“THROW IT NOW,” Roha mouthed to Shen and gestured her hand to her.

Shen nodded, she picked up her ball pen and started scribbling on her notebook. When their professor walked on her side, she quickly turned the page and pretended that she’s jotting down everything that she says.

When the professor left her side, Shen tore the paper from her notebook and crumpled it. She looked at Roha again, who was sitting one chair away from her right, then glanced to their professor. Roha gestured her finger across her lips, saying to keep it quiet. Shen nodded, lowered her hand a few inches away from the floor and threw the crumpled paper to Roha’s direction. She quickly sat up straight after releasing the paper.

To confirm if Roha got the paper, Shen looked back, but to her surprise it wasn’t Roha that caught the paper, but the arrogant transferee. The man waved the piece of paper to her with a smirked.

“What the f?” she whispered and glared at him. “Can you please give it to Roha?”

But Charlie just arched his brow. “Why would I do that?” he mouthed back then started to open the paper.

Shen gasped and tried to stop him, but her chair is a bit far from her. “Hey,” Shen called his attention in a low tone. “What the hell? Don’t open it—”

“Miss Shin, is there something that you want to share in my class?” the professor called her attention. “What is it? Come on, tell it to us.”

Murmurs and laughter from her classmates filled the room. Shen pressed her lips together and looked at Charlie, who was just scowling at her. “N-Nothing, Ma’am.”

“Really? I’m just ignoring you, but I’ve noticed that you’re occupied with other things rather than my subject?” their professor asked sarcastically.

Shen wanted to disappear on the very moment. She lowered her head and pretended that she’s looking on her notebook. “I’m jotting down notes, Ma’am—”

“Liar,” Charlie said loudly. “You’re chatting with your friend in the middle of the class using a crumpled paper.”

All of their classmates gasped at how blunt this transferee was. Shen looked at her professor and tried to explain, but she was ignored.

“I’m disappointed to you, Miss Shin,” the professor said and gave her a look that made her feel embarrassed in the class. “I never thought that you’d be this disrespectful in my class.”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I just don’t want to disturb your class, that’s why I wrote my message on the paper,” Shen apologized sincerely. When their professor didn’t answer, she looked back at Charlie and glared at him.

“Serves you right,” he said and looked away from her.

Shen pressed her lips in frustration. What’s his problem? She asked in her mind and looked at him again. She doesn’t understand why he’s so arrogant. “Celebrity attitudes suck…”

After their class, Roha quickly approached her. “Girl, in our four years of being in this school, it’s the first time that somebody humiliated you in front of the class.”

Shen’s ears rang with what Roha told her. “That transferee is such a pain in the ass,” she said, shooting glares to Charlie. “I don’t know why he has to be an asshole in my life.”

Roha laughed. “Let’s just avoid him. I don’t want our last year here to be a terrible year,” she said and glanced at Charlie. “I thought his handsome looks reflected his personality, but I guess I’m wrong.”

“Precisely,” she said, rolling her eyes ceilingwards. “Nobody’s really perfect, after all.”

“Hey, Shenaida.” Jeremy, the class’ president, approached them. “May I speak to you for a second?”

Shen gestured to Roha to leave for a moment. “What is it, Pres?”

“I just want to inform you that I sympathize with what happened to you during the class,” he said and smiled at her. “Every student do that trick of chatting, it’s just that somebody doesn’t know the fun from that trick,” he said and turned his head towards Charlie’s seat. The man looked at them and scowled. “Look at him. He looks unhappy as a child.”

Shen laughed. “Thank you for comforting me, Pres.”

“As long as it’s you, Shen.” He winked at her. “By the way, do you have plans after our classes? I want to invite you over dinner—”

“Roha and I have plans,” she cut off with a smile. “Maybe some other time, President Jeremy.”

“Okay,” Jeremy nodded and left her in the seat.

Roha returned to her side immediately. “Is he courting you?”

Shen frowned. “He’s hypnotizing me,” she said as she raised from her seat. “Let’s go.”

“But the bell is not yet ringing,” Roha protested.

“It will ring in a few minutes. We can go out of the room and wait for it,” she said and dragged Roha out of the room. As soon as they stepped outside, the bell rang. “I told you.”

“So, what now?” Roha asked. When Shen just grinned at her, she pursed her lips. “We’ll find it now?”

___________________

CHARLIE followed the two women with his gaze as they walked excitedly towards the school gate. “Where are they going?” he asked, then remembered the crumpled paper and what was written on it. “These two witches are up to no good.”

He took his keys and unlocked his car. When he was about to get in, Jayan approached him.

“Why you didn’t pick me up in my room?” she asked in a disappointed tone.

Charlie scowled at her. “Why would I do that?” he asked. “Do you have dementia to forget the way out of the school?”

“Stop being sarcastic to me, Charlie Yun,” Jayan told him, pissed off. “When will you stop treating me like this?”

“If you called off the wedding,” he said and got in his car. Jayan followed on the front seat. “What do you think are you doing?”

Jayan looked at him questioningly. “You’ll bring me home. We arrived together, we’ll get home together.”

“Get out,” Charlie said and unlocked the doors. “I have other plans.”

Jayan looked at him in disbelief. “What? Charlie—”

Charlie got off the car, opened the front seat’s door and pulled Jayan out of the vehicle. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said and kissed her in the cheek.

He quickly got in his car and drove away without looking back at Jayan. Charlie looked for Shen and Roha on the road, he found them waiting for a taxi cab. When they hailed one, he followed the cab. Charlie doesn’t know why he’s doing this, but he has a feeling that Shen is planning to do some wizardry against the professor.

As he followed the cab, he took out the crumpled paper in his pocket and reread its content. “Where the hell is Quiapo, Manila?”

***