Jealousy

As she got inside her house, Lina immediately got inside the kitchen, thinking that she would find Elza there. To her surprise, the dimly lit house was empty, and she found a homemade pizza on the wooden kitchen table along with a note.

She took a slice of the pizza and dug in, "It's tasteless..." Commented Lina, her demeanor calm yet her eyes kept slightly shaking. Then she put the slice down, taking the note instead, "Maybe because I cried too much that I don't have an appetite for now?"

"Mom! Where are you?", Screamed the girl before reading the note, since Elza didn't welcome her as she used to, "Hon! Your father, somehow, got a month off. I'll be leaving you on your own for three days since I need to get him from the airport. Take care of yourself!"

Not even finding the energy to react to the news she just read, Lina simply put the paper back on the table, and immediately got to her room, deciding to wash her worries with a good night sleep.

The next morning, the girl woke up slightly earlier than usual. She made herself a decent breakfast and then left for school. Although some lingering eye bags still haunted her eyes, she started overcoming the news she heard yesterday.

"Hey Lina", Said Adam as he waved, meeting Lina once more. She turned her head to meet him as she was braiding her hair, and then she gave him quite a lovely smile, "Good morning Adam!", Responded Lina, "Since we live in the same neighborhood, how about going to school together?"

"Sounds good to me", Answered Adam with a nod, raising his hand to see his watch, "It's 7:40 now. Meeting here at 7:40 is good for you, right?" He suggested, turning his head to her.

"Okaay! I'm in!" And they walked silently for a while, until Adam decided to start a conversation, turning his head to her once more, "So, you're okay?" He asked out of concern.

"I'm feeling better," She confessed, a soft sigh leaving her lips, "but not perfectly fine, to be honest," Then she simply giggled, and her reply appeared to make Adam's worries slightly wash away.

"Your honesty shows that you're getting better if you ask me," added Adam, after touching her with his elbow, making an honest smile grace Lina's lips before it rapidly faded away, "Ummm, Adam! I've got a question", Said Lina, making Adam turn his head to her, "What do you think about that brainstorm?"

"Brainstorm?", It felt like he didn't get what she meant at first, for Adam looked rather confused. But his expression immediately lit up in understanding, "Oh, you mean Julien!" He added, and Lina simply nodded, not leaking a word.

"Julien, ha?" Adam softly whistled, raising his eyes to look at the sky as he thought about the word he would say, "Let's see... At first, I didn't really like him. I mean, he's cold, and a control freak. And since he's a rare prodigy, I thought that the way he acts meant that he was looking down on us and all, I hated that at first, to be honest."

"However," continued Adam, his voice suddenly softening, as if it spoke of forgotten thankfulness, which made Lina's eyes fall on him right away, "Julien proved the opposite, to all of us!" He confessed, his hands reaching his bag's shoulder straps, "Even though he's way too cold, Julien is caring and doesn't hesitate to lend a hand without even asking for it. He deserves our respect, he deserves the respect of anyone who crosses his path I'll give you that. So..."

"Yeah!" Nodded Adam, a sudden smile gracing his lips, "I'm really happy that he's my friend, and I'm feeling kinda blessed because of meeting him."

"Lina, can I ask for a favor?", Asked Adam after getting some glimpses of her, as if he started to realize something. "Hope I could help", she answered, feeling like Adam's walking pace started slowing down all of a sudden.

"He might look cold, a loner, and it feels like he keeps pushing everyone away. But, he's a good guy, he deserves the best!", He stopped walking all of a sudden, and then he bowed to the girl, leaving her surprised by such an act. As she put her hands on his shoulders, urging him to raise his head, Adam simply kept bowing, "Take care of him will ya?" He added, and Lina's heart simply sank at those words, "Consider this a little request from your brother Adam!"

Astonished by what she heard right now, a rose started blossoming on her cheeks while the light was reflected by her eyes, which gave a bright shiny face to this cutie. She drew a thankful smile on her face and switched to her lovely mood, which all her surroundings admired, "Okay!" She said as she took her hands off his shoulders, and hearing that word made Adam lift his head a bit and gaze into her gracefully, "Don't worry he's in good hands!" She smiled to him, giving him the response he longed to hear from her.

The first session passed. That was when Lina, at last, realized that the next week would be full of unwanted exams. She kept nagging annoyingly while holding one of the physics courses, the words she mumbled were literally understood by her and only her. Then she slammed her head on the table, her forehead still down as she spoke, "The atomic spectrum and atomic nucleus!", Said the girl after sharing a sigh, raising her head to her pals with worried face, " I just can't get these two into my head! Damn it!"

"You know what?", chimed in Maria, standing behind her friend as she draped her arms around Lina Maria, "I did realize that you were struggling with these two. I'm sorry but chemistry is my specialty so I can't really help you!"

"You're pretty good at math though", Alex tried to comfort her by saying so, turning his chair to meet the group, "I think that's good enough to hide your lack in physics."

"Yeah... No, I want to ace my physics as well!" Added Lina, her eyes still on the papers.

"You're too greedy", chimed in Julien after as Maria drew back to lean on the table behind her, "How about making a study group?" He offered, resting his hand atop Lina's head as she turned to see him on his phone, "A... Study group?" Asked Lina, taken aback.

"Yeah", Replied Julie while focusing his interest on his phone, his other hand still over her head, "I can help you with your physics courses while we attend this group thing. The idea doesn't suit your interest?"

"No, I think that it's a pretty good idea!" She answered, her expressions brightening, which made Alex and the others smile in suspicion at their interaction, "I'm just surprised because you're the one who suggested it that's all!"

"Non non, not mine..." Actually it was Sara's idea, not mine."

"Sara ha!", Lina feels irritated right away, "I see. It's thanks to Sara."

"What's up with this look on your face", Then he starts squishing her cheeks right away. Then there are Alex and Maria, starting to laugh calmly after seeing Lina's sudden mood swing, "We do know the reason", both of them say in quite a melodic way.

"You said something?", Asks Romeo.

-Alex: "Nevermind! So about that group. Me, Lina, Maria, Romeo and Sara. Should we add someone else?"

"Sara said that Edward likes to study on his own so he won't join us", Says Romeo, still holding his phone, "but the #2 of the elite class, Anna, will join the group."

"How do you know all of this?", Questions Lina since she's feeling quite confused. The boy takes his phone and shows her the screen, "I'm chatting with Sara right now", Which made Lina get pissed off even more, "A group of 6 students, this should be good enough. Where are we going to meet though?"

"How about my house?", Suggests Lina, "Mom is not here and my room is spacious, it'll be pretty comfy."

"Sounds like a plan!", Says Maria.

Romeo takes his phone again and starts tapping, "Let me inform Sara then", Says the boy. Lina can't handle the way he's acting anymore, the way he appears to pass more time with Sara little by little does irritate her to a decent level. Aggressively, she stands up, "If you excuse me, I'm going to use the bathroom", Says the girl. However, Romeo didn't let her do so. He takes her arm and prevents her from moving forward, then they keep exchanging looks silently until Lina interrupts the silence because of embarrassment, "What's wrong?", Asks the girl.

He forces the girl to sit down and he gets behind her. He starts holding her hair, "Maria, could you please lend me your comb? And a hair elastic as well."

"What?", At first Maria didn't believe what she just heard, "Well, just a sec.", She takes the stuff out of her bag and lends it to Romeo, "What are you planning to do Romeo?", Poor Lina still doesn't get it.

"Too much bed hair", He says, "I noticed it when you got inside the classroom but I didn't get the chance to tell you about it earlier.", The girl wanted to stand up, but he didn't let her do so. Romeo keeps pressing on her shoulders lightly until she finds herself forced to sit down, "Sit still", He says, "Let me do a favor for you."

He starts combing her hair smoothly and gently. Then puts the comb away, and Romeo starts using his hands to smoothen it even more, and splits her hair into three even parts and keeps his actions moving on, "Now finishing off with the elastic hair...", He says, "Done. Now you're more of a human if you ask me."

The girl takes her phone and starts looking at herself, ending up out of words since this Romeo made such a lovely 3 strand braid, "You... Did you braid my hair just now?", Questions the girl while holding her hair, still feeling the surprise as well!

"You turned out amazing Lily!", Says Alex, "This style does suit you since your hair is long."

"He's right about it!", Adds Maria, "It's good to change your hairstyle every once in a while", After getting closer to Lina Maria switches to a teasing said and whispers, "Boys do like it when girls make these simple changes you know!"

"H-Hey!", That's how Lina responds, after getting all red for sure, "But seriously. How did you learn to do this stuff?", She asks.

"Well, I always do my mother's hair so I'm used to many kinds of hairstyles", Then he takes his bag and appears to be leaving the classroom.

-Alex: "Where are you going?"

Romeo raises his phone again," Sara wants to have lunch with me", He says while slowly switching his interest to Lina, "Smol thing, wanna tag along?"

"Nah, I'm good", She says so while pretending to be hooked on her phone even though she's surely boiling inside, "I'll pass, just go don't keep her waiting!"

He doesn't add a word as usual. He just shuts that door and leaves the other three there, while Maria and Alex keep frying little Lina with their intense look. The way she acted did surprise them to a decent level after all.

"You're ogling too much!", Says Lina, who seems to be driven to clumsiness by those stars.

"Why, did you, refuse, to tag along?", Asks Alex.

"No reason!", She answers, "Nothing to worry about!"

-Alex: "Are you actually jealous because Romeo is starting to pass more time with Sara and she might become his favorite female friend which means taking your place and their relationship might even start getting serious?"

The more words he spells out, the more Lina's vermillion roses spawn on her face, "W-Why... Why would I get jealous?", She says. Maria gets closer to Lina and starts looking into her eyes for a while. She raises her hand and keeps enjoying how it feels to squish those lovely cheeks, "Maybe Sara is... Trallalla?", Says Maria.

"Huh? Trallalla?", Adds Lina out of confusion, "What do you mean?"

That couple shares a one-moment wink, which means that they are planning on making fun of Lina, "You know... Trallalla!", Repeats Maria, "And you know about her Trallalla, so you're kind of helping her, right?"

"You know, sometimes I wonder if you're completely stupid, or that's just the way you are", While this tiny weird conversation was taking place, Alex didn't waste a second as well. He took Lina's phone and started reading the conversation between her and Sara. It didn't take that long for him to burst into quite a laughter," Maria we did guess it right", Says the boy," Sara likes Romeo!! Take a look at this", Then he tosses the phones to his girl as they start sharing a peal of wholesome laughter. As for Lina, the girl's face turns bright red, like a tomato that had just been plucked from the vine. She fumbles with her words, trying to come up with a clever comeback but her mind is a total blank. She can feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and she knows that she must look like a total idiot. To make matters worse, the other two are doubled over with laughter, clearly enjoying her embarrassment. The girl can't help but feel foolish, but at least she can take solace in the fact that her friends found her blushing blush amusing.

As Lina's voice rises in panic, she reaches out her hand, "MY PHONE!!!!! GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE!!!!!"

Alex, startled by her sudden outburst, quickly hands her the phone. Lina quickly checks it, relieved that she got her precious treasure back.

Alex looks at Lina with suspicion in his eyes. "I see," he says. "So that's why you always leave Romi and Sara alone. This way, you're helping her get closer to him, right?"

Lina hesitates for a moment before responding, "Right."

Alex continues, "And isn't it bothering you? I mean, another girl might become closer to Romi and exceed you."

Lina fidgets with her phone, her eyes cast down. "I really don't know what to say," she admits. "I'm not doing it only for Sara."

Maria looks at her with concern, "What do you mean?"

Lina starts to explain, "Remember when you two skipped class? I shared my lunch with Sara and the others that day. Then me and Sara went to the library together and met Romio there! I understood from the way they were acting that something had happened between them! So, I thought maybe Romio... "

Maria's eyes widen in understanding, "You think that Romi has feelings for her?"

Lina nods, "And he's spending a lot of time with her these days as well! So maybe he feels more comfortable around her. So I leave them alone because sometimes it feels like both of them want it."

Alex looks at her with a mix of understanding and concern, "Okay, let me ask you one last time. Isn't it bothering you?"

Lina pauses for a moment before admitting, "Yeah. It is bothering me. I actually want to burst in on them and hear everything they're talking about!" She speaks with a voice that reveals her feeling torn, confused, and upset.

As Lina finishes her thought, Alex quickly takes out his phone and starts to record what she just said, trying to tease her even more. "Okay, now that'll be my new ringtone!" he says with a grin, holding his phone up for everyone to see.

Lina's face flushes with embarrassment and anger as she jumps up from her seat. "What? No! Delete it right now!" she cries, her voice filled with frustration and anger.

But Alex just shrugs nonchalantly, "Sorry, that won't happen."

Maria looks at Alex with a mix of amusement and disbelief. "You're actually going to put her voice as your ringtone so you can hear her all day long, right?"

Alex laughs, "Maria, I don't like what you're thinking about!"

But Maria just rolls her eyes. "You don't like what I'm thinking about? Stay with your little bird and hear her voice directly. I'm leaving." with that, Maria stands up and storms out of the room, leaving Alex and Lina behind.

Alex looks after her with a mix of confusion and regret. "Hey Maria, you're taking this too far," he says, but she does respond by slamming the door and leaving, "Alrighty... That wasn't expected", Says the boy, putting his head on the table with a sigh tagging along.

Lina looks at Alex with disapproval. "You do deserve it! From now on, don't make fun of me and nothing like this would happen again," she said with a stern voice, Alex felt guilty and ashamed for his actions.

As the group of friends approaches Lina's house, Alex looks up at the large, imposing building in awe. "Man, it's just like Romi described it to me!" he says, his tone impressed.

Lina greets them warmly at the door. "Hello everyone! Get inside and make yourself at home!" she says, inviting them inside.

But as Sara steps inside, she is surprised to see Romeo already there. "R-Romeo? What are you doing here?" she stammers, taken aback.

Romeo doesn't really get the real reason behind her sudden question. "Huh? What do you mean? We're supposed to meet and study here," he says, shrugging.

Alex chuckles. "She actually meant to say when did you come?"

Romeo simply shrugs, "I just happened to come earlier that's all."

Anna, who had not met Romeo yet, introduces herself and turns to Sara, "So this is the guy that..." But she quickly stops herself and covers her mouth, realizing that she almost let slip something she shouldn't have.

Sara's face turns bright red as Alex and Maria burst out laughing, knowing exactly what Anna had been about to say. The group quickly gets settled, and takes out their books and notes, focusing on the study session at hand. Romeo seems a bit uncomfortable, feeling the underlying tension in the room, but he tries to ignore it and focus on their studies.