Chapter Seventeen

< Nina >

“Nina, over here!” A cheery voice catches my attention as I enter the cafeteria. I look at the corner of the room and there is Clarence, waving his hand at me.

I smile, almost hesitantly, giving a slight wave in return. I feel like after I did it, eyes are still looking at me. I’m not sure whether Clarence was right about me being a transfer student or…it’s something more than that.

As I make a beeline towards his table, I haven’t expected him to be alone. I don’t usually judge people based on the book of its cover but normally, people like Clarence Benz are usually the center of attention. So he should be surrounded by a lot of friends, right?

“I save a seat for you.”

“Thank you,” I nod and sit across from him. No matter what I think, maybe my gut feeling is wrong. Clarence might genuinely want to befriend me without anything in return.

But the funny feeling I felt earlier is still there when I sit down.

“So, are you getting used to the school here? How is it different from yours?” He asks, enthusiastically.

“Well, obviously, we don’t have fancy food,” I reply as I look down, staring at my own food. Food that I’ve never seen in my whole life. “E-everything is nice here.”

“That’s good to hear. After all, this is the best school in the country,” he muses as he twirls the pasta. “So with that being said, everything should be of the highest quality.”

I just nod, again, unsure what to say.

“You know, Noel Sinclair used to study here.”

“Noel Sinclair?” I question as I cut the food that looks like quiche. Only that it is harder than it looks.

As I continue to struggle with my food, I notice that Clarence’s mouth dropped.

“Uh...Clarence?”

“You haven’t heard of Noel Sinclair?” Clarence looks baffled. “He’s the CEO of the reputable Sinclair Industries that competes with de Milano Inc. in terms of revenue growth. Don’t tell me, you’ve never heard of Luca de Milano, too?”

My cheeks redden. “I’ve h-heard of him from a friend.” I didn’t expect to hear Luca’s name here in school.

“Huh,” he ponders, staring at my reaction before I look back at my food and concentrate on what I should do: like cutting them the right way. But I feel stuck with this quiche thing.

“Speaking of which, what does your stepfather do?”

“Well he’s—” I pause for a while, realizing I might have something I shouldn’t. “My stepfather retired from the entertainment industry.”

Technically, it is true. But many celebrities are retiring after all. I hope Clarence won’t connect the dots that Luca’s dad was the celebrity who retired years ago to stay away from the limelight for my mom’s sake.

“Who is it then?”

“Uh…” I hesitate for a while. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell. My s-stepfather is a private person.”

“Well, that’s reassuring. That means he cares for your wellbeing.”

“Yeah, especially to my mom.” Looking back, despite those years of their rocky times together, Rodrigo has always been loyal to her.

I should buy a present to thank him once we meet.

“So, how did your mom do it then?”

“What do you mean?” I look up, puzzled at the sudden question.

Clarence shrugs. “I mean it’s not every day you get to hear stories of celebrities dating a regular woman, let alone a single mother.”

“T-true but..”

“I’m sure your mom is beautiful. Well, you aren’t that bad yourself beneath that eyepatch of yours.” He smirks. “It must be the reason why your stepfather is enthralled with your mom.”

I look at him, perplexed at his statement before I shake my head.

Then, I abruptly stood up from the seat. “I’m done eating. Now, if you excuse me.”

“Hey,” he stands up and grabs my shoulder. “Did I say something wrong?”

I hesitate for a moment before looking at him. “I don’t like it when you ask questions like that. S-sorry, if you excuse me.”

I walk forward without looking back. I am aware that I left a lot of food behind on my tray but it is the last thing that comes to my mind.

All I know is that his questions didn’t sit well with me and I’ve already lost my appetite.

The moment when I left the cafeteria, I scurry myself to the hallway, ignoring more stares in my way. As I head up, wandering aimlessly around, I catch sight of a large door at the corner of my eye. I glance up to see a sign that says it’s the Music Room.

Slowly, I turn the knob, rather hesitantly, and it turns out to be unlocked. As I enter, the room is wide enough to hold two classes but I see a lot of musical instruments placed at the side of the rooms. A large grand piano is situated at the center but it is covered neatly by a blue cloth.

I slump down next to the grand piano and try to do some sort of yoga breathing exercises. It was a spur of the moment of me doing so but oddly enough, the motion makes me feel relaxed.

Finally, I immediately take out my phone from my vest pocket and dial.

Ring.

Ring.

Wait for it.

Ring.

Please pick up, Gene is being repeated in my mind.

Click.

Finally, I give an upheave sigh. “Gene, thank God you picked up.”

“Y-yeah, sorry. I know you were supposed to call this lunch hour,” he says in a whisper-like tone and it brings me in a state of panic.

“Gene, w-where are you? A-are you hiding right now?”

There is silence in the other line and that clearly means it’s true. Then before I say anything he whispers again, “Do you mind telling me how’s your day? I can just listen.”

Is he crazy? What if he’ll get caught by Duke and the others and they start beating him up?

As if he read my mind, he quips, “Don’t worry, Nina. I found this new place to hide. You know it takes them a long while to find our new hiding spots.”

How could he make a joke at a time like this?

“Nina,” he whispers. “Please, let me know your first day there.”

I tighten my hold of the phone and sigh. Finally giving in to what he wants, I start speaking. “I’ve been asked around by my classmates. I think…they’re okay.”

“Okay as in they won’t make you as their target practice?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Anything else?” he asks, again whispering as I could hear the voices from the distance. I feel like my heart races. “Don’t worry,” he says, assuring me. “They’re not them.”

“O-okay. Well—” Should I tell him about Clarence? I’ve already complained a lot to him about Luca and Clarence just adds more worries for Gene…

...who should just worry for himself more.

“The subjects are tougher than what we’ve learned from our school.”

“That’s expected,” he muses. “I can help you with your math if you want to.”

“Please don’t.” Flashbacks of Gene teaching me were still fresh in my mind. He makes it even more complicated with the terms that even the teacher couldn’t understand!

He laughs a bit, something I miss so much even if I get the chance to hear it from time to time. But he suddenly stops, as I can hear the sound of Duke’s voice from a distance.

“Oh...uh, I gotta go..”

“Gene! Please be care—”

“Talk to you later, Nina.”

And with that, the call ends with a beep. I remain still yet my hand holding the phone continues to tremble.

If there is one wish I wish to be fulfilled and that is the safety of my best friend.

……………….

School is really exhausting. It’s no wonder that only the privileged and the students with high intelligence can enter this academy. I am starting to question Rodrigo’s decision to enroll me in this school.

If I don’t find ways to catch up with the lessons twice as hard as the lessons from my previous school, I might repeat a year.

But my worries about Gene disappeared when he texted me a message during English class that he managed to escape from the bullies.

That’s what matters to me now.

I receive another message and glance to see Yu’s name.

‘Work is shit, kid. Can you wait till I pick you up?’

Then I immediately text him a response.

‘Yu, I’m perfectly fine. I can walk on my own.’

‘You sure, kid? I’ll kick Luca out of his office so he can pick you instead.’

I smile a bit.

‘You know, it bothers me a lot how you were never fired.’ Then I’ve realized that it seems informal to write something like that. Sadly I accidentally clicked the send button before I could erase it.

Damn iPhones!

I immediately type an additional message of apology but got interrupted with an attached file from Yu.

As I open it, my eyes widen in both a mild surprise and perhaps amusement from its content. What I see is another attempted selfie pic of Yu, trying to give the Korean V sign as he winks. It seems picture perfect and it’s not bad. Yu mentioned he was bad at taking photos but he's quite the fast learner.

But what catches my attention is the background. Behind him was Luca and with his signature scowl, eyes facing on the opposite side from Yu’s direction as his cheeks were painted red.

Is Luca blushing here?

I’ve received another message from Yu.

‘This is one of Luca’s side, kid. You can blackmail him with this picture and you’ll definitely see this look again.’

Something tells me that Yu didn’t inform Luca that this selfie is meant for me. I couldn’t help but giggle a bit.

Looking around my classroom, I’ve realized that I’m left alone now, so I put my phone inside my bag, gather all of my books and place it in my backpack satchel and walk towards the exit.

I start walking and passing by to the next classroom—

—only to have a strong hand grab my arm and pull me inside.

Oh cripes.