Untamed Series #3: Pierce Ylarde

Chapter Three

"This is the University of South Carolina?"

I was roaming my eyes around the campus. Pierce stood up after tying his shoelace and nodded at me. "Yup. This is where I will study-"

"No, Pierce. This is where we will study." I corrected him.

He looks confused. I haven't decided yet where I will be going to study until now. The University of South Carolina is okay. It's just one year, and then I'm going back to the Philippines. Iyon lang naman ang usapan namin ni Dad. Tapusin ko ang college rito pagkatapos ay bahala na ako kung saan ko gusto pagkatapos nito.

I looked at Pierce and raised an eyebrow at him. "What? Do you expect me to attend a college where I know no one? Come on, I don't want to be a loner. Though I'm used to being one, it's better to study at a university where I know at least one person." I said.

"You have a point," he agreed with me.

"Of course I have. I'm a woman, after all." I joked. He looked at me and smiled.

This was the first time I saw him smile, and I seemed to forget how his lungs worked because mine seemed to malfunction. In elementary school, I studied the respiratory and nervous systems. Despite this, I seem to have forgotten everything I've learned about these two systems because Pierce is smiling, causing my brain and lungs to forget their functions, and second... why is Pierce so close to me?!

He gestured his back, so I peaked—a bunch of guys. Oh, drunk guys, to be exact. Why are they drunk this early?! It's just seven in the evening.

"They were... checking you out, " he mumbled the last part.

I couldn't help but crack a grin. Ivy claims that I inherited our mother's attractiveness. She has it as well, but mine is a mix of Dad's and Mom's. Ivy inherited most of our mother's genes and only a few from our father. Mine has a fair share of genes from our Dad and Mom.

"Ivory-"

"How did you know my name?" I asked him because I don't remember telling him my name.

"I heard it from your Dad and Carol," he said, like knowing my name interests him.

"Ivory Zara Torrealda. That's my full name." I told him. He was amused. He didn't expect me to tell him my full name, considering we had just met.

"Pierce. Pierce Aziel Ylarde."

Why is his name so beautiful? Pierce Aziel Ylarde. I like his name.

"My Mom named me Pierce, and she got Aziel from my Dad. Though I didn't know who my father was, at least I have something from him." he shrugged.

"So... you came from a broken family too," I mumbled.

"Not really. I had a stepfather. I met him the moment I was born. He died from cancer five years ago. Shortly, my mother died too due to heart failure."

"You had a tough life. I'm glad you have Carol." I sighed. "But why are you telling me this? It's not like we're friends or anything." I asked him out of curiosity. Normally, we tend to open up to strangers because we think they won't judge us. Is that why he's opening up to me? Because we're strangers?

"Because I had a feeling that you need to know everything about me," he answered, which I didn't expect.

"Oh, you're home. Saan kayo nanggaling?" dad asked as soon as Pierce and I arrived at the house. He and Carol are watching something on the television.

"University of South Carolina," I answered.

"You decided which school you'll study at already?"

I nodded my head. "Pierce and I will study there."