The Beautiful Monster

The first month of classes went by fairly well for Alyssa. She had to work hard and keep focused, but she was on her way through her last semester as a sophomore in college.

She couldn't believe she had gotten this far already. It seemed like she was a freshman just yesterday. Yet, here she was.

Time flew by so fast. It made her want to cherish each and every moment because they sped by.

She was glad she found people to make such great memories with. In the future, she knew that she would look back on this year fondly.

She would remember her laughter, her experiences, her struggles. She would remember it all and be grateful for each moment.

It soon came to Alyssa's attention that things were really going to start going full speed ahead once she reached her junior year.

She could try for research opportunities at that level and really prove herself to be a valuable asset in her program. She had to start building her skills now so that she could sell herself later.

She had to jump through so many rings until she could finally be a doctor, and the road was long and hard ahead. She was ready for it, though.

She knew what she had gotten herself into. She knew that this wasn't going to be easy, but that hadn't scared her away when she chose her major. That wouldn't scare her away now that she was two years in.

She wasn't going to quit. She wasn't going to fail. She had too much riding on this. She had too many goals and dreams.

Plus, she had some great people backing her, and she didn't want to let any of them down either. She had to keep pushing forward, no matter what pushed back.

What pushed back first was a bad grade on a reading assignment in history. Of course, it would be history of all courses.

Granted, Alyssa did sort of put that class on the back burner. It didn't matter to her as much as her other classes for her major. The only thing that made history class relevant to her was her bet with Elias.

Things finally went back to normal between them. It took a few days, but they just didn't talk about what happened. They pretended it didn't even happen, and they fell back into their old groove.

Alyssa didn't want to waste time wondering about the past anyway. She wanted to move forward and have fun. She had goals to achieve this year, and she didn't want petty feelings getting in the way of that.

She spent a lot of time at his apartment, lounging in his bed and cooking breakfast with him on the weekends.

She loved their little mock domestic life. She could see herself doing that with him when they grew old.

Hopefully, she would've just retired as a doctor, and he would've retired as some rich businessman. They would live out their retirement in peace and fun. They would travel but also relax at home.

She had so many thoughts about the future. Sometimes, she wondered if she lived in her own head too much. She needed to focus on the present too.

She had a lot riding on it. If she didn't succeed in the present, she couldn't live the future that she wanted to.

As Alyssa left the liberal arts building one day, her eyes landed on someone very familiar. Dread filled her at first at seeing Kaleigh again, but she pushed it down.

She smirked instead as she brushed past Kaleigh. Her head was tilted high, and she radiated a confidence that she did not have at the beginning of her sophomore year.

Kaleigh rolled her eyes, but she didn't say a word. There was nothing to say. They still didn't like each other, and they never would. At least they didn't have any classes together anymore.

Alyssa smiled to herself as she walked to the library to meet Elias. She was going to go over to his apartment tonight and stay there. She loved those nights.

There was no fun in staying by herself in her dorm. She got spoiled with cuddling him, so she didn't sleep as well when she was sleeping by herself.

She couldn't believe how many things relationships changed in one person's life. Some of her habits or ticks were changed when she met Elias.

She thought of sleeping and showering differently. He was all over her personal life now, but she didn't mind that. He was where she wanted him to be.

"Hey there."

Alyssa looked over once she entered the library to see Elias standing off to the side with two cups in his hands. She smiled as she kissed him softly.

It was so nice getting to see him throughout her days on campus. He was basically a portable ray of sunshine for her. He lit her up in ways that others didn't, no matter what they did.

"This is for me?" she asked as she pointed to one of the cups of tea. He always surprised her with tea, which was incredibly sweet of him. He was so thoughtful naturally.

It wasn't something forced or something he felt compelled to do. It was just in his nature to check in on other people, and she really admired that about him.

"Of course. Earl grey," Elias replied as he handed it to her. "You look nice today."

Alyssa looked down at her black skirt and white tank top combo. She had been trying to dress up more lately. It was nice that he noticed.

"Thank you," she told him as his arm went around her shoulders. "How was class?"

"A bit slow. It's always like that starting out," Elias said with a shrug. "I'm just glad I'm finally taking an entrepreneurship class. That's the one I really need to focus on."

Alyssa smiled at him as she nodded. She hoped that he got something out of that class. She knew that he was really trying to figure out what kind of business he wanted to get into before his junior year.

She hoped that he figured it out. There were so many things that he could look into. However, having that many choices also made it that much harder to pick one.

"I bet you'll be the best at whatever you decide to do," she told him. She believed in him. She had seen how his work ethic bloomed. It would only keep growing once he settled on an idea and committed to it.

Elias gave her a thankful squeeze.

"I want to try to, but I want to do it for me. Not for my parents," he said. "They're probably going to try to take credit if I do succeed. But if I fail, it'll be all on me."

"You won't fail," Alyssa told him firmly. He wanted to succeed outside of his family so badly, and she knew that passion and motivation gave way to success. He just needed to keep that devotion, and it would take him wherever he needed to go. She hoped for the same outcome for her too.