Steal My Girl

CHAPTER 1 - READY TO RUN

"Cuz I wanna be free and I wanna be young...
I'll never look back now...
I'm ready to run."

CHAPTER 1 - READY TO RUN

"Hi there, college girl." I greeted the girl in front of the mirror, her brown hair pulled up in a ponytail, wearing black pants and a white v-neck jumper. In other words, I have been staring at my reflection for two hours now and I still couldn't believe this was finally happening!

Finally!

Oh God! I can hardly believe it. I've worked so hard for this and now all my dreams are coming to fruition. This is a moment I'll never forget. I've been waiting for this day.

There were so many emotions going through my head: excitement, joy, nervousness... everything! I was smiling like a fool. God knows how much I wanted high school to end quickly and start anew.

One could say that I had an awful high school life that's why I was too eager to leave, and it's true.

Due to my one-year delay in starting school, I am the oldest student in our batch. It's not that terrible because there's no actual age for education. But when I entered my first year of high school, someone made a big deal out of it. In fact, he constantly teased me and pissed me off for being a year behind.

That evil guy was in his sophomore year, but the same age as me. I was always his favorite. He's always following me everywhere just to make fun of me, my hair, and my obsession with books and grades! But of course I didn't let him get the better of me. I stood up and fought back. I thought that would be the end of it. However, the more I fought with him, the more he was eager to make me mad and furious!

And he always succeeded in getting into my nerves.

Every.single.time!

The non-stop bickering and teasing that entertained the entire school lasted until my third year in high school. And then, there was an abrupt changed in the weather. The storm passed and was replaced by unexpected sunshine.

It was suddenly rainbows and butterflies.

He started treating me nicely.

At first I found it damn creepy! Imagine, my number one enemy treats me well? Did the hell freeze already?

I didn't know what to make of it. I was suspicious of his motives. I watched him closely and tried to figure out what he was up to. I was afraid and paranoid that he had something hidden under his sleeves. I was determined to find out what he was hiding.

But I found nothing.

In fact, his teasings weren't the same as before. It was more gentle and funnier. It was as if his goal every day was to make me smile. And he was doing a great job in that department—I became genuinely happy.

It was too surreal and too good to be true. But I was happy and enjoying it. I always found myself excited to go to school. After months of being like that, I learned to accept the fact that maybe he had changed over the summer. He was not horrible at all. He was, in fact, kind and caring.

It lasted for a couple of months longer, but ended just like that. A storm—no, scratch that—a super typhoon hit me. Breaking my heart and causing my whole life to crumble. It was then that I learned he was being nice because he had a bet with his friends. He bet that he could make me fall for him despite the fact that I hated his existence for years.

It was hard for me to admit that at that time, he could have won that bet. Surely, he could make anyone fall for him by just smiling and I wasn't exempted to that fact. He showered me attention, affection, comfort, and care for months that made me forget all the hateful things I had in mind for him.