Chapter 3

“You’ll be marrying his eldest son, Lance…”

“That exam was tough! I feel like I forgot everything I studied last night. How about you, Alina? Were you able to answer everything? Anyway, even if you didn’t review, you’re still smart.”

“You’ll be marrying his eldest son, Lance…”

“I feel like I might fail again, ugh. But I guess Dad won’t be too mad if I retake it for the third time haha…”

“You’ll be marrying his eldest son, Lance…”

“Hey Ali, are you even listening? Don’t tell me you had a hard time with the test? Nahh, I don’t believe that! I know you too well, bff. Even if you just glance at your notes, you’ll still end up the top scorer. Gosh, I wish I had a brain like yours. I stay up late studying, and I still feel dumb.”

“You’ll be marrying his eldest son, Lance…”

“Alina, can you hear me? Hey, I’m talking to you!”

“… marrying his eldest son, Lance…”

“Alina! Come back to Earth! I’ve been talking for a while now! Are you even listening? Can you hear me?”

“… marrying…Lance…”

“Damn it, Alina, wake up already! You’ve been spacing out for a while now, girl! What’s going on with you? I’ve already shaken you and shouted at you, but still nothing!”

A light slap on the cheek woke me up. I stared intently at the one who did it; it was Veronica. The irritation was clearly visible on her face. She was about to slap me again when I stopped her.

“Good thing your soul finally came back. You’ve been out of it for a while, Ali. I was even whispering to you during the exam earlier, but you just kept answering straight through. Then suddenly, you’d space out again. I thought you just didn’t want to let me copy.” Veronica said it with a frown, pretending to be upset. After a few seconds, her expression turned into concern.

“Are you okay, Ali? Are you feeling sick? Tell me, what’s wrong? Did someone fight with you? We’ll get back at them! You’ve been spacing out for a week, and you’re also getting thinner. Go ahead… if you get any skinnier, I’ll be the sexiest one here on campus! Come on, Ali, tell me so I can help you somehow.” Veronica said it in a teasing tone, trying to lighten the mood. I lowered my head and stayed silent… how could I ever tell her about something like that?

When she noticed I had no intention of speaking, she moved and sat in front of me. She held my hand firmly and looked at me again, trying to read my eyes, while I kept trying to look away.

“Nothing…really, nothing. What are you talking about, V? I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” I gave her an awkward smile. She kept staring into my eyes, and it felt like she could see through my soul. In the end, she looked defeated. Thank goodness.

“Fine! Since you won’t talk or tell me what’s eating you up, let’s just head to the mall. I seriously need a milk tea, something to comfort me after that exam that probably just murdered my grades.”

Sorry, Veronica. As much as I want to tell you, I think I’ll just keep it to myself. I know you’re still worried, but that’s just how you are…you always make sure I’m okay. I didn’t resist anymore and let her drag me along after our major class. We got to the mall quickly since it’s just near the university.

As she pulled me inside, I couldn’t help but look at Veronica. She’s always cheerful, only cries when she gets a low quiz score, and then she rants at me. Her parents never really get mad at her, not even when it comes to her final grades. You know, that ‘tres supremacy’ in college stuff. More than anything, she’s good at moving on from things. I wish I could be like that, too. I wish my life could be like hers… without too many worries, without having to please Papa, without feeling the pressure to excel at everything, and most of all, without having to marry someone you don’t truly know and don’t even love.

I shook off those thoughts before Veronica could notice again. If she saw me zoning out one more time, she’d definitely start bugging me.

We kept walking, and Veronica was her usual chatty self, typical Veronica, always rambling about milk tea and romance novels. She can stay up all night reading those love stories, but when it comes to our class textbooks? She’s already yawning by the first page.

We were already inside the milk tea shop, I had my drink in hand, but Veronica was still at the counter, arguing with the server about the quality of the sugar used. A few more minutes passed before she finally wrapped things up and marched straight over to the table where I was sitting.

“Can you believe it? Did they really think I wouldn’t notice they used white sugar in my drink? And then they go, ‘Oh, we ran out, so we had no choice. ’ Yeah right.” I just shook my head as she went off another rant.

“Don’t be upset now, V. I think they already replaced it anyway.”

“They better have changed it, I’m already stressed out with Remedial Law, I don’t need milk tea problems on top of that! Ugh, seriously!”

I just laughed at Veronica, but honestly, she wasn’t wrong, because our Remedial Law exam was hard. I’ve been so caught up in my own thoughts lately that I didn’t even get to review properly.

“Oh right, Ali since it’s Friday, why don’t we…” Veronica gave me a meaningful look. Damn it, not now. I know exactly what that look means.

“NO.”

“Seriously? I wasn’t even finished, and you just shut me down like that…”