She said, He said: The Campus War

CHAPTER 1: THE CAMPUS

Izumi Quinn's P.O.V

"Izumi, let's go! I don't want to be late on our first day of school!"

Faye Reyes, my cousin, is the same age as me—22 years old. She’s empathetic but talks too much. Physically, she’s in pretty good shape. She’s of average height, with fair skin, black hair, and black eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," I replied lazily. She’s used to it—I’m just not in the mood to talk, especially when it comes to long conversations. Besides, if I argue with her, we’ll definitely end up being late for school.

We hurried downstairs from the second floor. As soon as we reached the ground floor, Ren, our cousin who is older than us, was already waiting for us.

"Wait! I’m taking the front seat!" I told Faye, but being the playful girl she is, she tried to race me to it. However, as always, the winner was none other than me.

I rarely show my playful side—actually, only with my family.

I smirked at her before getting into the car and taking the front seat. She pouted as she sat in the back, knowing she had no choice. I noticed Kuya Ren shaking his head, though he was also laughing at our antics. He was already used to it.

Faye and I are really close. Even though we're just cousins, we treat each other like siblings. I don’t have any siblings, and we've been close since childhood.

She has two older brothers. It seems like having more men in our family runs in our genes—my mom is the only girl among her siblings, and the rest are all men. Even among my cousins, most of them are boys.

If you're going to ask about my dad—well, he's with his mistress. My mother told me about it as soon as I was old enough to understand. She never hid the truth from me so that I could have an open mind about such things.

I've seen plenty of pictures of them together. I even tried looking for a baby picture of myself, but the only ones my mom showed me were from the time I was already with her. She said there were no pictures of the three of us together. I just let it go—I have no interest in knowing my father. He's a cheater, and I don’t like him.

IT DIDN'T take long before we arrived at school. I'm a transferee student. Faye has been studying here since senior high, so she's more familiar with the place than I am.

The reason I transferred? It’s because of my overly dramatic classmate who acted like she owned the entire school. They hated me—probably because I was prettier than them. Kidding aside, I think they were just jealous, so they joined forces to get me expelled. I just hope there’s no version 2.0 of 'her' here.

I unfastened my seatbelt and I stepped out of the car.

My uniform has a different shade of pink. A pinafore dress that fall just above the knee (it's a type of dress, that is sleeveless and collarless that is worn over a blouse or sweater but I worn it over my white long-sleeved shirt), and plaid tie (with a color of carnation pink and tea rose pink). I also have a pastel pink blazer, but it's up to me if I'll wear it or not.

"Good luck to both of you!"

"Thank you, brother Ren. " We said in unison, waving goodbye to him.

"Quinn, are you ready? " Faye asked me seriously.

"Yes." I answered plainly

"Let's go." Faye told me as we started walking toward the huge gate.

To describe my new school, Imagine two prestigious schools standing side by side, separated by a towering, long concrete wall that stretches across the entire campus. On one side is Azalea Campus for Women, a renowned institution known for its excellence in academics, discipline, and refined etiquette. On the other side of the wall is Felix Campus for Men, named after its owner. I have no idea what their school looks like since we’re not allowed to enter, and the wall completely blocks the view. I asked Faye why there were two separate schools for boys and girls when they could have just combined them, especially since they were right next to each other, only divided by a wall. She explained that the owners of these two campuses are siblings—but rivals.

Apparently, they both wanted to impress their parents to prove who was more deserving of inheriting the family wealth. In an effort to appear as the better heir, they both decided to establish a school. However, without realizing it, they ended up having the exact same idea, which led to the creation of these two institutions.

I let out a heavy sigh. As we entered, the first thing I saw was a small room surrounded by trees. I read the sign above the room.

Welcome to the Azalea Campus for Women

"Okay, Quinn, that's the first room you need to enter. There are two officers inside—the president and the secretary. They need to verify your identity first. I can't accompany you because you're the only one allowed to enter that room since you're a transferee student, and I'm already an old student, so I'll head straight to my first class. Text me when you're done."

Faye gave me long instructions before walking away, not even waiting for me to respond. She's so rude. I didn’t even notice where she went, she just disappeared.

As I entered, there were doors on both sides of the room. I wasn't sure which one to go through, so I chose the one on my left. I stepped inside, and a sense of calm and professionalism greeted me. The room was spacious, with large glass windows that let in plenty of natural light. The walls were painted a soft beige, and the room had a minimalist feel. I could smell lavender in the air, probably from the incense on the shelf. As I looked around, I noticed a woman sitting in a chair, busy typing on her laptop, seemingly unaware of my presence.

"Excuse me," I tried to catch her attention, but it seemed like my words had no effect.

"Excuse me," I repeated, this time gently tapping her desk to get her attention. It works as she immediately looked up.

Our eyes met, and I could see the calmness in her gaze. She didn't rush to stand up or seem flustered at all. It was clear that she was used to this kind of setup. If I were to describe her, she has long, dark brown hair that reaches just above her waist. It’s obvious that she takes great care of her hair because it looks so shiny. Her face resembles a Barbie doll, with her foreign features clearly standing out.

"Ms. Izumi Quinn Reyes, right?" she asked directly. I was surprised because she recognized me right away. The only explanation for that is that she must have checked my registration form in advance and reviewed it.

I used my mother's last name, grandma arranged that before I started studying.

"Yes, you're right," I replied. She nodded and reached for something on the side of her table—a gold-colored book.

"You might be wondering how I recognized you. I think you've already guessed it. I checked your registration form to review your information. It would be rude if I didn't introduce myself—I’m Hart Foster, the president of the higher organization here at Azalea Campus." She spoke in a long sentence and then extended her hand for a handshake. I accepted it, not wanting to come off as rude.

After our handshake, she handed me the book she had reached for earlier. I took it and looked at it. It was probably the school guidebook.

"Thank you. Are there any other necessities that I need to claim?" I asked her with a smile. The uniform I'm wearing was the only thing they gave me. Who knows, there might be something else I need to pick up here.

"About that, you can claim it in the next room on the right side, if you've noticed it. My secretary will assist you. You can ask her anything you'd like to know," she replied. You could hear the authority in her voice. No wonder she was elected president of the higher organization here on campus.

"Okay, thanks again, Pres. Hart" It's my own idea to call her pres. I just used my common sense.

She smiled and sat back down in her chair before saying, "I like your attitude, Ms. Izumi. No wonder you're in Section A. You're pretty and smart. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, and have fun." I scratched my head at her comment. I just smiled and bowed before exiting her office.

I took a deep breath and placed the book in my bag. The president was nice to me, but I wasn’t ready to fully trust her because of my experience.

Now, I was inside the secretary’s office. The design was similar to the president's office, which I thought was a good idea to avoid straining the eyes. We were in an area that resembled a living room, as she had asked me to follow her earlier through a door, and this was what greeted me.

"You may sit down for a while, Ms. Izumi, while I gather the things you need." She said, gesturing to one of the sofas for me to sit on. I followed her instructions and sat down.

Just like earlier, I didn’t expect that she would know my name right away. I’m glad the officers here are good. She has shoulder-length hair, and it's black. She’s a bit morena that really suits her. She's beautiful. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them here are beautiful.

"Alright," she said as she sat on the sofa across from me, carrying several items. She placed them on the table and continued, "Before anything else, let me introduce myself. I'm Tiffany Flores, and I'm in the special section. You’ve probably already met Pres. Hart. Like me, she’s also in the special section. To learn more about the sections, you can use the book she gave you as a guide. It might be boring to read since it has a lot of pages, but it contains everything you need to know about this campus."

She extended her hand for a handshake, so I shook her hand as well. It wasn’t hard to tell that they were naturally friendly, are they?.

"Next, you might think that we go home every weekend, which is true, but not every weekend. It's more like once a month. For example, this month, there's only one weekend when we have the chance to go home, either to spend time with our families or reconnect with friends." Tiffany explained seriously.

I was shocked by what she said. Faye never mentioned this to me—she probably kept it a secret so I wouldn't back out. There's nothing I can do about it now. No wonder I rarely saw her before.

"Okay. Next, this is your key card, which grants you access to your room. Each of your dorm mates has one. Every dorm room accommodates three students. If you lose it, there are no spare keys, so make sure you don't misplace it."