1 The Flip of a Book

"Okay, meeting adjourned." Someone announced. The meeting room which was so quiet since the last two hours became noisy with the students' chatters and the sound of moving chairs.

"Good work today." Althea said with a smile as she nodded her head to each of the students biding their goodbyes to go home. Her long black hair was tied tidily in a ponytail, accentuating her slender neck which was wrapped cozily in a dull grey jacket. She didn't even live in a cold area, yet she always kept her jacket with her in case the weather got cooler.

"Thea, not going home yet?" A guy with a tall stature came and sit by her side. His short hair is being pushed back messily as he ran his hand through it, incompatible with his usually tidy appearance during classes.

"Hmm... No. I wanna stay some time longer." Althea said, jotting down the result of the meeting in her book. Honestly, with her tendency to be calm and quiet but meticulously think and write everything, she thought she's more suitable to be a secretary rather than a vice leader in her organization.

"What's up? A quarrel with your mother?" He asked again as he deliberately bumped their shoulders lightly to mess up her notes.

"Ugh, Lucas, cut it out." she hurriedly straightened the page which got a bit crumpled due to their bump, frowning to the man.

"And no, no quarrel today." She said.

'And hopefully never again'

"That's good then." Lucas laughed and leaned his shoulders on the chair. Lucas is the leader of her organization. Most of the time, especially in front of other students and teachers, he seemed dignified and serious. In actuality, he is someone so moody, and in Althea's standard, a jerk. His abilities to seize every chance to charm girls into liking him is top-notch, thus he managed to date the girls who are into his likings. But once he said, "I'll love them forever", they would break up not long after. If not because of her conscience telling her that she's only a colleague who shouldn't interfere with his choices in life, she would've smacked him on the head every time he made a girl cry. Still, not being able to hit him doesn't mean she wouldn't give him sarcastic remarks.

Althea shakes her head disapprovingly to her leader. Closing her notes, she took out her phone and open the LIME app.

"Oh? You're using LIME now? Since when did you even have, or even know, to buy a data pack?" Lucas stared curiously at her phone screen.

"Ahh, noisy. I bought it a few days ago, okay. Wasn't it you and the others who keep telling me to use social media so I can be contacted?" Althea rolled her eyes at him. Indeed, she never really used any social media other than the Facebook account which her friend made for her long ago.

She didn't feel the need for having one either, as she was too busy. However, many of her friends and colleagues are troubled due to her unavailability in their social media group. Thus, she asked her parents to allow her to buy data pack.

And honestly, the decision pleased her. She is someone who couldn't live without a book, and getting a good book is getting harder as people around her read less. However, she could now access any book she wanted and it wouldn't even use up much of her data. Moreover...

Ding!

A notification popped up and seeing the name, "Ray" as the sender, Althea's eyes brightened up.

Lucas noticed the unusual glow on her eyes and sneaked a peek at her phone.

"Lucas!" Althea glared at her shameless leader. Lucas looked at her dejectedly and whined, "Aww what is it? I was just lonely that you're more focused on your phone rather than me, okay?"

"Yeah? Pretty sure I heard you say it with your last girl too." Althea looked at him like she was just reminded of how much of a playboy he is and stop caring for him. After all, there is a more interesting person waiting for her reply.

"So how did you solve the problem?" She typed.

Ray is a person she knows from her scholarship group. The group is meant for people who aimed to get a scholarship in the world's top university. This group consists of many people from different nations and thus they get to share information on exam dates, requirements, or materials needed for the scholarship selection.

Among around a hundred people there, Ray is the one who took her interest the most. He often solved problems and was not stingy to share his knowledge. Thus, one day when she was troubled over a question, she decided to contact him personally and ask for help. Unbeknownst to both of them, this simple exchange started entangling their lives deeper than anyone ever had.