Chapter 160 Jealousy 2

Chapter 160 Jealousy 2
After Lawrence left, Irene turned to look at Nelson, her boyfriend, who had been quietly fuming all this time.

"Hey." She chuckled at his sour expression. "What's with that pity face?"

"Why did you hug him?" Nelson asked, his tone void of any emotion.

But Irene caught on to one thing, and a smile spread across her lips.

Jealousy.

"What?" She teased, wiggling her brows. "Are you jealous?"

Any other person would have denied it, but Nelson looked away from her.

"Shouldn't I be?" He asked, crossing his arms. "From what I know, you had a huge crush on him."

Irene blinked, then she laughed.

"That was a really long time ago."

Whatever feelings she had for him, both the young and older versions of him, died the day she found out that he was the one responsible for her parents' company being taken away from them.

Nelson frowned. "I saw you smiling at his photos on Facebook a few months back."

She blinked.

Oh, her long time ago was different from his.

"See, a long time ago," she said, trying to dismiss the topic.

Then Irene got closer and wrapped her hands around Nelson's neck. "Right now, the only person I like is you," she muttered before leaning forward to place a peck on Nelson's lips.

Nelson's expression became a bit better with the kiss, but he still couldn't get the way Irene had hugged Lawrence out of his mind.

"But why did you hug him?" He asked again, ignoring the fact that his jealousy was now a lot more obvious from his tone.

Irene shrugged.

"I wanted to thank him," she muttered. "Plus, I might not see him again for a few months or maybe years."

Nelson pouted. He didn't seem convinced by the explanation. Irene brought a hand to his cheek.

"You look adorable when you're jealous. Do you know that?" She asked, and Nelson fought the urge to roll his eyes.

He lifted his hand to his chin, his expression smug. "You're the only person in the world who would call this adorable."

He was back.

The ice cream in Irene's hand had already melted, so she threw the cup away as they began walking around.

At least now they were talking. Before Lawrence came by, the atmosphere between them had been so awkward.

"I heard you both talking about SAT scores, and now I'm curious about what you want to study," Nelson brought up as they walked.

Before Irene could answer, Nelson spoke again.

"I know you like music, and you once thought of studying that."

"I am studying that." She nodded, agreeing with his words. "I'm just waiting for the reply from the school I applied to."

Nelson stared at Irene with a new sense of admiration.

She was not only gorgeous, but brilliant as well.

Only problem was... College.

Irene noticed that Nelson was no longer walking beside her and turned to look at him. He seemed lost in thought.

She walked back a few steps to meet him.

"What is it?"

Nelson took in a deep breath. He had no idea how he could explain his worries to her, so he decided to start from the beginning.

"I had a perfect score in the exam," he blurted out.

Perfect score?

Perfect score?!

"What in the..." Irene thought she hadn't heard him correctly at first, but then his words replayed in her head. "What?!" She exclaimed in a loud voice.

The other people at the park turned to look at her, half wondering what was wrong, while the other half were just annoyed by her tone.

Nelson smiled. Apart from his cousin, no one else had reacted like that when they found out about his score.

"Why are you so surprised? I'm valedictorian."

"I know..." Irene dragged out. "But I didn't know you were that smart."

The same Nelson who played soccer most of the time, the one who normally annoyed her, was the school's valedictorian.

If it had been before, before she had feelings for him, she would have thought that his family had bought him the position.

Because how on earth would a bully be valedictorian?

But now that she really knew him, she knew he deserved it.

"Yeah." Nelson snorted. "I'm going to an Ivy League school... Harvard."

"That's amazing," Irene exclaimed like she had no idea.

But she knew Nelson went to Harvard and graduated with honors, but that was information she would keep to herself.

All she was hearing was good news, yet Nelson's face looked like someone had just died.

"So what's the problem? Don't you want to go?" She asked, searching his face for answers.

"No." Nelson sighed, grabbing her hands. "It's just that I don't want to be away from you."

That was it.

There was a saying that high school relationships don't last once both parties get to college.

Irene didn't give Nelson an answer. Instead, she stood on her tiptoes and placed her lips on his.

The kiss was a reassurance that she still loved him and would still love him no matter what.

Nelson reacted immediately, kissing her back like he understood the message. His hands went around her waist, pulling her close to him.

By the time they both pulled away, they were equally breathless.

Irene smiled, her wet, glossy lips widening.

"Would you prefer both of us to go to some other college, and I study catering while you study business?" She joked, tilting her head to the side.

"Do you like catering?" Nelson asked seriously.

"That's not the point." Irene quickly brushed it off. "It was a joke. You didn't get it."

She was trying to relate to the 'vision' she had, but of course, he wouldn't get it.

Before Nelson could pry and force her to explain what she meant, which would be torture for both of them, Irene spoke again.

"I love you, Nelson. I really do." She confessed, still standing wrapped in his arms. The more she said it, the easier it became, and the more real it felt.

"And I'm willing to give our relationship a chance, even if it would be long-distance."

"Besides, I plan to be a worldwide-renowned pianist." She said with a hint of pride. "Though it might take a few years, I would be touring cities and countries with my music soon."

"Once you're done with your schooling and you've taken over your father's company, then, and only then, can we talk about us settling down, and then having a kid who we'd name William, and he would be adorable." She ranted with a smile. A picture of William appeared in her head.

He was one of the only things she missed about her futuristic life.

"Wow." Nelson blinked. He barely caught everything Irene said, but he heard the kid's name.

She saw herself settling down with him someday.

That was everything Nelson wanted.

"It seems like you've planned everything."

"Not everything, but..."

Enough.

More than enough.

Irene let the rest of her words trail off and just smiled. Then she remembered something, and her smile disappeared.

"By the way, how is Luna?" She asked in a worried tone.

"She's alright." Nelson shrugged. "The doctor said that she's getting better now. She looked a lot better too. She's been asking to see you again."

"I'd love to see her too."

Irene couldn't stop thinking about her.

She couldn't help but wonder if, by any chance, Luna's illness was her fault.

Maybe the universe wanted to take someone in place of her.

But then, Donald did die, so...

It was too much to worry about.

As long as she was getting better, Irene could breathe easily.

"Don't worry too much." She comforted him. "She'll get through this. Trust me, she'll be back to her annoying self in no time."

"The way you say that gives me a lot of confidence," Nelson muttered, pulling Irene close to him before hugging her.

Kind of the same way she had hugged Lawrence, only this time, Irene responded by instinctively wrapping her arms around him.

"I love you, Irene," she heard him mutter, and a smile crossed her lips.

As long as they loved each other, they could overcome anything.