Chapter 17: 12.𝐈𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞

Stella has been ignoring

It's been 3 days since she is avoiding me, she is not replying to my text, her phone is unreachable and she is not coming for the group project meeting either

I have been helping Max, Camilia and Julian and they are doing pretty good. I come here every morning and spend 3 hours helping them. I never thought it would be fun, honestly it's not fun. It's exhausting and that's for me, I don't know how these 4 are managing everything

Even though I have studied the same, doing this again makes me realize it was not easy

"Liam?"

"Yeah?"

Camilia is staring at me with a confused expression "so what do you think?" She asks , showing her previous designs which she wants to submit to NYX. Camilia is gifted, very few people are excellent in hand as well as CAD designs. Stella , Max and even Julian are really talented freshmen I have seen

"They are good, but you should still refine them," I suggested to her. She smiles and says thank you and goes back to her seat to continue. It's the last day of me helping them, First I was hesitating to come here but it seemed fine to have Stella around but now she has disappeared to God knows where I am not happy about it

Did I upset her that day?

After I got to know she likes reading, I explored a few bookstores and social media to know more about fiction books. And the love for those books is crazy and during my search I stumbled upon a video where two friends were obsessing over the line 'lyhfml' , I knew it was from a book but upon knowing it's meaning

I was flabbergasted

And now I am more curious to know about Stella's favourite books

To my luck or should I say bad luck now, Stella was wearing that hoodie and with the horrified expression she gave me after I teased her , I think I know why she's not answering me

This is annoying!

I didn't intend to harm her and now I regret knowing it's meaning. It was better to be left alone in the dark than Stella avoiding me. I take my phone and check my messages again but there's no reply from her

Is she okay?

"Hm Camilia?" Her head snaps in my direction "why is Stella not coming?" I ask , this is the first time I am hesitating to ask about someone's whereabouts

She slams her palm on forehead and stands up "I am sorry I totally forgot!"

She takes out a portrait and spreads it in front of the table in front of me. It doesn't take me time to realize that it's designed by Stella "Stella sent her work today. She couldn't attend the classes for some reason but she completed the work. What do you think?"

I take it in my hand and examine it properly, she has drawn the designs really smoothly and with details which could take a good time to be noticed and appreciated. What makes me smile is she went with my suggestion and made a unisex design and it is beyond my expectations.

"Tell her she did a good job" I say

"Yeah she really did" Camilia takes back the design "We have completed the designs before time, Thanks for your help Liam" Max thanks me. Max is witty yet a responsible person, no wonder zuri and he are siblings

They have completed their work really quickly , I thought it would at least take a week but it's done in 4 days

Now I have no reason to visit this place

After they all were assured that they didn't need my help and submitted the project with any trouble, I left the university and headed to the office.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

It's lunch time already and I can't focus properly on my work, I haven't been able to make a concept design for days now and the pressure is suffocating me . A knock takes my attention "Lunchtime" Adam stands near the door holding takeout packets

He comes in and keeps them on my desk, I clear the table so the food doesn't spoil it

"What's up with you nowadays, you look really distracted?" Adam asks and gives me a burger, I take a quick bite . Even he noticed that I was not doing my work properly. "You noticed?" He nods in response

"Let me ask you a question"

"Shuf" he mumbles with his mouth full of food, he was trying to say 'shoot' instead

"If a girl is ignoring you . What will you do?" Upon hearing me, he quickly swallows the food and sips on the drink , and keeps the bottle down with a loud thug. I expected this, I never asked for any advice from him so he is not used to this "not even messaging?" I deny

"Maybe she is on her periods-"

I sigh and cut him off "Dude, just because a girl is in a bad mood does not mean she is on her periods"

He shakes his head "woah sorry if I sounded like that but let me complete. Maybe she is having bad cramps and not in the mood to meet you? And you are right, a girl mostly ignores you when you do something wrong, so run your einstein brain and think about what you did" I roll my eyes at his comment.

What did I do wrong?

Wait, is it actually because of teasing her?

I didn't think she would feel so bad about it

"Seeing your expression I think you figured out your mistake, so spill what did you do?" Adam unwraps another burger and starts eating it . Whereas I didn't even finish mine

"I didn't think she would not like it, I was just joking"

Hearing me he leans back on the chair and suddenly moves forward "You should be careful on what you speak" he points out and i couldn't agree more , sometimes a small joke can hurt people deeply

"What should I do now?" I ask

"Do you regret your actions?" I nod in response, and I really do regret it .

"So apologize to her but as she is ignoring your calls and text , go and visit her and take a gift for her" he suggests "what does she like?"

"I don't know what she likes" I reply and he raises his eyebrows in disbelief "she is your girlfriend how can you not-"

"She is not my girlfriend"

He opens his mouth and closes it . He raises from his seat and takes a round around the desk and me , intensely staring at me. He comes in front and slams his hand on the table and lens on it "You are not asking this for your girlfriend?" I Shake my head in denial

He scoffs "what was I expecting? So tell me Liam Carter Williams, who is this girl" he crosses his hands

"A friend"

He smirks at my words "just a friend huh" This guy is never gonna leave me for this

"Okay leave all that, I won't ask anything further or else you will kick me out" he says and sits back on the chair. He knows me well because I was a minute away from kicking him out of my cabin

"Come on , think of something she really likes!"

I run my hands through my hair , trying to think. What does Stella like? I have met her only a few times but she didn't mention what she likes

"She likes to drink chamomile tea I think, she likes to read books and flowe -" Adam and I look at each other for a second with the same expression on our face and we both are thinking the same thing. We stood up at the same time and yelled "Flowers!"

"Okay flowers of course, the classic gift , Liam please tell me you at least know her favorite color" he pleased

Actually I don't but "I think it's pink"

"How are you so sure about it?" He asks

"Because she always have something pink on her, even if her outfit is of a different color, she always accessorize herself with something pink it maybe the pink ribbon in her hair or on her bag, sometimes it's a pink pearl necklace or sometimes pink heels " I explain

She likes to wear pink or it may be her lucky color. When I saw her at the mall she was wearing her hair but with a pink ribbon. A few days ago she had a small pink ribbon on her bag . And at Ian's birthday she wore a pink pearl necklace with the black dress and each time i couldn't take me eyes off her

Adam snaps his finger at me "I don't know why you are doing this but I am eager to know where this will take you"

Here he goes again

"By the way, what's her name?"

"Stella" I reply

He squints his eyes "Stella The Star who is shining the brightest in your galaxy" he states, grinding like a fool

She is the only star shining in my galaxy

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

I tried to finish my work early but failed as I was procrastinating for the past few days. I had to work overtime tonight. I am glad I completed the work

It's 8 in the night right now

I am standing in front of Stella's dorm, many girls are going in and coming out , her curfew hasn't started yet . But I don't know how to give this bouquet to her

The pink tulip bouquet I brought on my way here are decorated with a white sheet around and secured with a pink ribbon . They do look beautiful.

will she likes it

I did ask a few of the girls if they know Stella but the campus is huge and has many courses so it's hard to know everyone. I tried to call Stella but she didn't pick up , I have been standing here for half an hour now

I notice a girl walking towards the dorm, talking on her phone, she stops to put the phone in her bag . I think I should ask her too

"Excuse me?" I approach her

"Yes?" She turns towards me.

"Do you know Stella Miller? She studies fashion designing" I ask her "May i know who you are?"

"I am Liam Carter" I introduced myself

Her eyes widened, she takes a step back and looks at me from head to toe and gasps loudly "you are Liam?" I just nod

Does she know me

She mutters something I couldn't understand, she looks like she is from Asia. Don't wanna assume but India maybe?

"Excuse me for that reaction but , Hi! I am Jasmine, I am Stella's best friend and also her roommate" she introduces herself

Finally I met someone who knows her and that too is her friend "You know me?"

"Yes of course , Stella mentioned about you" she chuckles

I don't know if I should be happy that she talked about me with her friend or not

"Could you do me a favor and pass her this?" I forward the bouquet to Jasmine and she starts at it in amusement. The small letter which I have kept in the bouquet is slightly visible. She needs to read it

Jasmine smiles and carefully takes the bouquet "Yes I will, anything else?"

"No that's all, thank you"

She nods and bids me goodbye and enters the building. I stand against my car and decide to wait for a few more minutes. Maybe she will call me? I wish she does

I look above, the atmosphere is calm and it won't rain tonight but there are still cool breezes, the moon and the stars have occupied the sky. The branches of the tree near me make a sound as they move due to the wind .

Many lights of the dorm are still present that means Stella might also be awake

I hear the notification sound from my phone and I quickly open it

Is it Stella?

A disappointed feeling crept over me as the message was not from her but my brother

Lucas: be home tonight , we all are having dinner together

Me: okay I will

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

Author's Note

I have read a few of the comments on the last chapter, sorry I couldn't respond to them but I did enjoy reading them , I loved the reactions . I am happy that you all enjoyed the chapter

Hope you liked this one too

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-have a nice day