Chapter 8

The entire gymnasium was filled with so much happiness. It was indeed a healthy competition.

"Lila! Congratulations. I knew you'll ace it!" Sasha immediately embraced Lila the moment she saw her. "Thank you, Sasha!" Lila replied and hugged her back. Everyone went to congratulate her and she thanked them one by one.

Earlier, Lila was asked to go in front of the stage for the awarding ceremony. She was given a trophy as well as an envelope containing the cash price she won from the contest and a gold medal. Up until now, it still feels surreal for her. Yes, she did her best in reviewing all the information she need to acquire prior to the competition but she never thought she would ace every question. All of her answers were correct and it was actually the first time someone from the competitors of the quiz bee answered all of the questions correctly. It was a tough match but Lila never felt pressured because her opponents were truly kind and at the same time friendly.

"Hey, Lila!" a voice from the back called her. She immediately looked back at the person calling her and it was Dana. Lila instantly smiled. "Hey, Dana. Congratulations! You did great." Dana, in response, hugged her which made her a little bit uncomfortable because she is not used with other people hugging her but she allowed her and hugged her back. "Congrats! I have considered you a threat from the start but a good one. Starting from now on, we're already friends okay?" Dana said to her with a smile on her face, Lila, on the other hand, nodded. They kept on talking for a short period of time and Dana bid her good bye.

Before the male quiz bee started, Lila looked for Nathan in the room. There she saw him, sitting calmly at the back, with his earphones on and with his eyes close. He must be concentrating, she said in her mind. Lila approached him without any hesitations. "Nathan! Good luck!" she said which made him woke up. "Oh, quiz bee queen! Congrats! Thank you," theres a hint of nervousness in his voice but Lila chose to ignore it, he must be pressured because she won the title. "I believe in you, quiz bee king," she jokingly said to him which made him smile. The thought of her being the quiz bee queen and him, being the quiz bee king makes his heart flutter. 

"Okay, male contestants be ready. The game is about to start!" From sitting, Nathan immediately stood up and prepared himself. "I'll go ahead now, we will cheer for you outside okay? You can do this!" Lila tapped him at his shoulders which made his heart beat so fast. Lila is the only person who could turn his world upside down, tied his chest in a knot and make his stomach twirl. After wishing Nathan a good luck, Lila went out of the room and look for Sasha outside. 

Without waiting much time, the game officially started. It went on fast. Nathan aced both the easy and the average round so he advanced to the final round. During the final round, it was very obvious that all of the three contenders are having a hard time with the questions being asked. To be honest, some of the questions were not even part of the informations Lila and Nathan reviewed together while working at their part time job, it was definitely hard.

During the final round, Nathan wasn't able to answer two consecutive questions right which made him land on the first place. Even from a far, Lila saw the pain in Nathan's eyes but he was so good in hiding it through his smiles.

"Nathan! Congratulations for winning the first place!" Sasha immediately hugged Nathan after the competition. The pain was still evident in his eyes but he tries his best to hide it. "Thank you! I was really afraid I wouldn't make it to the top three." Lila patted his shoulders, a sign of comfort Nathan was really waiting for. He smiled. "Congratulations, you are still our quiz bee king! The one and only." The three laughed synchronously but it was interrupted when Ms. Santos approached them.

"Hey, Nathan and Lila! Congratulations, I was never wrong in choosing the both of you. I always knew you'd make it." Miss Santos extended her hands towards them and shook hands with the Lila and Nathan. Both have said their warm gratitude to their professor. "But, I went here because the Principal is waiting for you in her office." Miss Santos faced and pointed Lila which made Lila confused. "Uhm, but why is the principal looking for me, Miss?" she asked with a furrowed eyebrows. Miss Santos shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know but let's go for you to find out." Lila nodded and she followed Miss Santos to the principals office.

It took five minutes of silence before they finally arrived at the principals office. Miss Santos knocked on the door first before they entered the room. Lila was shocked, again, when she saw the person sitting in front of the the principal's table. It was no other than Lucas.

Lila tried her best to hide her nervousness. "Hi Mrs. Marquez, you called me?" she asked the principal. Mrs. Marquez asked her to seat in front of the desk. Lila was hesitant at first but she has no other choice but to sit and follow the order of the principal. She and Lucas are facing one another, it makes her heart beat so fast. 

The room was filled with silence, Miss Santos, Lila's professor went out of the room so it was only Lila, Lucas and the principal who were left inside. "By the way, congrats Miss Santiago on winning the quiz bee competition. I heard you were able to answer all the questions correctly, bravo," Mrs. Marquez said without looking at her. She was busy writing something on her notes. "Thank you, principal. But if I may ask, why did you ask for my presence?" Lila asked respectfully. 

Mrs. Marquez, put her eyeglass down and looked at the two students sitting in front of her, Lila and Lucas. "I will keep this short, as the quiz bee queen, we have decided to give you a task as a part of your title." Lila looked at the principal while Lucas, on the other hand, kept on being silent. "You have to tutor Mr. Lucas until the end of the school year." Lila's eyes widened but Lucas kept his poker face on as if he already knew what the meeting will be all about. "What?" Lila asked with a crumpled forehead. "You have to tutor Lucas. Will that be a problem?" Mrs. Marquez asked casually. In fact, in this conversation, Lila is not allowed to say anything, but yes, because it was the principal who was asking her.

Lila looked at Lucas, he shrugged his shoulders. How can she tutor him? His entire presence is making her heart flutter. He is her ultimate high school crush, how can she fulfill her duties? "None." Mrs. Marquez smiled. "Okay then. I heard both of you are classmates, so this will become easy for the both of you, you have the same schedule but I will still introduce you with one another. Lila, this is Lucas, from now on, he is already your student and Lucas, meet Lila, your tutor." Mrs. Marquez introduced them to one another. Lila nodded her head while Lucas looked at the other way.

"Shake each other's hands!" Mrs. Marquez instructed them with an authoritative voice. Lucas extended his hands, Lila had no other choice but to take his hands.  

Lucas' hands were warm, his fingers was long overpowering Lila's short hands. Not knowing why, it became hard for both of them to release each other's grasp but when Mrs. Marquez finally spoke, both of them got back to their senses. 

"Okay, I'll let you two talk about your schedule since you already know one another. Lila, you're already responsible with Lucas. I trust you, okay? And Lucas, don't be hard-headed. Okay, go ahead." After she spoke, Lila and Lucas stood up and went out of the principal's office.

Lila can't find the exact words but it still hasn't sunk in her yet. She will be the tutor of her ultimate crush, who would've thought that was possible? 

It was Lucas who broke the silence. "Schedule is every after class, including weekends. No one can ever know about this. Give me your phone." Lila immediately followed his instruction and handed him his phone and he gave her his phone in exchange.

Lila was clueless and then it hit her, he is asking him to save her number on his phone. When it occurred to her, she save her number and named it Student tutor. 

"Okay, then. Enjoy your day, we will start tomorrow." He did not wait for her response, he turned around and walk on the opposite direction.

Lila wasn't able to do anything except watch Lucas walk away from her. She will be tutoring him starting tomorrow and she can't let anybody know about this.

Her heart is about to explode, is this happiness or is this the other way around?

No one knew. Lila closed her eyes and chose to embrace this opportunity. She wasn't able to help it, the thought of him, made her smile.