Chapter 2: Yes I do the helping!

"Mr. Fuentabella, where do you want to sit?" Mrs. Dela Peña was being weirdly nice again.

I was not looking at him trying to avoid any eye contact and I covered my face with a book.

Almost all of the girls are offering seats beside them pushing other boys to move to another available seat. And guess what? Even my friend Jenna asked Niko to move. I'm seated next to the classroom window and Jen is seating on my right side.

"Psssst! Jenna!" I'm trying to call her attention still covering my face. Her eyes are glued on to that evil man. "tsk!".

"May I sit beside the one who has the skill to read a book upside down." his voice made the whole room quiet, like an angel just passed by.

When I look to see who he's referring to, everyone was looking at me. Then I realized... I'm holding the book the wrong way all this time. I'm so stupid!

"Sure, Mr.Fuentabella, you can sit beside our class representative," Mrs.Dela Peña said very respectfully.

"Ma'am. Can he choose another seat? I'm already sitting beside my best friend here," I asked trying to convince her.

"Right? Jen-" as I turned to my friend she's already a seat apart from me. I looked at her and she has this smile on her face giving me thumbs up with both hands.

I can't believe I got betrayed by my friend for an evil guy. I turned to them and said, "Yes, ma'am. Sure! He can sit here beside me, no objection at all," I'm giving them a fake smile and mouthed 'i'll kill you' to my friend Jenna.

-----

(The School bell rung)

I was fixing my things when I felt a strange feeling that someone is watching me. I turned around and there he was as expected. He just stared at me and it gave me the creeps.

"What?" was all I was able to say.

He just gave me a smirk then walked out of the room.

------

"Don't you find him annoying and creepy?" I said then took a sip of my favorite smoothie.

"Nope, He's really cute," Jen replied while enjoying hers as well.

"But he's arrogant!" I added.

"Wow, you know him that well?" Niko said.

"No... but.." then he cut me off.

"If you don't know him well then don't judge him. He's just a new transferee and probably trying to adapt so don't be too hard on him." Niko just finished his frappé.

"I have to agree with Niko, Bes. Besides he's so perfect, he has the right to feel good about himself," Jenna added.

"He even tamed the beast inside Mrs. Dela Peña," Niko added then chuckled.

"That's how powerful his charm is, and obviously, you don't have that, " Jenna teased on Niko.

"Huh? Which of us doesn't have a partner? It's you! right?" Niko teased her back.

"Hmpft!" Jen rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

"Haist, I don't care about what you think of him... he's annoying me! I hate his guts, and because of that... Jenna... you will be sitting beside me again starting tomorrow, okay?" I asked Jen a favor.

"Hell to the No!, You look cute together! A smart and nice guy sitting beside a cool guy and too perfect to be true. It's like I'm watching a live BL series," she said happily with matching kilig and twinkling eyes.

"That's non-sense Jen, stop it," I said.

"Oy! Oy! Stop teasing my bro, he's not like what you think... besides he's going to hit on a pretty girl, right?" Niko has been very supportive.

"Whatever... I'm still going to ship you guys and I will write a BL story about you two," Jen said teasing me again.

"You really loosen some of your screws," I said then poke her on her head.

"Just drink that all up already. I need to get home early to help mom prepare for dinner," I added.

"Okay... Okay... I don't want to waste your money... It really tasted better when it's free," she replied.

-----

(flashback)

"Hey! Why did you leave me just like that yesterday? Did you know I came home late because of you?" I said sounding so mad about yesterday

He just looked at me then gave no answer as he put his things on his locker.

"Huh? Look at this bastard. You just came here and you're acting so big already!"

I heard his locker door pushed so hard then he gets close to me with the same arrogant eyes he gave the last time and he even clenched his jaw.

"I can find my way around the school and I don't need your help," he said so firmly that I was not able to respond. Then he let out a weird smirk. He took a step back and walked his way out of the hallway.

Grrrrr. Fuentabella! I will get even with you! You bastard!

(end of flashback)

I let out a sigh lying down my bed, he's really giving me so much stress. But I will not let this guy ruin my school year.

I heard my phone message alert tone and took it to check it out. I got an anonymous message from someone...

-->Meet me at the back of the stadium tomorrow during break time.

Who could it be? I really don't care as long as it means business for me, I will be willing to help.

I took my note out of my side table and wrote 'Project #16'

-----

Right, when the break time started I rushed to meet my next client at the back of the stadium.

"So... you are Mr.SweetTalker." a female voice called my attention.

There was a beautiful lady in front of me, long ponytailed hair, pretty eyes, sexy lips, and sexy body wearing our campus cheerleaders uniform. She is the campus crush, a perfect example of perfect girlfriend material. Her name? Claire Villamora. A lot of boys asked me before for help to get a date with this pretty lady but I instantly denied their request for I know she will be hard to please. But here she is standing in front of me with her two other cheerios, one is Miya, Niko's girlfriend and another one that I can't recognize but still pretty as their captain.

"Uhm, you know it has to be a private conversation, no other people should know about this," I said in a low tone so her friends would not hear it.

She just snapped her fingers and the other two girls swoop their butts off

"Thank you!" I said nervously. "Do they know the reason you're meeting me here?" I asked.

"No. I just bumped into them on my way here and followed me like dogs," she answered. It's kind of harsh but maybe this is just the way she talks about her friends.

"Uhm, okay... Let's get down to business," I offered her to sit to one of the bleachers.

But before I even got a chance to rest my butt, she said "Luke Fuentabella, I want him."

"What? Who?" I asked confused. I just want to hear her loud and clear.

She rolled her eyes and said, "Luke Fuentabella, Junior, New transferee, Business Administration faculty.." Now I heard her clearly. "I want you to work your magic and have him take me on a date." She added.

"That would be easy," I said confidently.

"Good!" she exclaimed. "The senior homecoming ball will be held a few months from now, and I want him to be my date, you do have all the time till then to get him close to me," she added with so much authority.

"I got it." that's all I got to say. She's scary but her face is still angelic as always.

"I'll give you the money after the first date. Ten thousand pesos, I guess that's enough." she offered.

That's too much but who could deny that offer just for a date with someone. I guess this is how these wealthy teenagers use their money.

"Uhm sure, I'll think about it," I answered, still shocked with her offer.

"Just text me if you decided already, you got my number and I don't take 'No' for an answer," she concluded, and just like that she walked away and met her two other friends.

-----

"What? Ten thousand pesos just for a date?" Jen asked so surprised that I got this kind of business deal.

"Yep, I know this is too much but I can't say 'No' to that, right?" I explained. I'm fixing my stuff on my locker getting ready to go home

"Well, maybe she really likes this guy that she is willing to spend this much to get close to him," she said. "Uhm, who's this thousand-worth guy?" she asked.

"Wait, I forgot the name let me check my note.." I pulled out my note and read, "Luke Fuentabella".

"What! Seriously?" she yelled so loud that the other students looked at us. I apologized to them then took Jen away.

"Why are you shouting? You got a pretty loud mouth!" I asked.

"Luke Fuentabella? As in Luke Fuentabella, Junior, New transferee, Business Administration Faculty?" she answered quite hysterically.

"Yeah, that's exactly what she said, do you know him?" I asked.

"Oh come on, Tope! That's Mr.Perfect, our new classmate."

Then I finally realized it was really him. "What the..."

-----

On our way home.

"Well, maybe I can just tell her that I can't do it and call it off," I said hoping Jen will agree so that I can decide on this.

"Hmmm. Are you sure about that?" she asked.

"I can't even deal with that guy and now I would need to do my sweet talks to him? I can tell him all the cussing words that I can think of right now," I answered feeling hateful.

"Hmmm.. It's your call, for me that's fine because I can still ship you two," she said as she taps my shoulder with her malicious grin.

"When will you ever stop with this delusion?" I gave her a light hit on her head with my bag.

"Okay... I decided, I'll turn down the offer and I'll talk to Claire tomorrow at school."

I walked Jen home then headed my way too.

-----

"Ma, I'm home." I closed the door and removed my shoes before I came into the living room.

I saw mom, reading a letter, she looked so worrisome with her other hand on her forehead.

"Ma, is there a problem?" I asked.

"The bank is already asking me to pay the loan I had before or else they will file a case against me and see me in court," she said. I can feel her sadness.

I remember a few months ago, my mom was offered to invest in a networking business by one of her friends. My brother and I were totally against it but without us knowing she place a loan to the bank and invested all of it, just ended up being scammed. I was mad before but I don't want her to bear this burden on her own. We are all she's got and we will help her get through it.

I heard the front door opened, my brother joined us handing out an envelope. "This could help Ma, that's one hundred thirty-five thousand."

"No! Lance, that's yours, you saved up for that. Let me handle this myself," my mother said trying to decline my brother's help.

"And how exactly are you going to handle it, Ma?" he sounded a bit upset. "Just take it before I change my mind," he added.

"That's okay, Ma, take it," I said convincing her to accept it. She took the envelope and my brother rushed to his bedroom.

"Don't worry Ma, Lance was just acting like that but he really cares about you," I sat beside her and gave her a hug.

"I know that Kristofer, it's just that your brother already sacrificed a lot. He takes care of all the expenses here, your studies, and now this... I'm the one who caused the problem so you shouldn't be involved in it," she said, her voice breaking up.

"Ma, don't think about it like that, we are family, so Lance and I will do our best to help you, okay?" I gave her a nice warm hug then ask, "How much do you still need?"

I gave my savings from my side job to my mom to help with the payment and with all the capital that we have in hand, we are short for another ten thousand.

"I can work on this son, I can sell some of my stuff to fulfill that amount," my mother suggested.

Then I thought about Claire's offer. "Ma, Let me take care of that."

I took my cellphone out and thought this would be for my family and not for myself before I sent Claire a message.

<--I'll do it.

That night I talked to Jenna over the phone and told her about the situation. She understood and agreed to help.

"This will be hard.." I let out a deep sigh. "I can do this!". I laid down on my bed, turned off the light, and fell asleep.

-----

I came early at school, thinking of possible ways that I can make evil Luke become soft like a plushie and agreed for a date. The captain of the cheerleading squad is the one he's going on a date, so I need to make an approach that will fit her personality and Luke's ideal girlfriend. But what does he like for a girl? I need to find out as soon as possible.

I was at the classroom entrance and I saw Luke reading a book on his seat, looking so cool. Girls were taking pictures of him but he didn't care. Such a snob! Do I really have to go through this?

I bought yogurt drink from the cafeteria, two of them actually, I took a deep breath and head inside.

"Hi, Seatmate! Good Morning!" I greeted him handing out one of the drinks.

He ignored me and continued to read.

Such a snob! I just put down the drink on his table and sat on my seat.

"Luke!" a guy called him, he looked over and two guys came in. Since when did he make friends?

I overheard them talking about welcoming him, hanging out after school, and stuff about girls. They must have known each other before. Highschool friends maybe?

"Let me drink this!" one of the guys picked up the yogurt drink and opened it.

"Hey! That's mine!" Luke suddenly grab the drink off from his friend's hand.

I looked at them and I'm very confused about what's happening.

"What? You're allergic to dairy, you can't drink this!" his friend exclaimed.

Shoot! So the reason why he didn't mind me earlier was that he can't drink it. You really are stupid Kristofer! Wait... If that was the reason, why did he stop his friend from drinking it?

I saw him whispered something to his friend.

"Sure you can have this! It could have been poisoned." then gave the drink to his friend, he looked at me and made that evil smirk again. His friends left the room and he went back to reading his book.

Huh! Such an asshole. I need to suck it all in, be patient, and be kind to him. This is for my mom. I'm not doing this for myself.

I shrugged and took things out of my bag then I heard Jen called me. She came inside the room and waved to Luke before bugging me in my seat.

"Tope, I just saw Mike and Jessie came out of our room, what were they doing here?" she looked delighted.

"Huh? So that's their name?" I'm not really interested.

"Don't tell me you don't know them? They're the hottest boys from the Accounting Faculty," she said.

"I don't know them and I don't care. I think they are Luke's friends, they all have the same aura of arrogance," I said.

"Ow! Really? Well, to think of it, they are all handsome and famous in our school. They're like princes in a fairytale that are traveling around to find their true love... Only to find out that the love they're longing for lies within another prince," she placed her hand under my chin and her eyes glimmering, now she's fantasizing.

"You never get tired with all of your day-dreaming huh, Jen? besides, why do I care? If they are pretty girls, then maybe I could have noticed them but they're not. I only got my eyes on sexy and pretty girls, get it?" I said making sense to Jen.

I saw Luke stand up and get out of the room.

"Uhm. About your next project, when will we start?" she asked after she snapped out of her own fantasy.

"Let's talk later, I'm still kind of annoyed." He really doesn't waste any moment to pissed me off.

-----

"So what's the plan, Tope?" Jenna asked while we are in the cafeteria.

"First, stop calling me Tope," I said pointing my pen to her face.

"Huh? Then I'm out." she's about to stand up.

"Okay, fine! Call me Tope all you want." I felt so defeated. "I really need help on this one."

She smiled, sat back on her seat, and ready to listen.

Project #16: Luke Fuentabella

Stage One.

-Gather all contact information and social media accounts.

Stage Two.

-Introduce self as an admirer.

Stage Three.

-Flirt anonymously.

Stage Four (Finale)

-Revelation.

We used our laptops to check all social media platforms at the beginning of stage one.

Jenna and I spent a lot of time checking Facebook, Twitter, and IG just to find any account under Luke's name. We even tried possible alias but still no luck.

"He's anti-social maybe?" I asked after resting my back on the chair and stretched out my hands and fingers.

"I think so Bes... We've been searching for a while but we found nothing (yawned) I'm getting sleepy.." she answered with her head on her arms trying to get some sleep already.

"Why don't we asked him directly?" Jenna suggested, lifting her sleepy head.

"No! we can't do that, we will get busted." I opposed it.

"If there's no way to contact him online, we need to get his cellphone number." I stoop up and a great plan came into my mind. "Do you think what I'm thinking?"

"We asked him directly for his number?" she suggested that once again, head still pressed on her arms.

"No Jen, I told you we can't do that." I took a deep breath, then added, "Time to unleash our ninja tactics!"

We stayed late at school and sneaked in the faculty building.

"Bes, are you sure about this?" Jen whispered. "What if we get caught?"

"Ssssshhhh. We will get caught if you won't shut up your mouth."

We were at the faculty office door. I took out paper clips and tried to use them to open the lock.

"Do you know how to use that?" Jen asked keeping her voice down.

"No, but this is how they do it in the movies... Just wait, I can do this". I answered almost in a whisper.

"Eh, what are we looking for exactly?" she asked.

"We need to see his student file for any information, for sure it's inside one of the drawers" I answered. "

"Stop with your questions and just keep an eye out for me, we don't want to get busted," I just want her to shut up and watch me show off my skill.

After 25 minutes...

"Tope, are you done?" she sounded so bored checking her phone.

"Ssshhh, I'm almost there," I said, determined to open the lock.

"Obviously, you will not get that open, let's just get out of here, someone might see us," she said.

Then a beam of light came from a distance. "Hey! What are you doing? Stop right there!" We heard the school guard voice. Then ran out of the school.

-----

Stage One Failed (horrendously).

We're walking our way to the café.

"What did I get myself into? If only I don't need that money," I said looking down on my footsteps.

"Eh Bes, just a friendly suggestion. Why don't you try to look for a part-time job instead? At least you have a backup plan in case you won't succeed on this project," She suggested.

"Huh? And where can I find a part-time job?" I asked.

She smiled then ran off to the café's doorway. "Tadah!!"

'Looking for Part-time crew'

That night I got a chance to talk to the manager and luckily I was able to get the job. I talked to my mom and she eventually agreed to it. I just promised her that I will take care of my studies and be responsible enough to take this job.

I'm on my bed, thinking about what happened today. I may not have accomplished anything yet for my project but I was able to get this part-time job as a backup plan. So Claire's request is still my priority, I will get my hands on you, Luke. Just wait and see.

///////////////////////