Chapter 1 – Collision of Worlds
Chapter 1 – Collision of Worlds
The first day of the semester had never felt so heavy. Althea Marie Navarro tugged the strap of her worn backpack and hurried across the wide, tree-lined paths of San Isidro University. Her books pressed against her chest, her slippers slapping softly against the pavement, she tried to keep her mind from wandering to the tiny pile of coins in her pocket—barely enough for a jeepney ride home after class. Hunger was a quiet companion she had learned to ignore. Dreams, however, were louder.
She ducked under a low-hanging branch, scanning the crowds of students and the crisp new faces milling toward classrooms. Everything here smelled like polished floors, fresh paper, and the faint trace of expensive coffee. She stuck her chin up. She belonged. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.
Then she ran into him.
Hard enough to knock the books from her arms and send papers scattering across the sunlit path.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Althea exclaimed, dropping to her knees to gather the sheets. She had barely noticed him, tall and calm, bending down just as quickly to help.
The boy's hands were warm, precise, almost gentle, as he collected her notes. Althea looked up, startled, and froze.
He was… impossibly composed. Dark hair neatly parted, crisp white shirt tucked into tailored pants, eyes that seemed to read her without a word. There was a quiet strength about him, a kind of ease she could never hope to emulate.
"You dropped this," he said softly, handing her the last sheet. His accent was subtle, unfamiliar, musical even.
"Thank you," she managed, her voice a little higher than normal. Her fingers brushed his for the briefest moment. The touch sent a jolt straight through her chest, leaving her slightly dizzy.
He inclined his head slightly, expression unreadable. "Are you alright?"
Althea nodded quickly, cheeks warming. She wrapped the papers back into a slightly disheveled stack. "Yes… yes, I'm fine. I just—uh—was in a hurry."
"I see," he said, glancing around, as if noting the bustling campus. "First day?"
"Yes," she replied, smoothing the corner of a notebook. "I mean, technically… second year. But still first day jitters, you know?"
He didn't smile, not really, but his eyes softened in a way that made her heart skip. "I understand," he said quietly. And then, without another word, he straightened and walked past her, leaving a swirl of papers and cherry blossom petals floating in his wake.
Althea blinked after him, trying to steady her racing pulse. He didn't look back. He didn't have to. Somehow, he had left an impression just by being there—a mark she would carry all day.
Her first class was in the business building, far from the crowded lecture halls she usually gravitated toward. She paused briefly to catch her breath, glanced down at the torn corner of her sleeve, and imagined him walking along the campus paths. Who was he? He didn't seem like the other students, with their brightly colored laptops, branded shoes, and polished confidence. He had a kind of quiet dominance—someone used to getting what he wanted, or perhaps someone who had never had to want anything at all.
And yet… there was something fragile in his gaze, a hint of loneliness that didn't belong to someone from such a wealthy-looking world.
Shaking her head, Althea reminded herself that curiosity could wait. Focus mattered more. Books, schedules, scholarship requirements, surviving the semester. She couldn't afford distractions, not even ones that came with soft hands and deep, unreadable eyes.
Her next class was crowded, the chatter of students bouncing off the walls. She slipped into a seat near the back, arranging her papers carefully, and tried to replay the encounter in her head without getting lost in it. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw him the way the sun had caught the edge of his hair, the slight tension in his shoulders, the quiet way he had said, "I understand."
Half an hour later, the door opened again, and in he walked. Same quiet pace, same careful attention to every step, scanning the room before settling near the front. He didn't look at her, not at first. But when he did, their eyes met for the briefest second, and Althea's stomach clenched in a way that made her aware of every heartbeat.
Her first day had started like any other, filled with schedules, syllabi, and polite hellos. But it had also started with him an accidental collision, a nearly brushed hand, a glance that lingered too long. And somehow, she knew her life had already changed.
The world outside the campus gates might have been harsh and unyielding. Money, family expectations, survival these things pressed down on her like weights she carried silently. But here, under the golden light of late morning and the flutter of petals in the air, there was a new complication. One she hadn't been planning for.
His quiet presence was a challenge, a question, a temptation. And as she packed her books at the end of the lecture, Althea couldn't help but wonder: how long before curiosity turned into something more… dangerous?
Something she might not be ready for.