A night of chaos and laughter

Chapter 5: A Night of Chaos and Laughter

When Ava woke up the next morning, Bella was nowhere to be found.

Not that Ava minded. In fact, she couldn't be any happier. No bossy cousin, no weird rules, just peace.

She stretched, took a deep breath, and then—reality hit her. She didn't know a single thing about her school.

Where was her faculty?

Where was her class timetable?

When did lectures even start?

Ava groaned. She was clueless. But before she could deal with all that, she glanced around and realized another problem—the house was a mess.

Clothes were scattered everywhere.

Plates sat in the sink like they were waiting for a prayer.

Bella's shoes? All over the place.

Ava sighed and got to work. She wasn't Cinderella, but she couldn't live in a pigsty either. She picked up clothes, wiped the dusty shelves, and even tried washing a few plates before giving up halfway. She was a student, not a maid.

By the time she finished, she was starving. But cooking? Absolutely not.

Instead, she grabbed her purse, went outside, and bought the essentials of student survival—biscuits, soft drinks, and chin chin.

Dinner? Handled.

But as night fell, her confidence disappeared.

She was alone. Completely alone.

Every tiny sound in the apartment suddenly felt like a horror movie soundtrack. The creak of the wardrobe? A ghost. The wind blowing outside? A serial killer's warning.

Ava grabbed her phone and did what any reasonable person would do—she called Jackson.

Jackson had been her best friend since secondary school. Very, very handsome, but unfortunately for every girl crushing on him, he had left the country for university abroad.

The moment he picked up the video call, he grinned. "Avaaa. How's my favorite stress machine?"

"I'm dying," she groaned, adjusting her pillow. "I'm all alone, and I swear something just moved in this room."

Jackson burst into laughter. "Ava, you're in dirty apartment. If something moved, it's a rat, not a demon."

She gasped dramatically. "So you're saying I should be happy that it's a rat?"

"Yes," he said, grinning. "At least a rat won't drag you to hell."

Ava threw a pillow at the screen. "You're so useless!"

For the next hour, they made up ridiculous scenarios about her first day at school.

"What if you walk into the wrong class and sit confidently, then the lecturer calls your name and—boom—you don't exist on his list?"

"What if you meet a cute guy, and then you find out he's your lecturer?"

"What if you faint from hunger because you refused to cook?"

By the time the call ended, Ava was crying from laughter instead of fear.

And as she finally drifted off to sleep, one thought crossed her mind:

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.