Fire Meets Ice

Chapter 5: Intense

As Marcus settled into his apartment, the familiar taste of his protein shake lingered in his mouth, a prelude to another grueling workout. He was scrolling through his phone when a notification caught his eye—he had a new follower on Instagram. Given his active presence on the platform, he often received alerts about new reels and accounts suggested for him to explore. However, he rarely followed new accounts himself. This time, though, the username @mystic_lover stood out against the sea of mundane handles.

"Mystic lover, huh?" he thought, raising an eyebrow. "Must be a girl..."

As he contemplated the account, a spark of intrigue ignited within him. "This user sounds pretty typical," he mused, an idea forming in his mind about who might be behind that enticing moniker.

The following week, Alexa was in the library during each break period she had between classes. She sat in her usual seat, except Anya wasn't there. She decided she didn't want to come to class lectures for the day since there was nothing much important to do except working on part 2 of the health pitch project. Alexa diligently got through and finished her portion of the class group activity and posting to the first discussion board that was due by midnight today. To enhance her productivity, Alexa decided to pick up an interesting book to read from the shelves.

"Let me see if I can find something to read," she murmured to herself, rising from her seat and wandering toward a nearby shelf, searching for a genre that would catch her interest. 

She walked to a shelf near her table and searched for a specific genre she found interesting. Before she knew it, Marcus was standing close by and was about to pick out the same book she was going to read. Their fingers touched each other.

"Oh! I didn't know you were here..." she exclaimed, turning to face him. 

"Surprised to see me again?" he replied with a playful smirk. "This is my favorite library so far. The others don't have enough good books to read."

"Never expected you would say that," Alexa laughed. "You don't seem bookish to me."

"I'm not a bookworm," he admitted, shrugging slightly, "but that doesn't mean I don't like reading from time to time."

His demeanor shifted slightly as he leaned in, curiosity flickering in his eyes. "Now that you're here, I want to ask you something..."

"Oh no," Alexa thought to herself, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. "I already know where this is heading..."

"A new account followed me last weekend," Marcus continued, his voice dropping conspiratorially. "The user 'mystic lover'... was that you, kitty?"

Alexa felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. "Yeah, that was me," she confessed, brushing a stray hair behind her ear. "I don't know why or how Instagram recommended your account to me, but I accidentally followed you after I checked it out."

She quickly added, "You don't have to follow me back if you don't want to..."

"Nonsense," he replied, waving a dismissive hand. "It would be ignorant and close-minded of me if I didn't do that. I'll follow you back now, but you need to accept my request first."

Without hesitation, Alexa pulled out her phone and clicked "confirm," accepting his follow request.

"Okay, now we're good," she said. "You must be really popular with that many followers."

"Actually, not at all," he said, shaking his head. "I may look outgoing on the outside, but I prefer alone time or hanging out with Oscar or Anya only."

He leaned back slightly, his expression thoughtful. "The reason I don't follow back most accounts is that people expect me to do it for the sake of fame."