Chapter 32: Yes I do the studying!

"I just want to ask... Not to disrespect you, Sir... But have you done this to all of Wendy's friends?" I asked Wendy's father.

We were inside his car. He told me he needed to know the people around his daughter, Wendy. He told me stories of what he did before to protect his daughter and I found it unjust.

"I have to... She's my only daughter and I want to make sure that she's surrounded by good people..." He explained not realizing how badly it affected Wendy.

"By threatening them?" I asked with suspicion.

"I didn't threaten them... I just told them I'll be watching their every move..."

"And?"

"Will have their background checked for any guilty record..."

"And?" I said as I raise a brow.

"Will shoot them in the head if I witnessed them hurting my daughter..."

Hearing all of it made me furious. I know the father has to protect his daughter but this is too much. It's ridiculous. I kept myself calm and didn't say a word.

"Hmmm..." I uttered looking at him waiting for him to admit his fault.

"Okay... Fine... I did scare them a bit... But that's it..." He admitted.

Now that he's aware of what he did, maybe I can just give him a hint of what Wendy's going through.

"I do understand your concern for your daughter... But have you even ask her if she wanted you to do this?"

"No, I can't tell her... She would hate me..."

"You don't want her to hate you... So you pushed her to hate herself..."

"How dare you say that to my daughter!" He raised his voice and I felt his anger.

"You should talk to her... You will know what I'm talking about... I'll take my leave now... Excuse me, Sir..." I said politely as I opened the car door. I just wanted to get away from him. It could be trouble.

"I'm not done talking to you!" He said aggressively.

"I'm sorry... But I said all I have to say... Don't worry... I'll do what a friend should do... It's your turn to do what a father must do..." I gently closed the car door and stepped away.

I bowed to show respect then the car drove away. I hope he will talk to Wendy so he would know how badly his actions influenced his daughter. As a friend, it's all I can do. It's a family matter anyway so they should talk through it.

"Who was that?" Jenna asked me as she arrived.

"They just asked for direction..." I made an excuse. I don't want to tell her about Wendy's father and what we have talked about.

"I see... Let's go... Luke is expecting us to drop by the café..." She said as she clutched on my arm with her puppy eyes

I know this expression of hers.

"Fine!... I'll treat you..." I said shaking my head.

"Perfect! That's what I wanted to hear from you..."

-----

We arrived at the Goloso Café and the place was jam-packed.

"What's going on?" Jenna asked.

"Hey! Good thing you're here already... Would you mind help us for a while? Ben and I are having a hard time to serve everyone..." Luke said looking a bit tired serving all of these customers.

"Most of them are students..." Jenna commented as she looked around.

"Yes... With the finals exam coming soon, students gather here to do their group study... And there's another reason..."

"What reason?" I asked.

"Kris! He's here!"

"Oh my gosh! Kris!"

"Let me take a picture!"

With a blink of an eye, most of the girls gather up around me with their cellphones up to my face taking pictures and videos. I just smiled at them and greet everyone as much as I could.

"With Kris, being occupied you would need another hand... Let me help you..." Jenna offered her help to Luke.

"Thanks..." Luke uttered.

After a while, I was able to break free from them. My fingers were kind of sore from giving them autographs. I walked up to the counter where Luke was a bit busy preparing drinks.

"I want to help you but my fingers hurt..." I said as I rubbed on my fingers.

"I'm sorry, Kris... Ben told me that those girls have been looking for you these past days... When I got here, they asked me about you... I told them you will be here... Then more people came... they may have had informed other fans that you will come..." Luke explained.

"So that's what happened... That's okay... The more people we have, the better... business-wise..."

"Thanks..." He uttered then kept on what he's doing.

I was putting the glasses on a tray when a girl approached me. She was stuttering when she introduced herself. She didn't talk much and left right after she gave me a letter. She said she is a fan.

"Can't believe my best friend received a love letter for the first time..." Jenna said as she put down the tray on the counter.

"It's a fan note, not a love letter..." I said as I read the letter and slid it into my pocket.

"I bet your boyfriend there might get jealous if these letter keeps on coming..." Jenna teased Luke.

"As long as they're from girls, that's fine... I don't mind... But if a guy does that then they need to step back..." Luke said.

"Oooh! I wish Alex get that attitude from you... He never said something like that to me..." Jenna said quite sulking.

"Nobody else likes you as he does... That's why..." I said teasing her.

"I'm not sure if that is a compliment or not..." She said while deciphering what I said on her mind.

I just let out a small laugh.

It has been a very busy night. I felt like I was not able to help at all since someone will always ask me for an autograph or take a selfie with them. Good thing, I came here with Jenna. She was able to assists Luke but of course with a little bribe. There were only a few customers and Luke was already doing the accounting when Jessie came over to the shop.

"Hey, Jessie what are you here?" Luke asked him.

"We're about to close but I can have something done for you... What do you like?" I said as I joined them at the counter.

"That's okay... I'm actually trying my luck if I can find this girl I'm texting with..."

"A new girlfriend?" Jenna asked as she came closer to us.

"Not really... We haven't met yet but we've been texting for a while and earlier she said she's enjoying her favorite drink... A triple chocolate fudge smoothie..."

"Oh! Really? Kris also loves that..." Jenna said.

"Well... I checked the places that offer it and this is the last one on the list..." Jessie said as he browsed on his phone.

"So you're here to see if you can find who's this mysterious girl?" Luke said as he closed the file of receipts he's working on.

"Yeah... So do you have anyone who ordered it? Maybe if you can tell me the name then at least I have something about her..."

"There were about two or three who ordered that... But why go through the hassle? Why don't you ask her yourself?" Luke asked?

"Well... The thing is... She's not telling me her name but she knows a lot about me... She's sweet and sensible with her messages and to be honest, I think I like her..."

"Oooh! Someone's changing Mr.Playboy..." Jenna teased him.

"I see... If that's what you think... Let me check the receipts and those names..." Luke said as he pulled out the receipt file from the drawer.

Luke flipped over receipts one after another and set aside those who ordered the Triple Chocolate Fudge smoothie. After a while, he was able to gather three receipts.

"Okay... Two of these people were girls and one is under a guy's name... That can't be it, for sure..." Luke said as he put the receipt back to the file.

"So that leaves us with... Lorie and Denise..." Luke showed us the receipts with those names.

"One of these girls could be her..." Jenna commented as she checked the receipts.

"So what's your plan now?" I asked.

"Hmmm... Well, I'll try to mention these names to her and see which one she would react to... Then if she reacted to one of these maybe you can let me check your CCTV footage for this day..."

"Huh? What would you do with it?" Jenna asked.

"Oh... I get it... You'll check the time stamp on the receipts to see their faces... Right?" I said as I realized what would he do with it.

"Yep... That way I can decide if I will push with what I'm feeling or not..."

"So you'll base it on physical appearance?" Jenna asked. I felt her being hostile.

"What? She has to be pretty... If I have to introduce her to my parents, at least it won't be embarrassing and I can say I found the one..." Jessie explained.

"Oh! Okay! So you didn't change at all... That's so disappointing!" Jenna raised her brow and rolled her eyes then left us at the counter.

"What did I do to her?" Jessie asked quite confused with how Jenna behaved.

"Just let her be..." I told him.

"Okay... I got to go now... Thanks for the info... See you at school tomorrow..."

"Bye..."

We closed the shop after the last customer left. Luke decided to drive Jenna to her home as thanks for her help at the shop. On our way to her house, Jenna did not say anything at all, still pissed about how Jessie prefers looks to personality. We dropped her off as we got to their house then Luke and I went home.

Both of us were tired as we arrived home. We sat first on the couch to rest a bit.

"Uhm... Luke... Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"If ever... I don't look like what I am... Let's say I'm below the average looking guy... Will you still fall for me?"

"Still bothered by Jessie and Jenna?"

"Yeah, somehow..."

"Hmmm... To answer your question... I don't know... I fell in love with you the first time I met you..."

"So it depends, huh?"

"You may say so... But with Jessie... He prefers beauty at first then he will look into the girl's personality... Haven't you noticed? He dates several pretty women but didn't introduce one as his girlfriend to keep..."

"Now that you've mentioned it... You're right... Jenna didn't think about it that's why she reacted that way..."

"So... It's up to you to explain that to her..."

"I will... You really know you're friends well..."

"They're like brothers to me... That's why... I'll go ahead and take a shower... You can join me if you want..."

"Go ahead... I really want to rest now...  I'm so tired..."

"Come on, Kris... You haven't joined me in the shower..."

"I will... But not in this house... Okay?" I winked at him and went inside my room.

-----

A week from now will be our finals exam. Jenna, Niko, Luke, and I never miss a day spent at the library to study. Pam and Miya joined us after Jenna told them about Luke's plan this summer. They need to pass all subjects or else they can't join us. I know it's just a bluff but seeing them being serious studying was very amusing so I didn't tell them about it.

I talked to Claire the other over the phone the other day and she's doing good. It's their finals this week so she's also busy studying. She mentioned she wants to tell me something once we see each other. I wonder what could it be.

We just left the library when I got a message. I pulled out my phone and checked who it was.

--> I need to talk to you. Meet me in a coffee shop near the flower shop at 8:00 PM. Be there. - Jayson.

"Jayson?"

"Isn't he the one who beat the crap out of you?" Jenna asked.

"Yes, that's him... What does he want this time?"

"You shouldn't go... What if it's a trap? Then beat you up again... I don't want to see you in the hospital bed again..." Jenna warned me.

"If you go... I'll go with you..." Luke suggested. He may have heard us talking about Jayson.

"Jen, I know you're worried but Luke will be with me... I'm safe when he's around..."

"Fine... Call me if something came up, okay?"

"Sure... No problem..."

After class, Luke and I went home first since it's still early. We changed our clothes and headed out to our meeting place. We arrived at the coffee shop on time. Luke pulled over and parked the car.

"Are you sure about this?" Luke asked me as we walked towards the shop's door. I just nodded in response.

I took a deep breath before I opened the door. I looked around the place to see where he is. I saw Jayson sitting at a table near the corner of the shop.

"Hi... Jayson..." I greeted him.

"I'm glad you made it..." He said greeting us.

"I'm here with someone..." I said then Luke walked closer.

He looked at Luke who was beside me being wary.

"Who is this guy?" He asked.

"Uhm... He's my boyfriend..."

"Oh... I see... Hi... I'm Jayson... And you are?" He asked casually.

"Luke..." Luke grabbed his hand for a shake.

After that, we sat with him at the table.

"Do you want to drink something? My treat..." He offered. He's behaving suspiciously.

"Let's cut the chase... What do you want?" Luke asked. I can sense that he's getting annoyed by Jayson's actions.

"Just calm down dude... I'm not looking for trouble..."

"Luke... It's okay... Let him talk..." I said to calm him down.

"Why did you ask to see me?" I asked.

"Okay... Okay... To keep it short... My uncle wants me to thank you for not pressing charges on me... So I'm here to thank you..." He said with arrogance.

"You're welcome... If that's all, we take our leave now..." I said then Luke and I stood up.

"Wait... Wait... Why are you in such a hurry? There's something else..." He said as he stopped us.

"Spill it out..." Luke said firmly as he tightened his jaw.

"Someone told me to apologize to you personally... I'm sorry... Okay? I was drunk... I was not able to control myself... I didn't even try to listen to what you're saying back then... I just wanted to beat you up and I do regret it..."

Who is he talking about? Did someone ask him to apologize to me?

"Who's this someone?" I asked.

"Why would I tell you? You don't need to know..." He said as he laid back and put his arms over the backrest.

"The way our friend describe you really suits you well... Cocky and arrogant?" Luke said glaring at him.

"What did you say?" Jayson said as he stood up as well stepping closer to Luke like he's ready to get into a fight.

"You were lucky I have to take care of Kris at the hospital... If I didn't, you would have been trading faces with a dog..." Luke was not scared of him at all.

He's ready to tackle this guy to the ground and beat him black and blue. I don't want to cause any trouble in this place so I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from Jayson.

"Luke... Calm down... Let's just go..."

"You're the one who's lucky, right now... I promised her I won't get into fights anymore..." He said with a smirk.

"Her?" I uttered.

"Just go... I already said my thanks and apology to your boyfriend... I'm done here..."

"Uhm... Luke... Let's go..." I said as I tried to pull him away. He's strong so I can't even move him a little. I moved behind him and began to push.

I pushed Luke away from him until we're outside the coffee shop.

"Someone needs to teach that guy a lesson... He's pissing me off..." Luke said as he walked over to the driver's seat.

"Hey... Hey... Just calm down, okay? We're not here to pick a fight... He said what he has to say... Let's just go home..."

We got inside the car and we drove away from the shop. We were a few blocks away from the shop when I saw Claire walking towards the coffee shop's direction. I almost that they lived around here. I must warn her about Jayson. I pulled out my phone and call her.

"Hello, Claire?"

"Yes, Kris... Why did you call?"

"The guy who beat me up is at the coffee shop ahead of you... I just talked to him..."

"Really?"

"Yes... He apologized... That's all... If you're going somewhere... Just take a detour to avoid him... Okay?"

"Thanks, Kris... I gotta go now..."

"Sure... Bye..." I said then dropped the call.

"Is she alright?" Luke asked me.

"Yes, she is... I just warned her not to cross paths with Jayson..."

"I see... By the way... Do you buy his apology?" He asked.

"Not really... It doesn't feel sincere... The fact that he mentioned someone asked him to do it was unbelievable..."

"Don't worry... He'll get what he asks for... One day..." He said and I don't like his tone.

"Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Can I break a bone?"

"Luke! Don't!"

"Fine... Fine..."

-----

A week had passed and it's the final exam day. It's time to show all the hard work that we did for the past days. Mr. Ferrer would be our test facilitator. Luke was sitting beside me and he looked calm as always. I know he will do good. On the other hand, Jenna looked nervous. I saw her still reviewing her notes. I did teach her a lot so I also believe she will pass. We were given the questionnaires and we have to finish them within the allotted time. As expected, all that we have reviewed were included so I'm confident enough to ace these exams.

After several hours of thinking and answering the tests, finally, we were done.

"Thank God, it's over!" Niko said as he stretched his arms.

We all went out of the room to meet our friends at the cafeteria. Miya and Pam, we're already there. Miya waved at us but Pam looked glum.

"How did you guys do?" Miya asked us as we joined them at the table.

"It's a piece of cake..." Jenna said confidently.

"What happened to her?" I asked Miya pointing at Pam.

"I don't know... She's been like this after the exams..." Miya said. Niko sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"I don't think I will pass all the subjects... There were some items I wasn't able to answer and some I'm not even sure..." Pam said as she covered her face with her hands.

"Too bad... If you fail a subject you will be spending your vacation in a summer class..." Mike teased her as he approached us.

Pam just looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"That goes the same for you, bro..." Jessie said as he came after his twin brother.

Mike lost the smile on his face as he heard his brother.

"Huh! You came here to embarrass me but you did badly as well..." Pam said as she dabbed her index finger on Mike's chest.

"But not as bad as you did..." Mike fought back.

"Oh, yeah? We'll see... Let's have a deal then..." Pam said with as raised brow and her arms crossed on her chest

"Sure!... Bring it on!" Mike taunted her.

"Whoever got the lower average between us will be the slave and need to follow all of the commands of the one who got a higher average..." Pam suggested.

I can't believe how fast she came up with that.

"Deal! I have to think of the things I would ask you to do now..." Mike said as he rubbed his chin with mischief.

"Oooh! So confident... I can't wait for you to be my dog..." Pam was a fighter as well.

We just laughed at how silly these two were, taunting each other. I looked at my side and saw Jenna approached Jessie.

"Hi, Jessie... I just want to say sorry for what I've said to you at the cafe..."

"Oh! Don't worry... I didn't take it seriously... I'm used to being perceived like that all the time..."

"I feel bad... I'm really sorry..."

"We're good... Okay?" Jessie assured her.

"Thank you..." Jenna uttered then she glanced at me with a smile.

I told her about what Luke explained to me. She finally understands Jessie and it made me feel happy.

"Guys!  Listen..." I called everyone's attention.

"We still have two days to wait for the results... For now, let's just talk about our plans this summer break!" I said with a smile.

"Yes!" The girls screamed in excitement.

I can't wait for that day.

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