CHAPTER 10

A couple of weeks into her part-time job and school, Helen was having a private 9PM study as her custom was, when suddenly her phone rang. At first, she refused to answer the call because she had just fifteen minutes left to wrap up, and she had spent almost twenty minutes of the one hour, struggling to focus. Her thoughts had been preoccupied with things related to Alex and work. Alex, the hero who used to rescue her from boredom and give her stomach aches from laughter, was now bugging her thoughts. It wasn't all bad things, just a couple of times like six or seven days in a row when he'd refuse to speak to her, by giving excuses like he had to pay her mother a visit claiming she was unwell, but whenever Helen asked to go see her together with him, the tone with which he rejected her kind gesture was one indicating unfriendliness. Sometimes during lectures he was nowhere to be found, his attitude towards everything and everyone changed all of a sudden, causing Helen to worry.

Anyways, after a second ring of her phone, it started to vibrate, an indication that she had received a message. She reached out double tapped on the screen to check who the desperate person was, and she noticed the name 'Chris' as the name of the contact.

'Sorry to disturb your sleep," the first message read.

Just when she was about to text her reply, a second came through from Chris, saying, "I wanted to check up on you. Hope you good?"

"Heyyy.... Sup? Naughhh, wasn't sleeping, just studying till somebody thought about checking up on me. Thanks, means a lot. Hey uhm...have you any idea what's going with Alex? He's been acting strange for a while." Helen piled up her reply in one message, then clicked send, hoping to keep him busy until she finished her studies.

"Ohh you're studying. My bad. Okay, me and some guys will be going to take a swim where I showed you last time ND I wanted to know if you'd like to join us. It's tomorrow, four at noon.

About Alex, well let's just say he's having some girlfriend troubles, he'll come around. He has an insecure girlfriend, it's a long story. Back to the swimming thing, we could make it two in one, I can show you my chef side when get to my place. In order for you not to say no, we should take no food along, I'll bring some bring cola drinks and soda." He texted.

As she read, she stumbled upon the two words, standing next to each other 'girlfriend troubles', immediately she felt a sharp pain,it felt the piercing of her heart with a really sharp knife. Out of nowhere and without warning, a tear from her eyes smashed itself onto the phone's screen in a thud, what was it that she was feeling? Was this what people felt when they received the news that their close friends had potential life partners? Or was this pain it gave when they hear the news from an outsider instead of the horse's own mouth? That was betrayal right? Or this was that burning desire in her that she had been trying her best to suppress ever since that night, after Chris' birthday party when he dropped her off. That night, when he came to open the door for her and extended a hand for her to careful step out of the car, taking his hand she saw herself in a wedding dress, with the handsome Alex himself as the groom, flowers spread all around her while the guests around her shouted, joyfully with smiles all across their faces. That night, that very moment, as her first foot stepped out of the vehicle, and her eyes met his sparkling blue pair, she could tell that cor the very first time in the history this universe, time literally took a break from its course, the other side of the story that still tormented her the most, was the part where her eyes trailed down his face and ceased to continue when it got to his lips, she felt hers soften, and under a split second, they were moistened by her tongue which had no business coming to play as she bit gently yet unconsciously on her lips and began to imagine her lips and his, in a sweet brawl for dominance.

All these never really happened, and yet, there she was, Helen Bookworm, studying nothing but past chapters she could've written differently. 'What if he didn't feel the same way?' she thought to herself, "fuck what ifs." He had a girlfriend along, and he never even bothered to mention her. "What kind of boyfriend is that?" She asked herself and began searching for an answer for herself. 'What if he felt the same way and didn't want his girlfriend to be on your mind Helen?' her thoughts researched yet again. "Fuck what if!" She yelled, "he betrayed me."

"I'm in, can we do it a million times and more after that?" She typed, after wiping the salty water on her screen. She didn't even give herself time to decided, all she wanted at the moment, was for the messages to get to the desperate receiver on the other side, the other person who might help her get rid of the man with girlfriend troubles on her mind.

"Alright then!" A reply came back, "see you there. Take care your Highness."

The message caused her to blush a little, thinking it was her way out, she laid her back down on the bed and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would kindly steal her away, and give her a good night rest, but then horrible thoughts began to sail here and there in her mind, that night was a gloomy one for her, instead of sleep, fair Helen cried, over and over again until the cold weather came to her aid, forcing her to sleep.