Jealousy 

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 to follow her and break from their grasp.

  But he will not approach and stand by her side, he will instead stand at a distance that is enough for him to move again in case she attempts to move away.

 It irked her. Now, there's no way she can escape on her own. Tyler is supposedly busy with the party and the girls! Why is he guarding her like a dog?

A dog Tyler?

 ... It doesn't sound bad.

 'What am I thinking?!' she angrily shouted in her mind. 

Why is it that every time her mind wanders, she walks leisurely into a room with nothing but crap? She needs to think about how to escape from Tyler, fast. 

Ah, her precious weekend.

Althea once met the eyes of one of the guys she talked to before, about helping her out, but he just looked away like he didn't know her. The other one looked at her with sympathy. 

 He sent her his brain waves, 'Sorry! We forgot that when Tyler likes something, he sticks to it like a leech! You will never get him off!' 

She received his brain waves, and she almost snapped.

 'Sorry?! Forgot?! Do you think I'm stupid?!'

Yes, she is stupid; she was stupid enough to believe them earlier. 

 Snap!

 Althea looked down only to see the poor stick she was holding snap into two after receiving her anger. Somehow, it calmed her nerves. 

'If I can't go home early, so be it.' She gave up. She crossed through tables and picked up a glass of juice. 'Better to enjoy the party then.'

Her gaze swept through the dancing crowd. Many familiar faces are mixed with unfamiliar ones. They were grinding against each other. Some were holding a glass of alcoholic drink while dancing like they lost their mind. 

 All of them are wasted. The girls are wearing short dresses, like the fabrics in this world are scarce. The guys are ogling with their exposed thighs. Even occasionally touching here and there.

 Althea felt her body shudder in disgust. She's fifteen, and she knows that everyone here is not far from her age. But to have this audacity to do such disgraceful acts—!

 Whatever. Teenage pregnancy at its finest.

 'Uh,' she thought while looking at the crowd and the place where the party was held. 'Such a grand party it is. To have this large mansion, how rich is the one who's holding the party?'

 As she was absorbed in her thoughts, she did not notice an approaching figure. She did not expect that anyone would take notice of her in the first place.

 "Hi, 'r you alone?" A smiling voice said. The music was loud, so the man leaned toward her ears and asked.

 Every hair on her body stood. She was startled by his sudden approach. Unconsciously, she stepped back until they were at least an arm's length away. 

The stranger noticed this, but instead of getting annoyed, it set his blood boiling. His smile widened. He stepped towards her again.

 Althea was getting more uncomfortable. She surpassed her twitched mouth. She said calmly, "I'm—”

Wait, is she alone?

 Her mind wandered towards the memory of Tyler accompanying her inside. She mentally shook her head. 

 "I am." 

 The smile of this stranger widened. Even more, Althea tried to maintain her polite smile.

'This lustful bastard, how thick of a face is he? Can't he see that I don't want to do anything?'

"That's great!" Because of the loud booming of music, he shouted. He tried being seductive, but to Althea, he was just being an ugly frog. He might be overly confident just because he hooked up with many women before, but he should exclude her from them. "Dance with me!"

 The man reached for her waist. He did not even wait for her response. She, in shock, stepped away. But before his hand touched her, another strong arm snaked around Althea's waist. Althea jolted in shock, and with wide eyes, she looked over her shoulder.

 She couldn't see the man's face fully because he was way taller than her. But his chiseled jaw and his low alluring voice gave his identity away.

'Tyler?!' she screamed in her mind. ' Isn't he meters away from me?'

"Sorry," his voice a smile, but his eyes glinted with malice. The other man felt that every hair on his body stood up. "She's with me."

That was a threat. He was not that stupid to not notice the threat and warning in his voice and eyes. His eyes unconsciously wandered to his arm on Althea's slender waist.

 'Darn,' he mentally shook his head. 'Tyler sure is territorial.'

 "Okay!" He shouted with a laugh, raising his hands and surrendering. He shot Althea a wink before turning his back on them and walking away with the discovery. No matter how he wanted to dance with the girl, he had to stop himself for now and wait until Tyler got bored with her. 

Althea watched him retreating in relief. 

'Finally, get me off from the nuisance.'

"You're pretty popular, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Althea looked up and met his eyes. Upon having the contact, she unconsciously shrunk her neck. "What are you talking about?"

This guy, why is he glaring at me like that?

 Tyler blanked for a second before his shoulders shook visibly. He broke into a smile and his eyes were also laughing. 

 'Hang on one damn second, so this girl did not notice?' he was amused. The arm that was holding her small waist tightened as he surpassed the urge to hug her under the eyes of many.

It seems like everyone knew about this but the topic itself. Ever since Althea transferred to the school, almost everyone in the school knows her. She's one of the beauties. She is also smart, not the typical beauty in the school who couldn't care less about their marks. And, above all, everyone knows that Tyler has his eyes on her.

The reason why no one approached her was that she was giving off a vibe of, 'approach me and die'. 

 "So cute!" He blurted out of the blue. 

Althea was taken aback. Did he knock his head or something? How can he call her cute all of a sudden?

N-not that she's against it or something.

Embarrassed by her thoughts, she looked away and lifted her cup to drink the remnants of the orange liquid.

They remained silent after. She felt so awkward and she couldn't bring herself to talk about anything. Not that they have anything to talk about in the first place. She just wanted to break the awkward atmosphere they had. But between them, she was the only one who felt awkward. Tyler is enjoying resting his hand on her small waist.

 Althea began to move her head and body along with the loud music. The place was lively and she couldn't help but dance to the beat. She thought that a party wasn't bad as long as nothing unfortunate happened. The unfortunate thing for her is, by the way, being invited to dance on the crowded dance floor.

Tyler just watched the surroundings silently with a smile on his lips. Then he looked down at the person in his embrace and it seemed like she still was not aware of it. He chuckled.

 "Hey," he called, leaning towards her ears. "How about we go to another place? We are rather getting too much attention here."

Althea ignored the tingling sensation in her ears, she looked up, and her face was only inches away from him. She paused for a second before ignoring the small gap. They spoke in that distance to the point that they were already smelling each other's breath.

"What are you—" saying? What? 

Getting too much what?

'Oh please,' she prayed. 'I hope it isn't what I think.'

She looked around only to see the crowd sneaking glances at them. Some even bluntly looked and whispered towards the one on their side.

 Althea was confused at first, why the hell is she getting too much attention? Then, she noticed the arm that was circling her waist.

She flushed from white to red.

"See that? I told you so, we are getting too much attention."

 Althea wanted to jab his body with her elbow. Jab his ribs until they crack and pierce his own heart. Earlier, she told herself that she was grateful that Tyler was not with her because she loves the almost no attention she gets. But this—

It's too much for not wanting attention! Almost everyone in the area has their eyes on them. It's embarrassing that she could die!

Floor, open up, and swallow me whole!