(Michelle POV)
Inside my car, I looked at my phone again. Should I text Anthony a good morning message? Like there's nothing bad about it right? Friends greet each other good morning. Maybe he would even like it! With some newfound confidence, I unlocked my phone and opened write a new message.
Wait, how should I greet him? Should I write, 'good morning my love?' Or 'I wish it's your face I see when I wake up in the morning?' Hahaha!!!! Ok, serious now.
Oh! I can just send him a quote! Why haven't I thought of that earlier!? It's the 'in' thing this timeline!!!!! I looked at old messages in my phone only to see that I have no message like that saved, or anything more appropriate. Ok, never mind.
[Good morning, Anthony! Hope that today will be a great day for you! See you in class!] Then, I pressed send.
Until I arrived at school, no reply came. Ugh, maybe he's still asleep.
Anyhow, my first class was Math 11, taking my seat, I heard my blockmates talking about the evaluation exam.
"I'm so nervous. Will our prof give back our exam results today?" I heard Janina say.
"Me too. I hope I did well. I don't want to go to Math 10! Imagine, a semester taking a basic subject before being able to take this class so that you can move to Math 19! Would that cause a delay in our studies?" Joanie replied.
Hearing their concerns, I could not help but think of the simple mindedness of life as a student. When I was at their age, I also thought about grades all the time. Failing, getting delayed from graduating, or worse, getting expelled because of not meeting the quota were my main concerns.
I must confess there was also getting a boyfriend, Anthony Ren preferably. I smiled thinking of Anthony. Ah, I like him so much and later we will see each other!
"Michelle, you look so relaxed, seems like you did well in this exam." Camille commented.
I shook my head, "Not really, it's just that I think that worrying won't change the results."
Angie scoffed. Then, she said loudly to Janina. "Some people don't come to school to study but to get a boyfriend. Don't know how they were qualified to enroll in this university. Then again, perhaps it's through connections, OR maybe they did something unimaginable like using their body?" Then she laughed as she looked at me.
Huh? Was she referring to me? What's this bitch's problem? I was just sitting here minding my own business. Was she jealous that I'm better looking? Ah, these kids. I should not stoop to their level. It was, after all, kinda true that I am here looking for a boyfriend, Anthony hahaha! Anyway, I chose to ignore her taunt. If it were the me of the past, I would have been offended as to confront her. Now, it just seemed stupid to me. So, I just sat quietly while the rest of the people in the room looked at Angie then at me.
"Some people are just jealous that they don't know what they're saying. How shameless." Camille suddenly said out loud.
Wait, was she angry and trying to kinda defend me? Did I look pitiful like I was bullied instead? But really, no need to make an enemy so early in college.
"Oh, there are also people who come to school trying to win favor from those who came from better families. Like those scholars from somewhere out there." Angie said while giggling with her friends.
Camille turned red. I looked at her, and I was reminded that she came to school as a scholar. Angie was a bit much. How did she end up as a politician's wife in the future? Then again, being one also needed this kind of attitude somewhat.
Ugh. Should I say anything? But I don't really know what to say. This is all too childish for me now. Thankfully, before any word could continue to be exchanged, our professor came in.
"Good morning, everyone. Today, I have your exam results here with me. Note that the first 4 people who will receive their paper got the highest grades while the rest are not arranged."
Everyone looked at her in expectation. I also felt a bit nervous. I can't remember the score I got in the past, but I knew I passed. I may not be that good with other subjects, but Math and Economics were my strengths.
"With a perfect score, please receive your paper, Ms. Camille Chen."
Camille stood from her sit beside me and received her paper. In the midst of my classmates clapping their hands for her, I heard Angie's voice saying, nerd. What a child.
"Second place, with a score of 97, let me call on Mr. Jack Huang."
My classmates clapped again, and I saw someone from another block receive his paper.
"Third place was a tie. With a score of 94, Mr. James Po, and Ms. Michelle Lui, please receive your papers."
My eyes widened. Did I hear that right? I got third place! I stood from my seat as my classmates gave a thunderous applause. After collecting my paper from our prof, I turned back to go back to my seat. It was not really my intention… ok, so it was, but who could help themselves? I looked at Angie and our eyes met. She was red on the face, and I chose to smile at her sweetly. Ah, take that you bitch! Hahahaha!
Anyway, our prof continued giving back the exam results. After, she made some announcements. She informed that the students who got a score lower than 60 would need to move to Math 10, their new section and class schedule will be emailed to them later. Meanwhile, those who got scores of 60 above will remain in this class and lecture would proceed as normal next meeting. Then, she dismissed us early.
--
Since I was friends with my blockmates, we all went to the canteen to hang out after class. Though Angie was a complete bitch to me and Camille, I did not delve on that matter and acted like nothing's wrong between us. They too did the same. At this point, perhaps, I should label us as frenemies. Not that I care that much. I have my mind elsewhere.
My blockmates started discussing the exam results, and just like in the previous timeline, only Dave got a score lower than 60 and would have to move to Math 10. Then, they brought out Uno cards and jenga blocks to play with.
As Camille invited me to play jenga, I brought out my cellphone to see if Anthony has replied to my text. It was 8:30, and maybe he already woke up. Sadly, there was none. I smiled at Camille and accepted her invite rather than waiting and doing nothing.
Time moved fast as we were having some fun. Soon, the 10:20 bell rang, and it was time for my next class. I told my blockmates that I'll go ahead and left for my environmental science class. While doing so, I brought out my cellphone to check if Anthony replied to my text. No reply.
I wanted to cry. Was he turned off by me texting him so early in the morning? Did he think I was too clingy? Huhu! What about our date on Saturday? I should have not texted him!
As I lamented and told myself how stupid I was while walking, my cellphone which I was still holding suddenly vibrated. Since I was already all depressed and lost hope, I looked at the screen without much expectation.
I unlocked my cellphone, then to my utter delight, the text came from Anthony! I excitedly opened the message to read his text. I stopped walking and grinned like an idiot.
[Good morning. Same to you and see you in class.]
It was so simple, but that he replied already made me so happy! Should I share the good news!? Wait, did he pass his evaluation exam for Math? Argh. Just reply! [Thank you. ^_^ Did you have breakfast already?]
Ah!!!! Michelle! What are you? His girlfriend?
[Yes. How about you?]
He just asked me back if I had breakfast already! Gosh, does he also take me as his girlfriend? I think I'm going crazy with my own presumptuousness. But I'm so happy! I can't help it. Should I tell him I only eat twice a day to maintain my figure? I hate exercise so I just eat less. But what if he thinks that I'm conceited? Never mind. Water was my breakfast, so I already did. [Yes, uh… have you already arrived in school?]
[Not yet, I'm still at home. You?]
Eh? So… did he just wake up and my text was the first thing he read, and he immediately replied to it??? Ah! he's so sweet! Wait, that's too good to be true. I should check. [I'm already in school, my first class was at 7:30. You're so lucky to still be at home. Don't you have class in the morning?]
[I see. No, our class is my first class on Mondays. Anyhow, I should get moving. See you.]
I read the txt again and again with a smile on my face reaching my ears. Then, the bell rang. Shit. I'm already late for class. But! I still have to reply! [Ok, take care and see you too.] I typed, trying hard to stop myself from including the <3 at the end of the message.
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TBC