Nonreciprocal Love (COMPLETED)

Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys! Good Friday to y'all! Hope you remember this day as the day that Christ had died on the cross to show how much He loves us! The true definition of unconditional love!

Anyway, happy reading :)
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Chapter 4

The rest of Chloe's weekend was uneventful and she was glad that Ace had stayed away from her since then. She didn't want another awkward encounter with him, at least not after what had happen at the gym.

Monday had pass like a breeze and she was glad days were going by fast. It was already Tuesday, which meant she had a tutor session with Jared at lunch. She left her friend in the cafeteria after grabbing herself something to eat and rushed towards the guidance office where she will be meeting Jared.

When she entered the room, Mrs. Piper was busy typing away on her desktop that she didn't even hear Chloe come in. Her glasses were resting at the lower bridge of her nose and she was intently staring at the screen. Chloe gently knocked on her desk to grab her attention and she looked up from what she was doing.

"Chloe, hi!" She warmly greeted her with a grin on her face. "Are you here for your tutor session?"

"Yes, Mrs. Piper. Is Jared here yet?"

"Yes, he's in the second room right there." Mrs. Piper told her as she pointed at the second door on the right side of the guidance room.

"Thank you." Chloe said and headed towards the door. The door had a rectangular glass on it that enable them to see from the inside and outside the room. Chloe saw Jared with his phone in his hand while jotting something down on a notebook. He looked very focused on his work. Chloe gently knocked at the door causing him to look up from his work.

Jared smiled at her and told her to come in. "Hey." He greeted and gestured to the seat across from him. "Have a seat."

"Thanks. Sorry to keep you waiting." She apologized as she settled on the chair across from him. She placed her Calculus textbook on the desk and took her notebook and a pencil out.

"No worries, I was working on a piece anyway." He said, showing her his notebook that was filled with music notes and lyrics.

"You write songs?" Chloe asked in amazement. Was there anything this guy could not do?

Jared sheepishly rubbed the nape of his neck and smiled. "Yeah, I guess."

"That's amazing! Can I hear it?" She asked in enthusiasm and excited eyes. Jared chuckled at her cuteness and shook his head in response.

"Not a chance. These songs are only for my ears and mine alone."

"Wow..." Chloe disappointedly utter. "And here I thought you were nice enough to share something cool to a friend."

"Friend? Did I hear that right? The Chloe Montenegro consider me a friend now? I am shook!" He exaggeratedly exclaimed earning a laugh from Chloe.

"Ha-ha, very funny." She sarcastically remarked. "But seriously, I would love to hear one of your compositions one day." She genuinely told him.

"You'll be the first to hear when I'm ready to share." He promised her. "How 'bout we get some studying done, huh?" He jokingly suggested.

Chloe groaned half-heartedly but nodded her head anyway. "Just be warned though, I might drive you crazy after this."

"Don't worry, I'm not the one to give up easily." He cockily remarked as if his words held double meaning in it. They dived into the lessons they had to go through together.

~ * ~ * ~
"Ugh! I hate running!" Liam complained as he splattered across the mat of the gym. He was drenched in sweat and was panting hard trying to catch his breath.

"You know, I still don't understand why you took this class with me." Chloe laughed and sat next to him.

"Duh, look around." He said gesturing around the place. Their class were mostly composed of guys, mostly jocks from the basketball and the hockey team. All of them were fit and in good shapes, well, except Liam.

"You took fitness class because of the guys? Of course, I figured. You wouldn't have taken it for any other reason."

Liam glared at her and sat up. "Well excuse me, Ms. Forever-Single, but unlike you, I would like to get into a long-term relationship and get married someday." He retorted as Chloe rolled her eyes in response. "Besides, are you still waiting for Ace? You gotta move on, girl!" He commented just to piss her off.

Chloe smacked him across the head and he quickly rubbed the spot to sooth it. He hissed at her and glared. "Evil, evil girl! Curse, curse!" He muttered as he made some weird, witch-craft gestures with his hand as if putting a spell on her.

She raised a brow at his action and couldn't keep a straight face and end up laughing at his stupidness. "Seriously though." Liam started, all jokes aside. "You have to move on.
It's only a matter of time that you start entertaining, oh I don't know, other cute and hot guys who are actually interested in you and are actually willing to get to know you."

Chloe sighed and plopped herself on the ground. "I've tried. You know I did. I even went out with that guy... what's his face?"

"Pete?"

"Yes, Pete! But you know how that turned out."

"That was three years ago, Chloe. And Pete took you to a kid's park, not to have a date with you, but to help him babysit his little cousins." Liam reminded her and she groaned at how pathetic her love life really was.

"And they were adorable." She commented which only fuelled Liam's frustration. He groaned and threw his hands up in surrender.

"Yup, that's it! It's hopeless! Your hopeless! I give up, I give up!" He exaggeratedly announced.

"Thank you, thank you. Now hop off the train and leave me alone." She uttered as she got up and started the treadmill machine again. Liam groaned but followed after her anyway.

"You know I just want what's best for you, right? If Ace is not interested, then so be it! Move on, it's his lost anyway for letting a beautiful, kind-hearted, and talented woman like you get away." He said as he walked on the machine next to hers.

"I did what I can to forget him. I think it's just too difficult to move on when we're living under the same roof." She admitted.

"Then move out!" Liam exasperatedly exclaimed.

"With what money? You know I'm penniless. And if I'm moving out, I wanna move out because I can afford it and ready to live on my own, not asking my Dad to pay for my rent and bills. Because if that's the case, then there would be no point."

"So then find a job." He nonchalantly told her as if it was that easy to get one, having the fact that Chloe had no job experiences ever. "Oh, why don't you work at your sister's bakery shop? Or La Mille resto, didn't you say the owner's your brother-in-law's best friend?"

"No, no. If I'm getting a job, I wanna get one because of my abilities, not because I'm family. Growing up, everything was handed to me in a silver platter. For once, I just wanna earn something all by myself."

Liam pressed the stopped button of the machine and halted in his track. "What?" She asked as she slowed down her pace. He was standing there with a smirk on his face as if a lightbulb had turned on in his head.

"I know, why don't you work at the café? Didn't you say that Jared works there? It will be perfect! It's not too far from school and at least you already know someone from the staff."

Chloe thought about it for a second. "That... is not a bad idea at all." She stated as a smile started forming on her lips. It was a perfect plan. At least she wouldn't feel so bad about herself considering that everyone had something going for them except her. She was going to do it. For the very first time, she was going to earn something all by herself.