MY PRETEND BOYFRIEND

Chapter 22

Sophia thinks that fate has bound her and David together, even when they're in the music club. They still chat intimately.

"Kinain mo ba yung cake?" Sophia asked.

"Kinain ko naman... Medyo masarap," David answered with his usual deadpan face.

"I don't think that's delicious."

"Umm. I think that's delicious."

Huh? What?

"Bakit bigla yatang nagbago ang ihip ng hangin, bumabait ka na, ha."

That's right... They’re not the same as before. It’s different from the first time they talked to each other in this music room. Hindi na siya sinusungitan masyado.

"Yeah, I think so."

"So, how do we deal with this kind of strange something between us?"

"No need to do anything. Staying like this is good right now."

Sophia and David sat cross-legged in a truly tragic position, hopelessly separated by Adrian. He sat between them, trying to squeeze the three of them together. Sophia just wanted to disappear from this awkwardness.

"Can you please let go of my arm? Or do you want me to kick you to make you understand?" Sophia said as she turned to face him.

"Sophia! Do you dare do that to your future husband!"

"One..." As she started to count, Adrian looked horrified. Still, he had no intention of letting go of her arm. He even held David’s arm at the same time.

So what now? Are you a parasite wrapped in a tree?

"Sophia, are you really going to do that to me? I bought you cake!"

"Two..."

"Even though you said that the cake is not good, I know you like it. Right, David?"

"Three!"

SCREAM~

The shrill sound of one hundred million decibels made everyone in the room turn to look at Sophia when she stood up and prepared to kick him. This monkey started running around the room, looking for sympathy from people to support him. Son of a b***h.

"Stop! This is a music room, not a playground. What are you doing?" When an angry voice from the club president Khaycee spoke, all movements immediately stopped.

Sophia and Adrian were both ready to be kicked out of the club.

"Khaycee..."

"What are you doing, Adrian? Remember what I told you?"

"Behave and sit quietly..."

"So are you sitting still?"

Seeing that Adrian would open his mouth to answer, Khaycee scolded him again. As for Sophia, she ran away in a confusing manner. Maybe Adrian did horrible things in his past life, so Khaycee became his senior at the club as punishment.

"Return to your seats, everyone! To all sophomores here, if some freshmen are annoying, I allow you to kick them out," Khaycee said before leaving, leaving a frightening cold feeling even colder than Lord Voldemort.

David and Sophia practiced in different groups. Beginners still have a lot to learn. Horan couldn’t come to the club today because he said something was happening in the medical school, so Sophia didn’t know who to interact with. There was only Adrian, ready to give himself fully to her.

"Try to play the intro of this song. This song is easy. It only has four chords," Kim instructed.

As for Sophia, after starting to get to know the guitar for a while and having a good teacher like David, her skills finally improved.

"Sophia..." While she was concentrating on playing, Adrian interrupted her.

"What? Do you want to be scolded by Khaycee again?"

"What's the relationship between you and David?"

"Wala kang pakialam."

"Do you guys really like each other?"

"Even if I say I like him, I know you won’t believe me. So whether I like him or not, I still don’t like you. Okay?" It might make him sad, but it was better to be straightforward with him than to give him false hope.

"That's fine. I can still accept if I will become your mistress."

Damn it! What was he thinking? From now on, she would not show mercy again.

"Adrian, please change your mind. Tell your parents."

"No way."

"Then shut up and don’t cause trouble. Can't you see? Other people are paying attention to the guitar."

"Okay. But why is David staring at you?"

"..."

"Is that what you call paying attention?"

At that moment, Sophia immediately looked at the person sitting with his friends in the corner of the room. And just like Adrian said, David's eyes were really fixed on her. Therefore, the cool girl Sophia had to send back a special signal in response by raising her middle finger.

But the person who received it only responded with a smile. If you play with idiots, you will definitely become an idiot too.

"Sophia, mag-focus ka."

"Yes." In the end, Sophia had to get rid of the crap in her head and turn her attention to playing the guitar.

In her opinion, university life was free, and there were lots of activities to do. As for the classes, they focused on just the basic subjects like English and Thai for the freshmen students. So this semester, Sophia only had two classes. She felt so relaxed. She was also a student who was quite active and enjoyed a lot of activities. In fact, she didn’t want to be a sophomore because they always complained and cried about everything.

The training lasted for one hour until the senior gave them time to rest for fifteen minutes. After that short break, they continued to practice again. Sophia usually spent two hours a day in this music room. After that, she would find something to eat. On weekends, she went out with her gang.

"To all freshmen, I have something to announce," a senior suddenly opened the door and entered the room.

"What’s wrong?" someone said.

"It’s been several weeks since you guys joined the club. So, I’m afraid you will forget about your evaluation."

Disaster is coming. Sophia feels her frustration building up.

"Remember when you recorded the clip? You need to do that again. But this time, you will be paired together. You have to cover a song and send it to Khaycee. We will leave a comment, and if someone doesn't meet our standards, they have to practice one more hour every day!" The voice in front of the room finished its announcement.

Complaints filled every corner of the room, especially from the first years. Sophia knew the struggle of not having a background in music, but why was it always the underdogs who had to suffer?

Should she ask Laurel to be her partner? Maybe they could just play a simple birthday song.

"The one who gets the highest score will have a prize."

"We don't want it."

"So, do you want to be kicked instead?" Khaycee's voice was harsh as always. It was hard to tell if she had any sympathy for her juniors.

"Khaycee..."

"Why are you complaining? No crying here. Please send the video the day after tomorrow." Her cold, unfeeling nature left no room for argument. Then, she walked out, leaving the beginners in panic.

But there was one person who wasn’t panicking at all…

"Don't panic." David’s voice was calm, almost reassuring. "We can do this.”

He was the motivator of the group, always upbeat.

"We won't give up! Nothing in this world is difficult! Nothing can beat us!" Adrian's constant babbling filled the room.

Sophia just rolled her eyes. Of course, Adrian was doing his usual thing.

"Guys, I suggest you pair up with someone who has skills in playing the guitar. It’ll help if something goes wrong," Kim, one of the seniors, advised. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Sophia, who's gonna be your partner?"

"None of your business, Adrian. Go find your partner."

"I will pair up with David."

What? Sophia widened her eyes.

"Why are you so shocked? Okay, I’ll pair up with Miguel then." Adrian quickly ran to find the guitar player he was talking about. Migs was one of the more popular guys, but not her type.

"Sophia, Benjamin is not here today. What should he do?" Sophia asked Kim, looking for a way to pair with him.

"If anyone has no partner, that person will pair up with Benjamin."

"But there are still a lot of people in our group. He must have a partner already." She was determined to pair with him, so she continued to bug Kim.

"Noted. He will pair up with Gino."

"Eh?! Ano ba ‘yan."

Sighing in defeat, she walked toward the group in the corner to find a partner.

"David, do you have a partner?" Sophia asked, her eyes on him. He was sitting cross-legged, writing something that looked unimportant. He seemed like he was pretending to be busy, avoiding any approach.

"At first, I was with Stephany. But now I have no partner."

"Then, can you be my partner?"

"..."

"David, are you listening?"

"Umm. I’m just waiting for you to ask me to be your partner."

"Hey... I’m shy," she muttered, irritated by the sudden wave of embarrassment.

Before David could say anything, Adrian’s voice interrupted.

"Oh my God! I’m still staring at you. I still like you, Sophia."

Sophia’s frustration flared as she quickly left, not wanting to deal with Adrian’s antics.

Damn. She had enough of this.