ALYSSA QUINTO

Because I lost consciousness, I missed my first subject. Luckily, attendance here at school isn't that big of a deal unless you've been absent for more than a month.

As soon as I sat down, Mae, my seatmate, eagerly chatted me up.

"Hey, Alyssa! What happened? You've never been late before," she asked with concern.

"Oh my, it's a long story. I just want to rest and calm down first," I replied.

"By the way, my dad told me your dad made a business deal with the MK Group, and I even got invited to the party, hehehe. I'm going to buy a dress later."

"Actually, I don't want to go."

"What? Why? It's such a waste, you should come, bestie, please. I won't have anyone to gossip with there."

"Well, you see—" I was cut off when I saw a familiar face.

"Why is he here?" I asked Mae, pointing.

"Oh, Kyle? He's a scholar. He just got in this morning. Isn't he handsome? Hehehe."

I quickly stood up and went to Kyle's seat.

"Hey! Don't you have something to say to me, huh!?" I shouted, slamming my hand on his desk.

"Are you the one from earlier? Sorry, I was in a hurry. And besides, it wasn't just my fault, you weren't looking where you were going either. Your face was glued to your phone," he responded.

"What!? You're the one at fault and now you're blaming me? Did you see what you did to my uniform? You stained it with your food! Can you see this?"

To my shock, he put on his earphones, bowed his head, and ignored me.

The teacher for our next subject arrived. I returned to my seat, feeling disoriented. Never in my life had I been treated like that.

While the teacher continued to lecture, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened earlier. Doesn't he know who I am? Was he sent here by my dad's rival? So many questions flooded my mind.

"Ms. Quinto!" I snapped back to reality at the teacher's call.

"Ah yes?" I responded.

"I've been calling you, Ms. Quinto. I said we have a paired activity. The activity is a debate, and the pairs will debate on a specific topic. Your partner is Mr. Cortez."

I suddenly wondered who in my class had the last name Cortez, as it was new to me.

Oh, how delighted I was to find out that my debate partner was Kyle.

"GET READY FOR ME, (with matching evil laugh) uwa-ha-ha-ha," I thought to myself.