Leading Risk

CHAPTER 13

"LINEEEE! I'M ALREADY HERE!"

She shouted in frustration outside Line's house.

"Good morning, Aunt Wendy!"

She greeted cheerfully as Line's mom opened their gate.

"Come in!"

She heard Line shout from inside.

As the gate swung open, she hurried in and headed straight to Line's room.

"What the heck, girl?"

She raised an eyebrow when she saw her friend sitting in front of her vanity mirror, just starting to do her makeup.

"What?! I’m still getting ready!"

Line replied hurriedly, applying makeup to her face.

She rolled her eyes in frustration and dropped her bag onto Line's bed.

"Gurl?! It's already 4 PM! Our class starts in 45 minutes!"

She lamented, plopping down on the bed. She checked her phone for any messages from Rins and grimaced when she saw a bunch of rants. Stealing a glance at Line, who was still rushing, she sighed.

"What if Rins gets mad at us?"

She rolled her eyes again, got up, and looked at herself in the vanity mirror. She grabbed her baby powder and did a quick retouch since she was already sweating.

"Get my bag, Leyie."

After she grabbed their backpack, she stepped out of Line's room.

"MOM! WE'RE LEAVING!"

Line shouted as she hurriedly put on her shoes. She noticed Aunt Wendy coming out of the kitchen.

Before she stepped out the gate, she waved goodbye to Aunt Wendy.

"Goodness, you move so slowly!"

Aunt Wendy grumbled, and she playfully smirked at Line, who now had a pouty face.

"Well, it’s not my fault Kuya took so long in the bathroom!"

Line shot back, smoothing out her wrinkled uniform.

"Come on, you better hurry or Regina will be throwing a fit!"

Aunt Wendy urged them, and just as Line stepped out the gate, she tossed her bag at Line’s face.

"You pay, okay?"

Line panted, trying to fix her hair after getting hit by her bag.

She nodded at Line and searched for her wallet to grab cash for the tricycle driver they were about to ride.

"Oh, you pay later when we get off."

She handed over fifty pesos. They would both pay twenty-five each since they always had a special vibe about them.

Of course, they deserved it; they were passenger princesses.

"Have you chatted with Rins yet?"

Line asked while peering out the side of the tricycle.

"Almost there."

She replied, and then opened her phone to check the time, grimacing again when she saw it was already 4:26 PM. They had just nineteen minutes left before their major class started this semester.

"Yup, I already reminded her."

She said as she put her phone back in her shoulder bag.

"And?"

Line shot her a curious glance.

"And what?"

She furrowed her brow in confusion.

"What did she say?"

She rolled her eyes at Line and leaned back, staring out the window.

"What do you think, bobita?"

Line just smirked and began fixing herself up since they were nearing the jeep stop and Rins's place.

"Driver, here’s your fare."

After they paid, they hurriedly got off.

"You're in trouble, bobita."

She anxiously said to Line as she positioned herself behind her. She saw Rins, and her vibe was off. Rins just glared at them.

"I'm innocent! It was Line who was late, not me!"

She quickly defended herself, pointing at Line, who was now throwing a mini tantrum.

"Sorryyy! Our iron broke down earlier, so I had to borrow one!"

She simply stared at Line, who had been hanging off Rins and pestering her. She sighed at this. Good thing there were only a few passengers in the jeep they took.

"Pay attention to me!"

Line said in a quivering voice, still clinging to Rins. They started running as they walked since they had just a minute left before being late.

They spotted Sir Paul in the other corridor heading to their classroom, so they sprinted ahead to beat him to the entrance.

She held onto the classroom door, panting, as they managed to get ahead of Sir. They rushed in immediately.

Out of breath, she sat down in their usual spot. But barely a second after sitting down, they had to stand up again to greet Sir, who had just entered.

"G--OOD AFTERNOON, SIR!"

They wheezed in unison. They sat back down after the greetings.

"Line, give me some water."

Without enthusiasm, Line handed her the water bottle. She glanced at Rins and noticed she was still ignoring Line.

She met Line's eyes, which were pleading for help. She shrugged in response.

"Serves you right."

She mouthed as their professor started the orientation, and Line shot her a glare before turning back to Rins to sweet-talk her again.

Their class was nearing its end, but the two girls were still avoiding each other. She chose not to intervene, believing they knew how to handle their issues.

"I hope all of you enjoy our class this year. Class dismissed."

Before anything else, she immediately checked her phone to see if Mayue had replied to her earlier message. She pouted when she saw there was still no response.

"Make up, you two. I have some gossip later."

She said while applying lip plumper. After getting ready, she looked at her two friends.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

She asked, raising an eyebrow. They both shook their heads and hurriedly pulled her to leave the classroom since they were heading home anyway, as this was their only in-person class for the day; the others were online.

"What the heck? You guys are so annoying!"

She complained, trying to slow them down.

"Wait! I haven't said goodbye to Jory yet!"

She realized she hadn’t said goodbye to her best friends in the room. They might be looking for her!

"We already said bye."

"Yes, and now we're going for dinner and your gossip session."

Line said, pulling her along.

She sighed and let them win.

"Fare, please! Can you pass it to me, pretty lady? Thank you!"

She felt giddy as she handed over the fare, being called pretty by a child felt so good. She believed the kid more than their ethics professor.

"Hehe, here’s your change, cutie. You’re welcome!"

She said, handing over the change.

"So where are we eating? The usual place or your house, Rins?"

She asked, noticing they were getting close to where they would get off the jeep near batasan.

When she didn’t hear a response, she turned her attention to Rins. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Rins engrossed in her phone.

"Rins, where are we eating?"

Line asked since she was sitting next to her while she was in front of them.

"The usual."

Rins replied tersely without looking up from her phone. Line and she exchanged glances but shrugged it off.

She looked at Rins again and noticed that Rins seemed worried.

Boundaries were one of the reasons why their friendship lasted, along with trust and being open with each other. They always pointed out when someone was being rude to someone else. They were open-minded and understanding.

But sometimes, she couldn’t help but be curious about what was happening in their lives. Well, she knew they were smart and sassy, but sometimes they were clueless and hurting.

Having been friends for almost six years, they knew how to respect each other’s privacy and boundaries. Whenever someone was broken, whether it was family-related or about a guy, they would just invite each other over to hang out.

She smiled unconsciously as she remembered that night when they walked along the closed Gotesco to scout for cute guys and foreign dudes since there were bars there.

They just walked and chatted but still managed to heal each other’s burdens.

She sighed while looking outside. She did want to ask, but she thought it was better to wait until Rins was ready to talk about it. In the meantime, she would do her best to make Rins feel better and forget whatever was bothering her.

"So... what happened?"

Line asked while tearing open the cover of her food, while Rins was adding hot water to the noodles she bought.

They decided to have dinner at 7/11, just at Sandigan.

"Wait, Mayue isn’t here yet."

Rins said, placing her noodles down, covering them to let the pasta cook.

"Is she close?"

She asked.

"She’s almost here!"

Line responded, peering outside.

"Rins, help me with this."

She took her plastic spoon and effortlessly opened it.

"Thanks, Rins. Mwuah."

She flashed a sweet grin at Rins, who merely raised an eyebrow at her. The more sassy Rins acted, the more they loved each other. They stuck to that belief.

"WHAT'S UP, BOBITAS!?"

She just closed her eyes when she heard Mayue's voice.

"Shut it, girl."

Line said, taking a spoonful of her food. She shifted in her seat to give space to the newcomer.

Instead of sitting down, Mayue just dropped her bag on the table and went to buy some food.

"So what’s our topic for tonight?"

Mayue asked as she sat down. Before she could respond, she slurped some soup from her noodles.

She closed her eyes as the warm broth touched her lips. Wow, the hot soup could really help her relax.

Taking a deep breath, she faced her friends.

"So... I met Kai last night."

Again, she shut her gaze as she heard their gasps.

"Seriously?