Campus Royalties (Kingdom University, #1) | Published under Psicom Publishing

Chapter 31

The sembreak felt too short that I could not believe the second semester would start in a few days.

Nahirapan din akong ibalik sa dati ang body clock ko kaya kulang ang tulog ko ngayong araw. Fortunately, I got all the subjects I needed for this semester at hindi ko kailangang mag-request for prerogative. I called the girls, too, but they were still in the middle of paying their tuition fees.

I was about to go to the library to wait for them, but Yna suddenly called.

"Hello? Bakit?"

"I need one more elective, but there are a lot of students lining up in the CAL building."

Narinig ko ang worry sa boses ni Yna. Among the four of us, si Yna ang pinakamahiyain at for sure ay hindi no'n alam ang gagawin lalo pa't wala kami para tulungan siya.

"Alright, where are you?" tanong ko. "Pupuntahan kita."

"I'm in the CAL lobby. Sorry, Steff, I really need some help."

"Okay lang, wala naman na akong ginagawa."

Nang ibaba niya ang tawag ay agad akong naglakad papunta sa CAL building at totoo nga ang sinabi niyang ang daming students doon ngayon.

"Steff!" a familiar voice called, and I saw Yna at the corner waving at my direction.

Naglakad ako papunta sa kanya at sinubukan naming maghanap ng English electives na mayroon pang available slots pero mukhang puno na ang halos lahat ng classes.

"Oh no, what should I do?" she mumbled in worry.

She was still at 12 units and the minimum requirement was 15 for her not to be tagged as underloading. Nag-try pa kaming mag-request sa ilang profs na present, but they were not allowing additional students anymore. Dahil wala nang pag-asa sa English courses ay sinabi kong baka mayroon pang available na electives sa Filipino.

"Eh?! But I can't take those," she protested. "I wouldn't understand a thing."

"You have no choice," sagot ko naman. "Besides, magandang practice din 'to para naman masanay kang mag-Filipino."

I tried reasoning with her and after a few pushes, she gave in to the idea. "Fine," she pouted.

Nagpunta kami sa kabilang wing ng building at naghanap ng puwede niyang kunin na elective. Luckily, Kas1 had still available slots for enrollment. Hinintay ko siya sa labas at makalipas ang ten minutes ay sinabi niyang nakapasok siya sa isang class.

"Nice!" I beamed. "I'm excited to hear you talk in Filipino."

"You're going to help me with this subject," she grumbled, but she was too cute to take it seriously.

"Alright, alright."

Dahil kailangan niya pang magbayad sa Cash Office ay nagpaalam na siya habang dumiretso naman ako sa library para maghintay ulit sa kanila. However, it was packed when I got there. Sinubukan ko ring humanap ng space sa garden pero mukhang mas marami pa ang tao ro'n kaysa sa library. I went to the third and last place I could think of, and thank goodness, no one was there.

I sat on the grass and leaned against the wall. Mabuti na lang at malilim at mahangin ngayon kaya comfortable sa feeling kahit nasa labas ako. Tahimik akong nag-browse ng social media at napakunot ang noo ko nang makita ko ang biglaang pagtaas ng followers at engagements ko. I knew students from the university were constantly discovering my social media accounts, but this sudden jump started to disturb me.

Balak ko sanang i-visit ang portal para tingnan kung may trending articles na naman ba tungkol sa akin pero hindi ko iyon naituloy nang may makarinig ako nang footsteps. Lifting my head up, I almost yelped when I saw Patrick standing a few meters away from me and he looked taken aback, too, because I was here.