C1 - What's Your Name?

"Excuse me! Excuse me!"

With only ten minutes left before Allison's first class of the day, she was running and in a hurry. She tried to push her way through the crowd of students along the hallway.

With her backpack carelessly slung on her right shoulder, a couple of books in her arms, big black-rimmed eyeglasses covering half of her face, long black hair pulled into a messy bun, and a 3/4 white blouse paired with a below-the-knee black skater skirt, Allison Garcia was not the popular girl in school. In fact, she was in her final year of Accountancy, and she managed to stay in the background. She was the kind of person whom, when you passed by in the hallway, you wouldn't look at again. She was the one who existed without being noticed by the majority.

Sure, she was one of the instructors' favorites. Ally was intelligent, a straight Dean's Lister since her first year in college. Because of this, she received a discount, which was a huge help in her studies.

During her spare time, you wouldn't find her relaxing where students gathered for breaks and talked to their friends. She was a Student Assistant, organizing books in the library every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 am to 10 am and 3 pm to 5 pm. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 11:30 am to 1 pm, she worked at the school canteen's counter. Sometimes, she was in the Student Affairs Office running errands, all in exchange for a free Miscellaneous F*e.

Ally rushed towards the stairs to the third floor and arrived just in time to beat her instructor, Ms. Basco, to the classroom. She caught her breath as she sat in the back.

For some reason, they didn't have assigned seats, but everyone had to fill in the front before moving to the back. Based on Ms. Basco's rule, she knew the sequence of when her students arrived for class.

And Ally was never late until now. She always made it a point to be early because she struggled to read when she was at the back. That was due to her old eyeglasses.

There were four vacant seats when Ally arrived. Needless to ask, she knew who the latecomers sitting next to her would be. The ones who didn't care about their studies.

"Good morning class!" Ms. Basco greeted energetically, which was weird for a Monday. It was the day of the week when everyone hated getting out of bed. Even Ally had that Monday sickness, but being a poor child didn't give her the luxury to oversleep even for a second.

She woke up as early as 3:30 in the morning every single day for an early morning job. While news could be accessed through handheld devices, laptops, and other technologies, there were still those who preferred their news feed the old-fashioned way. Thus, Ally biked around an exclusive village to deliver newspapers to the rich people's doorsteps. She usually started at four in the morning and finished around six. Then she would rush to prepare for school.

This morning, her bike had a flat tire, causing her to take longer to get home. Fortunately, her endurance in running helped her.

"You're late again!"

Ally's thoughts snapped at Ms. Basco's annoyed voice. Her gaze automatically shifted to the door where three Greek gods had just entered.

"Good morning too, Miss," Ethan smirked as he strode past Ms. Basco towards Ally's direction at the back, his two best friends, Zion and Leio, on either side of him.

They smiled, as if being late to class was a normal thing. Well, for the three of them, being late was indeed normal. It seemed like the back was their permanent seating arrangement, and Ethan always occupied the last seat. It was as if he had a personal attachment to the wall because he leaned on it until the class ended, that is, if there was no quiz or exam.

Ethan was a billionaire's son, so he could easily disregard school rules. Firstly, he didn't need to study. He wouldn't go hungry even if he skipped school. He was an heir to his family's vast wealth.

But Ethan's characteristics didn't end with being extremely wealthy. He was also intelligent, the kind that annoyed people because he passed effortlessly. So, it couldn't be said that he reached his final year of his course just because of his wealth and influence in school.

But besides those traits, everyone knew Ethan as the attractive young man who stood six feet tall, had a body built like a professional model, a gorgeous face with deep-seated eyes, a beautifully molded nose, and thin kissable lips. Ethan never failed to make every girl drool over him.

In fact, he was the school's player and heartbreaker. If they were in a liberated country, he might have slept with the whole female population of their school. But since they weren't, it was okay to say that he must have slept with all the willing females.

But it didn't mean that only promiscuous girls were affected by Ethan's charm. When it came to popularity among girls, he definitely got everyone.

Including Allison. Definitely including her...

Allison avoided eye contact when her gaze accidentally met Ethan's. It only lasted a mere nanosecond, but she could already feel her pulse racing. She bowed her head and pretended to take notes. In the corner of her eye, she saw Ethan sitting next to her— for the first time, not beside his wall best friend!

She almost blushed when their arms accidentally touched. She immediately pulled away as if she got burned.

But, well, this was Ethan and she was Ally. He was the popular guy, and she was the nobody. Even though she had a bit of a crush on him, she didn't dream of getting his attention. That was realistic thinking.

"What are you doodling?"

Ethan whispered against her ear, immediately sending shivers throughout her body.

"H-huh?" Was he talking to her? Her eyes widened when she realized she wasn't taking notes. Instead, there were lines and circles in her notebook.

'Omg!'

"I said, what are you doodling?" He moved closer to her. "Or should it be, what are you drawing?" To get a better view of her notebook, he held the hand with the pen and slightly raised it.

Her cheeks burned. Ally knew it based on the warmth of her cheeks. Never. As in never in her four years of college did she even get this close to Ethan. Let alone have him hold her hand! And with no effort on her part!

Okay. It's probably not in a romantic way. But still, his touch almost left her breathless.

"I- I'm writing," she stammered, trying to pull her hand from his grip.

"Well, you sure have nice handwriting, babe." He chuckled coolly.

Ally's whole face turned red now with the way he chuckled and because he had called her babe. But most especially because Ethan was still holding her hand.

"Please let go," she pleaded, pulling her hand away.

"What are you writing, then? Care to share?" Ethan teased but let go of her.

"It's none of your business!" He chuckled once again before adjusting his seat a bit farther away from Allison.

Ally tried her best to concentrate because the whole time Ethan would occasionally move closer to her and ask her stupid questions.

"Hey, are you really in this class?"

"Obviously."

"Then why haven't I seen you before?"

"Maybe you're not looking," she tried to lower her voice because Ms. Basco was glancing at them.

"My bad. How could I have missed your beautiful face?"

"Please, stop it, Ethan," she blushed again.

"You know my name?" He acted as if he couldn't believe it.

"Seriously? No. I'm just guessing," she answered sarcastically. Even if one didn't study in their school, they'd know him. How much more her?

He laughed.

"I really feel bad now because I don't know yours..."

She rolled her eyes. That's perfectly understandable.

"Hey, what's your name?"

She didn't pay attention because she was copying their lecture. She was sure Ethan was just messing with her. If she allowed herself to be affected, she would be the only one losing. She couldn't risk her class standing just because Ethan didn't care.

"Aren't you being rude? Hey, tell me your name," he continued to pester her.

Seriously? What had gotten into Ethan?

"Leave me alone," she replied.

"The whole class would have to go if you want to be alone."

"Yeah, funny." She didn't know why she kept answering. She could just ignore him.

"Why won't you tell me your name?"

"Because it's not important."

"Of course, it's important. I wouldn't ask for it if it's not." He playfully moved his face closer to hers.

She sighed, then turned to the girl on her left, who deliberately arrived late for class to sit in the back.

"Hey, Lauren, would you like us to switch seats?" she offered to the beautiful and sexy classmate who obviously wanted to get close to Ethan.

"Oh, I thought you'd never ask," she seemed impatient and immediately stood up.

"Thanks!" Ally quickly stood up, and they switched seats.

"Hi, baby," Lauren greeted Ethan.

"Hello, beautiful," he replied.

Ally sighed again. She knew it. Ethan just wanted someone to disturb him.

_____

Rushing again... This time, Ally made the mistake of sleeping late. She got stuck in traffic last night after her shift at the fast-food restaurant. Her standard four hours of rest every night became only three hours before she needed to wake up at 3:30 in the morning.

She quickly picked up the newspapers from the supplier and carefully placed them in the basket at the front of her bike. In less than thirty minutes, she had already delivered half.

Because she was in a hurry, she didn't notice a car coming out of a luxurious house's garage. Surprised, Ally wasn't able to hit the brakes at once. More afraid of crashing into the car and damaging it than her own safety, Ally made a sharp stop, causing her to lose balance and hit the hard pavement.

"Ouch!" She groaned, clutching her right arm that took the brunt of her fall.

"I'm sorry!" The driver of the luxurious car quickly got out, almost preventing her from getting up. "Are you okay?" Automatically, he helped her stand.

"No... I wasn't looking... It's my fault-" she continued to apologize while picking up the newspapers. "I'm okay-" she was back on her bike when she turned to face the man.

"It's you!" Ethan exclaimed.

Ally didn't immediately recover. The Ethan in front of her now was exceptionally handsome, and she suddenly felt conscious of how she looked. It was still early in the day, yet he was already well-dressed. But he didn't seem like he was heading to school. More like he had somewhere else to go.

Ally adjusted the baseball cap covering her face and hastily left.

"Hey!"

She didn't look back.

Wth? She had been working in that area for years, but she had no idea that Ethan lived there.

Gosh, she'd been delivering his newspaper every day! Well, maybe he wasn't the one reading it, but still... And he lived in the house she had admired and dreamed of owning someday.

'Who are you kidding, Ally?'