The Beginning

It is in the middle of the night when a loud banging on the door wakes the headmistress of Wonderland Orphanage. She drags herself out of bed and puts on her long wardrobe before she opens the door of her quarters to see what's the commotion about.

"I am really sorry to disturb you headmistress but there's something that needs your attention," said the little nun as she opened the door

It seems pretty urgent since the nun also wasn't able to change from her bedtime attire.

The headmistress just let out a deep sigh since she couldn't abandon her duty just for a good night's sleep. "What is it?"

"Follow me," said the nun.

As they are walking through the hall the nun told her that the good people in the community watch hand over a little boy around 5 years of age. She also said that the kid was found in front of the closed supermarket crying.

The nun lead the headmistress to the receiving area of the orphanage and there are the said little boy and 2 guys from the community watch waiting for her.

The guys from the community watch bid them their goodbyes as soon as the headmistress arrive since they already state the information to the nun that let them in.

The poor kid seems to be fine while quietly sitting on the soft couch and wagging his short legs but if you look closer you can see the puffiness on his eyelids that indicates he just stopped crying.

The headmistress comes closer to the boy and gets down on her knee to level with him. "Hello there. I'm Lily, what's your name?" she asks the boy in a very friendly manner

The timid boy answered quietly, "Gabby".

"Gabby? Wow, what a cute name just like you." she responded with enthusiasm, "So Gabby, do you know why you're here?" she asked and held his tiny hands from his lap.

The boy shook his head.

"Well," she paused and took a deep breath.

No matter how many times she's been dealing with this kind of situation in the past, she still finds it hard to uncover the truth about these abandoned innocent souls because she knows that it's gonna break their hearts and scar them for life.

"Do you know where your parents are?" she just asked instead

"Mama told me she's gonna go see Papa." the kid said

"Oh... I see." Then she was relieved hearing that the kid has a complete family so he might be just lost and separated from his parents while in the supermarket. "Do you know what your parents' name is?"

"mama, papa"

It's a bit disappointing that the kid doesn't know his parents' names but then again he is just a kid. So she just put a smile on her face and patted the kid's head gently, "very good." she said and got on her feet then offered her right hand, "Tomorrow morning we will hand out your cute picture to everyone in the market so that your mama and papa know you're here but for the meantime, you will be staying here with us. Would that be alright with you?"

The kid paused and was a bit hesitant about the offer.

"Don't worry, the kids here are super friendly. I am sure you'll love them as much as they'll love you.

The boy's eyes suddenly glint as he hears that and quickly accepts the head mistress' hand.

The next morning, the little boy spends his morning sitting on the bench at the orphanage's entrance or as the kids called it 'the garden'.

He is very much excited to make some friends but he can't initiate a conversation with anyone because he is a bit shy. He spends most of the time inside their tiny house with his mother and there are no other kids to play with.

"Hey. Are you the new kid?" asked the little girl whose wearing a pink dress and holding a hardbound book in her arms. She is the same age as little Gabby.

Gabby nodded still not moving from his seat.

"I see." The little girl sat beside him, "My name is Alison but the headmistress called me Alice." she said and smiled, "What's your name?"

"G-Gabby," he said a bit embarrassed since her face was so near to his that he could smell her minty fresh breath and he hadn't brushed his teeth yet nor even taken a bath.

That day the five-year-old boy discovered the feeling we called 'crush'.

Days become weeks then weeks become months and months become years.

That's how long the little boy waits for his parents inside the orphanage's walls and while he endures the growing loneliness and self-doubt he can find company in the person of Alison that distracts him from the negative emotions that slowly eating him inside.

The little boy grew up into a handsome teenager which makes him popular in their school, especially to girls.

"Here. Someone asked me to give these to you," said Alison and dropped the boxes of chocolate on the table in front of Gabby.

Alison sat on the chair in front of him and took some chocolate from the box then popped it inside her mouth.

"Hey. We're not allowed to bring food inside the library," Gabby whispered to her covering the side of his face using the open book.

"It's not like everyone in here doesn't sneak a snack or two, besides, as long as the books aren't stained, no one cares." she calmly said then winked.

Gabby just let out a sigh and leaned on his back and went back to reading.," May I mind you that if the librarian saw me tolerating you, my job will be jeopardized and our scholarship?"

Alison didn't argue with him anymore since he was telling the truth though she was a bit disappointed. She closes the box of chocolate and puts some books over as camouflage. Being smart and diligent is not enough to maintain their spot in school especially when both of them only depend on the scholarship program.

"You can have all of it when we get back to the orphanage," Gabby said when he noticed Alison's gloomy face.

Even though Alison is pretty popular with guys like how Gabby is popular with the girls and also frequently receives treats even on regular days, she never gets tired of eating the treats. She seems to have a weak spot for anything sweet and smothered with chocolate.

"Whatever," she said acting nonchalant and also opened a book and started reading.

Both of them are getting ready for the upcoming entrance examination to the national college located in the big city.

Most of the kids in the orphanage from their batch have found their forever homes and living their lives. But for those who aren't adopted like Gabby and Alison, they need to work their asses off to have a good future outside of the orphanage since they will both gonna be kicked out as soon as they finish their senior years because they will be over aged to be in the orphanage by then.

Gabby and Alison grow so fond of each other that they call each other besties but Alison doesn't know that there are a lot of times that Gabby voluntarily declines the opportunity to get adopted because of her.

She is sweet, beautiful and bright but no one seems to want to adopt her.

Alison always had a dream of travelling the world and visiting those places she read in books and magazines. She said that if her parents abandoned her to rot in the orphanage when she was still a baby, she would show them that they were wrong. She will become successful and travel the world as her revenge.

After a month, they both took the exam and the result was announced on the day of their graduation.

Alison can never be happier as her dreams slowly become reality however it is the opposite of Gabby's fate.

Alison passed the exam and received a full scholarship program for any course she wanted at the school she applied for while Gabby did not. Unfortunately for him, he has granted with scholarship program in a community college in their area unlike what he planned. He wanted to attend the same school as Alison or at least near her school. He's even willing to take the same course that Alison's gonna take just to stay by her side as possible.

But fate has a different plan for them, Alison leaves the orphanage and goes to the big city leaving Gab in their small town.

1 school year quickly passed and Gabby is now enrolled in a business management course in the community college while having a part-time job at a fast food chain near his school to pay for food and lodging.

He still visited the orphanage during weekends after his work shift but today will be different from his previous visits.

"Kuya Gab, the headmistress asked for you to visit her in her office." said the cute little girl.

*Kuya means older brother.*

Gabby smiled at the kid and got on his feet from sitting on the grass-covered ground. "Here" he handed over a jar filled with treats., "Make sure everyone gets their share OK?" he said and gave her a thumbs-up

The kid giggled as her tiny face turned a cherry-red blush.

As the kid says, Gabby went to the head mistress' office and found a well-clothed man about the age of the headmistress. They are both sitting on the couch waiting for him. They were talking about something and they seemed to be having a good time as they were both laughing genuinely.

The man is no stranger to Gab because he is the same guy who always plays Santa Claus every December and showers them with delicious food and expensive toys.

Turns out, the guy is a rich businessman who happens to be a close friend of Miss Lily and she asks the man if he would like to sponsor Gabby for his education because she thinks that he deserves a much better education to have a better future.

Gabby is so ecstatic about the news. It has been a year since the last time he saw Alison and it's driving him crazy. He's filled up with regrets about why he hasn't stopped her or told her how he felt before she left. Thinking that she might find someone who could sweep her off of her feet but more importantly he can't stop thinking about her well-being. Alison can be clumsy sometimes and a rule-breaker. She didn't know anything about cooking nor even diligent enough when it came to house works.

So without any hesitation, he grabbed the offer of sponsorship in exchange for working for the man's company while attending school and even right after. He needs to work for the man for 7 years after he graduates college according to the contract he signed.

Gabby travelled to the city right away to be able to file an early enrollment for the next semester and he requested to be enrolled at the same school Alison is attending. He is a bit disappointed that he wasn't able to take the same course as she does because of the contract he signed but it is good enough than to spend another year 4 hours away from her or worse, she might never come back.

Gabby didn't waste time finding Alison since he arrived during the vacation break until the class started. He feels like an outsider since almost everyone in their class comes from a well-off family but thankfully none of them are hypocrites as he expected especially for Bryan North.

Bryan is an exchange student like Alice Madrigal. They're both from the United States and were supposed to be staying here for one semester only but for some reason, they both decided to stay.

If Gabby is popular back in his home town, well the city clearly isn't his territory. Most city girls prefer Bryan. The American blond-haired angel-looking guy with his broad shoulders and well-chiselled body. Not to mention, a very athletic guy as well.

Bryan asked Gabby to join his circle of friends and he did since they are good kids. As in like, not getting into messy trouble, being top of the class kind of kids. They spend most of their time in the library but like normal college students, they sometimes hang out outside school and play internet games or something.

Gabby spent almost a month looking for Alison. They enrolled in the same university but he didn't realize that looking for Alison would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Gabby didn't give up and his diligence was finally being paid off.

One night when he was about to go back to his place he saw two girls exiting a building and he's sure that one of it is Alison. He quickly ran after the two unsuspecting girls and shouted with excitement, "Alice!"

Both of the girls stopped and turned around when they heard the call.

There is no doubt, it is Alison.

Gabby quickly wrapped her in his arms and let out a resounding sigh of relief, "I thought I was not gonna see you again." he said while tightening his grip as if she was about to escape if he ever loosened a bit.

She smells different from what he remembers. Now she smells more sweeter but familiar at the same time. Also, she seems to have gained a bit of weight than she used to or he might have never noticed her bumper to be this big before.

She even feels different for some reason.

A light tap on his shoulder snatched Gabby's attention and he froze as soon as he saw the person that was tapping his shoulder.

"Do you know each other?" Alison asks innocently still confused.

Gabby instantly releases the girl who is frozen like a statue in his arms. She's wearing a round pair of eyeglasses on top of her black round eyes that almost popped out of their sockets, her hair is tied up into a messy bun and her face looks like a ripe shiny red tomato.

This is not what Gabby had in mind.

"A-Alice?" he stutters.

Yeah, it was Alice he embraced, but not the Alice he was hoping or planning to hug.

The Alice in front of him has round eyes with thick curly lashes, a small but pointy nose, naked thick heart-shaped lips, a round face and thick, messy but shiny black hair.

The Alice that was always under Bryan's arms.

It was Alice from his class!