Her Secret's

CHAPTER 2

“Thank you, Mr. Seo.”

A man nodded at me and drove his car away. I continued walking to school, deliberately coming early so they wouldn’t notice me, but it seems I’m not the only one arriving early.

As I walked, I took one earbud from my pocket and put it in my ear; it’s boring without music while walking.

Beeep Beeep!!

I heard something but ignored it, thinking it wasn’t important, right?

Beeep Beeep!!!

Again, I heard it. I looked straight at the person who suddenly signaled me to move aside, causing me to stop.

“i***t!” He seemed to be saying something, but there was no sound coming from his mouth.

“i***t!” He even called me an i***t. What a jerk!

“Are you going to commit suicide?” I straightened up because I heard a serious voice. I also noticed molly rolling his eyes at me, but I ignored it.

I took out the earbud and put it in my pocket, facing the person who spoke.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice,” I said while bowing. Honestly, he’s good-looking!

“Tss, nothing.” He turned away immediately and got into his car. “Move, or I’ll run you over. Your choice.” I was startled by what he said, so I immediately stepped aside, and he drove off.

“You’re really dumb!” Molly suddenly appeared beside me. “You’re early, huh?”

“I didn’t notice,” I defended myself.

“That’s why you’re dumb!” What is this woman’s problem?

“What’s your problem? I didn’t block your way,” I asked, but she didn’t answer and just continued walking toward her building.

“You’re really messed up in the head,” I muttered as I kept walking. But before I could take a few more steps, I heard a strange sound.

I scanned the area, but there was nothing strange except that I was now alone in that area.

I ignored the sound and quickened my pace, feeling uneasy being there.

There were still no people in the room except for me when I entered. I sat down, but then I remembered the sound from the parking lot. If I’m not mistaken, I heard three consecutive sounds, like gunshots.

That was odd, considering the school is secured.

A few minutes later, my classmates began arriving.

“You’re early?” One of them asked.

“I woke up early,” I replied, and they nodded.

“I see.” The question wasn’t too sharp, so they were probably just curious. “You and Molly were arguing earlier, right?” I didn’t know she was such a gossip.

“It wasn’t that serious,” I said, but to me, it wasn’t a big deal; however, to her, it probably was. It was Molly after all!

“Are you and Molly—”

“You shouldn’t talk to her; she’s nothing but an ugly duckling,” Molly’s voice interrupted, and of course, she was there, the one and only Arra.

“Don’t include us in your nonsense and drama, you childish Arra.”

“What did you say?” Arra raised her voice suddenly, drawing attention from our classmates.

“Did I say something wrong, or can’t you accept the fact that you’re childish?” One of my classmates actually defended me against Arra.

“Look who’s talking; I’m not as childish as you think,” Arra said, her voice creepy, and now they stared at each other, but my classmate didn’t back down.

She smirked. “Tell—” but her sentence was cut short when someone entered.

“What’s going on here?” Our Financial Controllership professor came in, walked to the front, and set down his things.

“Nothing, sir, Arra was just saying something,” she replied.

“Then all of you, go to your respective seats,” he said, and the lesson began.

After our first subject, Ms. Business Analytics came in. She was so boring that I kept yawning.

“Ms. Marquez, do you want to go out?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then pay attention.”

“Yes, ma’am, and I’m sorry.” She continued her lecture.

“That’s all. You may take your break.” After she said that, she left.

It was a miracle that Arra didn’t start anything, so I quickly packed my things and followed my classmate.

“Hey!” Thankfully, she looked back and stopped.

“What?”

“I just wanted to thank you for earlier,” I said with a smile.

“Thank you for?” She seemed confused.

“For defending me against Arra, really, thank you,” I said, and my smile didn’t disappear.

“Defended you? As far as I know, I didn’t defend you. You two are just too repetitive when you meet,” she said, and then she walked away from me.

My smile quickly faded because of her words, but it was still kind of true. She did still stand up for me.

I headed to the cafeteria and ordered, choosing a seat on the side.

“OH MY GEEEE!!”

“HE’S HERE, I MEAN THEY BOTH HERE!!”

“WAHHHH!”

“WHY ONLY TWO OF THEM?!!”

I raised my eyebrow at the sudden screams and whispers. I took a quick look at the two people they were whispering about.

“Oh, it’s him!” He was the guy from earlier in the parking lot, but this time he was with someone—a guy who seemed to be a total womanizer. Every woman he passed, he grabbed their faces. Gross!

But it was the first time I saw them. I’ve been here for months, and I’ve never seen them before! Never mind.

“Hi, Ella girl!”

“Hailey, is that you?” I was surprised to see this one suddenly pop up out of nowhere.

“Oops, sorry, I guess I surprised you?” She was friends with Molly, the drama queen.

“No, it’s fine.” I replied as I took a sip of water. “You’re not with your friend?”

“You mean Molly? She actually left me here. I don’t know what happened, then I saw you.” I nodded at her answer.

“Anyway, I know you don’t know them, right?”

“Well, I’ve only seen them here today.” I said, and it was true!

“Do you want to know them?”

“No, thanks. People might think I like them.” I shrugged.

“What are you talking about? You should know the DAMONS.”

What?! She even emphasized “DAMONS.”

“Why do you think I should know them?” I asked.

“They’re demons!” She burst out laughing.

“Hahaha!” She laughed like there was no tomorrow, but I still didn’t get it. “No, no, no! Everyone knows that when they were kids, they loved Doraemon. That’s why they called themselves DAMONS, but they just changed it a little bit.”

“Okay…” That was my response. I wasn’t really interested.

“Doraemon? Damon? They rhyme, but it’s weird!”

“Are you okay?” She asked with a curious tone. “I know what you’re thinking, it’s weird, right? They’re so grown up, but they still stuck with the name from Doraemon. Haha!”

“Are there only two of them?”

“Curious, Ella girl!”

“No, I just heard someone say, ‘Why only two of them?!’”

“Actually, there are seven of them. Maybe the others are just busy. But the two you saw earlier are Russell Leitoress and Khennedy Arellano.” She pointed at them. Russell Leitoress was the one I accidentally blocked in the parking lot earlier.

“Russell is really serious about life, while Khennedy is a womanizer, so I don’t know if he’s still a virgin or not, but he’s still handsome.”

Oh, I see! I thought so! He’s such a womanizer; it’s so obvious in how he acts!

“They have five other members: Janzen Montell, a book lover like you and a bit childish; then Kurtz Clifford, his last name says it all; he’s the son of the owner of this school.” Why is she telling me all this?

They just ordered water and pizza before leaving the cafeteria.

“Kurtz is serious about life, just like his twin sister.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, only?” She asked again.

“What do you want me to say?”

“You should say ‘Wow! Great?’”

“Seriously?” I asked, mocking her.

“Yeah, that’s what you should say!” She said, still laughing.

“Anyway, they also have three other members: Catherine Arellano, Khennedy’s cousin. She’s a playgirl, but I haven’t heard anything about her, you know…”

“What do you mean by ‘you know’?” I asked, confused.

“You don’t know?” She asked.

“No,” I replied.

“Wow, you’re so innocent,” she teased.

“I don’t need to know that kind of stuff.” I shrugged.

“Next, about—”

“Are you done talking yet, Ley?” Molly’s voice interrupted.

“Hey, Molly girl~”

“Tss, you’re going to be late for class, i***t!” Hailey glanced at her watch and suddenly stood up.

“Oh to the M to the G, Oh my gosh! I’m two minutes late! Gotta go!” She ran off toward her building.

I also checked my watch and saw that I still had thirty minutes before my next class.

“You don’t like him, right? But you’re gathering information about him.” Molly said as she stood there.

“Sounds like a jealous girlfriend,” I teased her.

“I’m not!” She responded defensively.

“Then you shouldn’t care if I’m gathering information about him,” I raised my eyebrow.

“I d-“

“Ms. Molly Verdade and Ms. Ellaine Marquez, the dean wants to talk to you,” the secretary called, and we followed her to the dean’s office.

The dean was probably going to tell us our punishment, but I really hoped I wouldn’t lose my scholarship; I worked hard for it.

“Come here, my dear two students.”

“What kind of punishment are you going to give us?” Molly asked straightforwardly.

“Manners, please, Molly. I’m still your dean,” she reminded her with a flick of her finger. “Well, since you’re both in a hurry, I’ve already decided. You’ll be cleaning—”

“What? I beg to disagree!” Molly shouted, surprising the secretary and the dean.

“Me too,” I agreed, though not as loudly as Molly.

“You can’t, this is your punishment. Whether you like it or not, there’s nothing you can do unless…”

“Unless what?” Molly didn’t show any respect to her aunt at all.

“Unless you lose your scholarship, Ella, and I—”

WHAT THE HECK!!

“It’s fine with me. She’s the one who caused all this,” Molly said selfishly.

“Dean, I don’t want to lose my scholarship. I’ll do the cleaning if this witch doesn’t want to,” I said, pointing at Molly.

“Excuse me! How dare you call me a witch!” Molly reacted.

“Stop!” The dean intervened. “Ms. Marquez, I’m not agreeing to what you want. Both of you will clean.”

“And why? It’s only her scholarship that’s at stake, should I also clean?” Molly didn’t care since she was rich.

“I’m not done talking, Molly. If you don’t want to do this, I’ll have no choice but to send you to Britain.”

“What? Britain? No way!”

“Then you should follow what I want. This 5 p.m. you’ll start cleaning the cafeteria until 7 p.m.”

“Isn’t there anything else besides being a janitor?”

“There is one… If you want to be a gardener in our vast garden.”

Molly just rolled her eyes, while I let out a deep sigh.

“So, deal?”

“Deal,” I agreed.

“You really agreed?” she asked, shaking her head.

“I have no choice,” I replied simply, and I heard her say “deal” as well.

“So, you’ll meet at the Seniors’ Cafeteria at 5 p.m. You may go.”

I didn’t argue anymore and just left.

I walked ahead of Molly. There was no need to wait for her, and I was sure we would just end up arguing again. Besides, she might still have something to talk about with her aunt.

I went back to our class, which had already started. My professor knew about my absence, but my classmates did not.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was 5 p.m. I was already at the Seniors’ Cafeteria when I saw Molly walking toward me.

Just as she arrived, the head janitor also came.

“Here are the cleaning supplies you’ll need. Good luck,” the janitor said before placing down the tools—dustpans, brooms, trash bags, and rags—then leaving.

“You will clean all of that,” Molly said, pointing at the dirty tables, the floor, and the corners.

“Sure, and then I’ll tell them you didn’t clean anything. How about that?” I challenged her, raising an eyebrow.

“Can you stop being a tattletale? And like I said, this is all your fault because you’re so clumsy,” she said as she grabbed a broom and dustpan and started cleaning.

I didn’t bother replying. Instead, I took a rag and started wiping the tables.

Damn, there are so many tables here, and this cafeteria is way bigger than the Juniors’ Cafeteria!

We were cleaning in silence, so I decided to break it.

“Why are you so mean, Molly?” I asked without looking at her as I continued wiping the tables.

“I’m not mean. It just comes across that way to you,” she answered.

“Then why are you always being rude to me?”

“Because you’re an i***t!”

I almost slipped because of this witch.

“You’re too clumsy, and I hate people like that,” she added.

“So, you mean you’re like this to me just because I’m clumsy?”

“Exactly. At least you’re using your common sense now,” she said.

I don’t know why, but I smirked at her response.

“Why don’t you just avoid me? Or better yet, just ignore me and act like I don’t exist in your school?” I asked her. I’d rather have her ignore me than always be mean to me without knowing why.

“Avoid you? Are you out of your mind? How can I avoid you when I keep getting dragged into your clumsiness? This isn’t the first time I’ve been affected by it—it’s countless times in just two months!”

“Maybe I was just born this way. So, do I have to change myself just to be liked by others?” I asked as I walked up to the second floor of the cafeteria.

When I got there, I sat down for a moment and looked around. It wasn’t as dirty as the first floor.

The janitors really didn’t clean the senior cafeteria so we’d be forced to do it.

I had only been sitting for a few seconds when Molly followed me. Like me, she sat down to take a break.

“Tiring, huh? It’s already 6:43 p.m., almost 7,” I mentioned.

“There’s no need to change yourself just to be liked by others. What you need to do is accept yourself,” she said.

I looked directly at her.

“What? You know, I really don’t understand you,” I said, confused. “Earlier, you said you’re mean to me because I’m clumsy, and now you’re telling me that?!”

I stood up, but I wasn’t mad—I was just confused.

“What the heck! You don’t understand? Gosh!” she shook her head in frustration. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m mean to you because of your clumsiness. But I answered that way because I want you to learn to stand up for yourself.”

I was speechless.

“I get annoyed at you because you can fight back when it’s me, but not with others. When I call you ‘ugly clumsy,’ you fight back. But when others call you names, you just stay quiet. I thought you said you were born clumsy? Then learn to stand up for yourself without changing who you are. Stop crying and sulking in a corner because that won’t do anything!”

I was stunned.

“You do accept yourself, right?” she asked.

“O-of course, I do,” I stuttered.

“Then keep everything I said in your mind,” her voice was calm now as she stood up and started cleaning again.

“What are you still standing there for?” she asked.

“Okay, okay, I’ll start cleaning too.”

I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt lighter. I couldn’t help but smile.

I realized that this girl had a hidden side to her. At first glance, you’d think she was just rude, rebellious, and stubborn. And while she does have those traits, she has her reasons.

And now, I understand why she gets annoyed and mean toward me. Honestly, I can’t blame her. She said she keeps getting dragged into my clumsiness, and she’s also right about the second thing—how I can fight back against her, but not against others.

Because of what she said, I realized something.

She’s right about everything.