Chapter 3. End or Beginning?

I took a deep breath and shook my senses back into place. Cassia is so foolish for falling in love with someone like the deceitful and two-faced crown prince.

Why did Cassia have to develop feelings for someone like him? If she hadn't fallen for that guy, she wouldn't have ended up dead.

But wait. Why am I getting agitated and stressed out because of Cassia? If an avid reader of that novel hears me defending the main villainess and criticizing the male lead, I'll surely receive a lot of hate. Geez.

But honestly, why can't I stop thinking about Cassia? She's the main villainess in the novel. Is it because we both share a desire to be loved?

Tch. Yeah, whatever. That's all there is to it. I'm not like Cassia, who's foolish enough to choose a guy who shows little interest and acts cold towards me.

Seriously, who would insist on pursuing someone who openly expresses their disgust towards you?

You're not just foolish, but also a complete martyr.

Who in the world would want to be the laughingstock of the entire empire? No one, right?

I snapped back to reality when I heard a knock on the door. I turned towards it and saw Belle entering the room. I sat up from lying down and took a cross-legged position.

"Ari, uhm... Can you buy our dinner for tonight? I still haven't finished my thesis," Belle shyly asked, playing with her fingers. She's so cute.

It hasn't been long since Belle became my dorm mate. She's a sophomore who transferred to Benison University just this semester. So we've only been living together for about four months.

"Sure. I'll buy it," I replied. "Hmm... Then how about barbecue for dinner? I heard there's a new store just across the campus main gate."

I noticed her eyes sparkle when I mentioned barbecue. It seems like she likes the idea.

"Kol! Let's have barbecue for dinner. Waaah! I can't remember the last time I had barbecue, maybe it was the month before last."

"Then barbecue it is," I smiled as I got off my bed. I went to the cabinet to get some clothes. I'll change first. I pulled out my cream-colored crop top, denim shorts, and my black jacket. I also grabbed my black cap from my study table.

"Belle, please cook rice in the rice cooker so we can just eat when I come back, okay?" I shouted from the door, heading towards the bathroom. Belle went back to the living room to finish what she was doing.

"Got it!"

I entered the bathroom and changed my clothes. After I finished, I said goodbye to Belle, telling her that I'm going out to buy our dinner.

"Aria, make sure to get the fatty ones. I want the ones with fat. And the vinegar should be spicy!"

I was already at the door, but I still heard Belle shouting that. I couldn't help but laugh because it's the third time she mentioned it to me.

As I walked out of the dorm building, the sky had already turned a bright orange and red. I checked the time on my phone, and it was almost 6 PM.

I noticed that the students from the soccer and baseball teams were still on the field and track. They're probably still in training since the intramurals will be held in a month. Besides, curfew is at 8 PM, so it's still early.

I walked for about ten minutes before reaching the main gate. The campus is quite vast, and the dorms are a bit far from the main gate. I even passed by Uncle Holden, the guard on duty.

[ In the original version I used the noun 'kuya' which usually translates to brother in English - that is how people in the Philippines call even elders - but I changed it into Uncle since that's how other countries use it. ]

"Uncle Holden!" I called out to him. He turned in my direction, and a smile appeared on his lips.

He knows me because his daughter, Faith, was my former dorm mate who just graduated last year.

Faith was my first dorm mate before Belle. She's also one of my closest friends. Even now, we still meet and talk. However, she's currently busy searching for a company to work for.

"Oh! Aria, are you going out? Where are you headed?" he asked.

"I'm just going to buy dinner. I heard there's a new barbecue place near the bridge that opened recently," I replied.

"Oh, yes. That's Doris' barbecue place. Their barbecue is delicious. Alright, go ahead and walk quickly before curfew. They have many customers today."

I nodded at him and walked away. When I arrived at the barbecue place, Uncle Holden's words proved to be true. There were a lot of people inside and outside the establishment. The line outside was also quite long.

I overheard from a fellow student in line that due to the grand opening, the barbecue was being sold at a discounted price of five pesos. However, tomorrow it will return to its original price.

"Hi, Senior Aria."

I was startled and turned around when I heard someone call my name from behind.

It was a girl slightly shorter than me, with long straight black hair and a pretty face. Her face seemed familiar, as if I had seen her before, but I couldn't remember where.

She referred to me as "Senior," so she's probably an underclassman. But she doesn't look like a freshman. Could she be a sophomore like Belle?

"H-Hello..."

I awkwardly smiled and greeted her. I don't know why, but I feel uncomfortable around this girl. There's something off about the way she smiles at me so sweetly.

"Are you also buying barbecue, Senior?" she asked.

Oh no, I'm actually buying a hamburger. Ha ha ha. Tch. Why does this girl feel so familiar?

It's not that I'm being rude, but there's something about her that gives me a bad vibe. Like there's something behind that innocent smile she's putting up.

I may not be that great, but I can at least read people's faces when I encounter or observe them.

So, even though I don't want to, I forced myself to smile and respond to her.

"Hm," I replied with a nod.

'Now stop talking to me, will you?' I wanted to say this so bad, but it's better to just keep it to myself.

I turned away from her and focused on the line. I thought she would give up and stop talking, but she continued.

Fortunately, I received a text message from Belle. I replied, asking her to call me. It didn't take long before my phone started ringing. It was an incoming call from Belle.

I glanced at the girl whose name I didn't know - she didn't introduce herself anyway. She was still talking about something, which I had no idea about and didn't care for.

"Excuse me, but could you please be quiet for a moment? I don't mean to be rude, but I have to answer this call."

Call me insensitive, I don't care. It's not like we're close enough for me to genuinely care about her feelings. And is she clueless or what? Can't she see that I have zero interest in what she's saying?

I tried to force a smile after saying those words. She paused and forced a smile in return, nodding slowly.

Thank God. She finally fell silent.

I nodded at her and looked back ahead. But before answering the call, I took out my inpods and put them on.

"Hey," I said after answering.

"What took you so long to pick up? Weren't you the one who told me to call you?"

What's this? I could already imagine Belle pouting while talking on the phone. Haha!

"Are you pouting, Belle? Sorry, okay? I'll buy you extra fatty barbeque as compensation."

"Then it's a deal. You're forgiven. Hehe!"

I laughed. Belle is really a food lover. If you want to win her over, just give her lots of food, especially her favorites.

I chuckled at her reaction, and we continued talking while I waited in line.

I stood and waited in line for almost half an hour before I could buy the barbeque. Oh gosh! If I had known I would wait this long, I would have suggested something else for Belle and me to have for dinner. But since Belle also wanted to try eating barbeque, I think it's alright.

"Wow! My knees hurt from standing and waiting in this long line."

I let out a sigh. That girl from earlier still hadn't left me alone.

I chose to ignore her and opened my cellphone instead. I was about to open Facebook when I noticed a notification from the app I used to read web novels.

My eyes widened as I read the content of that notification. It was a side story of "Sky Full of Stars" that the author had released. My hand quickly opened the app, and I headed straight to read it.

"You, Senior Aria?"

I was taken aback and turned to the girl beside me when she called my name. Sheesh. What is it this time?

I forced a smile. "I'm sorry, but could you repeat what you said? I didn't hear it clearly."

I tried my best to sound nice, even though what she was doing to me was extremely uncomfortable.

It's not that I don't socialize or talk to people from the university, but there's just something about this girl that makes me feel awkward.

I kept trying to remember where I had seen her before, but I still couldn't recall.

"Oh, I was asking if you've ever had a crush on a guy at our university. You know, there are a lot of attractive guys on campus."

My forced smile disappeared, and I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Is she serious? How could she have the audacity to ask a total stranger such a silly question? What's wrong with this girl? There's something about her that has been bothering me since earlier.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we're close enough for you to ask me that kind of question." I couldn't hold back my words.

She seemed taken aback by what I said. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. "Look, I don't mean to be rude or anything. But you shouldn't be asking that kind of question to random strangers. Some people may take it positively, but others won't."

"A-Ah... I'm s-sorry..." she murmured, bowing her head.

I didn't respond, instead, I walked away. I didn't want to walk alongside her, even though we were heading in the same direction.

I took my cellphone out of my pocket and tried to calm myself by reading the side story of "Sky Full of Stars."

My thoughts began to wander. I hoped that in the side story, there would be a point of view from Cassia, so people could understand how she ended up as the villainess. Because I believe that every villain in a story has their own story on how they became that way. It's just unfortunate that in other people's stories, they're the villains, but in their own stories, they're the main characters.

I was at the pedestrian lane, about to cross to the other side of the road, but since the traffic light was still yellow, I waited for it to turn red before crossing.

Suddenly, someone pushed me, causing me to stand in the middle of the road. I was about to turn and see who had pushed me, but my attention was immediately drawn to the blinding lights of a car rapidly approaching me.

At that moment, I froze in place like ice. Even though my mind was screaming at me to move, I couldn't make my feet budge. My knees trembled, and memories started flashing through my head.

This feeling I just described. Isn't this the moment when a person is about to die?

Is this going to be... the end for me?

To be Continued...