The Blue Orchid Years

Chapter 29: Not Meant to Be

A young woman, with dark brown hair flowing past her shoulders, sat alone on a tire swing under a giant magnolia tree and watched as a delicate ruby-throated hummingbird flew through a bed of golden chrysanthemums and perched itself on the railings of a sunny wooden deck. In the distance, a car was approaching and the startled hummingbird hurriedly flapped its iridescent wings and disappeared into a thick patch of woods surrounding the woman's house.

The sound of the car engine quieted down and another woman, very similar to the first one but with hair pulled back in a high ponytail, took her suitcase out of the car's trunk and dragged it towards the tire swing while shouting gleefully "Surprise! Linda, I'm home for spring break!"

Linda's lips curved upward as she sprung from the swing and ran toward her younger sister.

"Sherlyn, it's good to have you back!" she laughed. "How was your very first semester at Blue Orchid? Did you like all of your professors? More importantly, did you meet cute guys?"

"I know you'd ask!" Sherlyn smirked. "Yes, there's this handsome fella who shared a table with me in Public Speaking 101. He has eyes that remind me of black pearls and whenever he smiles, oh my god!" her cheek was flushed. "You should have seen his dimples. Unbelievably precious."

"Aw, looks like you're crushing hard on him." Linda lightly shoved Sherlyn's shoulder. "Please tell me you asked for his number. What's his name, anyway? Is he in your major?"

"Johannes Sitohang. Sweet name, huh? I got his number. We were paired for a project."

"Nice!" Linda gave Sherlyn a high five. "What project?"

"Well, since it was a public speaking class we had to prepare a speech," Sherlyn said while twirling her hair. "Lee-sensei being a xenobiologist, however, assigned us to make an argument for or against breeding the exotic animals we have learned about throughout the semester."

"That sounds fun, integrating xenobiology and public speaking together," Linda nodded. "So, this Johannes dude, was he good at arguing whatever stance you and him took?"

"Oh yeah, he was incredible. We decided to argue for the breeding of Queen Alexandra butterflies. He spent weeks tirelessly compiling a ton of resources to back up our reasoning." Sherlyn's hazel eyes sparkled. "I helped too, of course, couldn't let him do everything alone."

"Good to hear, he seems to be a hardworking and dedicated student" Linda clapped. "So, I assume you got an A+ for the project. I am so proud of you, little sister."

"No, we didn't." Sherlyn sighed. "We only got an A- and the person who got the highest grade was the professor's nephew," she kicked a gravel on the driveway. "Kenta. I despise him."

The monitor faded to black and half a nanosecond later a blinding blue light appeared. Linda was sitting on her bed with her laptop. She glanced nervously at the digital clock at the bottom of the screen before muttering to herself. "That brat better not forget about our weekly video call!"

A notification popped up and Linda pumped her first in the air. "Freaking finally!"

"I'm sorry I was ten minutes late!" Sherlyn's face filled the screen. "But I have great news!"

"This better be as good as you said it is," Linda folded her arms. "You won a lottery?"

"Very funny." Sherlyn rolled her eyes. "No, but I made a real progress with my love life!"

"Yeay! That's worth celebrating!" Linda's frown turned into a smile. "With Johannes, right?"

"Who else would it be, silly?" Sherlyn chuckled. "I asked if he was single and he told me he is. I then asked if he has been seeing anyone and he said no. He then said he has never actually been in any relationship at all but wouldn't mind trying to be in one."