Ace left me in a daze at the garden after Green Day.
It has been a week since then but I still couldn't figure out if what he had said was a lie. It was bothering me a lot and I was not even the type to fret about such concerns.
I hadn't told anyone about it. I only had two people I trusted in Iota which was Tony and Anne. Telling them would not really help me out so I decided to keep it to myself.
Thus, even if Ace meant what he said in a romantic way and he wanted things to get serious we both knew that being involved in a romantic relationship with someone from another house was against the rules.
Our school had no rules and regulations when it comes to couples unless the two individuals come from different houses. There are a few stories on why this rule had started. Some were obviously made up, others were way too detailed but there was one which I actually believed, it was the most famous story on campus.
It started with a power couple from Zeta and Iota, they said the two only had one goal and it was to combine all the houses. They believed having an environment like this one was too toxic, it doesn't create a positive rivalry between the houses. Friendships that used to be there would suddenly vanish because of the system.
After that, couples from two different houses became a trend until it was banned by the school. The school stated that falling in love with someone from another house translates to you falling in love with that house.
It was such a pathetic excuse but a lot of students bought it.
It was a sunny Saturday morning, I should be enjoying the sun and yet I was here thinking about these things. On top of that, I still had a lot of drafts to be done and submitted by Monday but my body was in no mood to do anything.
"This sucks," I spoke to my blue teddy bear.
I forced myself out of bed and took a quick shower. It was only 8 am so I decided to do a quick work out at the gym before continuing to do my drafts.
The gym on the 4th floor was rather empty. Well, the 3rd and 4th-year students were always busy unlike those from the 1st and 2nd year. I was still adjusting to the facilities of the fourth-floor since I was new to it.
I began to do warm-up and right after that, I went straight to the treadmill.
I started with a slow jog. After 5 minutes I increased the speed and began to run.
"Your ass is juggling."
I almost fell off of the treadmill when I heard the horrid comment.
I quickly turned off the treadmill and felt myself get a little dizzy due to the sudden stop.
"What the hell?" I almost yelled sharply at whoever was at my back.
Ace was laughing on the sit-up bench, he had both his hands up in surrender.
My anger died down and I suddenly felt flushed. I suddenly remembered what had happened in the garden.
Ace looked at me questioningly, "Vandia?"
"Just get out of my way," I clicked my tongue before I went right back on the treadmill.
Ace looked at me curiously but he shrugged it off. He started to work on his arm muscles by carrying weights.
He was wearing a black Adidas tank top and shorts. He had a watch on his right wrist and a wristband on the other. His black hair covered his forehead every time he made a sudden movement. His arm muscle was very visible as he pulled the weights up and down. I bit my lower lips due to the sight.
"You're drooling Vandia," he remarked.
I immediately looked down, I felt my face flush again.
What the hell is wrong with you, Cana?
I didn't want to embarrass myself any further so after I ran ten more minutes, I decided to go back to my dorm. Ace was still in the middle of his routine when I left.
I started wondering about what he had said back then - again.
'And falling for you was not planned either.'
I messed up my long brown hair in frustration when I was walking back to my dorm.
I just couldn't get him out of my head.
I immediately hit the shower, I stood under the running hot water for a good 20 minutes, contemplating how I could stop myself from thinking about Ace any further.
In the end, I concluded that I couldn't, not unless I talk to him about it.
Of course, I wasn't the one who made the first move. I waited for him to talk to me again, during meetings, events, or even when we pass each other in the hallways but he didn't. He didn't even annoy me, point out to me, it was as if he suddenly lost interest in me.
5 months passed on just like that and Hell Week Arrived.
We call our Mid-Year Examinations week, 'Hell Week' because of how torturous it is. To top it off, Sports Fest, a major event, is held the week after that. Students have to simultaneously study for the exams and prepare for Sports Fest.
Requirements for Engineering were way too much. I had a total of 6 different subjects and two electives. I expected my 6 major subjects to be hard but even my electives were draining me, I couldn't get a breather.
It was already 2 am and I was still up redrawing my drafts. I slumped on my table when I started to feel a little dizzy. I placed a 30-minute timer on my phone in case I fell asleep.
My eyes were about to close when I got a message from Tony.
From Tony: I'm at the Cafe, fourth floor, join me if you want.
From Tony: Ps. I have two cups of coffee.
I managed to smile weakly at his message. I grabbed my Structures of Building book, pencil case, phone, and my Q-Cards. I was already in my nightclothes so I just threw on an oversized jacket before I headed to the Cafe.
The Cafe on the third floor was actually just a stem of the Library, it was a place where books and food were allowed in case people get hungry.
There was quite a lot of 3rd and 4th years that were also studying. There was a group of law majors from Iota and there was also a small group from doctoring. Of course, there were also other houses but I wasn't familiar with them and their courses.
The only group I knew that was not from Iota was Ceasar's group.
I continued to scan the Cafe and found Tony by the window, there were two mugs on the table and an open book. Tony was not reading it, instead he was looking outside.
He was so laid back. Criminology was one of the toughest courses in this school but to him, it was as easy as 1, 2, 3. I approached him quietly, trying my best not to disrupt his course of thought. It was in vain because he immediately spun his head around when I was three steps away.
I pouted, "How did you know?"
"The window," he pointed casually as if it was that obvious.
"Well, sorry, Mr. Detective."
I sat down in front of him and flipped through my book, I analyzed it to see where I left off and started to take down notes right after. Tony said nothing else, he began to read his book, looking at me every once in a while.
By the time that it was 4 am, I had already finished three cups of coffee. Tony only had one but he still seemed very awake. The students at the cafe were lesser now. The only people remaining were a group from Kappa, Ceasar's group, Tony, and I.
Ceasar's group was far at the corner but I had the perfect view of them. They always erupt in a loud noise every once in a while, as if someone was making a joke, then go back to studying right after.
On the other hand, the group of students from Kappa was very quiet, I could barely hear them when they talk.
I was about to ask Tony to leave with me since I had an early class later when someone entered the Cafe room.
It was Ace.
He was wearing an Adidas jogger and a grey sweatshirt. His hair was messy, it was all over his forehead. He was also wearing a pair of glasses. I guess his eyesight was poor too, I didn't know that. He was carrying a few folders of paper with labels at the top. He looked rather tired.
His sudden appearance had surprised me. I haven't thought about him in quite a while, I guess having Mid-Year examinations and preparing for the Sports Fest took a lot of my time.
He scanned the room and met my eyes but he didn't stare long. When he found his group of friends, he made his way.
"As if you guys are actually studying," he slammed the folders on the table childishly.
"There is our savior!" Ceasar announced and took the folder. He flipped through it while his eyes gleamed. I guess it was his reviewers or notes. The rest of the group cheered out loud too.
A girl, I believe her name was Lexina, stood and clung onto Ace's arm. She seemed to whisper something in his ears but Ace didn't reply. I found myself knitting my eyebrows.
"You ok?" Tony made me shift my look to him. I nodded briefly.
"We should go," I said as I began to tidy my stuff up.
"Vandia," Ace walked towards our table. He was holding onto a single folder which had Biology labeled on top.
"What do you want?" Tony was the one who spoke.
"You had your name changed to Vandia?" Ace sounded drained but he still had the energy to be sarcastic. I guess everyone was taking a toll due to the Mid-Year Examinations.
"Yes?" I answered.
"Anne told me to pass this to you instead, she said you were in the Cafe anyway," he placed the folder on the table before he waved goodbye. He didn't even give me the chance to speak or say anything after his remark.
I wanted to call out to him, talk to him about what he had said before but my pride got the best of me.
I took the folder together with my stuff then Tony and I made our way back to the dormitories, stopping at Anne's place before going back to bed.
"Ace told us to give it to you," I passed her the folder when we entered her room.
Her room smelled great despite the fact that there were various animals around. Her dog, Macha was sitting on her lap as she made her reviewers. Her cat, Messi, was sleeping on her bed and the rest of the animals were at their own personal cages.
"Thanks," she sighed. She looked jaded too.
"Ace and I have a class together and he offered to give me his notes since I missed out on quite a lot last week," she sighed.
Anne was down with a fever last week. Tony and I took turns taking care of her but of course, we couldn't help her with her studies, our courses were far apart from one another.
I knew she and Ace shared a subject together but I was rather astonished to find out that Ace offered her his notes. I mean, first of all, he was from another house and I never thought of him as the giving and considerate one.
"Why would you accept such an offer," Tony didn't hide the irritation in his voice.
"I happily accepted it because I could never understand Jill's notes and she was the only Iota in that class," she looked as if she was going to break down and cry any second.
I glared at Tony and he raised both his hands in surrender.
"Just do your best, ok?" I gave her a smile and she nodded, still frowning. We didn't stay much longer. By the time I got back to my room, it was already a quarter to five. It didn't take long, I had fallen asleep.
~>.<~
Exams passed by in a flash, I was sitting down waiting for my finished exam paper to be taken when I heard a couple of people screaming outside of our examination hall. Miss Hannah, our invigilator, quickly ran outside to check what was going on.
Nathan, who was also taking the same exam as me, management mathematics, stood up. He walked towards me and gestured for me to follow him, "Let's check it out."
I stood up and trailed behind him. We used the back door.
Our house has not had any official challenge so it took me by surprise that Tony was challenging Ace to Aikido. I was still unsure of what was happening.
"What's going on?" I made my way towards Tony. Miss Hannah was just standing calmly at the side, observing.
Tony didn't respond, he was glaring at Ace. I was expecting Ace to be as cocky and calm like how he was when Tony got angry at him at the infirmary, but he wasn't.
He was wearing a white button dress shirt, black slacks, and a loose tie. His hair was gelled to the side, making him look a little decent. His blue eyes grew darker every passing second.
"You think you can walk around the school as if you own it when you are nothing but an orphan in your family. Don't think so highly of yourself, you came from a low family just like me. The only difference is that I was able to attend this school using my wits," Tony scoffed.
Ace jerked towards him and grabbed his collar in a split second. My eyes widened at what he did.
"My family is not involved in this, shut up."
Ace's fist was shaking furiously, Tony jabbed it away. He was about to pull a punch when I stood in between them.
"Stop acting childishly, if the two of you have a score to settle, do it in an official challenge," my gaze switched between the two.
I saw a few onlookers start to whisper, they were probably talking about how Ace was an orphan. I, myself, did not know that Ace was just an orphan. I couldn't even believe what Tony was saying or the fact that he said it.
Ace moved towards me, he gave me a small smirk when Tony pulled me behind him. He had the habit of doing that whenever he felt that I was in danger. Ace laughed like a maniac before he clicked his tongue to his teeth.
"I accept your challenge," Ace smiled, and those onlookers who were from Beta cheered.
The system of challenging someone was created to sort out any kind of fights between two houses, or even more. There are a lot of different categories that one can pick from and the only rule is that all the sides agree to the challenge.
The house umpire of both houses always has to be present in the case of a challenge this was why I had to call Anne to the scene immediately. Some onlookers from Beta called out to their House umpire as well.
"What are you doing?" I whispered to Tony when he finally gave me his attention.
"That asshole was talking about you," he said through gritted teeth.
"What?"
"I heard him mention your name and when I asked him what he said about you he said It was none of my business, one thing led to another and it turned to this," his annoyance was very visible.
"So you just broke our house record of accepting or proposing a challenge because you heard him mention my name. On top of that, you don't even know if he was talking about me in a nice or bad way," I found my fingers rub the bridge of my nose.
"Ace? Talking nicely about you? Are you on cloud nine, Cana?"
That did sound stupid but there was still the possibility.
Anne arrived at the scene after a while and so did the umpire of Beta, Ronald.
The house umpires had the important job of making sure that no one cheats during such challenges. They had taken the oath of being fair to both houses and so far I have never heard of an Umpire being biased towards their own house.
Some rumors say that being an umpire means staking something important to you since the moment one becomes biased, the school has something they can threaten you with.
"The challenge will commence on the fourth floor, gym, for now, please disperse," Anne announced after she talked with Ronald.
The crowd scattered after Anne's announcement and I quickly followed after Ace. I made sure Tony did not notice me. I was only able to catch up when he was close to his dorm room.
I felt out of place as I entered Beta's dormitories. Everyone seemed to be glancing in my direction. There was no rule that one cannot enter the dormitories of another house but seeing someone from another house was eye-catching.
Ace has still not noticed me.
It was only when he was about to enter his room when he realizes that I was approaching him.
"How bold of you Vandia, to follow me all the way to Beta's dormitories," he leaned on his door.
I stared at him, I wasn't even sure why I had followed him.
"Are you sure about the challenge?" I asked.
"Is that concern?" he seemed to scoff.
"Tony has been doing martial arts ever since he was ten if you-"
"I can handle myself and I don't need your warning," he waved me off. He entered his room and was about to shut the door at my face when I stopped it with my foot.
"I am not done talking with you, stop cutting off conversations that are not finished yet," I snapped. I was getting pissed at him for always ending an unfinished conversation by leaving.
He looked down at my foot which was blocking the door from closing and then starred at me, amused by what I did.
"Are you sure you don't belong in our house?" he smiled and in a swift movement, he held my wrist and pulled me in.
He slammed the door shut before pinning me on it.
"What the hell?"
I tried to break free but he didn't let me, instead he leaned near my neck, just enough for his lips to brush lightly on the lobes. It sent shivers down my spine, locking up every muscle in my body.
"You are so amusing, Vandia."
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