Celine went to the oval first. While I’m walking, my body froze when I felt something cold running through my skin. I turned around and saw Angel and her lackeys. Oh god, I almost forgot about them. She was holding the bottle of orange juice that she used on me. I don’t need to guess. Shit. Of all days where they can make fun of me. Give me a break!

I tried to ignore them by walking further when Angel suddenly grabbed my hair, pulling me back to her.

"Well, well, well…" She smirked and gripped my jaw.

I pushed her away from me. "What the heck?"

"You've got some nerve to curse at Neal, huh? Even to sit beside him during class."

Tiffie, the girl who always chews her bubblegum, interrupted. "So true, just who does she think—"

"Silence Tiffie! Let’s beat this bitch up."

It was then when I heard Celine running in our direction and then faced them. "Hey! You irrelevant witch! Don’t you dare call her a bitch? The only bitches in here would be you and your gang! Bruha!"

"You!" Angel charged towards Celine and was about to slap her till she dodged Angel’s hand.

Celine raised her eyebrow and sneered at her."Offended? You can’t even slap me right. Like, girl, pick a struggle."

Angel was fuming mad because of embarrassment and walked out. Eventually, Anton came to us, running, and he arrived a little too late.

"Huh, serve them right. Oh, my gosh! I'm so cool!" She jumped and squealed with joy.

"Hey there girls! Did I miss something? Gosh Via what on Earth happened? I saw one of my friends live when I was in the field. Came here as fast as I could but the coach didn’t let me. Came too late, am I?"

“No, it’s fine.” I gave him a reassuring smile. But he wasn’t convinced, anyway.

“What do you mean that it’s fine? Don’t let them treat you like that Vee.” Said Anton with his arms crossed. Celine handed out some clothes and went closer to me to wipe my face.

"Cubs. Don’t panic. Everything will be fine." I just nodded at her. "Thank you for defending me."

"Eh? You’re like a sister to me. Don’t bother. Also, what’s with the Aries horoscope for today? Your luck seemed to be turned upside-down for today. Good thing I had a spare tee.” She laughed.

"C’mon. It’s obvious that she’s not okay, Celine. You should accompany her to the comfort room. I’ll just wait for you guys outside."

"Of course I’ll go with her, duh don’t worry. What if they set up some trap once we step on one of the tiles?"

"I think you’re just exaggerating." Anton scratched his head while looking at us.

Celine scoffed. "Hello? You don't know how girls think and act in these kinds of situations. You should be wary of us. Let’s go!"

It's already Wednesday. Everything that happened yesterday felt like a dream. But even though it still feels that way about everything that happened yesterday, only one person is the living proof that what happened to me was real. My seatmate. If I was in some cliche TV show, the fangirls would have burned me to death already. But it’s a good thing that I’m living in the real world. Yet my thoughts about Richard shall remain constant. Some disagreeable, privileged guy who has everything on his plate.

“Okay. Now, answer the word problems about free fall and acceleration because of gravity in letter A to letter C on page 50.”

It's not that often that something bad would happen to me here in our school. But it doesn’t mean that the students here are nice and all, like, come on most of them are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. They’d just mind their businesses or stick to their own cliques and preferred to stick to the status quo.

Well, that’s what I thought at first. Until the incident with Richard happened. Here in our class, Celine’s my only friend. She stayed with me rather than hanging out with her teammates in cheerleading, even if she’s the captain and one of the majorettes of the school band. She has a reputation, unlike me. Anyway, even if I have a few friends here at Parkstones University, I still have to take care of myself in this den of lions. The uniforms here are so expensive as hell and someone would spill juice on it? I won’t let that happen again.

We have three sections per year level. Named after scientists, philosophers, and artists. Celine and I are in the third section, Da Vinci. Ricky and Anton are in the second section, Donatello. Last, we have the star section, Raphael. That’s the rich kids’ class and Angel is in there. They assess you based on your family background and how much your family earns. Scholars like me would get thrown into the last section. Celine was supposed to be in Donatello along with Ricky and Anton, but then in our junior year, she decided to sit in our class and got added in the end. She told me she didn’t like her classmates, especially the girls who are interested in Anton. Throughout the years, I did my best to avoid trouble, even if I know we can’t avoid problems. There are always people who’ll judge you.

I raised my head to the door when it opened, and a guy in a black suit entered. “Good morning, Miss Jiang. Is Sir Richard Park in here? The chairperson wants to see him.”

Miss Jiang turned to Richard for a minute. “I see. Mr. Park, you may go now.” I noticed him frowning and heard him grunt under his breath as he whispered something before he stood up and walked away.

Now that I think about it, how did that dogface end up here in the lowest section? If he’s the son of the chairman, shouldn’t he be at the star section? Hm, that’s strange. For someone like him, he should join his own kind.

I frowned at the thought. Just by thinking about him makes me sick. Ugh. I should stay focused.

It’s already dusk. I parted ways with my friends first because of my work here at Strawbies until 10 PM. Celine has some band practice to attend to while Anton has soccer practice. Ricky also had to go home early and told me he’s meeting a family member.

And yes, I work here at Strawbies as a part-time waiter every Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Lots of customers packed the place when I arrived. It’s not a sight I see every day. Strawbies is just a low-key bistro that looks like a shabby flower shop from the outside till you step in. It’s also a go-to place for college students, especially when they’re studying for their exams. But I feel that it’s going to be a very busy evening today.

I saw someone with vibrant purple hair running in my direction. That’s our manager, Shin Chunsa, who’s a year older than my older brother Kairo. Even if she’s just the manager of a small bistro, she’s still a catch. How so? Well, she’s one of the children of Mr. Shin. The Shins are one of the most influential families here in the city. Not to mention, they helped many people and are very kind-hearted. We’re one of the many people that they have helped. I am also one of the few scholars of Mr. Shin. They’re very famous, yet they preferred to stay lowkey. Mr. Shin has two daughters and three sons and their names are Jade, Chunsa, Jisung, Youngho, and Felix. They’re all a huge catch! They have the looks, the talent, the personality, everything! I’m quite acquainted with them very well since they’re a family friend to us. They are very fun to be with and are very outgoing. All except for Felix, the youngest and the introverted one.

He’s just so different from them and I rarely see him every time Chunsa-unnie would bring me to their house. He never comes out of his room unless he's hungry and would rarely join us. Felix is also my schoolmate and we’re in the same batch. Of course he’s in the star section. Nevertheless, they help people like us without expecting anything in return.

I beamed. “Chunsa-unnie!”

“Via! Thank god you’re already here. We’re so understaffed. Come inside. Hurry!” She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside and brought me to the girls’ locker room. “Girl, it’s such a crazy day today! We have VIP customers. You go take care of them, alright?” She threw my uniform at me.

“Alright, don’t worry. Where’s Jisung?” I asked.

“At the frontline! He has been handling all the customers for like an hour ago. Also, those customers are weird. They ordered nothing yet! I can just get rid of them if they weren’t important people and my dad knows them.”

“Okay, okay, don’t worry. I’ll help in the frontline!”

“Get ready Via! We’re counting on you!” She cheered me before she went back outside, leaving me alone in the locker room.

I started unbuttoning my shirt to wear my uniform and prepare myself. A beige button-up shirt matched with a black skirt and a green apron. I went outside afterwards. The place is packed up with people. The most annoying part would be them coming in, but not ordering anything. I wonder what’s going on. Is there some kind of celebrity in here?

Wait, I already have a hunch about what’s going on when I realized that there were paparazzi waiting outside.

“Waiter, waiter!” called a guy wearing a floral polo tee. There were two other people along with him, all in black. One of them was facing away from me. His back looked strangely familiar. I think I saw him somewhere.

I wore my smile. You should always smile when you’re handling your customers. It’s a good way to interact with them with no hassle and it attracts more customers.

“Yes, sir. What would you like to have?”

“A cup of espresso and a croissant,” he turned around and my eyes widened once I realized who he is. So that’s why a lot of people are waiting outside and they’re all waiting for him. Who would’ve thought I’d bump into him here? In my workplace?! I’m so glad to see him. Well, forget about him. I have a lot of customers to attend to. They seem to talk about something important, and it’s none of my business to pry.