Chapter 1

ASTRID TALITHA'S POINT OF VIEW

I found myself step slowing down as I could barely see my own reflection in the transparent glass door as I was making my way out of the bookstore. I just walked the distance from the store to the campus then, I went to a place where there were only a few people. After finding an empty bench near the outdoor fountain placed near my department building, I took a seat and opened the book on pages one-hundred-one and one-hundred-two, where I left a bookmark earlier before I took a quick shower. I looked at my wristwatch and found out that I still have 20 minutes before my class starts. So I decided to catch some z's in the classroom.

"Miss Astrid Talitha Abram, answer the problems on page one-hundred-forty-seven on the board." Someone nudged me and I was awakened by him.

"Page one-hundred-forty-seven," Kolten whispered while I gave him a sheepish smile before I made my way toward the board.

"Take your seat." Our professor said after I answered the problem, she didn't even discuss it yet. Kolten gave me the black hair clip that I fell when I went to the front to answer the two equations written on the glass board. Kolten Zedekiel Ashford was my seatmate for almost all the courses we were taking for this semester. I knew him for so long that I can't even tell when that was. He really was a cold guy, someone hard to deal with. But I don't actually know how I managed to stay by his side up until now. He was one of the guys every girl was dreaming to have, that's how they describe him. In short, many girls are dying just to be noticed by him. And up until now, we were still taking the same courses since we both taking up medicine.

"Thanks!" I lifted the hair clip he just handed me. He just looked away while slowly chewing his gum like he always does.

"I know that you're smart, but the next time I caught you sleeping in my class, you will stand outside until our class is over. Is that clear?!" Our terror professor in Calculus exclaimed with authority.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. It won't happen again." I actually said those lines for the nth time. But I also failed to keep that.

"Okay. Class dismissed!" She announced the line that everyone in the classroom was waiting to hear after two hours of class in that course.

"How did you know it?" Orion started to nag me early this morning. He was one of the reasons why my life was not boring. He was the total opposite of Kolten. Orion Caspian Scott was one of my best friends ever since I was in grade school together with Kolten. He was actually as tall as him, but they have different personalities. I have been with them for years. He actually had Heterochromia, a condition when a person is having two different color irises. His irises are partially a different color. His left eye is blue, while his right is green. He didn't always like the unique colors of it, but I really love it.

"Talk to me later! I still wanna sleep." He pulled me even before I began to rest my head on my right arm on my desk.

"Let just eat in the cafeteria!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kolten following us, who was busy chewing his gum. I rarely see him without it. I saw him frowning as I looked up as he pulled me on the other side as the bunch of guys went out to the cafeteria.

"Why are you always late?" Orion asked while unzipping the navy blue backpack of Kolten.

"Louis Tomlinson forgot to wake me up this morning." I simply answered before I shrugged.

"Sleepyhead," I just grimaced as I heard Kolten mumbled under his breath before he hissed.

"Can I borrow your notes?" Orion gave me a sheepish grin while rubbing his nape as if I have a choice.

"So I guess these are not for free." I was pertaining to the sandwich and water he bought for me. He chuckled as I handed him my notes.

"Astrid, how was it to live without your mom? I mean, you are just with your brother, right?" He asked while flipping the pages of my notes and seemed like finding something.

"Sometimes, but we're used to it." I unzipped my shoulder bag to get my retractable pen as I saw him struggling to find one.

"When will your mom fly back here for good?" He gave me a quick smile before accepting it.

"I don't think so. She's really busy, managing our business there. Plus, she's helping my grandma taking care of my grandpa. He is in a lot of pain right now and that became the reason why they needed to be in and out of the hospital, moved from here and there, just to find a cure." I briefly explained. He patted my head for sympathy.

"How about you, bro? I thought they planned to visit your grandparents this month?" Kolten shifted his gaze at him while still holding his bottled water.

"Maybe this year, if possible." He answered deadpan.

"Here you are, Astrid." Lia Naurthy Wilson, a very sassy friend of mine, said before sitting right next to me. She was with Zette Blaine Thomas who was deeply in love with her soccer player boyfriend. She stood as tall as Lia; they are both five feet and five inches, one inch taller than me. They could actually be mistaken as twins, because of having the same shoulder-length hair. It's just that, Lia has a darker shade of brown and has alluring blue-green eyes with very dark rings around its outer irises that were really compatible with her fair skin while Zette was stunning with her natural brown hair color and though she often wears glasses, it's really noticeable her blue eyes with green inner rings. They were both from the Human Resource Management Department.

"Have this." She handed me a pink paper bag with a new shade of lipstick.

"I bought it for you." Her eyes wrinkled as she smiled and looked so excited as usual whenever she gave me different girly stuff like this since she was really fond of beauty cosmetics. I excitedly opened a small box she handed me and abruptly checked its shade.

"Thanks, Lia. I'll use it later." I uttered as I saw a peachy nude lipstick. Most of my cosmetics were from the two of them. I waved them goodbye before we made our way toward our department building as our second class was about to start.

"Don't sleep, Astrid." Kolten nudged me with his elbow as our professor started to discuss with the thing happened in the past which were definitely nothing to do with what how we will treat our patients in the future. Up until now, I was still wondering why we still need to take these lessons!

"I really don't know how you guys can manage to stay awake the whole time." He just chuckled as he saw me using a book to block my face against my History professor while yawning. I even fell asleep for quite some time. I have just been waked up as Kolten kicked my armchair whenever our professor looked in our direction.

"Distract yourself." He simply uttered while sketching something on the sketchpad on his table. Even before, he drew up superb! A skill that I badly wanted to learn.

"But I don't know how to draw," I mumbled, trying not to be caught.

"Then write something." He put a piece of paper on my table just to stop me from complaining.

After about two hours of class in History, I actually finished three poems

"Thanks, Kolten. It helps a lot." He used to lock my head around his arm and gently messed up my hair. Orion chirped as he saw us in the corridor, reasons that made me realize how every day won't pass without him teasing us. I just rolled my eyes against him, as my usual response.

"Don't push it, bro." I saw Kolten smiling while shaking his head.

The whole day passed, and I did not even take a nap on any courses scheduled today.

"Astrid, we'll go ahead." I took some steps in order to hug Lia and Zette who were waiting for us outside.

"Take care and God bless, guys." They waved at us before they made their way going to their next class. They just came to say goodbye since they still have three hours of class to attend.

"Aren't you not going home now?" Kolten asked while unzipping his hoodie.

"I will wait for my brother. He still had his class by this hour." I simply answered as I was busy reading a text message I received from my brother. Orion offered to drop me off at our house, but I refused as I know that he was in a hurry, since Sani, was left alone in their house, his little sister. But Kolten told me that he has something to borrow from the library, so he walked with me from here to the library, where I used to wait for my brother every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon when he had a very hectic schedule.

"Hello, Kolten!" There were a bunch of students who greeted him. They tried to get his attention, but he did not even show any affection. I actually do not know if he even takes a second just to look at them, since I could not be able to see his reaction from where I was standing. Kolten and Orion were quite popular on campus. I don't know if there was a single person who did not know them. It seems like every girl in the hallway already knows, even the exact time when they were born.

"Smile at them." I slightly nudged him. He looked at me before he smiled back at the junior girl who greeted him.

"Shocks! He smiled back at me." She hysterically uttered in a loud voice while giggling, not even thinking that Kolten could hear her. I awkwardly smiled back at her as our eyes met.

"That's the reason why I don't smile, it drives them crazy." He mumbled under his breath, then a smug grin on his face flashed. I slightly smiled, not because of his joke, but I came to realized that it was the first joke he threw for this day.

"Wow. Too confident, huh?" He just smiled before putting his hand on my head, and it stayed on it until we reached the library. He gently grasped the doorknob to open the door and let me in first. I went to the Astronomy section to get the book I failed to finish yesterday.

"You're really into it? Aren't you?" He asked while looking at the book I was holding.

"I was really caught by its beauty and was curious how awesome our God is to be able to make the whole galaxy," I explained as I saw some photos of celestial works and took some photos of it.

"That will be cool to watch " I whispered to myself as I saw how the sun was setting, the moment I flipped the book on page two-hundred-seventeen.

"Hello! Can we share a table with you?" A cute and timid girl asked. She looked so nervous with a girl on her side. Maybe they were juniors.

"Sure, no problem!" I smiled and nodded my head as a response.

"Let's go," Kolten whispered after some moments, seemed like he was irritated as we saw that the girls the form the other table was trying to take a photo of him as one of the girls' phone accidentally flashed. He stood up and gently grabbed my wrist.

"Uhm, have a second." The girl who shared our table got our attention with her stuttering voice as we were walking in the corridor after walking out from the library.

"Go, girl, just give it to him." The girl nudged the other girl who was standing behind her and seemed to be shaking for some reason. She took a few steps toward our direction and handed to Kolten a box of chocolate cake with a letter in her left hand.

He didn't see any affection, but I felt his hand hold my wrist tighter than earlier.

"Hello. I'm Dina. A junior student from HRM Department. I really wanna give you this cake. I am the one who baked it for you." Her both hands were shaking.

"I'm sorry. I don't like sweets. But thanks, by the way." He simply answered and got only the letter she was holding before turning his back. He hardly shove his left hand in his black hoodie pocket. I remembered that he was allergic to peanuts, and he was not fond of sweets. And, I guess, I am one of the few people who only knew that.

"Hey, Kolten, can you please be good to your admirers. Look at what you just did to that girl, she seemed so nervous. You should just accept it. Pity her!" I gave him a side glance before staring straight ahead when we got to the field.

"I just don't wanna give them false hope. I don't want any misunderstandings. Playing for someone's feelings has never been my habit. They must be thankful that I am not Orion. And if you just really wanted this kind of chocolate cake, I will buy you one." He simply answered and seemed irritated. Honestly, I, together with Lia and Zette were the ones who benefitted from the cakes and bar of chocolates they have received from their admirers.

"Who said that I want sweets? I'm on a diet! From now on, I will never accept any chocolates from you, especially during classes." I remembered how embarrassing it was when I have been caught by our English professor earlier. It was not because of sleeping this time, but because of eating in her class. I saw him forcing himself not to burst into laughter.

"Then stop biting your nails first." He usually gives me sweets just to stop me from biting my nails.

"Wow. The sunset was surreal." I uttered as I saw the killing view of the sunset. I was distracted as I saw that something flashed. He smiled while looking at the photo he took.

"It's so peaceful here. Watching sunsets makes every day extra special." I said while I was still amazed by the view. There were only a few students roaming around.

"It's actually the person whom you watch it with that makes it special." I smiled as I heard him mumbling, and maybe he did not intend me to hear it.

"Are you not going home yet?" I asked while tucking my knees close to my chest as the wind blew in our direction. I was wearing an apricot knotted crop shirt on top, its sleeves were folded up, maybe an inch above my elbow paired with my high waist skinny ripped jeans and white sneakers.

"Let's just wait for your brother." He answered and abruptly threw his hoodie on me. I gave him a side glance of disgust before staring straight ahead as it hit my head. I smell a familiar scent of him as I put it on since it's freezing now.

"You have something to borrow in the library, right? Don't tell me that was just an excuse for you to stay." He smirked and snorted as I teased him. He coldly rolled his eyes as he saw me struggling to stand as my both legs felt so numb, maybe because we're already sat here for about half an hour already. I felt his hand in my elbow as he gently grabbed my elbow to help me stand up. We walked outside the campus as I received a call from my brother and told me that he was almost here. He walked so fast, that in his every step; I need to take two just to be able to reach him.

I saw my brother's car while he was walking in our direction.

"Bro..." They did their signature handshake.

"Have your car with you?" He asked Kolten.

"Yeah. She just wanted to wait for you." He answered and smiled as if he's been so nice to me the whole day. I just hissed.

"Thanks, man. Let's play this weekend. Told Orion about the rematch game." My big brother said.

"Sure." He answered.

"Drive carefully, bro. We will go ahead." He uttered before Kolten got into the car.

"Astrid..." He called me as I was making my way to the car.

"Thanks for today. It was fun." He immediately turned his back after giving me a quick peck on my forehead as he always does.