I was nervously waiting by the carpark. Because Alicia lost the game yesterday, she was obligated to go on a date with me. I was still scared that she'd stand me up, though. I really hope she wouldn't because I really put a lot of effort into this date.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her walking towards me. She told me to meet her downtown because she had some corporate stuff to do before. As she got closer, her brows scrunched together in confusion.

"Whose car did you get?" She motioned at the Audi.

"Uh... Tamsin offered me her car." I opened the passenger door for her. "Hope you don't mind that." She didn't say anything and sat inside.

I quickly rushed to the driver side and pulled onto the road. It was incredibly awkward. I had to put on music to fill the silence. I was becoming even more nervous since Alicia didn't inquire about where I was taking her. Her head was permanently turned so she could gaze out the window. When I pulled into the location, she finally spoke.

"You took me to see smelly animals." She gave me a bored look.

"Chill. You act like you don't like the zoo. And... not exactly." I turned the car off.

She followed me into the butterfly garden. I saw Alicia automatically reach into her bag to find her wallet. I sidestepped her so that I was in front of her. I then smiled and paid the vendor the allotted money. I didn't bother looking back to see her expression.

I kept walking further into the enclosure. I could feel her presence behind me. Thank God she's still following me! This place was so beautiful! We were in a glass dome that housed various kinds of butterflies. The lush vegetation and bright flowers were pleasing to the eye. I kept walking until we arrived at a small table. Alicia was staring at the mysterious box on top of the table.

Alicia was confused, but sat down. I smiled and opened the box and took out an assortment of colored paper, pencils, and scissors.

"You brought me to do arts and crafts." She deadpanned.

"Umm... I'm not sure if it'd fall under that category." I scratched my head. "What I brought you to do is mathematical origami since you like math and complex things." I rushed out. "I just thought-"

"Is this the guide book?" I nodded. "Hmm... I've never been the best at origami. That's Gem and Tammi's specialty. Let's see..." She began flipping through the pages. "How about this one?" She pointed at the Phoenix.

"Ya, that's cool." I started picking up the papers. "It represents rebirth and starting anew... hopefully like our relationship." I mumbled.

"Are you talented at this craft?" She began cutting the red paper.

"I've dabbled in it before back at my old school." I folded the blue paper. "I've never done something as complicated as this, though." I cut off an edge.

We worked in silence for a while. I snuck peeks at her concentrated face. I called bs on her saying that she wasn't the best at this. Her Phoenix totally looked better than mine. I then saw a butterfly land on top of her head. I let out a giggle, causing her to look at me.

"Something wrong?"

Instead of answering, I took out my phone and took a picture of her. I then showed her the picture of the butterfly perched on her head. Her giggles caused the butterfly to fly away. She then pointed at me and laughed. I used my phone to see the butterflies on my head and ears.

"How about we do butterfly origami?" She nodded at my question. It was silent again, so I decided to try and break it. "So... how have you been?"

"Fine." She simply answered. Okay, so she's not going to reciprocate the question.

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Not the worst way to spend my day." She twisted the paper.

"Okay... do you umm..."

"I prefer the silence, Nicola." I flinched at her sharp tone. "Just because I'm here doesn't mean that I'm happy to be here." I frowned at her honesty.

"Understood." I whispered and looked down.

After we finished making the butterflies, we left the enclosure. I think Alicia wanted to go home, but I wanted to continue trying to woo her. I saw a gelato vendor and led Alicia to the cart. I ordered a Mango and Blackberry. I handed the blackberry to Alicia (I know that's her favorite), but she rejected it. She stated she can't eat sweets for health reasons and walked away. My heart dropped at her rejection. The vendor witnessed the entire interaction and pitied me. He felt so bad that he didn't require payment. I sighed and threw the sweets in the trash.

She was now leading me through the park. I assume she was heading back to the car, so that we could leave. My eyes were wandering around the greenery when it settled on a chess tournament. I chuckled knowing that Alicia claims she's a grandmaster at chess. I jogged up to Alicia and decided to be playful.

"Oooooo! Chess tournament! Do you wanna enter?" I teased her.

"Why? Hoping I can win you some money?" Her brow rose. I was annoyed at her accusation.

"That thought didn't even cross my mind." I defensively said. "If you can even win, then we'd just donate the prize money to charity." I shrugged and continued walking.

I stopped when I didn't feel Alicia's presence next to me. I turned around to see her signing up for the tournament. The guy handed her a number and told her to stick it on her clothes. Alicia sighed before placing it on her top. She muttered something about the glue messing up her fabric.

I thought she wasn't going to join, so I was confused. I walked back to see her observing her competition. She looked at me when I was next to her.

"I thought you weren't going to do it." My brows creased together.

"I wasn't... but you said if I can even win." She averted her eyes when a blush appeared on her cheeks. "I just want to show you my skill." She muttered.

My smile widened when I saw her blush deepen. I find it cute how she wants to impress me. One of the organizers motioned Alicia to an awaiting challenger. She confidently walked over and shook the guy's hand before sitting down.

Now, I didn't understand anything about chess. All I know is that Alicia easily beat him in 2 moves. The guy and I were stunned. He was amazed at how strategic she was while I was amazed you could win with that limited number of moves. Alicia smirked at the baffled guy. She then turned and gave me a wink. I'm sure I was blushing like a tomato now.

Word had spread about how good Alicia was. A crowd gathered whenever she was engaged in a match. She didn't beat the challengers as fast, but she was causing quite a raucous amongst the crowd. They were erupting in cheers because a girl was obliterating all these guys.

She had 3 more matches to win before she could make it to the finals. I'll admit that chess is hella boring. I yawned since her current game was going on for over 20 minutes. I found a nice bench and closed my eyes. A little nap didn't hurt anybody. I'm not sure how long I slept, but I awoke to someone playing with my hair. I glanced up to see Alicia smiling down at me. When our eyes connected, she broke her gaze. I saw her face redden at being caught.

"Umm... I just wanted to tell you that the final match will begin shortly." She removed her hand from my hair. I frowned, missing her soft touch.

"Wait! Does that mean you're in the finals?!" I sat up and smiled.

"Yeah." She shyly smiled.

"I'm so proud of you!" I jumped up and embraced her. She hugged me back with the same amount of happiness. I think she realized what she was doing since she quickly broke free of my embrace. "Oh, uh... sorry." I scratched the back on my neck.

"It's fine." She took a step back. "I'm gonna-"

"Yeah, you need to get ready." I forced a smile onto my face.

She nodded and reluctantly walked to the table. I sighed. I understand her hesitance to trust me with her heart again, but... I wish she would give me something. Right now, she needed my support, not my emotional distress. I trudged towards the table where she sat across from a guy. He looked to be in his early 30s. Alicia glanced at my tired face.

"5 minutes." She smiled and turned back to the man.

The two shook hands and began playing. Like I said earlier, I know absolutely nothing about chess. I tried listening to the supporters, but I didn't understand what they were saying about rooks, pawns, and knights. Those were all foreign to me. My eyes were wide at how fast they were making their moves. I also didn't realize chess had stop watches. I glanced at the banner and saw it read "Rapid Championship." Huh, makes sense why they're going so fast now.

Alicia would look away sometimes to contemplate a move. She'd then play her piece, causing the guy to frown. I guess she was confident she'd win because she looked at me and winked. A few seconds later, the guy conceded and shook her hand. I looked at the clock to see 4:54. She actually did it in under 5 minutes.

She then smiled and thanked the organizers. They handed her the million dollar check. Hold up! Since when do chess champions get that much money?! She walked over and handed it to me.

"There you go." She smiled.

"Donate it to St. Jude's hospital." Her brow shot up while there was a collective gasp amongst the crowd. "I told you I'd want to donate it and... you're sickly, so... I also want all the families of the sick children not to worry about the medical bills." I shyly spoke.

"You do have a heart of gold." She whispered. "Let's go." She placed the check in her purse.

We silently walked through the park. It wasn't as awkward as before, so I was hopeful that we could somehow mend our fractured relationship.