Chapter 3

"Tatiana, did you review?" Vettinah asked as I entered the classroom.

"A bit," I replied. I didn't do many reviews because I was lazy last night. I put down my things, took out the journal, and sat down. I tried my best to focus and review my notes.

"A bit? Was that true?"

We looked up at Ernisha, who had just arrived. She is not wearing her glasses because her boyfriend does not like to see her wearing them. Honestly, we don't like her boy because he’s trying to change our friend. That is wrong because if you really love someone, you must accept him from head to toe.

"How about you, Ernisha? Did you review?" I fired back.

"No." She looked at us for a moment before looking back at her phone. She’s talking to his man, I bet.

Honestly, Ernisha is smart. She will surely ace the test even without staying late at night to review. For her, a short scan before the test will do.

The only problem is her laziness, especially in doing projects and requirements. She enjoyed doing it during rush hour. And one more thing, her boyfriend had a bad influence on her. They are always fighting, so she often prefers to chase him overdoing her school works.

“Sharing is caring, Ernisha. Please, make your handwriting bigger and readable,” I jokingly replied, but she just shrugged.

"Don't be agreed! Let's split up parts. The last part is for you." She tried to give me her journal, but I did not accept it.

"Predicting the possible correct answer is much better than reviewing," I replied and laughed because it was true.

Finding the derivatives of trigonometric functions is difficult and somewhat complicated. Well, sometimes it's not really that hard. Just confusing and dizzy.

But good thing that during Chemistry and Calculus class, we were in Chem Lab. Besides being around the table, we were pretty tight here, so it was easy to copy. Just stretch your neck, enlarge your eyes and improve your technique of cheating.

I looked up when Cassandra grabbed my journal. She sighed as she tried to catch her breath. She almost reached the closed gate again. Their house was nearby, but she always arrives late.

"Is this still a journal, Tatiana, or a drawing book?"

Cassandra laughed insultingly as she opened my journal. "Stupid, you should take this course. Shoo! Take Arts and Design track; it is where you truly belong." I ignored her and just let her tease my journal.

It has been a week since my rooftop encounter with him. We never talk or met again. It's in my favour. I actually prayed for it because I don't want to be with him or even see him. I can't bear with him and his attitude. Really.

He is too goofy and playful. I'm afraid that I might fall into his trap and repeat the same mistake that I did before. No! What am I even thinking?

Vettinah stopped reading. She brought the chair closer to me. "Is the gossip true? Leo is going to be our classmate!" she said with a hint of excitement. I even saw a twinkle in her eyes! Who is Leo?

"Leo, who?" I frowned at her.

She rolled her eyes before answering, "Duh! He’s a new member of the varsity." I just shrugged.

Wearing a simple white button-down shirt paired with suit pants, Engineer Olvido entered the room. We greeted him with ‘good morning’.

He reminded us of so many things about our long quiz. I did not listen because I was irritated by his voice. He just kept talking and talking non-sense. But he suddenly caught my attention when he mentioned Leo, the one that Vettinah was talking about earlier.

“Hold your panties tight, girls! It might fall.” Vettinah whispered.

"Let's wait for Mr Soriano. He'll be your classmate during my subject." Rumour has filled the class—gossip here and gossip there.

"Excuse me, sir. Sorry, I'm late."

I was stunned. His voice is familiar! I can't be wrong.

Is it him?

I slowly lifted my gaze and saw him looking at me intently. My instinct was right.

"Rogelio Gaguan Soriano III," its simple and lofty introduction. He did not take his eyes off me even though the Engineer was still talking to him.

"So it's nice to see you again," he said as he sat next to me. I can’t help but roll my eyes and silently prayed to wake up in this bad dream.

"Lord, I asked for a handsome seatmate, not a monkey one,” I whispered to myself, but loud enough for him to hear. I saw how annoyed he is upon hearing it.

"Don’t be shy to admit how handsome I am in your eyes,” he confidently said. Maybe he used to be told by that compliment.

"Yeah. Whatever!”

"What?”

“Ugly deaf!” I let out a loose chuckle.

"Are you telling something, Miss?"

"No, I said you are an idiot!"

"Handsome?"

"Stupid!"

He kept on talking, but I already choose to ignore him.

Did he move here to annoy me? If that is the case, he succeeded because I was so annoyed with him! With his presence.