When being asked to describe love towards another gender, then Althea's answer to it would be something most stories told her: a racing heart, a heated face, and the wish to be with the one your feeling is aimed towards. Or at least, that was what happened to her crush, starting from four years ago.
It definitely didn't go as well as how she imagined it to be, despite the rumors going on that the attraction was mutual. Theodore was a nice guy whose look was so her type; though her attraction to him was more than that. She didn't always feel the 'symptoms' of love everyday, but it happened in many instances. She at least knew that, which is why she couldn't categorize her feelings for Ray to be such love. Instead of being flustered around him, Ray gave her a big sense of security and peace. In her world which she could hardly confide in someone, Ray provided it for her. Ray means so much for her, but not in the way Ray felt towards her, perhaps.
"Thea, Karin, going to the administration office?" Althea and Karin who were walking together looked back to see Lucas taking quick steps towards them.
"Ayee, Lucas. Wanna go with us?" Karin asked with her usual cheerfulness.
"Yeah, sure. I was called by the teacher anyway." Lucas matched their pace and Althea looked at him suspiciously.
"Called by the teacher? What are you doing now?" Althea's mischievous eyes met Karin's, signaling 'wanna bet on what trouble he caused this time?' and Karin looked at his friend helplessly. Both of them should know best Lucas always kept himself away from trouble due to his position.
"Sigh ... Thea, can't you stop thinking about me negatively." Lucas put on a sad face. "They just told me to come, but I guess it will be something good for you." Lucas smirked.
"For me?" Althea raised one of her eyebrows. Lucas gave her a mysterious look and went his own way after the three of them reached the office. They handed the hard copy of the report from last school event to be registered in the office and waited for Lucas.
"So, is there any progress with Ray?" Karin asked as she clung on Althea's arm. Althea rolled her eyes. This girl never stop asking ever since she knows what's going on with her and Ray.
"Hmm... we just became more casual with each other, I think. The other day, he accompanied me to sleep when I woke up due to my nightmares." Althea said it without thinking much, but Karin's expression turned worried.
"You still have those nightmares?" Karin looked closer on Althea's complexion, fortunately there were no signs of severe lack of sleep even though her eyes were a bit reddish.
"Uhh... Kind of, I guess." Althea scratched the back of her nack. She used to have weird dreams and unforgettable nightmares haunting her since her childhood. And to be honest, it became worse lately when it was accompanied by a sense of paralysis.
"Thea, I truly think you should regulate your sleep." Karin had been insisting on it since she heard her problem of sleeping paralysis arose a couple of months ago. But Althea just couldn't, she needed to help her family without ignoring her studies.
Althea smiled weakly, she didn't want her precious friend to be this worried about her; though she knows many parts of her are kind of worrying. Noticing the look of 'I can't help it' from Althea, Karin was about to nag again before Lucas went out of the teacher's room, a smile plastered on his handsome face.
"Hey, Lucas. So what did the teacher told you?" Althea quickly asked, eager to get away from Karin's glare.
Lucas looked at the both of them in turn before realizing he had been used as a scapegoat.
"Well, I have no idea what you cute girls are bickering about, but I have good news for you." Lucas shrugged his shoulders and handed a pamphlet to them.
"This is..." Karin read it and Althea joined in.
"A debate competition?" Both of them asked.
"Yeah. I thought you would wanna join it. The school will pay for it fully so you just need to register yourself with one other student and passed the test." Lucas pointed at the eligibility requirements.
"Thea, we gotta do this!" Karin's eyes sparkled for the new challenge but Althea only furrowed her eyebrows.
Karin noticed it and bumped their shoulders, "Thea? Don't tell me you don't wanna do this." she asked.
"Umm... I'm not sure anymore." Althea admitted.
"Is it because of last year?" Karin asked and Althea stiffened.
She remembered her debate competition last year like it was just yesterday. She was one of the three members of the delegation team from her school. They had gone to join this very competition, but at that time they had no idea that the competition has its own procedures and tactics. Heck, they didn't even know that there are roles for each person in the group. Their irresponsible teacher left them to practice alone without any direction-probably because even she herself didn't know about it either.
And so the group was like a helpless lamb on cutting board. They could only face defeat after defeat, watched other teams and try to learn from their opponents on how this competition really works. Their misfortune only added up when their first opponent was the team who got in first place in the whole competition.
All in all, it was a nightmare for the three of them. But what hurt Althea the most wasn't their repeated failures, as they managed to learn and win some in the end, but the disappointment in their irresponsible teacher's face and watching her teammates losing their spirit to fight for the first two days.