Fated to the Alpha's Touch

3-"Approachable."

During lunchtime, I ate alone at the vacant table I saw. I didn’t mind being alone. I was already used to it, especially when I lost Lucas.

“Cecilia, can you let me copy your assignment later? I haven’t finished mine yet.”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks, beautiful!”

The girl chuckled as a response.

“Can you stop being lazy, and start being responsible enough to do your assignment, Dane?! You’re so annoying!” Another girl scolded the boy.

Their group laughed.

They walked past my table and I couldn’t help but look at them. I knew it—Paul’s group of friends. As usual, every time they were walking, not only because of their voices as they talked but naturally part of their charismatic effect, the people around would eventually turn around to look their way. I could not blame the majority. This group seemed to be drawing attention even if they didn’t intend to do such a thing. They seemed cool and loud.

Dane was the name of the playful and happy-go-lucky guy among the five. And Cecilia was the kind and nice-looking one. What I didn’t hear the name being mentioned was the name of the other girl, who seemed annoyed with everything.

Subconsciously, I watched them until they settled on a long table that could cater to all five of them.

Dane continued to give light with his friends with his jokes, making them laugh and grin. Cecilia laughed, while the snub girl just kept smiling as if she was half entertained and half irritated at the same time. But I could not deny it, this hot and cold aura of the latter made her look so interesting. She was serving the sultry, cool, snubbish girl effect.

I stopped glancing their way and decided just to mind my own business. I had nothing to do with them, and vice versa. I should not care. I came here to finish my studies, not to make friends with anyone or get intrigued by a famous group of friends.

While eating peacefully, a female suddenly sat in the chair in front of me at my table, so I was a little appalled. When I lifted my head, I was even more surprised to see who it was.

“Cecilia!”

“Hello Sandra! How did you know my name?” she asked. As usual, she had a positive and friendly aura that could lighten up anybody’s day.

Glancing at their table, all four of them were looking over here, probably because Cecilia was here.

A bit shy and hesitant, I answered her, “I heard it a while ago when you walked past my table. Sorry.”

“Hey, why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong, come on!” She chuckled.

I forced a smile. She was too nice and too talkative, which made me feel a bit awkward, but I was not blaming her. It was all on me. Maybe I was just not used to socializing after years of isolating myself from everybody, so when people who were naturally friendly approached me, it felt a bit uncomfortable for me. But then again, it was on me, not Cecilia’s fault.

“Hi, Sandra!”

I looked at the person who had just come. It was Dane who followed his friend and sat next to her in front of me.

“Hello,” I simply answered.

“This is my cousin,” Cecilia pointed Dane. “His name is—”

“Dane,” I cut her.

“Wow! So, you knew him, too?”

I nodded. “I heard it earlier as well.”

“Oh! You know what? You’re so cute, Sandra!” The girl complimented me.

My cheeks almost flushed in flattery. “Thank you.”

“Remember us? We’re classmates in Biology,” Dane said, smiling as always.

I nodded. Yeah… In fact, even if they didn’t happen to be my classmates in one of my subjects, I would still remember them because of what I did to a particular member of their group this morning, and it was so embarrassing, seriously.

“I hope we can be friends from now on, Sandra,” Cecilia offered me nicely/

I could just nod. Perhaps, making friends with friendly people wouldn’t be a bad idea, even though it wasn’t the main reason I went back to school. But yeah, whatever.

“If you don’t mind me asking, are you a transferee?” Dane asked me curiously. “I think it’s the first time we've seen you around the campus.”

“Uhm, not entirely a transferee. Let’s just say I’m used to being a dropout. I just decided to go back to school again, so yeah, that’s why.”

“Oh!”

They looked at each other, and they seemed equally surprised.

“You were a dropout kid? How come?”

“I stopped six years ago. I just resumed again this year.”

“What made you stop?”

I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t want to be too detailed with my personal story, especially that I met them just now. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

They nodded, they understood. Good thing they didn’t try to insist on digging deeper.

“So, you see, bro? Stop asking personal questions! You make the girl uncomfortable!” Cecilia scolded her cousin in a joking way.

Dane nodded in peace. “Yeah. Sorry.”

I couldn’t help it. These two were making me smile. They looked close, and they seemed so cool. I even loved that they didn’t get shy to sit at my table, approach me nicely, and try to make friends with me. I think they were amazing.

“Anyway, we want to formally introduce ourselves to you despite knowing that you already knew our names. We are the Maddisons, and we are all taking up Veterinary Medicine,” Dane said, He pointed to their table where the three remained. “That girl who looked snubbish and had like a paper-white skin is Olivia. At first glance, you’ll think she’s a bad girl, but I’m telling you, she’s one of a kind, and truly soft-hearted deep inside. That serious boy, on the other hand, is Mike. He’s the most mature and logical one in our group. He always plays the referee and adviser when we sometimes have misunderstandings.”

All of them were pursuing Veterinary Medicine. Interesting…

“And lastly, the one with tantalizing eyes, it’s Paul Maddison. Girls always drool all over him. I guess it’s the s*x appeal!” Dane continued, and he seemed to be giving emphasis towards Paul.

Yeah. How could I forget about that particular man? He looked exactly like my late fiancé, but had completely different behavior and personality.

“Initially, you’ll get an impression that Paul is arrogant and a bad boy, but believe me, that bloke is a freaking gentleman.”

My eyes focused on the man that Dane kept talking about.

Paul being an arrogant asshole? Yeah, that's not surprising. But a gentleman? Uh oh, I don't believe that for now.

“Uhm, Sandra, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you mistake Paul for someone you knew? And who was that person? Did Paul really resemble him so much?” Cecilia asked curiously.

I was hesitant to answer, but I still did. “I mistook him, and it was really my fault. I thought he was someone I knew, but I realized he really wasn’t that person. It was just a mistake. They’re two different men. Paul is not Lucas, and there’s no way he will be my late fiancé.”

“Late fiancé?” She was surprised. “What do you mean? What happened to Lucas?”

Even Dane seemed to be so invested.

“He died six years ago, in a tragedy. A week before our supposed wedding.”

“Oh, that’s so sad to hear! I’m sorry, Sandra.”

“It’s fine,” I forced a smile, although it felt heavy deep down. I once again glanced at Paul’s way. “Your friend is not my late fiancé, and there’s no way he will be him. Maybe I just missed Lucas so much, so when I first saw Paul, I thought he was him, but I was wrong. I shouldn’t have let my feelings rule over my sanity.”

Cecilia and Dane nodded understandingly, even a bit pitying me because of my sad story.

“Was Lucas the reason why you stopped school six years ago? Because you lost him, Sandra?” Dane asked me earnestly.

There was no longer a point in hiding it because it was too obvious, so I just nodded. “Yes. That’s right. But let’s just not talk about him anymore. I just don’t want to talk about it. I hope you understand.”

“Of course. Sorry.”

I shook my head and smiled. “It’s okay.”

Dane grinned and joked, “I hope you’re not mad if I have so many questions.”

“I’m not. Don’t worry.”

Looking at the table where Paul, Mike, and Olivia were still seated, my forehead furrowed a bit when I saw that Mike was whispering something to Paul, and they were both thoughtfully staring at me!