The Loner and the Romantic (Part 1)

What you are about to read is a ten-part fictional romance story based on a man named David who is in love with a female named Rekka, who is born with an unknown heart condition which can cause frequent heartburns and fainting spells. This story is a first-person point of view, more specifically, David's POV.

This story also mentions rape, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts in some parts. If you do not want to hear any of those triggers, do not continue for the sake of your safety. Otherwise, enjoy the story.

This is Part 1.

A Tragedy

The start of Valentine's Day got off to a heated start as a house in York is engulfed in flames. Firefighters were on the scene and in the process of extinguishing the fire. The family has first-degree burns and minor injuries, but their daughter is still in the burning house. Firefighters are looking for the family's twenty-year-old daughter while putting out the fire, hoping to find the family's daughter alive.

It was three in the morning when the fire happened. My father woke me up and asked me to come outside the house. What I noticed was smoke coming from the west side of my home, and I realized that this is the area where Rekka was. My father and I got dressed and drove all the way to the area where there was smoke, and I noticed that there was a fire happening.

When we drove up to Rekka's street, my eyes started to widen. The fire was happening in her house. I was frightened. We drove near her home, and I noticed her family, injured and terrified. However, I didn't see Rekka. I got worried. I came out of the car and approached the family. Rekka's brother, Kaito, noticed me.

"David?" He spoke in surprise. "What the heck are you doing here?"

"My father noticed some smoke from our place, and I saw that it was around Rekka's area, so I came here to confirm," I answered. "It turns out that I was right."

"I'm sorry that you have to see us like that," Kaito said in disbelief.

"It's okay. I'm glad that you guys are alright. But I'm more concerned about your sister. Where is she?"

"We assumed that she's still in the fire. She got stuck and—"

Suddenly, the house exploded. Debris flew out of the house, and everyone took cover. I ducked beside the fire truck, hoping that the debris didn't hit Rekka's family and myself. Thankfully, nobody got hurt from the falling wreckage.

"Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed. "Rekka's still in there!"

I rushed to the wreckage, but the police stopped me. I couldn't get closer to the burned house. I couldn't get closer to Rekka. I couldn't hold her hand anymore. I felt hopeless.

As the police escorted me back to the safe zone, I recalled all of the memories that I had with Rekka. I didn't get a chance to talk to her about how much I love her.

And that was six months ago.

David's Recording: Introduction and Encounter with Rekka

My name is David Hoang. I am a student at Dawson University. If you see this, congrats, you're part of my life right now. I am recording this to document my thoughts and feelings about my family, friends, and people who are considered to be my "friends." Problem is, my life took a terrible turn. My mother is a disease to me. She abused my father to get whatever she wanted. After several months of abuse, she had the nerve to divorce my father. She extorted his money, and I was in her full custody. However, I fought for my right to stay with my dad, and she left our house for good. But, because my mom extorted money out from my dad, we don't have enough money to pay for rent. So my dad has to work overtime to pay rent. Sometimes he works all night to get overpaid, even though it's $10 per hour.

As for me, I recently dumped my girlfriend. She is a pain to me. I didn't bother answering her about why we broke up. It was clear that I was dating a stubborn vixen. But it doesn't matter. I got rid of her, and I never looked back at her after all that nonsense that happened. If I wanted to be in a relationship, I wanted faith. I wanted it to be a two-way thing. But what she does in return is the same thing as what my mother did to my father. Honestly, I wanted to think about death at the moment, but I know that someone's looking at me, telling me not to. So, why am I still here? Well, I don't know about you, but I felt my heart ignite again. Before I broke up with my ex, I met this other girl...

Six Months Earlier

It was in Starling University when I first met her. She is sitting on a desk with her laptop and has headphones on. She wore a grey cardigan sweater with a white shirt underneath, tight black pants, and brown boots. She has her hair tied to a ponytail and wears silver glasses.

I was in Starling U because of a co-op program I'm in, and this girl is the first person that I saw when I came to this university campus. I wanted to approach this beautiful lady, but I don't want to disturb her peace. It looks like that she doesn't want to be around with people. But I decided to take a shot and talk to her. But I don't know what to start off a conversation with her.

Then, I noticed that she pulled something out of her backpack. It was a drawing tablet. I think that something about drawing could spark up a conversation between us. So, I decided to approach her without disturbing her peace.

"That's a nice tablet you got there," I complimented.

She looked at me and smiled. I don't know if she heard me, but I think she did and replied to me with a gesture rather than using her voice.

"Is it okay if I sit with you?" I asked.

She moved over and offered me a seat beside her. I sat down with her and put my backpack down. She took off her headphones and pressed a key on her keyboard. I assume that she paused her music in her laptop.

"Sorry to disrupt you," I apologized. "I'm new to this university, and I wanted to make friends here."

"It's okay," she forgave. "I don't mind a bit of company."

"Okay, I thought that you're gonna hiss at me for disturbing your personal space. Every girl I approach to hisses at me for disturbing them."

"I see."

She seems nice, I thought. She looked at me as if I'm important to her. But, we've just met, and I don't know her name yet.

"My name is David," I introduced. "I'm a student at Dawson University. I came to Starling University because of a co-op program I'm in."

"I'm Rekka," she introduced herself. "I'm a student here. I study graphic design and I'm also a designer freelancer."

A freelancing designer? That sounds awesome. I don't know why I didn't think about doing freelancing anytime soon.

"So, what made you come to this university?" Rekka asked me.

"I came here because of a co-op program I'm taking from my field of study," I answered. "It's my first day here."

"And what field are you studying?"

"I'm currently in the tech program, specifically, in the networking program. I was one of the students that managed to get a co-op position here."

"And which university do you study from?"

"Dawson University. It's a nice place."

"I've heard that university. I think it's a nice place as well. It was my second choice, but I ended up getting my first choice here."

Aw man. If Rekka took her second choice, I would've been spending time with her instead of my "girlfriend." Yes, I'm putting "girlfriend" in quotation marks because I will be dumping her soon. However, she is stubborn, so breaking up with her is not easy.

"Well, I'm glad that you got your first choice." I congratulated.

"Thanks." She replied. "But that was a year ago. I'm in my second year. There are a lot of things I have to take care of."

"Well, I'll leave you to it. I have to go on my first training day. But can we exchange contacts?"

She nodded. We ended up exchanging our phone numbers and personal emails. As I walked away from her area, I couldn't stop thinking about her. She means everything to me.

David's Recording: Rekka's Tragedy

After we both exchanged our contacts, I couldn't help but think about her throughout the rest of the day. She was on my mind the entire time. It'll be nice to see her again. Two hours later, I decided to text her. I don't know how quick she is at replying to messages, but I didn't bother spamming her because I thought that she has a class. After my training day is over, I decided to text her again. I got no response, and I noticed that she hasn't read the first text I texted her before. I started to get worried.

All of a sudden, I noticed an ambulance parked in front of the campus. I got curious and decided to wander around, looking for any paramedics here. But then, I saw two paramedics running with a paramedic stretcher between them. They ran past me, but I noticed someone familiar.

And then, my heart started to sink.

It was Rekka, the person I first met. She was on the stretcher, possibly unconscious. I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I don't know how. She seemed fine when I first talked to her. What happened to her that made her like this?

As they put her in the ambulance, I was having a lot of thoughts about what happened to her. Unfortunately, I ended up crying as I overthink about her dying. I don't know why, but I wanted to check her out and see if she's okay. Then, I got a text from my girlfriend, saying that she wanted to hang out tonight. I don't want to tell her that I'm seeing another girl, so I have to make an excuse that I'm heading home early. However, she's stubborn, and she would do anything to spend more time with me.

Honestly, I want to get away from her as soon as possible. It's Rekka I'm more concerned about, not my girlfriend.