Chapter 01

THE MORNING sun was slowly creeping up, its rays poking holes in the thick morning clouds, casting a soft orange and yellow hue on my room's white wall. The lively chirping of birds passing by served as a reminder that it's already morning. 

I've been awake for five minutes now, but I couldn't make my body move and start the day. I continued staring at the ceiling as if I was in a staring contest. My phone's alarm ringtone was blasting beside the bed, but I pretended I didn't hear it and just laid on the bed like a corpse.

Waking up in the morning was always the first struggle of the day. 

I heaved a deep sigh before I finally decided to move out of the bed. I pushed myself up and sat at the edge of the bed. My phone's alarm stopped ringing, but the reminder was still flashing on the screen. I grabbed my phone and swiped the reminder up, then I placed the phone back on the table. My eyelids still felt heavy. I wanted to sleep more, but it's effin' Monday and I had to go to school. 

I stood up and forced myself to walk to the bathroom. I almost fell on the floor when I unconsciously closed my eyes and forgot to blink. My mouth slowly opened for a yawn. 

When I entered the bathroom, I stretched my arms and turned my hips around to completely wake myself up. I did a one-minute stretching before I decided to finally take a bath. 

Singing in the bathroom has always been my hobby everytime I take a bath. It's a free concert I always do that only the essentials inside this bathroom could hear... or so I thought.

A loud thud on the window on top of the shower made me jolt. With eyes widened and jaw dropped, I looked up at the closed window. What the heck was that?!

“F*ck it! Can't you shut up for once?! If you're already awake, let others sleep! Geez! You're so noisy!”

I gasped, my blood slowly boiling after hearing my older brother's annoying voice. 

“Leave me and my concert alone!

Don't disturb me! I didn't even bother you when I knew you were watching ‘that’ and did ‘that’ last night!”

“Oh, f*ck you! Shut the f*ck up! Why do you even know that?!”  

I gasped and jumped in surprise when another object hit the window. Maybe I'd tell Mom to send my brother to a hospital for anger management counseling before he'd destroy everything in this house.

“F*ck you, too! I hope you'll never get a girlfriend until you die, you jerk!” I retorted and rolled my eyes.

He's always getting into my nerves! They always say that siblings should get along and love each other but I just couldn't when he's like that! He always gets angry at me when I didn't even know what I did, that's why I also always get annoyed at him. 

I just shrugged and continued my bath. And yes, I also continued my concert, with a dramatic exit out of the bathroom as my closing remarks. I just laughed at how silly I looked before I started walking towards the closet and wore my school uniform. The uniform had a white blouse,a gray blazer, and blue necktie as a top, and a navy blue skirt that falls up to the knee as a bottom. 

I blowdried my hair before I started braiding it. It was a bit hard and numbing to braid my hair as its length was up to my hips, but I managed to braid my hair neatly anyway.

Due to iron deficiency and dehydration, my lips were pale and chapped so I had to put on a lip balm and a little bit of lip tint to make my lips appear pinkish. 

After changing and making myself pretty, I went to the kitchen where Mom was preparing our breakfast. I smiled when I saw her back. 

“Good morning, Mom! What's for breakfast?” I sat down on the monobloc chair in front of the table. There was already a plate of toasts and a sunny-side egg on the table.

Mom glance at me through her shoulders for a second but quickly returned her attention to what she was cooking before answering, “Oh. Just an omelet. Your brother wanted to bring an omelet for his lunch later.”

I grimaced when I heard her talk about my brother. “His lunch? Pfft. He'll just give that to the girl he has a crush on in his workplace! That girl likes omelets, especially homemade.”

How did I know? Of course, I'll know. If you have a brother like mine— hate to admit it but he's quite the 'chic magnet' type—you'll know about the information you didn't even ask for!

Mom chuckled. “There's never a day that I don't see you two fighting. Can't you just get along with your brother, Jillian?”

I rolled my eyes and groaned in annoyance. Can I ask for a brother replacement? I want to replace my brother with someone nicer!

“Are you talking behind my back?”

I quickly glanced at the door upon hearing my brother's voice. My eyes automatically rolled at the sight of him as if they were programmed to do so. His face was enough to ruin my day.

“Julian, dear,” Mom greeted. “Have a seat. You should eat now.”

“What's for breakfast?” he asked while checking what was placed on the table before sitting down.

“Just eat whatever's on the table.” I clicked my tongue, irritated.

Just when I was about to fill my mouth with food, I saw him raise his hand, about to hit me with the spoon he's holding. I quickly moved away and shouted, “Mommy! He's gonna hit me with a spoon!”

Like a lioness who got alerted, Mom quickly turned around and gave my older brother a warning look, with both hands resting on each side of her hips.

“Juls, stop that! You're a 24-year-old guy, for Pete's sake, but you act like you're younger than your sister.”

When Mom turned around to wash her hands, I looked at my brother and smirked at him. I stuck out my tongue to annoy him more. He just rolled his eyes and grumpily leaned his back on the seat and continued eating. Looks like I had the last laugh!

---

MY BROTHER was supposed to send me to school in his car but because it's still early, and there's still half an hour left before class starts, I insisted to walk to school. 

As usual, I visited my favorite cafe near our house— the Spring Leaf Cafe. Whenever I didn't like to study at home, Spring Leaf Cafe was my best option. 

When I arrived at the cafe, I pushed the glass door open. The chimes quickly rattled, making Cindy—the employee at the counter—look in my direction. 

Cindy flashed her welcoming smile. “Good morning, Jill!”

I smiled back. “Good morning!” I greeted back as I was walking towards the counter. 

There was still a customer that she's talking to. When that customer left, I quickly took a step forward.

“The usual?” she asked while still smiling at me. I chuckled.

“Uh-huh,” I answered with a slow nod.

She also nodded before she started making my coffee. Every time I come here, I only order coffee.

While waiting for my coffee, I looked around inside the cafe. While looking around, my eyes got fixated on a guy sitting at the corner of the cafe. His hoodie was up, I couldn't see his face. But I could tell he was nervous from the way his fingers were rapidly typing on the screen of his iPhone 12 and how he would cautiously look outside every second.

Was he, perhaps, being chased? Cases about people being chased by creeps are rampant these days. Boys aren't an exemption to that.

“Jillian's coffee is here!”

I blinked and quickly turned around to look at Cindy. “Ah... T-Thanks.” She handed me the coffee and I quickly accepted it. “Gotta go now.”

I looked again at the hoodie guy's direction but to my surprise, he was already walking away with large steps. Where's he going? Oh, well, it wasn't my problem anymore. I just hope he's not being chased by some creep or worse, by some murderer.

I left the cafe and enjoyed my coffee while walking to school. The calm morning gave me inner peace. This peacefulness was all I could ask for.

I was about to take another sip from my coffee when someone suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me. I was about to yell at whoever it was but what he did next made me shut up. 

He pulled my nape closer to him. He tilted his head to the right and in an instant, his lips touched mine.

My eyes widened. What the hell!

I groaned. I tried pushing him away but he only tightened his grip on me! He even wrapped his other arm around my waist! My heartbeat doubled and my mind went haywire. Sh*t!

“Gosh! I saw him go this way!”

“Where!? Gosh! Where!?”

“JD my baby! Where art thou!?”

“I'll force him to impregnate me if I see him! Oh, gosh!”

I was about to look at the girls who passed by when he suddenly shifted his body, his back facing the girls. 

I quickly sucked in air when our lips parted. We were both breathing heavily. He hugged me and he moved his face closer to my ear. “Stay still,” he whispered.

I was too shocked to even function. I just stood there like a robot while he was hugging me. Two minutes had passed before he finally moved his body away from me. My system recovered from that two-minute shock, and I quickly looked up at his face. 

Oh... My... Gosh.

It's that hoodie guy from the cafe! How the hell...

“I'm sorry—”

Out of reflex, my hand swung and a loud slap landed on his cheek. 

“Ouch!” he hissed. “What the hell!?”

I blinked twice.“I-I'm sorry! I-I mean... what the hell?! Why did you suddenly kiss me?! This is harassment! I'll sue you!”

I fished out my phone and was about to take a picture of his face when he covered the camera and pushed my phone down so he could look at me.

“Hey! Hey! Listen to me first!” He tried to stop my hand from getting out of his grip. 

“Let my hand go!” I glared at him. “I'll report you to the police!”

“Hey, Miss, let me explain first! You can take a picture of me as many as you want but please listen to me first, will you?”

I gave him a death glare. “Give me an acceptable explanation or else you'll sleep in jail tonight!”

He sighed before he spoke, “you saw those girls who passed by earlier, didn't you? They're my fans--the obsessed ones. I was just jogging this morning but they saw me and started chasing me. I'm sorry, okay? I just couldn't think of any way to escape from them.”

I blinked. So I was right! He was being chased by some creepy fans! 

“But that doesn't change the fact that you harassed me! In public!” 

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I'm sorry, okay? What do you want me to do so you'll forgive me?”

My brows furrowed. He was in a tight position. If I was being chased by creeps, too, I'd desperately think of anything and do anything just to escape them, too. “I'll let this slide for now. But the next time I'll see you and you'll do it again...”

He raised a brow at me. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but you aren't that beautiful. Don't worry, I won't kiss you again. Never in this lifetime.”

I gasped. This jerk!

“Well, thanks for the cooperation, miss! Have a great day!”

I just stared at his back as he ran off, couldn't believe how thick-skinned he was. I scoffed and shook my head. I was about to leave when I noticed my stomach felt hot. That's when I noticed... my coffee got spilled on my uniform!