Cie's POV
"WHO WERE THOSE TWO?! You seriously forgot about us, huh?" By the time we reached the fourth floor of our department, Ven was still lecturing me. I just let it slide—he probably wanted a little payback for earlier. "But you know what? Honestly, they're both undeniably handsome," he added, looking like he was giddy. "So I can't really blame you at all." I ignored her.
"Is this it?" I asked as we arrived in front of a room.
We freshmen were told to just wait for instructions from our seniors. They were the ones responsible for guiding and helping us. They'd also answer any questions we might have.
Each section was assigned a room where seniors would approach them when there were instructions. We BIT-Computer freshmen were assigned to a room on the fourth floor of the COT Department—Room 405.
"Hold on, I'll check." Jesy went up to the door and looked at the list of students posted there. Ven and I peeked inside.
As soon as I got a clear look, my attention was immediately caught by a group of guys causing the most noise inside—about six of them.
They were in front, and one of them was sitting at the teacher's table, playing the intro of a song on a sleek black guitar.
My eyebrows shot up at what that guy was doing. I couldn't really tell much about him to know if he was rich or famous—nothing about him seemed off.
I glanced at the other students inside.
Some were sitting quietly in their own worlds, while almost all the girls were staring at the guys up front, looking giddy.
I couldn't deny it—they had a presence. Well-dressed, confident, and good-looking. I couldn't see their faces clearly, but the reactions of the girls were enough to know the truth.
I looked at Ven and noticed he was staring at the guys in front. He had already picked his target—so fast.
"This is it, but…" Ven and I looked at Jesy, who had deliberately paused before finishing his sentence.
"What? Why?" Ven immediately approached Jesy and looked at the student list. "What the heck?!" He reacted with disbelief and anger.
I furrowed my brows. "Why?" I also approached and scanned the names to see why their behavior was like that.
And there it was—familiar names of people we really, really didn't want to see again:
Alexa Doca. Frex Cargason.
"Are they really inside?" Jesy asked.
"Hah!" Ven scoffed. "They're really trying us—"
"Let's just go in." I said, heading straight inside.
I found a perfect spot and quickly went there before anyone could take it.
It was front and to the side, next to the window. Perfect, because the seat next to it was free, as well as the two behind it—Ven and Jesy could sit there.
Some students glanced at me, but I ignored them, walking straight ahead.
Before I reached my seat, my eyes briefly met the guy sitting at the teacher's table. Just for a moment—I immediately looked away.
"They're not here." I had just sat down when I heard Ven say that. They followed my lead immediately.
I glanced around—yeah, they weren't there. Weird.
"You sit beside Cie, I'll sit behind," Ven said to Jesy mid-action.
"Sure—" Jesy was about to sit, but someone suddenly tugged her away, almost making her fall. Luckily, Ven hadn't moved from his earlier spot and caught her.
The three of us were surprised as we looked at the person who had pulled Jesy—he sat down next to me.
"Sorry, this seat is already taken." The guy from the teacher's table smiled as if he'd done nothing wrong.
He handed the guitar to one of his friends, who took over playing and sitting at the teacher's table, surrounded by the rest of the group.
Ven helped Jesy sit properly. Jesy had no choice but to follow Ven to sit behind me.
The guy from the group turned his gaze toward me. "Hey." He smiled.
"H-Hey." I returned the greeting, still in disbelief at what he had done to Jesy.
I avoided looking at him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him fiddling with his phone. A moment later, he faced me. "It's you, right?" I tried not to look, but I couldn't ignore him. I didn't want to be rude, even though what he did to Jesy was bold.
A photo of me appeared on his expensive phone—a recent iPhone.
It was zoomed in on me, with my senior high SSG (Supreme Student Government) colleagues next to me in the photo.
I smiled at the camera, standing properly with both hands behind me.
He unzoomed the photo, showing all SSG members on his screen—all in complete uniforms, with brown and yellow sashes labeled SSG.
"That's my cousin." He pointed at our SSG president. I nodded.
I was about to look away when he scrolled sideways through another photo—a stolen shot from graduation. I was slightly off-center, surrounded by other graduates and parents, but I was the clear focus of the camera.
He scrolled again—another photo of me. This time, Ven and Jesy were included. I was on the far left, Jesy beside me, Ven on the other side. It was from enrollment day at the University.
I stared at his phone, unsure whether to be mad that he had so many photos of me without permission, happy that I had a "stalker" for the first time in my life, or scared that he might have bad intentions.
My mind was still in chaos when he spoke again, making it hard for me to meet his gaze. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not a stalker. I mean no harm, Cie." I furrowed my brows.
Okay, that was it!
I licked my lips before speaking. "Not a stalker, yet you're calling me by a nickname I only let close people use? Tell me, doesn't that sound like something a stalker would do?" I began, trying not to raise my voice to avoid drawing attention. "And one more thing—don't talk to me like nothing happened with my friend. That's not how it works."
"You really said that?" Ven asked me after I finished telling the story. I just nodded in response. He laughed. "So? What did that guy say?"
I shrugged. "Noted." My answer was useless.
"Huh?" He looked confused.
Ven was sitting at the edge of the bed while I was lying down with my head resting on his lap. The two of us were in Jesy's room, while Jesy was in the kitchen grabbing some food for us.
After the earlier encounter with that guy, a senior came and told us there would be an orientation at 1 P.M., again at the gym.
That was all they said before leaving—probably the other sections would be informed later.
A few minutes after that, the three of us—Ven, Jesy, and I—decided to eat first since it was almost noon.
We were probably still tired from standing earlier in the morning, so we ate quickly and headed straight to the venue. By 12:30 P.M., we were already in the gym, seated.
Just a few minutes after we settled, I spotted Dustin and Zane arriving. They were with some other first-years (plain white T-shirts and pants), probably their classmates.
Dustin was the first to notice me and waved. Soon after, Zane also saw me, and we just exchanged looks and smiles.
Since there were no seats available near us, they sat a little farther away. But at least they had seats.
The orientation began, with staff, instructors, deans of each department, chairpersons, and the principal being introduced one by one. It took forever because, besides the long list of names, each person's achievements were also announced—no idea why that was included.
Next, the VMGO (Vision, Mission, Goals, and Objectives) was discussed, followed by a showcase of awards the university received, and an explanation of the rules and regulations.
By around 3:40 P.M., everything was done. Since we had some free time, we decided to hang out at Jesy's place for a bit—it was just a short walk from the University.
I didn't see Dustin again, so after the attendance, we went straight here.
"HEY! You're spacing out!" Ven pinched my cheek. "What do you mean? What's this 'noted'?" She was so eager.
"Huh? Ah—well…" I removed his hand from my cheek and briefly recalled the conversation with the guy earlier. Ven leaned closer so I could be heard better. "After I said that… he just stared at me." He nodded, signaling he was listening. "He stared for so long that I started feeling awkward, but before I could look away, he smiled and…" I purposely left him hanging, seeing him get even more eager to know what happened next—nodding faster than before. "He said, 'Noted.'" I smiled at him sweetly.
"That's it?" He asked, clearly in disbelief.
"Yeah. Why?" I innocently shrugged.
"Tss, nothing!" he snapped at me. HAHAHA.
Just then, Jesy arrived with food, so I got up.
She placed it on her bedside table. "You two are arguing again." Not even a question—she was used to our constant bickering. "Let's just eat first."
The three of us sat on the floor next to the bed.
"By the way, Cie," Jesy said, making me pause while drinking iced tea.
Ven peeked at Jesy, waiting for what she was going to say.
"Who were… those two guys earlier?"
Jesy's question shifted Ven's attention to me.
I handed my glass to Ven and gestured for him to put it on Jesy's bedside table since she was closer. She did so immediately.
"Hmm… how do I start this," I thought for a moment. "They were my classmates way back in junior high," I began. "The shorter one—that's Dustin. Dustin Maverick Zanoria. Already very talkative the first time I met him. And as I've told you before, I used to be super quiet so we weren't really close; we only talked about class stuff. You know, introvert things. Kind of like you." I shrugged, looking at Jesy. "I have no idea why he acted like that to me earlier." I grabbed a nearby pillow and put it on my lap.
Ven nodded while still chewing his sandwich; Jesy was listening intently. I continued. "The taller one is Zane. Zane Cassian Guevarra. He was a transferee. We were seatmates, but like with others, we didn't talk much—just class stuff. He's smart in Math, plays volleyball, badminton, basketball, and is also good at drawing. He was always our section's pick for poster-making contests." I shrugged and handed him a sandwich. "That's it."
I looked at Ven, who chuckled. "Ehem… you forgot to tell us something," he poked my side. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Yieeee—you forgot to mention Zane was your crush, and that we're not allowed to steal him from you." I pretended to headbutt him; he jumped away, stood up, and hid behind Jesy. Such a goof. "Don't deny it, Cie. I saw it. I saw how you looked at him. So obvious you like him!" And he didn't stop teasing me. "So that's why I've never seen you entertain any guy. You've just been waiting for him! BWAHAHAHAHA!"
"Seriously!" I stood up in annoyance and lunged at him with a pillow. He ran away laughing. "Jesy, lock the door so this one can't get out," I told her while chasing Ven, who seemed to be enjoying it, laughing the whole time.
Jesy immediately followed my instruction and locked the door. Soon, Ven grabbed a pillow and joined the pillow fight.
A few minutes later… "Ouch!" We both stopped when we accidentally hit Jesy. Ven and I exchanged glances, blaming each other.
"It was Sey!"
"It was Ven!"
"No, it was you!"
"No, you!"
"You!"
"STOP IT, YOU TWO!" We turned to see Jesy's face as she hit us hard with a pillow. "AREN'T YOU TWO GOING TO STOP?" Her patience was gone.
Boogs!
"Nope." Ven answered faster than Flash could recover, hitting Jesy with the pillow too. "BWAHAHAHA!" She laughed like a witch.
That was the start of the chaos.
By the end, all three of us were lying on the floor, catching our breath, with Jesy's room a complete mess.
We looked at each other and laughed.
I tossed my bag onto the bed and let my body collapse beside it. "Finally!" I rolled around a few more times.
When I got tired, I stopped and just stared at the ceiling.
What a long day—it felt like weeks had passed since I last lay down here.
I was exhausted. That's probably how it always is on the first day of school. Add the scenes from earlier standing or sitting, plus the pillow fight with Jesy. Sigh.
'Cie?…Hi.'
I suddenly remembered Zane and the smiles we shared earlier. I couldn't help but smile too.
'Yeah, see you when I see you, Cie.'
Before I realized it, I had fallen asleep…