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Chapter One

Ever since breaking up with Alex, things have been pretty rough for Olivia. The first few days after the break-up were the worst. She would spend hours staring at her reflection on the mirror, trying to find out what was wrong with her. At other times, she would stare at Alex's number on her phone, her thumb hovering above the 'call' sign. Olivia genuinely loved Alex. There was even a time when she thought he was the one. He seemed like a really sweet guy, after all… until he suddenly seemed more interested in getting into Olivia's pants than actually being with her. It was due to that incident that Olivia vowed to herself never to fall for a guy like him again.

Perhaps that was what made Sebastian seem so attractive to Olivia. He was genuine and honest, yet at the same time, he took care not to hurt your feelings. He had a sense of empathy and would listen to you for hours even if you were talking about something as boring as dust particles. He was refreshing in the sense that the things he said would surprise you, but in a good way. There was also this aura about him that somehow made him seem more approachable than most people. Olivia could go on and on listing down the good things about Sebastian Hastings. It was no wonder that most of the girls in Illyria had already fallen for his charm, although thinking about it utterly disturbed Olivia.

Olivia found herself looking forward to her Biology classes more and more each day. Every time she would go to the cafeteria, her eyes would automatically scan the place for a certain brown-haired boy with green eyes. In the hallways between classes, her eyes would follow Sebastian every time he'd appear in her line of vision. And whenever their eyes met, Sebastian would not hesitate to smile and wave at her, leaving Olivia with a variety of emotions she couldn't quite explain. She should have known, however, that not all guys would find her attractive. She should have reminded herself that things didn't always work out the way you would want it to. If only she hadn't forgotten those simple facts, she might have saved herself from the humiliation that was about to ensue.

It was first period Biology, and Sebastian had just applauded Olivia's courageous feat in dissecting a frog.

It was just then that Malcolm approached Olivia and handed her a flyer with a huge picture of a tarantula plastered over it.

"Hi, Olivia. I don't want you to be worried, but Malvolio's missing." He said with a solemn voice, deliberately ignoring the blonde's oblivious partner.

"Oh, no." Olivia cried out, faking sorrow over Malcolm's lost pet.

"Yeah. Oh, and if you see him, don't feed him. He has an irritable bowel."

If Olivia hadn't already grown accustomed to Malcolm and his weird way of reasoning, she would have stared at him like he was crazy. But having been stalked and constantly badgered by him for almost three years, hearing him saying such a thing was no longer a surprise.

"Yeah, 'cause that would be my very first instinct: to feed the tarantula." Olivia joked.

Malcolm gawked at her, a look of disbelief spread across his face. She couldn't blame him. Rare were the instances that Olivia ever actually spoke like that. Being a junior debutante, she almost always took precaution of her words. But for some reason, whenever Sebastian's around, Olivia felt more at ease and herself.

Once Malcolm had moved away to hand out the flyers to the other students, Sebastian moved closer to Olivia. He started clearing his throat as if mustering up the courage to say something.

"Hmm… Here's a wild idea." Sebastian began.

Olivia looked up from her Biology book.

"Have you ever thought about going out with Duke Orsino?" Sebastian suggested, "I see that" he then waggled his fingers at Olivia and Duke, as if suggesting there was some sort of romantic link between them.

It took a moment before Sebastian's words finally registered into Olivia's brain. For a moment there, she thought Sebastian was going to ask her out.

Olivia raised her eyebrows.

"Duke?" she echoed.

"Yeah!"

"No," came out her immediate response.

"Yeah!" Sebastian persisted.

"No,"

"Yeah!"

"No,"

"Yeah?"

"No!" Olivia laughed, "I mean, he's good looking and everything, but he's… just not the guy for me."

Sebastian didn't seem convinced, however. "Hmm, I don't know. I think there may be more to him than you think there is!"

"Ok, so you're telling me he's not just another dumb jock who wants to hook up with me, so he can tell all his friends-"

"But too insecure to treat you as an equal?" Sebastian interrupted.

Taken aback, Olivia could not find any other words to say except "Exactly," It was as if Sebastian was reading her mind.

"Tell me about it," was Sebastian's simple response. It looked as though he had experienced the same ordeal himself.

Maybe something bad happened between him and his ex-girlfriend? Olivia thought. Well, of course something really awful had to have happened. Otherwise, why would Sebastian dump his ex in such a grandiose manner in the first place?

"You know, I think you're the first guy in this school who hasn't tried anything with me." Olivia found herself saying. She had been wondering why, actually, and she hoped Sebastian would enlighten her on the matter. But as soon as the words came out, she began to regret saying them. After all, she didn't expect that the object of her interest would take the matter so lightly.

With that said, Sebastian simply chuckled at the remark and said, "Trust me, you're not my type!"

Once again, Olivia was taken aback, but this time it wasn't for a good reason.

Feeling down, Olivia couldn't help but ask, "Well, why not?"

Those three words seemed to have struck Sebastian. The fact that he might have actually hurt Olivia with his blunt honesty seemed to have finally dawned on him.

Sebastian cleared his throat before responding, "You know… I just don't think of you in that way. We're friends, you know."

Olivia nodded. As much as possible, she didn't want to seem too depressed by the fact that Sebastian was less than interested in her.

"You're actually one of the few people here I feel comfortable around." Sebastian added.

With that, Olivia's face immediately lit up. "I feel the same way about you."

"Good, then just take my advice. Go out with Duke."

The simple fact that Sebastian was being honest and sincere towards Olivia was enough to make the latter happy. And so, without thinking too much about it, she replied, "I'll consider it."

oOo

Monique was the type of girl that was hard to swoon, hard to please. She would constantly demand outrageous things from you as if you were her servant, not her lover. Sebastian eventually grew sick of their endless cycle: an on-and-off relationship that involved a competition on who had the biggest pride. Monique was usually the winner.

Sebastian had already ended it with Monique back when he was still in Cornwall, but the blonde wouldn't stop pestering him. She would follow him around like a moth attached to a flame. The last straw was when she had followed him to Cesario's just the previous day. Although Sebastian was disturbed by the persistent stalking, the public dumping that ensued boosted Sebastian's social standing in his new school. God knows he needed the intervention, especially since he had transferred to Illyria because of the bullying he had to endure from the boys in his old school. Looking a little to the feminine side had its ups and downs, after all. In fact, before the showdown at Cesario's, he had been dubbed as the biggest loser in Illyria for a while. But anyway, that was beside the point. The point was that, he understood how Olivia was feeling in the whole romance department.

Which was why being insensitive to her feelings was just unacceptable.

When it had slipped from his mouth that Olivia wasn't his type, he didn't mean it in the way Olivia thought he did. It was just that Sebastian was more used to the aggressive type of girls, and Olivia was quite the opposite of aggressive. For example, if Monique were a bowling ball, Olivia would be cotton candy. Certainly, Olivia had that cute and sweet look about her that was sure to be appealing to most guys. She was also quite hot in a way, though she dresses conservatively. But Sebastian just couldn't bring himself to think about her in a way that exceeded the 'just friends' boundary… not now, perhaps not ever. Olivia meant a great deal to him, but that didn't mean he felt anything more than platonic love for her. In fact, Olivia reminded him so much of his sister, Viola.

Perhaps that's why I have this unsettling urge to take care of her… Sebastian thought, recalling how Viola had just recently ended her relationship with a certain dumb jock named Justin Drayton. Sebastian remembered seeing the sad face of his sister the day she broke up with that tool. He could see the same sadness lingering in Olivia's eyes now.

But still… that didn't mean anything other than he really cared for Olivia… as a friend.