straight as guitar strings!

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟬 [𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵]

EVERYTHING seemed so normal since I woke up, traveled to uni, and while walking on the premises of Libertad campus but suddenly the atmosphere changed when I arrived at the classroom. I didn't even know the reason, but I immediately felt the weight pressing down on me.

My classmates greeted me with extreme coldness. Yes, they're not the nicest ones as you might think. They're even worse than they were yesterday.

I looked for Leo but couldn't find him. His bag was here, I thought, maybe he just went out for a moment.

A few seconds later, I felt something was really wrong. Luckily, I saw Laura, who had just arrived. As she sat in the first seat of the second row, since I was in the first row now, I greeted her first then asked her if she also noticed that there's something weird with our classmates today.

They were looking at their phones and then at me. They started mumbling, whispering, and gossiping. The details were unclear, but I had a feeling it was about me.

Like a mushroom, Elfin showed up out of nowhere.

"Laura, hey!" he greeted her before turning his gaze on me. Judging by his look, he's apparently judging me. "Too early in the morning and you're hanging with the great pretender already?"

"Wait? What did you just say?" Laura clarified, her voice tone slightly rising.

I remained silent.

"Never mind, girl. Since he's already here, let me ask him. Hey, dear! Why do you seem so innocent? Are you playing 'The Unbothered Queen' here?" Elfin was clearly asking me and I was right. They're talking about me but what the fuck did I do wrong?

"What's your problem, dude?" I asked him. I didn't want to talk to him or respond anymore, but it seemed like he wouldn't let this go.

"You want me to rephrase the question?" He crossed his arms and raised one brow. "How does it feel to hook up with a guy who has a girlfriend?"

Before I could respond, the whole class burst into laughter. "I don't get what you're saying, Elfin. Is this a prank?" I said that after the laughter became sort of inaudible.

"Oh, you're unaware! Seriously? Wait, I'll tag you!" He rolled his eyes, typed on his phone, and then suddenly my phone notification rang. I opened my X app and saw a trending tweet that was threaded. It was posted on our university's X account for secret files that post anonymous rants of us Libertians. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be featured here for some kind of mean allegations.

"Guys, he seemed so overwhelmed! Look!" Elfin clapped his hands as he burst out laughing together with my classmates. They're all so freaking rude.

"What's this?" I asked him. I still couldn't believe it.

Elfin said 'uh-oh' and then cleared his throat. He adjusted his floral scarf and pursed his lips after applying another layer of lipstick. "Let me summarize the content, hmkay? There's a girl who hid her identity under the codename 'Cole,' which is so easy to decode if you use your brain cells. Anyway, she said there's this guy who's hitting on her boyfriend. She even mentioned her boyfriend's name, your name, our section. In a nutshell, you're accused of having an affair! On the last part of it, she said she's afraid 'cause what if you're already with her boyfriend? Crazy, right?"

Laura's voice intensified, she didn't care as she disorganized the chairs when she literally stood up for me. "Elfin, you're one of the moderators of that page, right? How did you even let this rant be posted?"

Elfin shifted his gaze to her, "Sorry to say this, my sis... but we don't filter here."

"Take down the post, this is fake news! Hey! Did you hear what I say?" There's already a fire within me and it made me clench my fists and jaw in madness.

Elfin turned his gaze back to me. "YES, and NO, I won't take down the post. If I do that, it'll go against what we call freedom of speech, right guys?"

He earned the sympathy of our classmates except me and Laura.

After the loud cheer, I frankly said, "No, you just want the likes and the attention, right? You just want it for fame."

His eyes widened, his jaw dropped in surprise. So dramatic! "Wow, speaking out against the likes and attention of netizens on social media?"

Laura retorted angrily before I could even compose myself to give my rebuttals, "That's a different story, Elfin! Liam's posts are to boost his confidence, share his talents, and spread positivity! Liam is a good and clean influencer!"

"And this is how I influence!" He's being unreasonable now. His reply doesn't make sense at all. "This is me being an influencer, okay? We love diversity, right? I'm different, okay? Clean influencer? Okay! Thank me instead as this was his first dirt."

I couldn't hold back anymore, so I pulled him closer to me. I gripped the collar of his uniform, almost smearing his face full of makeup. "Are you out of your mind? That's so fucking fucked up! That damn fucking post is a whole made-up story!"

As loud as my voice was, his response weakened it. He seemed so cowardly now and couldn't even look into my burning eyes. My muscles were still trembling and my blood boiling, especially when he said, "Then why are you so mad? If it isn't true, you should be unbothered."

The whole class fell into a deep silence as if an angel descended from heaven.

"Excuse me." That familiar cold, manly voice. No doubt, that's Leo's.

I looked up and I was right, there he stood after us. I slowly took my hands off of Elfin's uniform until he walked out of the classroom.

"Are you okay?" he whispered and I was just looking down.

I tried to look at him and Leo gave me a glance, earning his smile but it's too evident that deep inside he knew exactly what was happening.

For some reason, the professor's greeting and command for us to seat reverberated through the air marked the end of all the drama inside the four corner of this classroom.

Laura gave me a soft tap on my shoulder and I totally get what was that for. We both took our seats quietly, and the whole class, as if nothing happened.

Not too long after the preliminary activities, professor's about to start discussing when an unexpected young woman knocked on the already opened door.

"Good morning, ma'am. I have a vacant time now, can I sit in on your class?" she asked and she easily became the center of attraction.

She's so beautifully gorgeous and the boys started whistling and whispering. Her lips are so pink and soft. Her skin glows so smoothly but there's something about her that makes me feel afraid or nervous. But I don't mind that because I'm pretty sure, everyone noticed how perfectly fine she is. I could have given this woman all the nicest praises in this world not until the professor easily let her in and asked her name.

"My name's Colleen," she said, and everyone fell silent.

I followed her gaze and immediately knew where she was heading. He seemed to be expecting this to come anyway, so I wasn't surprised when she sat next to Leo there at the back.

I was puzzled because Leo wouldn't sit there unless he needed to charge his phone. What surprised me even more was when I peeked at the outlet, his charger wasn't plugged into the socket.

So, did he deliberately sit at the back? Yeah. Fine, I get it.

Okay okay, got it. He's avoiding me.

"Our lesson today..." the professor started.

I was thankful because she was able to catch my attention. What perfect timing to distract myself from worrying about this cursed day.