Chapter 6: THE SECOND ENCOUNTER

               

2018: CLARA

My eyes slowly opened to the bright morning light streaming through the gaps in my curtains, I blinked away the remnants of sleep, only to find my gaze settling on the alarm clock—its glaring red numbers reading 8:00 AM, a full two hours past the intended 6:00 AM wake-up call. I must have slept through it.

“Damn it, I overslept," I groaned.

I immediately stood up from my bed, only to be met with a throbbing pain in my head and a wave of nausea.

“Dang it, hangovers!!''

I forgot the after-effects of one too many drinks. I remembered that I had an important physiology class.

I ran to the bathroom, and within a little time I was out.

I entered the closet to dress up, where My gaze fell upon my mom's dress from the previous night, triggering a flood of memories.

There I was, sharing a conversation with an undeniably attractive man—holding his hand, looking into those pretty blue eyes.

Of course, I was familiar with Robins Tyla; his presence at Toppings was well-known, but I had never truly noticed his good looks until last night.

Standing close enough to him that I could smell his manly cologne, and jeez his voice so deep that it got my knees weak immediately, and damn those eyes.

"Shit,” I cursed, realizing how big my smile was.

“What am I doing” I asked myself knowing I'm in trouble cause he won't be leaving my head anytime soon

I shook myself back to reality. This is not the time to fantasize about scorching hot Robins when I've got physiology in a few minutes.

I hurriedly dressed and made my way out the door.

The sound of screeching tires announced Chloe's arrival just as I stepped outside. She leaned out of her car window, a mischievous grin playing on her lips.

"Hey, girl," she said, her excitement barely contained.

Narrowing my eyes, I couldn't help but be suspicious of her unexpected appearance.

"Hi... How did you know I hadn't left already?"

“Oh, please, Angie. There's no way you'd wake up early, especially after downing all those drinks last night. You're a total lightweight!"

"What do you mean, 'downing all those drinks'?" I said defensively. "I didn't drink that much."

Chloe rolled her eyes, a giggle escaping her lips.

"Come on, Angie. "The whole party saw you with that scorching hot Robin Tyla."

"Shut up, Chloe," I snapped, feeling my cheeks grow warm.

"But you two were so cute together," she continued.

“Holding hands, and laughing. Really Cute”

“Oh my God, I can't stand you."

I huffed, storming towards the car. Chloe laughed, settling into the driver's seat.

We drove in silence for a few moments, until Chole decided to break it.

"So... what's the plan?" she asked, giving me that all-too-familiar look.

"What plan?" I replied, feigning ignorance.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about—you and Sexy Tyla," Chloe said, raising her eyebrow in a knowing manner.

"There's no plan," I insisted.

"It was just a one-night, party-mood thing. We might never even have a conversation again."

I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness at the thought.

Chloe pressed on.

"Okay, but picture this: say you two actually do talk again, and he likes you and asks you out. What would you say?"

"Please stop your crazy imagination, Chloe," I sighed.

"That's not even possible."

"Oh, yes, it is," she said.

I rolled my eyes but decided to play along. "Fine. Let's just pretend it happens."

"And what would you say?" Chloe squealed

“I agree with him being hot and all.”

“Awwwww”

“But no," I said firmly.

"I don't need any distractions right now, and Robins is like Toppings' star." "I don't want to get caught up in that whole 'dating the popular guy' thing."

"Yeah, especially with how Roseline gets clingy with him sometimes," Chloe added.

"Exactly," I agreed.

"And that would probably never happen."

We arrived at school and went our separate ways to attend our classes. Afterward, I met Chloe standing in front of the language class.

"Ready to go home?" I asked, my books, already packed.

"Actually, Angie, I won't be going home with you today," Chloe replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. "You don't have any more classes."

"Well, now I do," she admitted sheepishly. "I have French class."

"What? French is an optional course," I pointed out.

"And you don't take any optional courses."

"Well, now French is my only option," Chloe said, smirking.

"Option for what?" I asked, still not understanding.

"For getting close to Cole," she whispered

"Cole Harrison?" I asked

So apparently Cole is this guy Chloe met last week and can't stop talking about about

“Yes we had a moment yesterday. At the party” she said smiling

Now I see the reason Chloe stood here. She has a clear view of him in the class. I also turned to look at him only to notice an unfamiliar face beside him.

“Who is the guy beside him?”

I wondered who he was, though I remembered seeing him yesterday with Rosaline. Strange he must be new or something.

“That's Andrew Parker," she replied.

"He's a transfer student. He's new.”

“Oh that explains it” I said

"Anyway, I'll be heading home now." I packed up my belongings but realized I needed to use the restroom before leaving. After a quick visit, I made my way outside, only to find Andrew Parker coming in my opposite direction. It was a surprising coincidence, considering we had just been talking about him.

I expected us to continue on our separate ways, as we didn't officially know each other, but to my surprise, he greeted me with a bright smile.

"Angela, right?" he asked, sounding pleased to see me.

"Yes, I am," I replied, taken aback by his familiarity.

"And surprisingly, you know that."

"Yeah," he said with a grin.

"My friend is a friend of your friend Chloe, and I think she mentioned you once or twice." I couldn't help but smile; it sounded just like Chloe to talk about me to someone I hadn't even met yet.

"Oh, really?" I asked, intrigued.

“Yeah” smiling,he responded

Andrew seemed like a nice guy, and I wouldn't have minded continuing our conversation, but I had a lot on my plate. I needed to meet with my dad for a discussion, and my project was due tomorrow. So I had to round up whatever this is was

"It's really nice to meet you, Andrew," I said, wrapping up our brief chat.

"Same here," he replied, extending his hand for a handshake. The handshake lingered a bit longer than it should before I finally pulled away.

"Bye," I said, hurrying off.

"Bye,”

I could hear him reply but my attention was already focused on my phone, which had just lit up with a message from my dad.

Walking fast with your eyes on your phone is not exactly advisable cause I just bumped hard into someone.

And Damn I can recognize that familiar scent of cologne anytime anywhere

“Well, well if it isn't the clumsy green eyes” the smooth, deep voice teased.

Of all the people to bump into, what were the odds it would be Robins Tyla again?