Chapter 3. Beginning of the Story

Daniella’s mother yelled, “Daniella! Get up! You’re late for your class! It’s morning, and the sun is rising.” Daniella doesn’t seem to hear because she’s still gaping and sounds asleep.

“My goodness, it’s the same scenario Daniella and I have every year,” Daniella’s mother said as she headed up the old staircase to Daniella’s room, where she saw her daughter still sound asleep. “Daniella, get up! It’s the first day of school, and you’re still sleeping; now that you’re in your fourth year of high school, it’s still hard to wake you up every morning.”

She slowly opened her eyes and saw her mother, who was now frowning at her. “Your breakfast is ready, Your Highness.” Her mother joked.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a second,” she said, but her mother didn’t like that and squeezed her ear. “Oh, no! Mom, it hurts. I’ve just awakened.”

“Stand there and eat before you leave. You’ve been asleep for a long time, like a child. You’re not a rich person who has helpers who still need to be woken up in the morning!” While her mother was preaching, she got up and left the room because of the pain in her ear from my mother’s loud voice that she can hear every morning every time school starts.

“Mom set an alarm clock with the use of her voice because it’s too loud and she says a lot, but in fairness, it worked.” And she went to the kitchen, still smiling.

Her mother came downstairs and went to the kitchen, where she was eating. “You know, I’m still talking to you upstairs. Why are you leaving?” She asked.

“Because Mom, it’s still morning, and you’re creating so much noise.”

Her mother’s forehead furrowed. “You should get up faster to avoid being late for class; have you checked the time? You’re going to be late for your class.”

She looked at the clock on the wall, but when she realized the school gate would close in 30 minutes, she ate the hotdog and rice at the same time, not sure if she was just swallowing them. She hurried to go to her bedroom, took a quick shower, and groomed herself before leaving and saying goodbye to her mother.

Our house is near the school, but if she does not start walking early, she will indeed be late, so she’s now walking and slightly running to get there on time.

The guard is going to close the school gate. “Wait, Sir Tony!” she yelled, raising her hands.

Sir Tony, the guard, heard her. “Nothing has changed, Daniella; you’re still late, and your class is about to start.”

“Thank you, Sir Tony.” And she hurried to her classroom, and thankfully, their first teacher was not yet there.

She sat on a chair next to Bree, her best friend. “Well, you’re still awake,” Bree said.

She looked at Bree. “I’m fairly sure I’m still alive today; can’t you see me?”

Bree breathed out a sigh. “Until now, you’ve been a philosopher; in fact, it’s a good thing you woke up because you’ll be absent right away in our first class.”

“I’m here, so don’t worry. Thanks to my noisy mother.”

Their teacher had already entered the room, so the two stopped. “Good morning, student! I just want to say that in this section you are the same classmates you were when you were still in third-year high school, but not this time because there is someone to add to this section.” Her classmates wondered and also her. Her class section has had the same student since the third year for almost four years, including this year. Nothing has changed.

“What do you think, Daniella? Is our new classmate a transferee?” Bree asked.

“I’m not sure. Let’s take a look.”

Outside the door, the teacher turned. “You can get inside.” Her world seemed to slow down or stop when she saw who it was a few minutes after it entered.

“Introduce yourself,” their teacher said.

“Good morning; my name is William,” it said simply.

Once Bree noticed that she wasn’t moving, it grabbed her arms and shook her. “Hey! You look like a rock and a fool.”

“Bree, tell me it’s just a dream that he won’t be our classmate,” she pleases.

“Yes, it’s just a dream because you’re still asleep and haven’t woken up yet.”

She looked at Bree and narrowed her eyes. “You said I told you it was just a dream. I just followed, but Dan, do you have any idea why he moved here? He should be in Section A, right, for the first and third years, but now he’s in the last section. I’m confused.”

She nodded and turned her gaze to the front, but when she did it, she noticed that William was staring at her, and she seemed to have a stroke in her seat.

When the teacher began speaking, William turned to look at the other students. “You may be wondering why William Franco is here because you all know he is probably one of the smartest students in your batch, but the truth is that there is a program, and one of you, William, can be a tutor, so here he is, and he will choose from the index card. Take out an index card and write your names, then pass the papers from the last row, going to the front, and give them to me. Is that clear?”

The other student said, “Yes, ma’am.”

They all wrote on an index card and submitted it to their teacher. “All right, William, pick up one index card and say aloud the name that is written on it for whoever you have chosen.”

While William is slowly moving his fingers over the index cards, Daniella has been unable to explain how she feels right now.

William pulls it out, and the majority of the students stare at the paper; almost all of the female students wish that they could be chosen because, in addition to being smart, he is also very attractive, even if he is not smiling.

“Daniella Sanchez,” William said suddenly, and Daniella didn’t seem to hear him immediately.

“Hey! You’re the chosen one!” Bree said as she shook her shoulder, and she looked puzzled.

“Where?”

Bree’s eyebrows met for her answer. “You’re crazy. William pulled your index card. He is your tutor now. Where does your mind go as William pulls out the index card?” She turned her gaze to the front, and their gazes met. She was still like a rock because she couldn’t move and didn’t even blink.

“Are you okay?” asked Bree. “Maybe the wind will catch you, and you’ll end up like that.”

She realized what was happening, and she turned her gaze to William again, but he was no longer looking at her. “All right, class, go back to your seat, and the class will begin. Mr. William will sit next to Miss Sanchez on the right.”

Her world seemed to stop when their teacher told them where William would sit, with only a five-step distance between her chair and his. As William sits and faces their teacher, she can’t take her eyes off him because she thinks it will be her best year in high school before she can graduate.

Daniella has had a crush on William since our first year at SHS, and she always made a way for him to notice her, but the first and fourth years of high school passed, and she still didn’t have a sign that William had a crush on her too.

The other subject passed by, and she was getting ready to go home, but William suddenly approached her while she was gathering her belongings.

“After that, follow me,” he said, as he began to walk. She was puzzled, but later she followed him.

William was almost moved too far when he stopped in a chair near the basketball court inside the school. He turned to her and began to explain the setup. “I just have a few rules for teaching you, so we don’t have a problem.”

She gave a slow nod. “First and foremost, you must always be on time; I do not want you to be late. Second, if it is not about tutoring, do not talk to me. Is that clear?”

“Yeah, sure,” she replied.

“Third, you should have understood at least half of what I taught you; in other words, you should concentrate on the lesson rather than on me.” She kicked the ground and sighed. “Did you understand what I said?”

She smiled at William when she raised her head. “I got it all,” she replied.

“Then I can go home.” Although it felt like William still had something to say, he didn’t say anything and left immediately.

She looked at him and followed him with her eyes as he walked until it faded from her sight. “He hasn’t changed. He’s still mean.” She smiled, and that almost tore her cheeks. “But this is probably the best year for me because I can be with him now, unlike before when I had to stalk to find out where he was in part of the school, and he didn’t say anything that I should give up what I’ve been doing since the beginning, so I’ll do what I want.”

Bree had been looking for Daniella for a few minutes, so she was confused and shocked when she saw her with that look. “Dan, I’ve been looking for you for a while, and why do you look like that?”

She quickly faced Bree, who was shocked because she looked like she was not Daniella. “Can you tell me what happened to you?”

“Nothing. Let’s go home,” she said, and she continued to smile.

“Dan went crazy for the first week of school! This is unbelievable!” Bree said before she walked and followed Daniella to go home.

Bree got home first because her house was closer to the school, while Daniella had to walk another block to get home. It is not conventional for her to ride a tricycle to get home as long as she can walk, but she is not in a hurry, and it is also a waste of money if she rides the tricycle all of the time.

Even though she was still in her first year of high school, she always felt as if someone was following her since she started walking, but every time she looked behind her, there were no people or even animals. She was scared at first, but now she’s used to it every school year, and she thinks she’s just imagining things, so she did not pay enough attention in the end.

She was now standing in front of their house when she spotted her mother, who was already inside the cottage, having a coffee.

She shouted, “Mom, I’m back!”

Her mother, Maria, frowned. “Why are you shouting as if you’re coming from another country?”

“Did you miss me?”

“No! Get inside and change your clothes so you don’t have to be silly here,” she said before sipping coffee.

Daniella slowly started to walk inside their house. “Every time I said something like a joke, she had an answer for it.” She shook her head while she searched for her clothes.

She couldn’t let her mother be sad since her father left them because God took it too soon, even if it was just a simple tease. Her mother could not think that they were just the two of them, even though she was upset with her sometimes. But, even if it doesn’t seem like it, she can now say that she is simply riding on her crazy doings.

She sat down in front of her mini table when she had finished putting her things in the cabinet and took the small box from the drawer. “For almost a year, I’ve been saving money for this necklace, and now I’ve already bought it, but nothing seems to be happening in my effort to get him to notice me until now.” She picked up the necklace until it was level with her face, with a pendant of the letter D inside the ring. “This is my last gift to him because I’m about to graduate next year and I don’t know where he will go to college, so if I can’t follow him anymore, I will give this to him and I hope he keeps it. I’m okay with that.” She stared at the necklace for a while before putting it back in the drawer.

“Last chance, Daniella; if none of that works out, move on after graduation,” she murmured to herself, smiling as she walked out of the room.

On the other hand, William has only just gotten home from school, and he has also walked home. An older woman approached him and took his stuff. “Oh, you’ve arrived; why do you love walking when you have a car to use?” William simply smiled and stepped into the living room, where he sat on the sofa.

Lydia, William’s maid, said, “What kind of answer is that, a smile?” As a result, she approached William once more to ask. “Are you hungry? I cooked a snack. Would you like to taste it?”

“Lydia, it’s just a cup of coffee; I’m fine with that.”

“Are you sure?” Lydia replied. William just nodded, and she left to make coffee.

While waiting for the coffee, William lay on his back on the backrest of the sofa, looking deep in thought as he gazed at the ceiling of their house, and then suddenly smiled.

Lydia saw that while holding a cup of coffee. She asked while she lowered the cup. “Are you okay, William? Why are you smiling all by yourself? Did something nice happen?”

Before answering, William sat up straight. “No, Lydia, something funny just came to mind, so I smiled.”

“All right, I’ll leave you here because I have something to do in the kitchen and your dad and mom are coming home before dinner.” Lydia went to the kitchen, and William sipped his coffee slowly.

William’s parents own and run a business, which his mom and dad manage. As a result, William can be regarded as capable in life. Yes, their lives are good, but they are not the people who have lost contact with others, especially when they are not relatives. William is a serious person with a good heart; he just can’t show it to others because other people and students at their school think he’s unkind because of his expression or because he’s simply quiet; if no one asks, he doesn’t speak.

After finishing the coffee, he entered his room and changed his clothes.