The Taunting (College Life #1)

The obsession over Andreas Chen is becoming alarmingly comforting

He looks down at his hands like he's noticing what's in his hands for the first time. "These are not for her, they're for you."

"Me?" I look at him confused, why would Teddy bring me flowers?

"Yeah, it's from Andreas. He wanted me to bring these to you, it's supposed to be him showing how much he loves you. Doing gestures. He wanted to do it himself, but you know that he's stuck in Washington. Trust and believe, he did everything himself. Called the flower shop, made the florist tell him every single type of flower they had and made me drive halfway across town to get them. If this isn't love, I don't know what is."

"Yeah, me either." I try to hold in on my smile. I hold my hands out for the flowers, he hands them to me.

"Don't forget about this." It's a long, medium-sized box decorated with skulls and knives.

"Isn't this kind of morbid?" I point out the knives and skulls on the boxes.

"I don't understand the dude, he wanted me to buy that one. Talking about how it would be a funny little thing, darkness with light." Whatever, I want to know what's in the box.

"Well, thank you for bringing this to me, Teddy. I appreciate it. Also, I'm sorry you were suspended from the game against Washington, I know how much you wanted to be there, and I'm sure Andreas misses you."

Teddy chuckles, a brown curl falling in his bright blue eyes. I can see why Bridget is obsessed with him, he's great to look at and a good guy.

"I never told you this but I like you with my sister," I tell him.

He blushes, "And I like you with Andreas, you're good for him. He's finally allowing himself to love, it's nice to see. I'm sorry for Bridget's behavior towards you and Andreas's relationship, I told her it was wrong and she shouldn't have acted like that. You know how fired up she gets, it's one of the reasons I love her."

"I know, it's one of the reasons I do too," I ask him a question that has been lingering on my mind. "You speak French?"

He nods his head, "Yes, I do. I only ever speak it to Bridget, since she's the only one who understands what I'm saying."

My brows furrow, "Bridget doesn't understand French." Unless I missed out on something.

"She doesn't, but she understands what I tell her." He grins.

I have another question for him.

"Did Andreas ever tell you about us?"

He shakes his head, "No, he didn't. I actually, uh-," His freckled cheeks turn red. "I was in his car, and something was stuck to my shoes. Turns out, it was your underwear."

My hand clamps over my mouth, "Ohmigod! That's so fucking embarrassing! You know we didn't plan on-"

"I know you didn't, no one plans on fucking in their car it just happens. You don't have to explain yourself to me. Anyway, I'll leave you with your gifts, if I don't get back in enough time Bridget will call the cops, you know how worried she gets."

"I know. Goodnight." He waves and walks out of the lounge area, down the stairs.

I wait until I know he's fully gone. I sit the flowers on the counter. They were White Tulips. White Tulips are the flowers for forgiveness, mixed in with them were roses, which means love, and Daises which stand for new beginnings.

Forgiveness for the things he said to me.

Love for the way he feels about me.

And new beginnings for the start of our future relationship and the journeys it will create.

I stare at them, my fingers feeling over the petals, hoping I could feel his warmth beneath them.

He's so thoughtful.

I then move on to the box. I take the top off, inside is an item wrapped up in green paper, my favorite color. I don't remember telling him my favorite color.

Ripping open the present, I see that under the green paper was a book, Pride and Prejudice to be specific. He knows I hate this fucking book to my core, why would he buy it for me?

I flip it over; nothing is on the back. Flipping open the book, I see nothing else is in it too. I do find something though, it's highlighted on every page that says the name Elizabeth. All in green highlighter. Every single page.

Elizabeth.

Elizabeth.

Elizabeth.

Inside the box, I see a small card. How did I miss that? Opening it, I read the letter.

Dear Elizabeth,

As you can see, I am obsessed with you. I hated this book, but the one thing that made it bearable was the fact that your name was in it, and every time I see it, it reminds me of you. So, I went back and highlighted your name, it took me hours but I persevered. This shows that I have patience, meaning that I will wait however long to be with you because you're worth the wait, the time. I love you E.

Sincerely, Andreas Chen.

P.S. Did I mention that I loved you?

I push the card up to my mouth, biting on the corner, hoping I could swallow the words and embed them in my skin.

My heart.

My soul.

Andreas Chen has me falling down the rabbit hole of love, and I may never be saved.