Courting

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 heirs that they know, Tyler is the only one who has to inherit many companies from both sides of his parents. His mother is a very big fish in the business world, not to mention his father.

Although his parents are divorced, both of them didn't build their own families. So, technically, he is the sole heir.

The four of them can't help but sigh mentally. Such wealth it is.

Tyler, who was sitting languidly on the stairs while chewing a lollipop (yes, chewing) and gazing blankly towards nowhere, turned his head towards them.

The four of them can't understand the girls screaming and shouting for this bastard's name every single time they see him. Sure, he is smart. Sure, he is undeniably handsome. Sure he has the body to die for. But why?

Why can't they see this bastard, lazy, womanizer side of him?!

"We were talking about the future." One of them said, dismissing the topic.

"Hmm."

"He's right."

"Absolutely."

Tyler laughed and thought, 'Being surrounded by idiots sure is fun!'

"Well-" he stood just before he finished his sentence. The other four were startled. "Sorry- goodbye!"

"Wai- where are you going?!"

"To my future!"

Their mouth was left hanging with his words. They turned to see what he was referring to and they couldn't help but sigh.

They just watched him sprint towards the library, chasing the figure that had just entered it.

It seems like the era of Tyler bringing a womanizer is coming to an end.

-

Althea's lessons for the day are over. She wanted to retire early and go back to her apartment and rest, but the exams are coming up. With a tired mind and heart, she went towards the library.

'It's even a miracle that I graduated from middle school. With an honor at that,' She nonchalantly said in her mind whilst taking out her notes and books.

Undeniably, she's smart. Undeniably, Althea is the only one who doesn't notice. Or rather, she's too lazy to care.

The chair she was sitting on didn't even heat yet when someone sat in front of her. She wanted to groan in frustration.

Come on, can you please not bother me?

The library is not even packed with students. Many chairs are vacant, and they choose to sit in front of her. Who can do that?

Of course, none other than him.

"Hey!" Tyler greeted with a cheeky smile on his face. Althea thought he looked stupid. She was wondering why he can still act so lively at this time. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer immediately, instead; she stared at him like he was growing another head or something.

They said that he's smart. But how can he not guess that I am here to study? Did he lose his eyes together with his brain?

"I'm studying." She said, instead of mocking him. It was a waste of time and breath. She still needed to finish immediately, and she had many obligations to do. Whatever it is, this need to end, fast.

He chuckled, knowing what exactly was on her mind. He leaned on the chair he was sitting on and inserted his hands in his side pockets. He stared at her intently.

"Studying, huh." He said. "I thought it was something else."

Althea squinted her eyes. "What are supposed to do inside a library aside from studying?"

"Sleeping."

"..." What the fu- "Who sleeps in a libr-"

"I do." He proudly said.

"..."

Forget that I asked.

She decided to ignore him. She decided to deduct his points. He originally has 100 points, but she'll deduct 100. Now, he has no points left. Maybe it will drop into negative in the future.

Tyler lightly chuckled and leaned forward.

"Hey." He called out, and as expected, she ignored him. "Hey, hey, don't ignore me."

Still, she didn't heed his call. Tyler squinted his eyes and leaned further. "Heeeeyyyyyyy."

"What?" she snapped.

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"I'm studying-"

"Stop studying and talk with me-"

"Why would I?"

"Because I am planning on impressing you."

"Wha-!"

"Quiet!"

"..."

"..."

They both shut their mouth as the librarian told them. The students near the two turned to look. Althea lowered her head in embarrassment. She bit her lips to stop herself from pulling his hair. She was so frustrated that she almost bumped her head on the table.

This guy- he sure likes to pull her into a very embarrassing situation!

Can I just punch him? Kick him? Pull his hair until he turned bald?

"I know a place where you can relax while studying."

"Hmmm?" Where is the other place that is peaceful and relaxing to study aside from the library? Tyler is the only reason why she can't relax and concentrate.

Tyler took her response as her curiosity being pricked.

"Come with me." He stood up and waited for her to do the same.

-

"So," she said. "This is the place where I can relax and study, huh?"

For annoying her, disturbing her when she was studying, and embarrassing her. This place is worth it.

Althea stood in the center of the flowers. It was a botanical garden. She never knew that a place like this existed in their school.

She was mesmerized by the beauty of the place, so she stared blankly for a minute, and gladly, no one disturbed her. She took her time to intake the view.

The garden was huge and vast. There are different pots for each plant and different sections. She walked to identify them.

Wha- There are herbs! Are they planning on creating their own medicine?

Even cacti! And what then? Why do they have to store many succulent plants? Is the school running out of water?

But above all, they have lots and lots of varieties of flowers.

She was tempted to pluck one of each, or at least bring back their seeds. Surely the caretaker will not know of it, right?

"You like flowers, don't you?" Tyler's voice sounded from behind.

"How did you know?" She turned and furrowed her eyebrows at him. She remembered that he even sent her flowers earlier.

"Well, knowing the person you are courting is one. But really, I just wanted to impress you."

"..." She stared blankly at him. "Spill the beans."

"... Actually, I saw your records in the library. You borrowed multiple books about plants and flowers." He confessed.

"..." She doesn't know what to say, and she doesn't want to talk to him anymore.

Is this the feeling of having someone stalk you? It's not good, but either not bad.

It was the first time that someone looked into her library record. Usually, people give her the label 'nerd'. No one cared what she was good at or what kind of books she preferred. As waves of emotion flowed inside, Althea felt something in her heart melting.

She turned her head back and walked towards the field of flowers. She crouched down and looked at the flowers in front.

"They are well maintained." After some observation, she said.

"Of course it is," Tyler replied. "Or else it will be a waste of money."

"Say, Thea." Thea? How dare he make a random nickname for her?

"What?" she asked. "Oh, and please don't call me Thea."

He ignored her last remark. "Are you free this Saturday? I want to show you something."

Tempting, but sorry. "I have a group project. We agreed to make it this Saturday."

"Where?"

Althea looked at her disapprovingly. "Why do I have to tell you?"

He grinned. "I wanna join too."

"... Fuck off."