Asuncion High

Once the shiny red door of the sports car was pushed open and Darius’ presence majestically revealed, the girls from every year level of Asuncion High became enthused. One could hear the heels from their sandals and shoes clicking loudly on the tiled ground as they jumped with excitement and admiration.

Giselle does not understand how anyone could admire such a cold-hearted, arrogant man. She is sure that people would have seen his true colors with the video of their encounter. If that video online had only elevated his worth to people, then Giselle can agree that people can be very foolish.

Both Yvonne and Giselle stood in front of the main office with walls made out of mirror-like glass. Giselle looks away from the scene unfolding a few distances beside where they stood. She notices the surprise with a hint of fear plastered on both of their faces.

She grabs Yvonne’s wrist and pulls her away from the entrance and far from Darius and the crowd. Thankfully, Yvonne willingly went along with her, although she was still bewildered and lost in her thoughts. Giselle found no difficulty pulling her behind a large potted plant near the empty fish pond to hide. The campus has the largest indoor fish pond, and it’s known for it.

Giselle snapped her fingers in front of Yvonne’s face. It took a few snaps to wake her up from her daze. She watches as Yvonne starts by blinking furiously, relaxing, and widens her eyes again. She opens her mouth and says in a gasp, “he’s here- Darius is here in Asuncion High.”

“Yes. Darius is here, and I do not know of what reason for him to be here, but this isn’t good,” Giselle panicked while pulling her hoodie off of her head. She runs her fingers like a comb to grab a handful of her hair. It’s Giselle's habit to mess with her hair whenever she is under stress.

Sometimes Giselle wonders whether she’s pulling her hair too hard that she might go bald. Her habit might be the main cause of her bad hair fall. She’s also at the point where she’s worrying that she’s losing so much hair every day.

She paced around, back and forth while she continued uttering the thoughts that are continuously running in her head, “There’s a possibility that he’s here for me and if that’s the case then I am screwed. We still have our exam in an hour, and Darius shows up to mess with my concentration.”

“Hold on girl- Azura, calm down. Breathe.”

Yvonne tried to keep a calm expression despite knowing that she was also stressed out. She tries to free Giselle from her emotional distress by saying, “We do not know the reason why he magically appears in this school but maybe he isn’t here for you.”

At that moment a group of girls with high ponytails and designer bags passed by them in a rush. They squealed and giggled, making Giselle and Yvonne quiver at the sound they made.

"Hurry up Amanda before he gets to Kassandra! We must make sure he glances in our direction first," one of them enthusiastically exclaimed while twirling and prancing toward the crowd.

A hint of redness made its way on Giselle's cheeks as soon as the girls dove deep inside the crowd. When she felt embarrassment slowly rising in her cheeks, Yvonne had to worsen it with her conclusion.

"See, maybe you're just overthinking it all. He could be here to take Kassandra back?" she says silently, holding both her hands on the side of her cheeks to cover her words.

At the same moment, the noise caught their attention again, making them spectate the scenario from afar. The crowd parted, revealing Darius with his bodyguards speaking with the principal of the school, and the campus princess, Kassandra.

Giselle's eyes fixed on the familiar man with whom she conflicted last night. Beside him stood Emesto in his apparel that she remembered seeing outside her door. She could now understand what made him dress so formally.

"Wait that's the man that I had accidentally bumped on when I was on my way to your room!" Yvonne voices while poking Giselle's arm.

Giselle could only nod for her eyes spectated Darius and Kassandra who had already started walking side by side. They weren't looking at each other nor did they hold any emotion in their eyes. Both of them were only following the principal past the crowd of students.

"Must the principal be part of this?" Giselle uttered in confusion.

Yvonne sighs, "You know the principal is Kassandra's mother- her parents own the school. She must have heard about their breakup, and from what I know, he was adored by her parents."

With the school principal coming into play, the teachers were also rushing out of their lounge area to usher the students into their classrooms. The disciplinarian started speaking through a megaphone to those students who were stubborn.

"All students proceed to your classrooms! Especially for senior high school students, you are to take your examination in less than an hour," the head English teacher took over the megaphone.

Giselle and Yvonne went out of their hiding to follow along with the students that are recovering from the occurrence. They watched as Darius and Emesto disappeared inside the main office.

It is too bad the walls are mirrors, they can no longer see what's happening inside. Giselle and Yvonne had their eyes still fixed on the door of the office and they were deaf to the sound of their Physics Professor calling out to them.

"Earth to Ms. Verano and Ms. Mercado, where are you girls heading?"

Both of them froze and turned toward Ma'am Miranda, their Professor with a convincing smile on their face. They had only realized that they were indeed heading in the opposite direction to where they were supposed to go.

Yvonne and Giselle are blessed to be in the same class, and they are also taking the same examination. To their luck, they had to come across the teacher holding the first subject they'll be taking.

"We were uh- we were heading to the cafeteria real quick to get us a quick breakfast. Giselle here didn't get to have hers because she's too nervous for the exam," Yvonne lied so easily, making Giselle lightly nudge her side for using her name.

Their Professor looked and them skeptically but still allowed them to proceed after telling them to hasten. And the girls left the lobby quietly.

Unbeknown to them were the eyes that caught on the familiarity of Giselle's face. Inside the walls of the office, Darius could spectate on the entire lobby while being concealed.

A smile made its way to his lips when his eyes landed on the girl he wished to find in this school.