"You're the sunshine, making my day bright,
Making my world shine, with pure delight.
You make my heart sing, with a love so true,
And my heart beats just for you.
You... only for you... My heart just beats for you!"
It was an underrated song that not many people knew about. This surprised Alethea to find someone had the same taste in music like her. But he turned the melodious tune into a heart-attack giving tune. It was pure yelling, he kept forgetting the lyrics and messed up the tune a number of times. "Ugh, not my favourite song when sung like that." Alethea curled up on her hard mattress, rolling herself up like a spring roll. Yet the walls were too thin and the yelling was pricking her ears.
Alethea wasn't exactly an introvert but she lacked the courage to confront. There was this fear building inside her whenever she thought of confronting someone or trying to voice her opinions. But she couldn't sleep at all. This guy kept going on for two hours and still chanting. But now Alethea was gonna face her fear and tell this neighbour to shut up. She stormed out of her apartment with messy, nest-like hair that even the birds would reject. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she struggled to gather courage.
Her hand shook slightly as she raised it, her fingers trembling with uncertainty. Just when it was about to hit the door she retracted; she was starting to have a second thought. Her lack of peace and sleep made her thoughts run wild— what if when she tried to confront him and he pulled her inside? And killed her? Alethea shook her thoughts away and thought logically. If she disappeared, the police would probably suspect the neighbour first; he is the closest to her studio. Another thought ran into her mind: what if he was a skilled killer? She laughed at her own thoughts nervously. "There's no way a murderer would live so close by," she thought.
After calming her thoughts down and thinking about 11 ways to kill someone, an idea struck her mind. Immediately putting it into action, Alethea pulled a piece of paper out of her new book and wrote, "Hello neighbour, can you please keep your volume down?" That was the most friendly approach she could think of. She quietly came out of her studio, tiptoeing as if not to alert the neighbour who might have already destroyed her own eardrums with so loud music.
She gave a firm knock on the door and slipped the note under the door and ran into her room so fast as if she was being chased by some gangsters. Somehow, that gave her reassurance that the music would soon stop. Despite Alethea's hopes, the music finally stopped at 4 am in the morning. With peace finally, Her eyes felt gritty and heavy, her mind foggy from lack of rest.
It wasn't even five minutes that an annoying noise woke her up; it was her phone; her alarm was ringing. The time: 7 am "Crap! I am gonna be late! Shit shit!" Alethea jumped out of the bed only to be held down by piles of boxes. She landed with a thud, a sharp pain shooting through her body as she hit the floor. The pain was intense, like her skull might have cracked, but seeing no blood didn't reassure her. Only caused her pain.
She needed to go to college today. There weren't any classes, but there was an introduction ceremony to build relationships with the teachers and other students. And, yes, to witness ragging by the senior probably. Alethea decided to keep a low profile. But not so low key, just enough to not attract troubles. Hopefully make a friend too.
She immediately slipped into her new clothes that she kept aside for the first day. Dressing up made her feel good about herself. A formal blank pants to go with whole top with long sleeves with a little decoration at the end. A quick pony and a bag with water bottle and a notepad... The only notepad she owned was thrown out of her apartment. Making the decision to buy another one on her way. She realised she didn't have a pen either.
As she put on her shoe, she found a note on her doorstep. She picked it up, it was the same note she had slipped under the door of the song destroyer next door.
There was something written— "Your concern is noted, Not prioritised."
"What the- This is dude so ridiculous-" Alethea wanted to curse him out to her heart's content. But she had the time for. She immediately locked her door and scrambled the note and threw it away.
***
This morning just couldn't get worse than how it was. Alethea's eyes were red from lack of sleep. Somehow she dragged her tired ass to the store that was closed. She couldn't get any notepad or pen. Entered the introduction ceremony late with just a bottle in the handbag.
She hurried into the class, and the professor welcomed her personally, "Late on first day? I see you're already establishing a reputation. What's your name?"
The professor hated late-comers the most. Without her knowledge Alethea had landed herself on the blacklist of Professor Miller.
Alethea dare utter a word other than her name in low voice. She was embarrassed and thought to herself that it might have been better she didn't come at all. But she just couldn't just turn back. The professor signaled to the seats gestering her to take a seat.
Alethea looked down and went to closest seat she could find and sat. The professor exchanged a few words with some students and talk about how great Arcadia College is. He called out to Alethea for three times but she didn't responded to him even once. That really angered the professor while the other students gasped exchanging whispers about Alethea.
"Alethea!!" The loud voice of Professor jolt up Alethea from her absent minded state. "Alethea, pay attention! This isn't a sleepover, it's a college class! Do I need to call your name five times to get a response?" The professor yelled at her trying to control his anger.
"I am sorry it won't happen again Sir." Alethea apologised with her head down. And the professor only scoffed at her apology and didn't forgive her.
The introductory ceremony ended and all the students wanted to go for some fresher party and get drunk and have fun. But Alethea wanted to get out that place and just go home to sleep.
She was very embarrassed and frustrated and so tired. The moment she tried to ignore all the party talks leave quietly a student yelled from behind Alethea but she didn't knew that he was calling for her.
She kept going ahead. The handsome guy making his way through the crowd went and grabs Alethea's arm. She immediately reacted by slapping his hands away. "What the- what do you want?" Alethea said in a grumbling and rude voice.
It shocked the guy a little but he regained his composure and smirked, "Delinquent, huh? I like that. But why so voilent? I just wanted introduce myself."
"Introduce yourself? Are you ki—" Alethea's words trailed off as her gaze met his, and for a moment, she forgot her annoyance. Alethea's sharp words died on her lips as she took in the guy's handsome face. Her expression faltered, and her voice dropped to a softer tone. "Oh, just...never mind," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.
A small dimple appeared on his cheek when he smiled, softening his features. That was enough to to win Alethea's heart. She was a sucker for handsome men.
"You like what you see?" His words were laced with arrogance, his tone smooth as silk.
"What— No." Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away, mortified. And that was enough for Alethea's heart to get back on track.
"Don't be shy, take a good look. You might not get another chance." The guy smirked, he crossed his arms, his muscles flexing beneath his shirt.
"You-" before Alethea could say anything. He interrupted her.
"The name's Justin and yours?"