Philophobia
(n.) The fear of falling in love.
Victoria Weems was adopted by the principal of Nevermore Academy, even attending the school of outcasts herself. But she couldn't be any more of a normie like her nextdoor neighbor, Tyler Galpin. That is...
Since yesterday's episode at the Harvest Festival, Victoria's mom has been on edge about everything: about the sheriff's suspicion of the school, Wednesday's statement to the sheriff, Rowan's ability to participate in the Poe Cup, and most especially the fact that Victoria wouldn't be able to play violin again because of her shoulder.
And honestly, she was also concerned...
Tyler was sitting in his car, waiting for Victoria. The sight of Victoria's shoulder continued to linger in his head. Deciding to distract himself from the fact, he opened Instagram. It'd been a while since he checked on his pending request to follow Victoria.
As soon as the app opened, he saw a follow notification from Friday night. He smiled weakly and realized she also accepted his follow request. Clicking on her profile, he looked through her posts.
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victxria.weems • July 27, 2022
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Likes: 104 Comments: 4 Shares: 3 victxria.weems Heaven on Earth is with my best friend ❤️ Comments EnidSinclairBlogs omg i love you sm girly 🥹 victxria.weems @EnidSinclairBlogs I love you too!! <3 Eugene_255 Rare occasion of Victoria saying I love you EnidSinclairBlogs Stay jealous kid
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victxria.weems • Aug. 1, 2022
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Likes: 97 Comments: 5 Shares: 1 victxria.weems Throwback to Shanks' costume from two years ago... Comments EnidSinclairBlogs I'll miss pet sitting Shanks :( Eugene_255 SHANKS DIED? victxria.weems @Eugene_255 What...? EnidSinclairBlogs @Eugene_255 NO VICTORIA AND SHANKS ARE MOVING OUT OF OPHELIA HALL. Eugene_255 OHHH. You guys made it seem like Shanks died. Eugene_255 @victxria.weemswait you're moving?!
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victxria.weems • Sept. 15, 2022
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Likes: 113 Comments: 2 Shares: 0 victxria.weems Me and my baby Comments EnidSinclairBlogs MY BABIES victxria.weems @EnidSinclairBlogs I'm literally older than you though...
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Tyler grinned at the conversations going on between the three of them in the comments. Seeing the way Victoria loved was something new...
He now knew there was more sparks in her than he realized. It just took people to earn it before they saw it.
"I wonder who she's following..." he thought and opened her following list.
"Me, Enid, Eugene, Xavier Thorpe, Rowan Laslow, Ajax Petropolus, Bianca Barclay," Tyler read to himself. "Who are these people?"
The door of his car opened and he quickly placed his phone back in his pocket. Victoria, not noticing, sat in the passenger seat of his car with an unreadable expression. Shanks hopped to the back where there was more room and made herself comfortable.
"Long night?" Tyler asked her.
"Yeah," Victoria said, attempting to reach for her seat-belt but her shoulder was killing her.
"Here," Tyler said as he reached over to her seat to grab it for her.
Their faces were so close, she could feel the warmth of his cheek. Her heart stopped, her body freezing as he was leaning over her. She could feel some pressure and smell his coffee aroma.
"Oh god," she thought. She'd never been in such proximity of a man so caring and perfect.
It was hard to believe that they'd known of each other since they were kids, even though he didn't remember.
He helped her buckle up as felt her cheeks warm. His touch was so gentle and caring, she couldn't help but crave for it again.
Tyler could see the change on her face, seeing that it was slightly pink as she stared out the window.
"Something the matter?" he asked.
"No," she said as she avoided his eyes, feeling warmth travel up her ears.
Their drive seemed to drag on without another word.
Though she had told Tyler that nothing was wrong, he couldn't help but be concerned, oblivious to the situation. He thought back to when she was sitting in the ambulance with her shoulder bandaged and a bloody mess... then he remembered how she could've stayed out of it had it not been for the fact that she was chasing after Rowan.
"What's going on between those two?" he suddenly thought.
As he pulled up to the school, she strapped her bag on the other, better arm and Shanks got out.
"Hey," Tyler said, stopping her.
She remained in the car, turning around to see what he wanted before she had to go.
Tyler wanted to know what was going on between her and Rowan--what was so important about Rowan that made Victoria concerned about him enough to chase after? After all, she had claimed they were just friends but were they more than that?
It was irking him as he stuttered to form words. He then realized that it wasn't as if she was going to tell him anything even if she was sure they were no more than friends.
Meanwhile, she was still flustered by his touch and wondered what he wanted to say.
"So when can I come over to make up for Friday night's dinner?" he asked, deciding to steer away from his real question, even though that one was just as intriguing.
She couldn't help but smile. "How about tonight?"
"Great. It's a date."
She looked away, nodding, afraid that she'd turned into a tomato.
"Yep, see you later, Tyler," she said quickly.
He smiled as she walked away without turning back.
"A date," he thought. He hadn't been to one of those in a while...
