Chapter 1

Chapter One: Unrequited Crush

ANABETH COLLINS

I literally crawled down the bed like what you see in horror movies when my alarm clock rang. I lazily dragged myself to the bathroom to take a bath. I roughly have half an hour before school starts. Eh, I may or may not have pressed the snooze button but sue me, I slept late last night!

Curse Vampire Diaries and Damon. God, I can stare at that piece of art all day long. 

"Anabeth! Move faster or you'll be late! Stop dragging yourself to the bathroom! You are a human and not a snake for God's sake!" 

I rolled my eyes when I heard my Mom's voice from outside. I stood up with a grunt and leaned against the door for support before yawning wide while stretching my arms. Not really a pretty sight to see but who cares? I'm alone anyway. It's the only time I can be myself without worrying about what other people think about me. 

I stared at myself in the mirror like what I always do before taking a bath. You see, I have never been confident with my looks. My curly waist length brown hair, my eyebrows are a bit thick but I trim it by myself,  from a youtube tutorial I watched. My eyes are a boring set of blue eyes. My nose is a cute button nose. My lips are pouty and full that I got from Mom. My body is slim. My mother once forced me to see a Doctor if I was anorexic but thank God I wasn't. I am just really slim and don't eat much because I don't have a big appetite. 

My bully back when I was still a kid often teased me that I was like a kite that might get blown away by the wind. Now that I'm twenty, things haven't changed much. I'm still as skinny as heck that P.E teachers are just making me sit down to avoid possible injuries. 

After scanning myself from head to toe and sighing to myself, I finally hopped in the shower to wake myself up. I took a quick cold shower before drying my little body using my fluffy pink towel. I'm girly, but so what? My favorite color is pink, but what of it? 

I quickly dried my hair using another towel before wrestling with it using my brush. Having curly long hair is hard but Mom doesn't want me to cut it and I kind of loved my hair like that anyway. It hides my face well. When I was done dressing myself with a pair of sweaters and jeans, I just threw my things on top of the bed to clean them later at once. I picked up my bag and opened the door. 

"Oh, joy. You have ten minutes more to go to the university. Pray to God you'll get there on time or you are grounded from using your phone." Mom scolded me, making me pout. 

My Mom is already dressed for work. She is a nurse who works for our town's hospital. For five years now, it has always been me and Mom when Dad chose to leave us for a much younger woman. I hated him then. I witnessed how Mom's world crumbled down, heard her muffled cries and sobs when she thought I was sleeping. I can only watch helplessly how Mom will stare into nothing in particular with tears in her eyes. 

It took a year before she got better and we moved far away from the town. From Dad's territory. It's a good thing, too. Mom and I moved on and we are now healed. Mom even started dating again and his name is Frank. Frank is a nice man and I can see how much he cares for her. 

"I do this every time, trust me, I know what I'm doing." I retorted and got a slap on the back of my head for that. "Mom." I groaned before snatching two pieces of bread and putting my favorite eggs, biting into it and chewing.

"You will not be able to be a graduate like this, Anabeth. I know we failed a grade because of what happened but please focus, okay? You have two more years before you graduate from college, but if you're that lazy, then you can kiss it goodbye."

I whined. "Don't you trust me, Mom? I'm smart and I can pull it off. I will be a nurse like you in just a few years." Mom only shook her head in defeat. 

When I was done with my two-minute breakfast, I stood up and kissed Mom's cheek. "Gotta go now, Mom. Oh my, Granola. I actually forgot my first subject for today is Science with Mrs. Hendricks." I remembered and grimaced. 

"You ate so little, why don't you take some more with you?" Mom suggested, her voice laced with worry. 

"Nope! I'll just buy bread or something. Bye, Mom! I love you!" I shouted as I ran outside and waved my hand. 

Thankfully, I saw a bus and quickly got in. The School is just five minutes away from our home by bus and twenty minutes on foot. Sometimes, if I'm in the mood, I will walk. Keyword; Sometimes. I put in my earphones and set the volume to the highest to block the chit-chats around me. I hated taking the bus with passion but Mom refused when I told her I'll just ride a bike or something. She said it's too dangerous and risky so even if I hate the bus where strangers are, I just swallowed my protests and obeyed. 

When the bus stopped, I practically flew out the door and ran fast to my locker. I took my Science book out and put everything else inside. I glanced down at my watch and gasped softly when I saw that I only have five minutes before the class starts. I rounded the corner and because I was in a hurry, I failed to see a person walking in front of me until my head bumped into their hard chest. 

"Oww!" I exclaimed when I fell on my ass. Geez, what a stupid tree! 

I rub my hurt forehead before looking up and my mouth fell open when I recognized the person in front of me. 

Oh, God. It's Irah King. 

Every girl's innocent and not so innocent dream. Every guy's threat. Everyone adores him. The man is the perfect example of a perfect man. Handsome, smart, kind. He has all the good qualities and attitudes that I don't. I shrank back at the thought. I always see hima and I can only admire him from afar. Because as clichè as it sounds, a loser like me can only do that much. I'm not even sure if I have the right to even attempt to have a crush on him. 

Like what I've been doing for a year now. 

A large hand in front of me stopped me from daydreaming, blinking at the hand before looking up. I blushed when I saw Irah smiling and quickly hid it using my hair before accepting his help. His hands are rough and I could feel bumps and cuts from it but assumed it's because of him being sporty. You see, Irah is not only the smartest, richest guy in their School, he's also talented and sporty. 

"I'm sorry. Are you hurt?" His gentle and caring voice almost melted me. His voice sounded so beautiful, like the ones you hear from audiobooks. I can listen to his voice all day. 

"I-I'm fine." I stuttered and lowered my head in shame. 

"So stupid of me to not look where I'm going." Irah laughed and it warmed my stomach. Even his laugh is addicting. 

God, am I obsessing too much?

I caught sight of the time and gasped loudly. "It's okay! Gotta go!" I side stepped him before running down the hall. Not a graceful sight to see but as much as I'd love to stay and have a conversation with him, Mrs. Hendricks terrifies me more! 

I let out a huge sigh of relief when I did not see her in her place in front of the class before sitting on my seat. I wiped my forehead before catching my breath. Now that I'm alone, the feelings caught up to me and I almost squealed in delight. Gosh, I sounded like a teenager going to One Direction's concert for the first time! I must have looked like a stuttering fan in front of him. But that's what I felt when I saw him that close for the first time! 

I only had the luxury of watching him play tennis or badminton secretly from the bench. And when I thought he was handsome, then. I'm actually wrong. Irah King is gorgeous in person! He looked a lot like Leonardo De Carpio and Ian Salvatore! He has a beautiful set of blue eyes, pointed and high nose, his lips are pinkish and looks so soft! 

Gee, now I plainly sound like a pervert. 

"You're late again, girl." 

I was snapped out of my day dream when I heard Monique, my best friend's voice. We've been friends since forever and we knew each other from inside out. Monique knew about my secrets and I knew about hers. As a shy introvert, I often withdraw myself from others. I like being alone and eating alone. Until Monique came and demanded she eat with me. Monique told me that I looked so lonely that's why she joined me. I smiled for the first time and allowed her to stay close. We've been through sky and land, ups and downs, thick and thin. 

"Not really. I got here on time." I denied like I usually do before motioning her to come closer and whispered in her ears. "I bumped into Irah King on my way here."

"No way." Monique exclaimed, completely amazed. "You're kidding."

"I wish. I even felt his hand." 

To my utter surprise and annoyance, Monique squealed like a pig and it gained the attention of their classmates. All eyes are now on us, making me want to hide from their judging eyes. Curse my ever so noisy friend! 

"What? You guys haven't seen a face this pretty?" I heard Monique scoff and I took a peek from the safety of my hair to see our classmates looking away. Monique has always been the feisty and extroverted one and I sometimes envy her for it. If only I have her confidence maybe then I'll be treated fairly. I won't be the center of laughter or gossip. I won't be receiving judging eyes and insults. 

Monique was about to ask more when Mrs. Hendricks strode in with her head held high and a stern look on her face. 

"Good morning, class." 

A round of mumbles and lazy answers were heard, and Mrs. Hendricks raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Shall I wake your dead brains with a recitation?"

"Good morning!" Everyone including me shouted loudly this time. 

"That's what I thought. As you can see, I have prepared a projector and screen here for a presentation you need to see and a former student of mine will do the honor." She informed us while pointing at the projector on top of her table and the white screen upfront. "Come in."

I yawned and stared boredly at the door but my eyes widened when I saw who just entered the room. A series of screams and squeals was heard around the classroom but I remained dumbstruck just staring at the man in front of us in shock. 

"Hello. My name is Irah King and I'll be presenting a project I did way back. Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Hendricks. Nice to meet you all."

He'll be the one presenting it? Oh no, I remember her saying we'll have a quiz right after. How will I be able to focus when he'll be the one to talk? 

Our eyes met and Irah actually smiled at h

Me, making my cheeks automatically reddened. 

My freaking Donut, how?!