C4 CHAPTER 3

A Few Years Later, Freshman Year

HECK, YEAH PEOPLE! I survived middle school. With Lulani beside me, school turned out not to be as bad as I thought. As Terra said, there would definitely be people who loved to bully another person. Apparently, I, who dressed like a nerd, was an easy target to be bullied. Lulani always defended me, vice versa. Sometimes, Lulani got bullied because of her accent and I defended her. OH MY GOD! Never in my life have I stood up to anyone, moreover defending my friend. And boy, that felt really good. GIRL! (flippin’ my hair) I’M SO PROUD OF MYSELF. HAAA, I FINALLY SHOWED THE WORLD MY TRUE SELF. AZURA STAR THE SMART AND CONFIDENT GIRL.

After graduating from middle school, both I and Lulani moved to Santos High School. It was only a few meters down the blocks from our old school. It’s not so surprising for those who graduated from Arlo Middle School will continue to Santos High School. Ugh, bad news was that we were all going to the same school again with our enemy, the one and only that bitch Sabrina FUCKING McHoney.

“-ing. Earth to Azura. Hey, are you okay?” Lulani snapped her finger in front of my face. Apparently, she was talking when I daydreamed about the past.

“Sorry, I was thinking about something. What were you talking about again before?” I said, feeling guilty.

Right now, we were in the cafeteria. We just finished our math class. It was the worsttt. Oh, shut up. I wasn’t exaggerating. Or maybe a little. Who cares?

“There’s this new guy who just transferred from Texas. Rumor said he’s sooo handsome.” Lulani said it with an all knowing expression. One thing about Lulani was that she loves drama and gossip. And food too. From her expression, I could tell she’s planning something in her mind. “Ohhh, I bet Sabrina is gonna be the first one who approaches him. So, typical.” She rolled her eyes, annoyed.

Lulani may act like that, but she’s very picky about her boyfriend. Typical Libra. “Who cares, Lu. He’s probably just selling his appearance. I bet he doesn’t even have a brain.” I said it while tidying up my bag to go to the next class.

Lulani stared at me without any expression, then said “Girl, why are you so bitter? Don’t tell me you're scared of him?”

“I’m not.” I defended myself. “I'm just not interested in boys. And you should too. Now, let’s go.” Lulani and I had the same subject after this, history. So, we walked to class with 5 minutes to spare.

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“Lu, could that be the boy we just talked to at the cafeteria?” I was looking at the boy who just entered the classroom. Well, the rumors were true. He’s handsome, tall, and fit.

“Hmm, yeah for sure. Oh my Azzie, look at that muscle. I want to touch and feel it so bad.” Lulani said, half screaming and half whispered. Oh boy, here we go again. Lulani was very weak to a very muscular boy or guy. She could drool this instance just looking at them.

I was still staring at him while he was looking around to find his perfect seat. Suddenly, his eyes stopped in our direction and started to walk. “Is it just me or is he actually walking in our direction?” I asked nervously because there’ an empty seat right beside me.

“Oh, wow. That new boy decided to sit next to you. This is gonna be so interesting.” Lulani said it with an evil grin. Tell me again why I am friends with her?

“Hi, sorry to interrupt. Is this seat empty?” The new boy asked confidently.

“Yeah, yeah. You can sit with us beside Azzie.” That’s obviously Lulani. I wanted to smack her right here and right now. She knew I was always nervous around strangers. Well, I guessed I could be confident this time. I remembered that Terra said I had to be just myself. So, yeah what could go wrong.

“Hi, yeah. You can sit beside me. I’m Azura and this is my best friend Lulani.” I answered as confident as he was. OH MY GOD, WAY TOO GO GIRL. (patting myself in the shoulder). The bitch that I called myself was in literal shock with her mouth hanging open. Ugh, why did she behave like that?

“What did you do to my best friend? Azura, the one I know, always turns to a jello near a stranger.” Lulani shrieked in a whisper. I know, she’s so extra.

I gave my best friend my famous bombastic side eye. Telling her to shut up before I really smacked her head.

“Thank you, guys. I’m Govad. Govad De Hawks.” He said smiling. Govad was a tall and muscular boy with a little tan and had a southern accent. After he sat, every girl inside the class was all screaming, gossiping, and staring enviously at us.

“Hey, you’re new around here right? Why don’t we show you around the campus and the city.” Said Lulani. “How about we meet again at 4 in the school parking lot? Me and Azzie need to finish our homework first.”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me. Again, thank you.” Govad said feeling relieved. After that the professor came and the class began. Since then, we’ve gotten closer. We often met at the library to do our homework together and had lunch together.

WAIT, HOLD UP! Why did I feel like Deja Vu?

After a while, we knew that Govad was gay. But, he wanted us to keep it a secret. It was funny to see Sabrina desperately throw herself at Govad. Sadly, me and Lulani had become her punching bag lately. Her bullying had become more intense to the point where the bullying was more physical. Before, it was only verbally.