Episode11: The Girl That Loves

In The City

16-4 years ago

In a certain household

A girl of a normal couple was born. The girl was normal, with no abnormalities or problems with her health or body. On the contrarily, she was quite fit growing up. Her parents loved her, they loved her and taught her to love others. To have a happy life, love those around you equally, to live happier, love one person more than others. That one person is to be her soulmate, someone she would not be able to live without.

Her name was Angela, her family name was Lovers. She grew up under those conditions, her parents wanting her to be the best that she could be, to achieve true happiness in the world. Angela, through years of observation, developed the same mindset her parents wanted to instil into her, she personally believed in it, she wanted to live by it.

In Elementary school, she was friendly to everyone, she did not treat anyone differently, she did not have a relationship. Everyone there was a ‘friend’, there were no ‘best friends’, no ‘boyfriend’. Not even as a joke did she ever treated someone unfairly. Angela was that type of person, the embodiment of what her parents believed in. However, everything started to change in middle school, where in the first month of school, Angela saw someone.

A boy, slightly taller than her. He had black hair and ear piercings. He had an expression of friendliness on his face as he greeted everyone that walked past him.

Angela noticed him and greeted him back. From that day on, things started to change.

Since joining middle school, Angela joined the track club since she liked running. She was unusually light, and the way she ran was fast yet silent. She quickly became one of the fastest runners in the club. She already had a tan before middle school from her days of playing in the sun, so the hot weather did not really bother her

One day, while stretching, a girl asked her, “Hey, Angela, how are you so fast?”

“I don’t know, I just like running.” Angela had laughed in return.

She had friends, no one in class disliked her, she became popular among the boys, the girls wanting to protect her. It only took a month for every student in the school to find out who she was. Some held ill intent, others wanted to genuinely be her friend. For Angela, even if she was hated, she would love back, that was how she operated.

Two months into middle school, one of her friends invited her to the beach with some other girls. Angela readily agreed, wanting to experience the sea. However, the girls held ill intent, they found that Angela was too popular and wanted to put her in her place.

That day, they went to the beach.

7:00am, Angela arrived at the meeting spot.

“Why’s it so early?” Angela complained.

“I mean, it’s gonna be crowded if we don’t leave soon.” Her friend replied.

8:47am, they arrived at the beach.

Angela set up her stuff, with a shirt on, she ran, her steps so light that it barely disturbed the sand. She jumped into the sea and laughed as the other girls tried to get her back on land.

While Angela swam, they discussed something between themselves. The friend that invited Angela asked, “Hey, so the plan’s still in effect?”

“Yeah, we leave her alone long enough, she might get approached by guys, I even asked a relative of mine to bring his gang over.” Another one answered.

Nearby, by pure coincidence, someone had heard it. It was the same guy that greeted everyone on the first day of school. He was there with his family, having only gone somewhere else to get drinks. He paused near the group and sipped from his can, scanning the sea. He could tell that they were talking about Angela from the number of stares and looks they gave her. He walked off, shrugging. His name was Nate, he changed Angela.

Angela got out of the sea grinning from the swim, her shirt was soaked wet, her black hair sticking to the back of her neck. She liked the workout, it was refreshing. She saw the other girls gathered together and shouted over, “Hey, what are you guys doing? Get over here and play already!”

“Act natural.” One of them whispered before they went over to Angela, smiling and pretending to have fun.

Angela trusted them, she just dismissed any ideas of betrayal or negative feelings towards her, she was just that kind of person. She hummed as she started to build a sandcastle, although bad at it, she was having fun. One of the girls checked her phone and told Angela, sorry, but I need to use the restroom.

“‘Kay,” Angela replied, focused on her sandcastle.

When she was finally satisfied, she stood up victoriously and looked around for someone to boast to. Left and right, she was unable to find any of the girls that she came with. She tilted her head and rubbed her chin.

“They must have really weak bladders,” Angela whispered to herself.

She abandoned the sandcastle and started to walk along the beach shore, looking into the distance while humming her favourite tune. She stared into the distance, remembering what her parents had told her, at some point, she would meet with her soulmate, whether it be in past or future lives, the two of them would be together forever. Angela liked that idea but was unsure of how to find her soulmate. She stopped, people had surrounded her.

Angela was surrounded in all directions except for the sea. She looked at them and asked, “Do you need something?”

They were tall and looked tough, all of them had tattoos and looked like they were dangerous. Before they answered Angela’s question, the one in the lead grabbed Angela’s shoulder. Angela did not really feel like anything was off, it was normal for people to hold another person’s shoulder.

“You’re coming with us.” He told Angela.

“Sorry, I’m busy now.” She replied.

“It wasn’t a request.” He yelled, swinging his other arm.

Angela saw his hand coming and leaned backwards, his hit missing completely. Angela wanted to run, but could not see an opening in the group to run through. Before anyone else in the gang could do anything, someone pushed the leader aggressively from behind. The big man fell forward, towards Angel. She turned to the side and ran out through the gap, escaping.

Turning around, she saw someone casually walking away in the crowd of visitors. Angela instantly recognised his face. She had a smile on her face as she ran off, some of the gang members trying to chase after her. She laughed, never thinking that someone would try to save her.

At the end of the day, Angela returned by herself, not wanting to wait for her friends. She had a smiled on her face as she sat on the train, remembering what the guy had done for her. He was the same guy that greeted her on the first day, she remembered quite clearly.

“What’s your name...” She whispered to herself.

The next school day, Angela went asking around and found out more about him. He was similar to Angela, a friendly person that helps people without expecting a reward. He was alone most of the time and did not mind when in a group. He was easy to get along with and easy to approach. Angela heard it all and kept it to memory.

After school, she walked around the area a guy told her he might be in. She sat on a swing, waiting and looking around. Thoughts ran through her head, why had he saved her? She did not know, but if she was going to guess, it was most probably out of kindness. In the slim chance where it was not only because of kindness, what would she do?

Eventually, she saw him.

Angela ran up to him, jumping over the low fence and shouting, “You, I need to talk to you real quick!”

He turned around, surprised. He was walking alone and did not expect anyone to approach him. Nate stood there as Angela landed swiftly on the ground.

Angela stood straight and pointed at him, smiling. “You saved me that day on the beach, right?”

“No.” He replied bluntly.

Angela’s hand dropped slightly. She turned around and scratched her head before asking, “Are you sure? It seems like you were the one who pushed that guy.”

He turned around too. “You’ve got the wrong guy, bye.”

“Wait, wait, hold on.” Angela exclaimed. “It was definitely you. I even asked and some people said you were at the beach too.”

“They lied.”

Their argument lasted a few more minutes before Nate sighed, “What do you want from me? I want to go home.”

“So you did go to the beach.” Angela asked to confirm.

“Yes.” He confirmed.

Angela cleared her throat and asked him, “Will you go out with me?”

“What?” He asked.

“What?” Angela replied. “It’s obvious what I mean, right?”

“Why?”

“Because I like you.”

“Yeah, why?”

Angela thought about it for a moment before saying, “You’re a kind person, you saved me without expecting a reward. We’re almost the same in personality, so I think you are my soulmate.”

That argument lasted another few minutes before Nate finally agreed.

Angela had cheered and ran off, leaving Nate mentally exhausted. He had only accepted as an act of kindness, he did not want to see Angela in pain. He did not dislike Angela, it was just that he felt nothing towards her. Maybe as a friend, it could work, but he felt like something would go wrong as partners.

For the rest of the year, they dated, going to several places together and having fun. It was never awkward with Angela around, especially since Angela would lead the conversation. She was fun to be around, Nate even found it hard to keep up. Whenever he could not keep up, Angela would slow down for him with a smile on her face.

He felt like something was supposed to happen, maybe he should be feeling a twinkling of love for her or even affection. Yet, despite being together for almost a year, he could not feel like they were anything more than friends. He was acting out of kindness, it hurt him, it would eventually evolve to hurt Angela.

Angela, on the other hand, was elated to be with Nate. She believed that they were destined to be together, she believed that they would be together forever. Her parents taught her to treat everyone equally and to treat her soulmate more so. Angela was always with Nate in arguments, she felt love towards him, she wanted him to be her soulmate.

In the fourth month of their second year, Nate was sitting alone in a park. A girl approached him, she was in the same class as him and held ill intentions towards Angela. She wanted to see Angela in despair, she knew she loved Nate dearly. She was shorter than Angela, with puffy black hair and a kind face.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

Nate opened his eyes, snapping out of his nap. He shrugged and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“You look like you have trouble in your heart.” She told him, taking a seat beside him.

“What are you doing talking about?” He asked again. “How could anything be wrong?”

“I’ve seen you with Angela before, you don’t look so willing when you’re with her. Are you alright?”

Nate stared into the sky, was he? He was known to be a kind person, but was lying and pretending to be someone he was not a good thing? He had so much frustration about everything, especially towards the fact that Angela basically forced him into a relationship. Despite all that, he was not going to blatantly say it all to a classmate.

“You’re being delusional.” He told her.

She nodded and left, smiling. She was the calculative type, she had already caught Nate in her plans.

Every day, she would check the park to see if Nate was there. Every other day, he would be there, and she would go and talk to him about random stuff. Over time, they started to grow slightly closer, chatting about school, about movies, politics, anything remotely interesting. Nate felt like he was being involved for the first time instead of being strung along by someone else. As their distance grew closer, the distance between Nate and Angela grew further.

Angela noticed it two months later when Nate would start coming up with excuses. She gave him the benefit of the doubt, trusting and believing that he would never do something like cheat on her. Nate saw the girl as a very good friend at first, a closer friend than even Angela herself.

One day, the two of them met up.

“So, where are you bringing me today?” Nate asked her.

“That should be your job.” The girl giggled.

Nate scratched his head and brought her to eat some food before walking around, looking at a bunch of stuff just for fun. At some point, they went to the arcade and had some fun there. They laughed, they had fun, more fun than what Nate felt when going out with Angela. That was when he decided, he was going to tell Angela the truth, he could not bear to keep it a secret any longer.

“You shouldn’t tell her yet.” The girl told him.

She wanted to see Angela in as much despair as possible, she wanted to completely win over Nate first. She wanted him to feel genuine love towards her, otherwise, Nate might only see her as a friend. She wanted to say she stole the boyfriend of the most popular girl in school. Her mind and heart were twisted, but Nate did not know that.

He blindly agreed to go on another outing with her, he talked more with her, he had more fun on the second outing. A few times, he forgot to inform Angela and give an excuse, leaving Angela waiting in her classroom. She would sit there, waiting for him until the next day without sleeping. The few time that happened, she was rushed to the infirmary. Nate remained ignorant of Angela’s health.

Being together with the girl changed him. He became more focused on himself, he lost all the qualities Angela loved about him. Instead, he ended up loving another girl.

One weekend, Angela, while feeling down, was asked by her parents to run a few errands. That was the day everything ended, and the day everything started.

Her parents wanted her to buy a few groceries and a new knife since their old one became blunt. Angela bought a pair of scissors too since the old one was quite difficult to manage. She walked home in the crowd, wondering when the next time she could go on a date with Nate was.

“Hahaha...” Angela heard a familiar voice.

She turned around instantly and saw Nate walking next to a girl. Angela recognised her as Nate’s classmate. She dismissed the thought that they might be dating, instead, following them in secret. She observed their actions, her impression of them slowly changing. They acted how Angela had always wanted to act with Nate, they were a lovely couple.

When the sun started to set, Angela sat where they could not see her, tears running down her cheeks. She opened the packaging for the knife, not many people around. She wanted to stab herself in the throat, she was a fool to believe Nate was her soulmate. However, on the other side of the wall, Angela was sitting against, she heard them talk.

“Today was really fun too.” Nate said.

“Are you going to tell Angela anytime soon?” The girl asked.

“Yeah, I need to tell her that I fell in love with someone else.”

“Oh my...”

Angela put her hand down. It was not her fault, was it? She offered all she could, but he still fell in love with someone else. She still ‘loved’ Nate, she loved everyone. That feeling of ‘love’ got twisted. She wanted to keep Nate to herself, she wanted to always be with him. She got up and turned to the corner, knife in hand. The two of them saw her, they looked at her lifeless eyes and started to run.

Angela chased after them. She wanted to kill both of them and then herself, therefore, Nate would always be hers. Their screams caught the attention of bystanders, the police was called.

By the time Angela broke from her anger, two corpses laid in front of her. She seemed to be smiling, smiling that the man she loved would forever be with her. He was truly her soul mate. Before she could kill herself, she was tackled to the ground by someone, the police arriving soon after to bring her in.

There was no need for a trial, she openly admitted that she killed them.

At the age of 13, Angela was arrested and charged with murder. She was to remain in prison until the legal age of 18 to receive punishment from the law. She entered the prison, already given up on Nate, she realised they were simply not meant to be. So she asked around, asked if people in prison would like to be her soulmate, they stayed away from her after hearing her crime. For those who pretended to play along, Angela had them dealt with, digging her deeper into her criminal record.

She had a barcode tattooed on her neck, a sign that she was a criminal. And for every person she killed, she has lines tattooed around her arms and legs. She was a criminal everywhere she went, there was no escape, she only waited for her punishment to arrive, hoping she could find her soulmate in her next life.

When she was eligible for high school, she was exempted by the prison to attend school under the condition that she return and receive her punishment at the age of 18. She agreed, hoping she could find her soulmate there in Atdonus highschool.

Her sentence was suspended, she could be a normal girl for three years, or try to. In the first half of her first year, she became cautious, not asking anyone to be her soulmate. She met Alex during that time, and she decided. Someone that accepted her for who she was, looked past her past offences and loved her anyways. She finally found the guy, she found her soulmate.