Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Amelia's p.o.v;

My alarm went off, and I awoke. To turn off the alarm, I searched for the phone where I hit my hand on the bed. I suddenly remembered my right hand's cast. Sh*t! I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the next two months. I sat straight and searched for the phone on the bed again. Since I'm going to be at home, I switched off the alarm and altered the settings. I rubbed my eyes and looked around me. When did I sleep the night before? Did I sleep at all last night, or was this some sort of weird dream? I wasn't really sure how to feel about this whole situation. I had a pretty good idea why it was happening but that didn't mean I wanted to have an experience with it. I took a look around the room.

Andrew performed admirably last night. It lulled me to sleep. Wait, I should remember this from last night because a lot happened. He consented to assist me with my book, played music for me, and assisted me in falling asleep. Things that I had assumed would never happen with him began to happen one after the other when I began communicating with him. I'm feeling really good about myself.

I stood up and went to the window to look into his room. He was not present. I believe he has already left for college. I came to another window with a view of the front of the home. I noticed Andrew heading down the street carrying a bag. Finally, I see him leave for college.

He abruptly stopped walking and looked up while I was looking at him. Where is he looking at? He appeared to be staring at me.

Is he looking at me? Is this a real thing? Why is he looking at me?

He raised his hand and waved it in the air, as if trying to gain my attention. He is really looking at me. He is staring at me intently. I excitedly waved back at him without a second thought. After he waved, He continued his stroll to college.

I collapsed onto the floor. In this rainy weather, I feel like I'm dissolving. Before going to college, he waved to me. I consider myself quite fortunate. I never expected something like this to happen to me. I couldn't contain my joy and smacked my left hand on the wall.

"Are you also attempting to shatter your left hand?"

I noticed Ash in my room.

"When did you arrive?" I questioned him as I stood up from the floor.

"Right now. Why? Were you working on anything in your room?"

"Nothing. By the way, why are you here first thing in the morning? Aren't you going to college?"

"Yes, I'm going to college. I wanted to see what my sister was doing in her room before leaving for college."

"I'm alright," I said as I sat on the bed. And sat down on the bed.

"Do you intend to sleep again?"

"Is there anything else I can do in the house but sleep?"

"Okay, rest because the doctor advised you to. Do you have any specific requests?"

"Like, like what?"

"Give it a name. I'll purchase it for you."

"I didn't buy this month's version of my favourite novel, can you get it for me?" I asked, looking at my shelves.

"Okay."

"Really? You're going to buy it for me?"

"Do you not believe me?"

"However, you always say it's a waste of time and tell me to get rid of those books."

"I'll purchase it for you."

"A broken hand brings me great wealth."

"Not for long, sister," he patted my head. And exited the room before saying, "Moreover, I'm buying the book with your allowance, sister."

Whatever. It has already brought me riches. I'm going to put it to good use before I get a split. I'm not sure if they'll treat me like this when I get a split, so let's enjoy it while we can.

I tucked the blanket around my neck and fell asleep.

After some time,

Mom, "What made you wake up? You could have slept longer, right?"

"Mom, I slept a lot this morning." I said to her while eating my lunch.

"Shall I play a movie for you?"

"No, I have homework to complete."

"You'll be staying at home for another two months, babes. Don't stress yourself on homeworks."

"Ah! Yes, mom, I totally forgot about it."

"Do you still want me to play a movie?"

"It's all right. I'll do it myself when I finish eating. I'm sorry to trouble you."

"It's not a problem." She turned on the television and handed me the remote, saying, "Watch whatever you want. And, don't think you're troubling me. Don't hesitate to call me, understand?"

I nodded at her.

She patted my head and left the room. I tucked the blanket around my neck and fell asleep.

After a while,

I picked up my guitar and attempted to play it with my left hand, but I couldn't. Why did I hurt my right hand? Why does it have to be the right hand? If I were left-handed or ambidextrous, this would be a piece of cake. I sighed in frustration before putting down my guitar on my bedside table and picking up the phone. I apologised to my right hand for being a careless person.

"Are you now learning to play the guitar with your left hand?"

Andrew was standing in front of me.

“Hey, are you still there?”

I look up, noticing him walking over to me from across the room. The way he says it makes his question seem more like a statement than a question at this point, but I nod my head anyway.

"When did you arrive? Do you consider yourself a ninja? I didn't even notice any footsteps."

"Because you're leaving your window open, I can easily sneak in."

"I was afraid you wouldn't turn up."

"Why? I was the one who provided assistance. So how will I fail to appear?"

"A good point."

He chuckled and sat alongside me, asking, "Have you had dinner?"

"How about you?" I asked, nodding.

"Yes! I'm feeling stuffed. Now, answer the question. Dinner?"

I nodded and asked, "How was your day at college?"

"That's what I was about to say. Your senior seems lonely today. Everyone mocked him about being lovesick. He stated that he called you but that you did not answer."

"Really?"

I looked about for my phone, which was on quiet.

"I did turn it on mute because I was watching a movie, but I forgot to turn it off."

"I knew he was after you, but I had no idea you had accepted him back. When did it occur?"

"What? No, I didn't accept him. Where did you hear that? We're just friends. He was the one who's after me. He was merely acting as if he was looking for me."

"Does that indicate you're not interested with him?"

"No. We're just buddies."

"Then you should make it plain to everyone that you are not a thing."

Was he envious? Wasn't it cute to watch him like this? Is he envious of me and senior?

I asked him, "Should we begin with our work?"

"Before that, what were you doing with the guitar? I could hear you signing all the way across my room."

"I couldn't play it." I said while looking at my cast.

When I looked at Andrew, he had that pitiful expression on his face.

"Don't make that expression please. Let's start our work."

"You should teach me how to edit as well," he replied, nodding.

"There will be no editing today."

"What?"

"Because it's your first day, I'll give you a brief introduction today so you don't feel overwhelmed."

"You sound like a boss speaking to their subordinates."

I grinned and added, "Okay, we'll start working on a novel called 'The Monster and the Flower.' Which I was working on. Because you already know I write fantasy romance, this novel falls into that category as well. Do you have any doubts about what I said?"

He lifted his hand and stared at me like wanting me to pick him.

"Stop teasing me and ask what you wanted to ask," I answered with a grin.

He inquired, "Romance. I'm aware of what it is. But what exactly is fantasy romance?"

"It is a work of fiction with mystical, non-human, and romantic aspects."

"Like something from a fairytale?"

Fairytale? Does he think I'm a children's book author? Don't be angry with him! He's your crush and has come to assist you. You should be thankful. So, be nice to him.

"Yeah. That sort of thing. Can I move on to the next?"

He gave a nod.

"In this novel, the monster alluded to here was a snake dragon, and the flower referred to here was a human princess."

"So the major characters are the dragon and the princess?"

"Yup! Now, hear the story of "The Monster and the Flower."

After he nodded, I began delivering the story, "Arden, the name of the snake dragon who is our novel's male lead. He is the most powerful dragon on Mount Tateyama, one of Japan's holiest mountains. Arden has the ability to shapeshift into a human form in order to deceive other civilizations and conquer it. After conquering those nations, he will turn the population into slaves and murder all who oppose him.

While conquering nation after nation, he got stronger and more indestructible, to the point where others began to fear him. As his name implies, he rose to become Lord of the land. While conquering the country, he comes across a kingdom ruled by a small group of people. When Arden takes human form to walk around the realm, he encounters Beatrice, a princess and the female protagonist of our story. Because of her attractiveness, he falls in love with her at first sight. After viewing her, he returns to his kingdom without capturing it.

After returning to his realm, he began to experience the symptoms of love. Being awake, constantly thinking of her, wishing to see her again and stuff. He returns to the kingdom to see her, but since he hasn't spoken to a girl, let alone a human, he decides to stay behind and manage his affections for her. Beatrice approaches him since he has been following her around all day. They end up becoming buddies. When he found out that Beatrice was marrying a prince from another country. Arden kidnaps her and imprisons her in his kingdom. Soon, these two fell in love, and the princess began to like him. The romance began to heat up as their love blossomed. Because of his feelings for Beatrice, he becomes more lenient and returns the nation to the people he conquered. That is how my novel concludes. Do you enjoy it?"

"Good," he remarked, nodding.

"If you have an opinion, you can express it since you are now my editor. I welcome ideas from my newly designated editor."

"I don't like the ending to be honest."

"May I know the reason?"

"I don't like the thought of a princess ending up with Arden, even though it's a fantasy. It will be good, but I don't believe it is correct."

"However, Arden adores her."

"It's as though she's being pushed toward him. He kidnapped her and held her hostage. Does not allow her to leave the kingdom. She has no choice but to speak with him. It's as if she's being compelled to communicate and be with him. Later, she came to like him since she knew there was no other way out of the location. It sounds like Stockholm syndrome to me."

"Arden has feelings for Beatrice. Arden loves her so much that he became a decent man and returned the kingdoms he conquered to the kings from whom he conquered. Her love transformed him. How did this develop into Stockholm syndrome?"

"All right, answer to this. Will Arden let her go if Beatrice asks him?"

"No, he will not."

"That's what I'm saying, she has no choice but to like him back."

Unknowingly, tears began to fall down my cheeks.

"Are you sobbing, Amelia?"

I shook my head and brushed away my tears.

"I apologise if I offended you. I was simply expressing my point of view. People have different points of view, right?"

I nodded and wiped my tears.

"I really apologise. I had no idea that it would hurt you so badly. I should not have talked about your tale in that way..."

"It's not that," I answered, interrupting. "It's because I've never talked about something like this with anyone in my life. Because no one knew I wrote novels so I couldn't discuss my novels with others. For the novels, I've always talked to myself from multiple angles."

"Oh, I assumed you were offended by my opinion."

"It pained me as well, but only a little. Because I saw numerous hate remarks, therefore it wasn't a thing for me."

"It's hilarious to see you cry," he added, laughing.

"Stop teasing me," I slapped him on the shoulder.

I wiped away my tears and asked, "Should I adjust the climax of the story as you said?"

"No, no. Change nothing. You stated that you had finished the story, how can you change the climax now? Let's leave it alone. It's also rather good."

"Okay. If you say so."

While I was checking on the development of my work, he asked, "Do you read a lot of books?"

I turned around to see him looking through my bookshelf.

"Yes! I like reading as much as I love writing."

"You have a lot of comics here," he continued.

"If you want to browse through it, I have a very good collection. You can take whatever books you like."

Sh*t! Without thinking, I stated that he despises books. How is he going to react to that? Is he going to smile as if nothing happened, as he did to his sister?

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm not interested in literature."

Wow! Did he really say that aloud? I never thought he would actually say what's on his mind.

"When did you start writing?" he inquired.

"It's a major deal."

"I'm listening though," he said as he took a seat.

I shut down the computer and began, "Okay, you requested it. I wasn't like other kids when I was younger; I forgot a lot. I can't remember how other people do things. So I started researching on the internet and discovered that keeping a diary could help me recall things. So I started keeping a diary, but I'm not sure what to write other than what I ate. Soon after, I began blogging about my day and began to enjoy it. I began reading a lot of books, novels, and comic books. I became like this after I began writing short stories and books. That's how I got into writing novels."

"Don't you have any outdoor activities?"

After some contemplation, I responded, "I don't go out very much. My only outings were with seniors when he took me to a music academy one day. Aside from that, I may have gone out with my folks, but I'm not sure."

"Didn't you just go out with your parents? They appear to be quite close to you."

"Yes, we're close, but my parents and Ash have been fighting. When two of them sat together at the same table, we couldn't even enjoy a peaceful supper."

"Can you tell me why?"

"I'm not sure I can say that to you."

"What exactly is it?"

"You know, both of our parents have been fighting since we were little; they compete in nearly everything, but my brother didn't enjoy it. He didn't enjoy the competition with your family, thus my father and him will have numerous arguments. That's how they got this way."

"So, how about you? Do you enjoy competing against me?"

YES! A LOT!!! IT KEPT ME BESIDE YOU!!!!

"No. Those were my parents." I lied again.

He burst out laughing, so I covered his mouth with my hand. Did I just close his mouth with my bare hands? What exactly did I just do? I took my hands off immediately and apologized, "Sorry, I-I... What if they could hear you?"

"Aren't we going to edit today?" he asked, nodding.

I answered, shaking my head, "Nope. We'll get started tomorrow."

"All right, see you tomorrow."

Awwww! Did he just say 'See you tomorrow ' Yeah, we're going to see tomorrow, day after that and the days following.

He paused on his way out and asked, "Should I play something light today to put you to sleep?"

"Stop taunting me and get out!"

He laughed and walked out the window.

I chuckled and felt comfortable conversing with him. Please don't fall in love with him. You're a good kid. Don't be stupid, it's okay to fall for someone else.

A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts and I immediately stood up and answered it with a smile. I let go of the door knob and looked back to see who it was. It was none other than my brother.

"Hi!"

"What is it?"

He made his way into my room and sat on the bed and asked, "I heard you're talking to someone. Who were you talking to?"

"I was talking to Hannah on the phone. What are you doing here?"

He took the book out of his bag and gave it to me while saying, "I came to deliver this."

I took the book from him and said, "I thought you were kidding. You really bought a comic for me." I hugged him and said, "Thank you, Ash."

He patted my back and said, "Afterall you're my sister."

I broke the hug and asked him, "Will you get mad at me if I lie to you about something?"

He ruffled my hair and said, "As long as it won't hurt you, I'm okay with it."

"You're speaking like you already know it."

He smiled at me and said, "Go to bed. It's almost midnight."

Before leaving my room, he said, "Amelia, you're not a little girl to have someone to look after you every time. You've grown up. So take care of yourself." And he left the room.

What does he mean by that?