Chapter 9

Adam...

I heard the laughter of the students on campus, and I looked to see what had their attention. There were some naked guys running around, covering their private parts.

Suddenly, someone threw mud and garbage at them, and some of them even got stuck to their bodies. We covered our noses and moved away from them to avoid getting hit.

"What's going on?" Lee asked me.

"I have no idea."

"Adam!" I heard someone call my name. It was Sanya looking at me. The others also turned to me, knowing that our relationship was widely known on campus. I sighed and approached her. "We need to go to my house after this."

"Now?" I asked.

"Did I say it had to be now?" She looked around, and so did I. Everyone's eyes were on us. "Just follow me."

I followed her to the rooftop of the school, but I hesitated and stopped where I was. I couldn't help but wonder if this was some plan to beat me up, and I had just blindly followed Sanya. It wasn't my fault that the whole campus knew about our relationship.

"Hi, Az!" Lena waved at me, using her nickname for me. She continued, "What? I just said hi," she lowered her gaze and went back to reading.

"Wow, really? You guys are on a first-name basis now, and you even gave him a new nickname for that idiot. Are you close?" I looked at Alexa. Idiot? That's what they called me, aside from Lena.

"We're classmates, right? We've been in the same group, and we've become friends. What's wrong with that?" she asked while still reading.

"You shouldn't be friends with boys, Tora, you know that," Kyra chimed in.

Lena put her book down, smiling at me. "But Adam is an exception."

"And why is that?" Sanya raised an eyebrow at Lena.

"Because I don't think he's a guy. I mean, look at him," they all looked at me and chuckled. "Sorry, Adam, I just find you so gay. I didn't say that as an insult; you couldn't even fight for yourself, so you can't blame me, right?"

Alexa laughed even harder, and Kyra added. "Yeah, I think I'd consider Alexa more of a guy than him. He can't even fight Sanya."

Lena blushed a bit, seemingly embarrassed by what she said about me. "Well, he just doesn't fight her back because she's a girl."

"So, are you saying you can duel with Sanya? I got into sports because of her," Alexa said. "The three of us even did arnis together in high school, and Sanya is a taekwondo black belt holder, not to mention she also did judo," I glanced at Sanya, raising an eyebrow.

I stepped back when she approached me. "Later, let's meet in the parking lot. Use your car, they might get suspicious if we use separate cars to go to their place. We'll just go back to school later to get my car. Is that clear?"

Sanya had a serious expression on her face as she spoke. Why did I feel like she was only doing this out of obligation and didn't want to go to her parent's place? She should be excited about it, right? I always looked forward to visiting my parents, and she would only call their home "our place" instead of saying we were going to Mom's or Dad's house, and she always told me to go to her place without specifying that it was her parents' house. Was she really this rude and ill-mannered? I shook my head.

"What are you shaking your head for? If you don't want to come, it's better for me. I'll just tell them that—"

"Did I say I didn't want to come? I was just thinking about the timing."

"Before seven, you don't have any classes then, right?" I nodded. "Good."

She gestured to me like I was a dog she was shooing away. She always acted like this. So mean-spirited. It was as if she was born with a bad temper, unlike her kind and gentle parents. Why was she like this?

I turned away when she called me again. "By the way, did you see those guys running around naked earlier?" I looked at her, hoping she wouldn't say... I saw the mischievous smile on her face. "They're the reason we got locked in the stockroom. You saw what happened to them. So when we discuss something, don't contradict me. Learn to follow me, Adam."

I squinted at her. "You have something to say?" She raised an eyebrow at me, but I just turned away and walked further. Sanya Evangelista was the biggest misfortune and problem in my life. She enjoyed making things difficult for me. Could there be anything worse than her? If there was, it might be the end of me. I sighed in frustration.

"Oh, why are you fuming?" I turned to see Seid.

"Why are you here?"

"You sound so mean," Seid eyes went towards the rooftop door.

"Kyra's there. If you want to get beaten up, go ahead," I chuckled, but he just shook his head. Seid and I were in the same course, and he transferred from the province. He had become my friend in the past two weeks. Now I had two friends on campus, and I had little trouble interacting with others, especially since the eyes of other students were already on me because of my known relationship with Sanya.

"If I get beaten up, you better be involved," he said, laughing.

"Did you really find someone to team up with?" I laughed too.

He told me that he already knew Sanya because they were schoolmates before. He also said that Alexa and Kyra weren't like this before; their characters had changed a lot. It surprised Seid that the three of them had become close friends. That's when I learned Sanya was a bad influence, as she made her friends like her. It was annoying to think that she was that kind of person. They say misery loves company. Maybe she was so miserable that she wanted to drag others down with her. She had nothing else to desire but to make the people around her miserable, just like her. Like me, she wanted to make my life miserable, too.

"We're really thinking deeply, huh?" Lee patted me on the back. "Let's eat; I'm hungry."

"Game!" Seid responded.

"Okay, I'm in," I said. They walked ahead, and I followed them to the cafeteria. I had half an hour before the next class.

I couldn't get Sanya's face out of my mind. If they thought I seemed weird and like a gay guy, I found her even weirder. I never thought there could be someone worse than a guy in terms of attitude. Now I wondered if everything she showed my parents about being nice was fake. I was sure it was because she wasn't like that. She didn't care about anyone else but herself.

I was lost in thought when Seid called my name. "Lost in thought, huh? Pay attention."

I looked at him and smiled, focusing my attention on our professor, who was explaining in front of the class. After class, I headed straight to the school parking lot and saw Sanya waiting in front of my car.

"You made me wait for ten minutes, did you know that?"

"No, I didn't. I just got here, didn't I?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Do you want to embarrass yourself here?" My eyes narrowed, too.

"You're not my boss, Sanya. You know, I just came from class, and I'm tired. It's not my fault if you've been standing here for ten minutes."

She glared at me. "Just open the goddamn door!" I complied and got into my car. What's gotten into this girl? Why is she angrier than usual? Maybe she's got some issues.

"Do you have a problem?! You act like I'm your driver," I said as I opened the door.

"Would you hurry? I want to go home."

"Oh, so we're going to your house, right? It's like going home for you." I laughed, but she just looked at me angrily as I started the car.

"I don't live there. Just drive, so we can get there and go home," she looked out the window as I drove. She was quiet the whole time, not even looking at me. Normally, when we were together, she'd tease me or play around, but she was different now as if she were holding something inside her. I couldn't tell if it was sadness or anger, but for the first time, instead of feeling annoyed, I felt sorry for her.

I wondered where these thoughts were coming from. It felt like she was hurting, and I didn't know why... why it felt like I was hurting for her too.