pieces of it before going out.
• She stepped out of the Pharmacy but only to stop again after seeing the familiar figure. She looked up.
• "Tyler..."
• Tyler too stopped and stared at her before greeting her back.
• "Althea, hey..."
• Then an awkward silence enveloped them. It was understandable, they had not, after all, seen each other for a month now. And Tyler never spent any effort to reply to her.
• Althea, fully aware of the situation, tightened her grip on the bag that contained the food and 'that' thing that she bought and mustered up the courage to speak up first.
• "Are you free this evening?"
• "No," Tyler said without missing a beat. "I'm sorry, I have a group study tonight. You know that the finals are coming up, right?"
• Althea lowered her gaze and pursed her lips.
• Yeah, right. Group study. I know that you can pass the exams with flying colors even by studying only by yourself.
• She did not voice her true feelings. Instead, she nodded and tried to ask if she could join. As expected, the man refused. Althea did not press any further.
• "By the way, what are you doing here?"
• Althea opened and closed her mouth, and didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell him, but she was still unsure. So, she lied.
• "Nothing, I just bought, Uhm, medicines. I was running out of them." Althea is a bad liar. Everyone knows that.
• "Mhm," Tyler said, unconvinced. But he also did not press any further.
• And so, they bid goodbye to each other just like that and Althea unwillingly watched Tyler's back which is getting smaller and smaller as he walks away from her.
• With heartache, Althea went home, alone.
• Then she brought out the pregnancy test kit.  Followed the procedure and waited for the result.
• Hours later.
• The moon is already out, the streets are illuminated by the street lights. Almost all of the apartments in a certain building turned their lights on but there was a certain apartment that didn't despite the darkness.
• Althea was looking at the result for ten hours now with eyes puffed. But no matter how she looks at it, the result of the five test kits are the same.
• She's pregnant.
• She wanted to inform Tyler, fast. But she did not want to tell him via text because of the seriousness of the matter. So, she texted him, asking where he was.
• Tyler did not reply, so Althea bolted out of the bed, grabbed her wallet and jacket, and went out.
• After asking around, she finally was standing in front of where Tyler is 'studying'. In a bar.
• Althea wanted to cry. How dare he lie to her! But she can't do it now, she has to tell him.
• Althea knows that Tyler loves bars and girls. But that was before they were together. He was loyal and loving when they became a couple, so why? Why is he back with this again?
• What did I do wrong?
• The ear-shattering music boomed in the air. Althea couldn't help but cover her ears until she was used to the loud music. She then tried to find Tyler.
• It was not hard to find him.
• He was at the table where you can see him right after entering the bar. Althea was shocked after seeing him. She can feel her body going numb and mind going blank.
• Tyler, he's actually cheating on her!
• Tyler was leisurely leaning on the sofa with a woman on his side. His arm was wrapped around her waist and he was laughing at what she was whispering to him. They were flirting like nobody was there aside from them. Disgusting, shameless!
• Enraged, she walked towards their table. Some saw her and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. And finally, the woman that Tyler was cheating with can't help but sneer.
• Althea was known all around the campus since Tyler is pretty famous. But even without Tyler, she can shine on her own. She was one of the prettiest in her department, after all, she's smart too.
• Althea was so mad that she almost lost her reasoning, but fortunately, she pulled it back to her. She stood in front of their table.
• Against the loud noise of the bar, she called him.
• "Tyler?! What's the meaning of this?"
• Everyone who heard her can't help but sneer. What's the point of asking? Can't you see it with your eyes? Stupid!
• The woman in his embrace leaned on Tyler and looked directly at her with mockery. She then asked with a disgusting overly sweet voice.
• "Tyler, hon, do you know her?"
• Tyler did not even spare Althea a glance before looking down at the woman in his embrace.
• "No, of course, I don't."
• CHAPTER ONE:
• The First Talk
• —
• She was only in her first year in high school when Althea met Tyler. He was more dazzling than the sun, one can't help but squint their eyes when they saw him. Tyler was one year ahead of her.
• She was 15 at that time, and Tyler was 16.
• Of course, as a normal teenager, Althea is also a victim of his charms. She sometimes blushes when their eyes meet, then hastily drag her eyes away, making the other intrigued and curious of her.
• She can even still remember their first conversation like it was yesterday.
• --
• Lunch.
• The cafeteria is full of students as usual. The place was so chaotic that even scraps of food were flying in the air. The voices of other students are loud enough to drown the conversation of others. Some looked at the noisiest group with disdain.
• Lunch is supposedly peaceful!
• Althea, who was sitting alone near the corner, was busy with her books. Her food remained untouched on the corner. She cannot bother eating them since her exams are coming. She's conscious of her grades. Failure is not an option for her.
• Her head bowed as she was reading and highlighting the important words and phrases and she naturally did not notice the almost flying figure heading toward her table.
• Althea's focus is topnotch, she didn't even notice that a fight broke out.
• As the flying figure, who was unfortunately kicked by his enemy, flew towards her table, another sturdy figure appeared just in time. He stopped the figure from directly crashing towards Althea's table, but because of the force, he was pushed back a little and managed to disrupt the still table of Althea.
• Althea was in the middle of highlighting a sentence when her table moved. The pen was pushed upward.
• Startled, she raised her head to see what was going on. Many heads turned toward her table and stared at the two figures in front of her. Some were laughing loudly; some were frowning since their lunch was ruined. It was so noisy that she couldn't make out most of the words they said.
• But she still managed to catch one word; Tyler.
• Surprised, Althea focused her attention on the man who was currently laughing while holding another man by his collar.
• The man, who was apparently Tyler, was facing his back to her. His body is sturdy and the lines of his muscles are visible under his shirt.
• What is he doing here? Althea asked herself.
• As she was busy asking herself why Tyler suddenly whipped his head to look at her over his shoulder. Incidentally, their eyes met.
• At once, Althea blushed and hurriedly lowered her head down. Why not? She has been crushing on him ever since she saw Tyler on the school grounds months ago. That time, too, their eyes met. As the weakest one between them, Althea was the one who dragged her eyes away and stumbled for escape.
• So, naturally, she did not see him gazing at her back with amusement in his eyes. Since then, Tyler kept on noticing her everywhere.
• Althea really scolded herself that day. Stupid! She's usually calm and rational, but how can she be flustered by just one man?
• Come on Althea! You have faced many men already!
• "Hey."
• A low and tempting voice pulled her out of her internal battle.
• Althea almost jolted in shock, fortunately, she stopped herself. She looked at Tyler with wide eyes.
• Di- Did Tyler just talk to me?!
• She was already squirming inside but her outer self-remained calm, except for her traitor cheeks and ears that were currently reddening in shame and, well, a little bit of excitement.
• "Hey, hello."
• Althea mentally sighed in relief. Thank goodness, I did not stammer, if she did, she would literally dig a hole and bury herself, or just pray for the ground to open up and swallow her whole. She can't take such humiliation. Not in front of anyone, and absolutely not in front of this man.
• Seeing that Tyler was still staring at her, she blushed even more and hastily looked down then she pretended that she was reading. Such an obvious lie.
• She wanted to persist and stubbornly hold their gaze together but she couldn't handle the intensity of his gaze. She cowered like she always did.
• Unbeknownst to Althea, a soft smile with a hidden amusement appeared on Tyler's face, only to disappear a second after.
• "Is this seat taken?" Tyler asked.
• Althea raised her gaze again but carefully avoided his piercing eyes. She was already composed and the red tint of her ears and cheeks was already gone as if it never existed in the first place.
• 'Aw,' Tyler thought. 'What a shame.'
• If Althea happens to hear what he was thinking, surely, she will not only have red cheeks and ears but from toes to head, will be colored with flaming red. Her head might even let out some steam.
• But unfortunately for Tyler, she isn't a mind reader, nor a psychic.
• Althea looked at the plastic chair he was referring to and shook her head. She was thinking about saying it was, but she did not want to be rude. Besides, she has no friends on campus. Not that she did not want to have one, it's just that, no one approached her. That is understandable though, she is, after all, a transferee.
• "No, it isn't." She finally said.
• "Sweet!" Tyler sat down almost immediately after Althea said her reply and, once again, bore his gaze towards Althea.
• She can't understand why he has to stare at her openly. She shrugged it off, thinking that he will stop looking at her later on.
• But, minutes passed, and Tyler was still looking at her.
• Althea was feeling really, really uncomfortable under his gaze. She straightened her back and asked.
• "... Is there something wrong with my face?"
• "No, of course, there isn't."
• 'So why are you staring at me like that?' Althea wants to ask, but she has no courage to do so.
• Althea just nodded and pretended to read her books again.
• Even if wants to focus, she can feel Tyler's gaze on her. How can she focus?! One cannot focus if one knows that someone is staring at them. Of course, she's not exempt. Unless she was already too focused on something before they gaze hard at her, she won't notice.
• But Althea is fully aware that someone is staring at her. And that the man who was staring at her is not a random person, he was the person she was crushing for months now!
• She originally thought that it would just last for days, but now, after many months, she confirmed that it did not even lessen, worse, it even intensified!
• How in the world?!
• Althea labels herself as a rational woman. She firmly believes that there's no such thing as love at first sight! What a ridiculous thing it is! No logic at all!
• Still, she can't explain it herself, for some reason, she took the liking of looking at him from afar. It was frightening. She had never been like this in the past.
• "So, how about you?"
• Tyler suddenly asked. Althea's internal suffering paused for a while after she heard him talking to her again. She looked up and Tyler directly held her gaze. His deep green eyes are holding her aquamarine one.
• Those eyes...
• Althea unconsciously held her breath. Those captivating eyes again! They were in deep green, like a black hole, you can feel the strength of the pull in his eyes.
• "Althea, how about you?" He asked again. His eyes showed a small smile.
• Althea was startled. How did he know her name?!
• "What about me?"
• Tyler smiled and leaned back to the chair he was sitting on. He crossed his arms across his chest, not breaking their eye contact even for a second.
• "Althea, how about you?" He paused for a while before his smile widened. But unlike his previous smiles that carried carelessness and amusement, the smile he was showing right now was full of seriousness.
• "Are you taken?"
• Silence engulfed their table.
• It took a minute or so until Althea understood what Tyler just said. She opened her mouth but nothing came out, she closed it again.
• Thi- thi- this Tyler is, Tyler is, Tyler is too lame! He's lame! Super lame! That was not cool at all!
• Even though she has that in mind, under the gaze of many students inside the cafeteria, Althea's face heats up. Her face is colored deep, deep, red.
• Did she just receive an indirect confession?!
• --
• If only she knew what would happen 4 years from now, she would never, ever ask that question. No, if she did know, she will never, ever meet those eyes of his again.