Chapter 3 - III (1/2)

”LAIA,” SOMEONE WHISPERED FROM BEHIND HER. ”Do you have an extra pen? Can I borrow?”

Why do students even go to school if they forget their pens?

Laia smiles instead and takes an extra pen from her pencil case. Her classmate thanks her and continues on with his work.

The days went on like usual. Laia arriving at school, Laia spending her time in the library and reading all the advanced study materials that she could, and of course, listening to Brie talk about how her relationship with her boyfriend is absolutely amazing.

To be honest, Laia had never felt the need for a significant someone. Sure she had a crush on a few people throughout her life, but they never last due to Laia's lack of long-term interest. She had always been an introvert, but due to her school somehow making her their representative in every competition near and far, she had to always step outside of her comfort zone and converse with other people.

It's probably one of the reasons why she started creating a mask. A mask to hide her true self, a mask to conceal her true feelings about various things.

A mask that stopped her from being herself.

Laia sighs deeply as she closed the Science book she was reading. No more Science for today since my heart hurts, the girl thinks as glares at the innocent book beside her.

Her eyes drifted to a group of students hanging out and talking loudly in a nearby table, obviously just there to connect to the library's WiFi. If only they knew how slow the WiFi can be especially during this hour.

Not that it's Laia's problem. She could not care less about those students.

The girl stands up from her seat and makes her way to the bookshelves. She thought for a while about which subject should she study next and decided on Math. She can never go wrong with it, as she always did loved the subject ever since she was still a child.

She stopped near a bookshelf that had different books regarding the same topic. She was about to take one of the thicker books when a hand was suddenly on top of hers.

Laia immediately turned around and bumped into someone's chin. The girl yelped and lost her footing, falling to the ground.

”Ugh, my head,” She complains, her hand rubbing the spot that would probably bruise later. She can only hope that the person's chin would bruise as well.

The girl raised her head only for her brown eyes to meet familiar blue ones. She could not help herself from scowling openly and it made the boy grin wide.

”I'll be taking this then,” Samuel said, taking the book out of the shelf and walked away, even humming a tune.

What a real asshole, Laia thinks.

She slowly stood up from her position, grabbing onto one of the bookshelves for support. She could only wish her ankle was not twisted or anything.

Fortunately, it wasn't. But her forehead did indeed bruise. Looks like the asshole didn't just have a huge head, he had thick skin as well. Fits his ugly personality, the girl notes to herself.

Seeing that the book she was about to borrow earlier did not have another copy, she left the library and went straight to a nearby coffee shop to drink coffee. The coffee shop, Brewing, was particularly liked by Laia for it had a collection of books customers can read while waiting for their order and she also had a small crush on the barista that had a shift this day.

The girl smiled at the thought of seeing the barista, whose name was Niel. He always greeted her whenever she came and would even recommend her a good book to read when there are only a couple of customers inside.

She felt giddy and excited.

The walk to the coffee shop lasted for about ten minutes and Laia finally arrived. Right on her calculations, Niel was indeed the barista during this hour. The girl pushes the door and when the barista's eyes saw her, he waves at her and smiles brightly.

I wish I can see his smile every day, Laia thinks. She wonders which school does the boy goes to since he looked around her age or maybe older by a year or two.

She walked towards the counter was about to order when someone once again interrupted her peace. A very familiar someone.

”Lopez?”

Laurie. Laia rolls her eyes so hard she thought her eyeballs would fall off. How in actual hell did they even end up in the same coffee shop when there are about five other coffee shops near their university?

Niel looked at the two of them, obviously curious about their relationship. The look on his eyes was definitely curiosity and partly mischief. Could this day get even worse?

”Laurie,” Laia answers, smiling instead of flipping him the bird. If only she could.