“Stop it. That’s enough. This is different, you look ridiculous,” I said and threw the bread I was holding at the person beside me. We arrived early today, with thirty minutes to spare before our first class starts, so we decided to go to the mall to kill time. School can be boring sometimes. “Sorry, Ely, but I really feel giddy about Zander,” she replied, still busy tapping away on her phone screen. I sighed as I watched her acting silly, smiling to herself. “Just remember what I told you, if he ever hurts you.” She paused for a moment to look at me, but then quickly went back to whatever was buzzing on her phone. “Don’t worry. He won’t hurt me, he said it’s just me.” “Yeah, just you. You’re the only fool in your relationship,” I retorted. “Wow, you’re so bitter! Get a boyfriend yourself!” she teased. I shook my head and tied my hair back. “No way, I’ll focus on my studies first. What will I tell my parents if I get a boyfriend so early? We’re just first-year college students,
“Oh no! That ugly doll is staring again.” I almost fell off my seat if I hadn’t grabbed the edge of my table because of the strong blow I received.“Why?! And I told you not to call me that!” I almost shouted back, tucking the fallen hair away from my face.“Because you’re a witch! What’s your problem? You’re always staring into space? And why? Elara is too long! What a waste of my saliva!” JC, the witch, yes, he’s gay, he’s my co-department head, and I was with him during my last year in college, asked.“Nothing, I’m just tired. I’ve been interviewing for 3 days straight, and please, fix your attitude.” I just replied, not in the mood to chat right now.“Anyway, oh yeah, congrats girl, the President liked the applicants you selected, but before I forget, he issued a memo.”“What memo? I’m not doing anything, why would he issue a memo to me?”“Not sure, but he said to see him before lunch.” I quickly checked the wall clock near my desk.“Shit, it’s already 11 am.”He nodded as if to s
“Wait, you’re early today, Elara?” Kaila greeted me as I entered the 4th floor, she’s the earliest one to arrive in our department, sometimes she’s the one who opens the air conditioning in the office and even in the pantry, and she turns on the PCs.I shook my head and sat down, taking a sip of the coffee I bought from the vending machine. “I haven’t left yet, I just went downstairs to pay for my bath, anyway, I have spare clothes in my car.”Her eyes widened at what I said. “What? Oh no! What if something happens to you?” She asked, leaning slightly towards me to inspect my face. Maybe I look okay today? I don’t know, I hope so.“I have to finish things up before I go home,” I replied, taking a sip of my coffee. I sat down and started encoding the data we would need for the next week.“Okay then, I’ll go to my cubicle, I still have a report to finish.” She excused herself and left my cubicle. I just nodded in response while still busy typing.I didn’t know what time I would finish h
“Hi Elyyyy my friend!” I paused typing my report on my laptop when someone suddenly spoke on my phone. I saw Alexis’ name on the screen, as it was set to auto-answer when on my speed dial.“Oh, you witch, why are you only showing up now? Why have you been absent for two days?” I scolded her. The background went silent, so I furrowed my brow.“I just had some things to take care of, you witch, and I filed for a three-day leave,” she said, laughing on the other line.“So, you’re absent until tomorrow?” I asked while still typing on the keyboard. I’ve already done half of my work for the day; I’m almost finished, and I still need to make copies of everything before organizing them in the cabinets. It’s past six in the evening, overtime again.“Mhmm,” I sighed, knowing what she was going to say next.“There’s a problem,” I concluded.“Huh? Who? Where?” I sighed even though she couldn’t see me.“You,” I said, which made her silent. “Gotcha,” I added, then laughed.“Freak,” she laughed back
“Witch! Are you okay? You’ve been staring off into space for a while now!” I heard the gay guy beside me speak, so I gave him a dirty look. He’s talking as if he’s deaf, is he trying to pick a fight? “Stop it, Carlo, you’re annoying me, you witch.” I chuckled at what I said, seeing the disgust on his face upon hearing his real name. “Eww sister! Give me the creeps, please? This nuisance, it’s Carla, not Carlo! Shut up! I’ll scratch you!” He shouted and even raised his hand with long nails, which made me laugh even more. It’s been three days since the incident with Alex, he’s back at work, but we’re still not talking. I know I did something wrong, who am I to stop him? I just got carried away, I’m afraid that history will repeat itself, maybe I’ll just talk to him on my next day off. I just sighed. Another guy. After what happened, I don’t know how to casually talk to him anymore, I really want to slap him. It’s Monday today, which means it’s the first day for all the people I inte
“Take care, okay? Make sure to go home straight away,” I said before we parted ways. They would be taking public transportation, while I headed to the parking lot to get my car. My head was throbbing a bit. I didn’t agree to us having a late lunch, so they ended up being lazy to eat, and I felt a bit guilty. So, when they invited me to grab a snack after work, I didn’t hesitate to join. Most of the people with me were from my department. They ordered some shots, but I just had juice. Drinking alcohol wasn’t my thing. The path to the parking lot was somewhat dim, but there were streetlights scattered around. I wasn’t scared, just reminded of a past experience from college. I immediately searched for my car keys in my bag as soon as I spotted my car, but before I could fully grab them, two pairs of hands suddenly grabbed me, pulling me violently. “What the fuck!” I couldn’t help but scream from the pain. “Just come with us, okay?” one of them said. I could feel my body trembling, a
“My heart suddenly raced abnormally. It’s hard to be straightforward sometimes, it can be dangerous. I was about to respond when my phone suddenly rang. It was right beside me, so I quickly answered to see who it was.“Hello?” It was noisy on the other line, people were shouting.[Wiiiiitccch! Where are you?! Why didn’t you come to work? Oh my gosh! Did you run away? I thought you didn’t have a boyfriend?”]I chuckled at what he said, it was Jaycee being Jaycee, such a flirt. It made me forget the nervousness I felt earlier.“I’m okay, I’ll tell you when we see each other. Why is it so noisy?”[“The girls are excited. There’s a new guy in the other department, they say he’s handsome.”]I don’t remember hearing about a new guy. I’ll probably ask about it when I get to the office.“Okay, see you later. I might take a half day off.” I replied, just to get away from the situation and prepare to go to work.[“Okay, take care, okay? Love you! Mwa!”]I smiled at what he said, he’s so cute wh
Flashback“Shit! I told you to come with us, damn it!” said the man I didn’t know. We were behind the school, my vision blurred from the tears that had been flowing. I was scared, I didn’t have any serious enemies to be kidnapped like this.“W-wait, w-why me? I-I don’t know anything!” I tried to say, even though they were already holding me and I was about to be put into the car.“We need you! Just you, we’re sure that asshole will kneel before us if we have you! So come with us if you don’t want to get hurt!” shouted the man in front of me. He was my classmate when I was a freshman, why was he involved in this?I felt a strong punch to my stomach before I completely lost the strength to fight back. Even though my mind didn’t want to, my body wasn’t moving to escape their tight grip on me. I think my tears weren’t even dried yet, but I was already sobbing as they finally pushed me into the van that had been parked on the side. They sandwiched me.“Have you called that asshole yet? I’m