Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Marinel’s POV

I nodded in disbelief. Oh my God! Is this really happening?

"Idiot!" Veronica suddenly said to me, then lightly hit me on the head.

"What's up?" I grumbled.

"Well! I know you. Even from a distance, your mind wanders off to the planet Yekok! And then your habit of covering your face and kicking your feet, did you do something stupid or are you getting all giddy?" she ranted.

She really is my best friend.

"I'll tell you later. Why are you here?" I changed the subject.

"Here's your lunch," she replied, handing me a paper bag.

"How kind!" I praised.

"Idiot! It's not free! Oh... My... Gee! Go over there! I've spotted a hot guy!" she suddenly exclaimed and quickly walked away.

Such a flirt! Tsk! The university I attend is right next to the hospital where Veronica works. That's why she can visit me here at school anytime.

"Hey? Are you okay?" this guy, Adones, suddenly interrupted me.

"Adones! Oh! Uh? Yeah, sure," I replied, stumbling over my words.

"Here."

He handed me a coke in a can and a chicken sandwich. How kind of him!

"Thank you," I said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"You're welcome. Next time, be more careful, okay? I'm not always here to catch you," he said with a smile. Heaven!

"Sorry about earlier," I sheepishly said, unable to look directly at him.

"Oh? So rude of me. By the way, I'm Enzo... Calvin Enzo Villaraza. And you are?" he introduced himself as he extended his right hand to me. I shyly took it and shook hands.

"Marinel... Marinel Gomez Magtalas," I replied.

"Nice name," he said and smiled at me again. Oh Lord! Is this grace? It feels so good!

Suddenly, my cousin, Moana, called me. I only found out last month from Aunt Carmen that I still have relatives, and that's Moana's family. They treat me well, so it's all good. At least I have some relatives I know. Moana's mom is my dad's sibling.

"Nel!" I waved.

Moana approached my spot, and her aura seemed to change when she saw Enzo. I also glanced at Enzo. His eyes looked sad. Do they know each other?

"Nel! Let's go to class," Moana invited me.

"Huh? My class will start later. Enzo and I are going together," I replied. Moana frowned.

"Is that so? Okay, I'll go first," she said, then walked away.

She didn't even spare Enzo a glance. As soon as Moana was far enough from us, I turned to Enzo. His aura was melancholic.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He didn't answer me; instead, he returned the question.

"How do you know her?"

"Ah? Moana is my cousin," I replied. He stood up suddenly.

"I have to go. See you tomorrow, Marinel," he said.

I could only nod in response. From the looks of it, there seemed to be something connecting the two of them. I just couldn't figure out what it was. I glanced at the food he gave me. He's such a gentleman and seems really nice too. He also seemed to have received all the blessings of good looks from the Lord. 

Without further ado, I started eating what he gave me. It would be a waste otherwise, considering how expensive it must have been. I can't afford to buy food from the canteen, so I always bring my own snacks and lunch. I shrugged and glanced at my cheap wristwatch. I won it in a raffle at the supermarket last week, and I happened to be the lucky winner.

"Oh no! I'm late again!" I muttered and hurriedly ran to the classroom. Just as I arrived, I bumped into our professor.

"Ms. Magtalas, you're late again," he remarked, glancing at his watch on his left wrist. I hung my head in embarrassment and asked for forgiveness.

"I was just finishing something, Prof," I replied.

"It's okay, but if you're always late and your grades suffer as a result, then it's not okay," he said with a smile and went into the laboratory.

I grimaced. Yes, I'll admit, I'm supposedly smart, that's what they say. But, gosh, my nose almost bled from all the studying. Maybe it's just pure luck that I have big grades.

I entered the room and placed my belongings on the small desk assigned to us. Someone suddenly tapped me on the shoulder, so I glanced subtly to my side. It was the friend of Enzo from earlier who accidentally bumped into me.

"Have you seen Enzo?" I nodded in response.

"He said see you tomorrow," I replied. His demeanor suddenly changed. He could have been handsome, but he's so standoffish!

"What the hell are you doing!? Have you forgotten that we're having an exam today!" someone suddenly raised his voice.

Who was he again? Oh, right! Andy... It looked like he was talking to Enzo on the other line. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder. Startled and dazed, I looked at him.

"You're crazy, dude! I'll go nuts from preaching to you." I heard Andy rant behind me.

"Hey Nel? Are you okay?" He's so handsome when he smiles! Oh my God! I could faint from just his smile!

"Nel?" he called me again.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" I replied, flustered, and quickly opened my book. Oh gosh! Why do I get flustered when he's around?

"Kindly pass the test books to your seatmates. I'll leave you guys and come back later. I hope you guys still remembered your past lesson from last year. This is just a review but it still can reflect on your grades today. So see you later," our professor explained at length.

I quickly opened the test booklet. It was actually quite easy. Just parts of the human body and their functions. There were also given words that needed definitions. I started answering them all until I was halfway done, then Andy tapped me. I looked at him in wonder. He nodded and seemed to be pointing at Enzo, who was sitting next to me. I subtly glanced at Enzo. He was busy playing with his pencil, and there wasn't a single answer in his test book. It's like he was thinking about something deep. I glanced at my watch. Our time was almost up. I quickly finished answering my test booklet and subtly grabbed Enzo's test booklet, then switched it with mine. He looked surprised when he glanced at me, but I just smiled at him.

I started answering everything until I finished. The bell rang just right, signaling the end of the exam, and our test booklets were collected.

"Why did you do that?" Enzo asked me.

"Because even if you showed up, nothing was going into your head anyway," I replied, grabbing my things.

"Just say thank you, dude," Andy added.

"Thanks," he awkwardly said to me.

I just nodded and hurriedly left. I still had work at the coffee shop.