Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

“Lila!”

“Hey, stop!” Out of confusion, Lila turned around and saw a guy approaching her direction. When she looked back, he immediately stopped running and held his chest as he was gasping for air.

“Nathan! I’m sorry I didn’t hear you calling for me. Are you okay?” she asked while tapping his shoulders.

He stood up and lend his arms towards her and a smile flushed from his face. “Yeah, let’s go?” Lila grabbed his arms immediately and they started walking. The wind blew her long black shiny hair and she was embracing every bit of air that touches her face.  Nathan has always been a good friend of hers. In fact, both of them are working in a burger stall 15 minutes away from school.

Today is the first day of August. Every student in the corner is busy chit chatting with their own group of friends because after 3 months of summer vacation, classes will finally start now. “How’s your vacation?” she asked as they passed through the gate of the university.  “It’s fine. We went to our province and I brought souvenirs for you and Sasha!” Her lips instantly curved upward when she heard the word souvenir.

“Move!” a broad voice from behind echoed and interrupted their conversation.  Nathan instantly pulled Lila closer to him and they watched as three sports cars sped up entering the university. “Bastards,” Lila rolled her eyes as the cars passed. Upon realizing that they are too close with one another, Lila immediately released her grasp from holding Nathan. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” Her cheeks turned red due to shame but Nathan, being a goofy one, simply messed her hair.

“Let’s go and check our section. I hope we’re still classmates.” Lila nodded as a response to what Nathan had said.

The corridors are filled with laughter and of people telling stories with one another and there are these two people walking on the aisle no one is showing interest to, yup, that’s them-  Lila and Nathan. “Hey, you two!” a familiar voice shouted from the back. It was Sasha, one of their friends. Lila fixed her eyeglass and waved towards her. “I miss you!” she exclaimed. “I know! I miss you guys too! Have you checked your sections?” The two shook their heads so the three went to the bulletin board full of people.

“Any section will do, as long as I’m with you guys.” Lila said and hugged Sasha. “Aw!” she hugged her back.

Grade 10- Section Emerald

Aquino, Sasha

Astra, Taylor

…

Castro, Nathan James

Cruz, Allison

Dela Cruz, Aryan Marie

Dela Vega, Lucas Andrew

…

Salvacion, Miguel

Santiago, Lila Ashley

Sy, James

…

Yvanez, Daniella

“Oh my god! Do you guys see what I’m seeing?!” Sasha’s eyes widened and she instantly jumped out of excitement. “We’re classmates!” Ignoring all the people on the bulletin board, she danced out of happiness. Meanwhile, Lila, on the other hand, is shocked when her eyes saw this specific name, Lucas, her long time crush, her crush starting from first year. 3 years of hoping to be his classmate has passed and now, in her last year in high school, her dream finally came true.

Shocked and confused, Lila pointed at Lucas’s name. “I know!” Sasha exclaimed and winked at her. She always knew that Lila has been looking at Lucas from afar. Lila believed that Lucas will never even know her existence nor her name but now, they will be studying in one class room and will be breathing the same air. “It’s already 7:55 guys, let’s go now or else we will be late.” Lila came back to reality when she heard Nathan spoke.

When they arrived at their designated classroom, Lila’s eyes instantly searched the room for this specific person but to her dismay, he is still not here. Knowing that the back row is for the rich and popular kids, the three decided to sit in front.

“As usual, I’ll sit between you two because if seated next to each other, both of you won’t stop talking.” Lila sat on the exact chair in the middle, in front of the teacher’s table. “Hm. I also don’t like to sit next to Nathan anyways,” Sasha mumbled, which made the three of them laugh. “Likewise,” Nathan plainly answered back to her which made her hit him. “See? The class hasn’t even started yet and here you are guys. Stop fighting like kids, okay?” Lila clapped slowly to put the attention of the two towards her and soft laughter escaped from her mouth.

“Good morning class. I am Miss Santos, please be seated. ” The room was filled with silence as the teacher finally arrived. The class is almost complete but the person Lila is looking for still hasn’t arrived.

“Welcome back to school guys!” Miss Santos cheerfully greeted the class. Some of the students clapped but the others looked uninterested, especially the group of students seated at the back, the IT girls- Aryan, Nicole and Mara as well as the school’s heartthrobs – Daniel and James since Lucas is still not here. “Thanks ma’am! We miss this!” a guy at the back shouted happily. He is Allison, one of the school’s heartthrobs but compared to the others, he is more friendly and talkative. “I’m happy to hear that. So since this is our first day and I know that your section has been shuffled, you guys might not know each other yet. Let’s introduce one another,” Miss Santos calmly said to the class.

“I don’t need to know them.”

“Is this really necessary?”

“I’m excited to meet all of you.”

“Duh? They should know me already.”

“Let’s do this!”

“This is boring.”

Obviously, the room was filled with different opinions from the students due to the statement of the professor. Sasha looked excited while Lila and Nathan haven’t said anything.

“For your introduction, tell me about your name, age, where you are from and your dream profession. Let me go first. I am Miss Glenda Santos, 28 years old from Marikina City and my dream profession, aside from teaching, is to become a nurse.” The room was filled with applause from the students. “Okay now, let’s start from the back.”

“Hi, my name is Michael.”

“Good morning everyone, I'm Taylor.”

“I'm Aryan.”

“My name is Daniella.”

 “Hi, I'm Mara.”

“I'm Allison.”

”My name is Daniel.”

“Yo! I’m James.”

The students introduced themselves one by one as instructed by their professor until it was already Sasha’s turn. “Hi guys! My name is Sasha Aquino. You can call me Sash or Sasha, I’m already 17 years old and I’m from Sampaloc, Manila. My dream is to become a fashion designer someday. Nice to meet you guys!” a wide smile flushed from her face as she waved to her classmates. “Thank you, Sasha. Next please.” The professor smilingly said and pointed towards Lila. Not used to attention, Lila stood up and fixed her big round glasses.

“Hello everyone. My name is Lila Ashley Santiago, 16 years-”

Her introduction was interrupted when a person suddenly entered the room.

“Lucas! Here!” Allison shouted and pointed towards the seat next to him. The girls from their class started giggling. Due to shock, Lila immediately turned her head on the door. Her hazelnut eyes met Lucas' dark lifeless eyes and her heart started pounding. He still hasn't changed, he still looks mysterious as ever. Tall, moreno and handsome; three adjectives that would perfectly describe him. Not knowing what to do, she avoided Lucas’s gaze and looked down. With an instant, Lucas is already seated in the middle chair at the back of the room next to his friends. Lila, on the other hand, felt her cheeks heated and turned red.

She can’t help it, Lila’s lips slightly curved upward because finally, the person she’s been waiting for is already here, sitting exactly at her opposite direction. “Miss Santiago, continue.” Lila was brought back to reality when her professor called her. “Ah, as I was saying. I’m Lila, Lila Santiago. 16 years old from Sampaloc, Manila and my dream is to become a doctor.”

Since everyone was busy with Lucas’ arrival, no one really cared about Lila’s introduction. It was okay for her, it doesn’t really bother her whether others may acknowledge her or not. But she was hoping to be noticed by him, Lucas.

Before she sat down, she looked at him only to find out that he wasn’t looking at her.

With a slight tingle in her heart, Lila sat down.