Chapter 1: [Lucky Day]

The whole room was quiet. In fact, everything went still as the news she didn't expected reached her ears. All she could do was turn to her adviser and dumbly ask, "What?"

Well, you can't really blame her. Even her classmates didn't expect such a thing to happen. Sure, she was smart but she didn't have a firm grasp on the teachers so she had a low chance of being favored. After all, there is always a percentage in the grade that gets affected either positively or negatively depending on your relationship with the teacher.

Sir Martinez sighed at the thought of having to repeat himself but still indulged her. "You're the Valedictorian so please prepare your speech. Congratulations also to Miss Riana Sailor Gonzalez for being the Salutatorian. You'll be giving the welcoming speech."

The whole class cheered! The boys hooted and the girls squealed with glee. But their celebration wasn't solely focused on Risa but on Lee instead with her name being repeated over and over again.

"Congratulations Lee!"

"Congratulations to Risa, too!"

"Congrats Lee!"

"Wohoo! Our Angel is the best!"

"Our section is the best!"

They congratulated her until they were told to shut their mouths by none other than their rule-obssessed adviser.

When Lee was finally able to sit, she was elbowed by Risa on her side. "Hey! How unexpected. Congrats." Risa said with a smile although in a whisper because she might get scolded for being loud.

Lee smiled back and rebounded Risa's congratulations. "You too. Congrats! I still can't believe it." Lee said, flustered.

"Me neither." her best friend replied then stayed quiet while Sir Martinez finished calling all the students.

It was 7:50 when Sir Martinez finally wrapped up his announcements. "Boys, remember to find your dates for the upcoming Prom. Today is the last day of submission. Please submit your names to your P.E. teacher so she will know who will be performing with whom for the opening dance. Be sure to submit before lunch. Well then, good morning again class." he said then walked out of the room to get to his next class.

The moment he disappeared from his student's views, the room burst with hooting, teasing, laughing, and squealing. The students were really looking forward to the event. It would be a once in a lifetime opportunity after all. A chance for the girls to feel like disney princesses and possibly be chosen by their crush, and for boys to dance with their crushes and maybe even have the opportunity to ask them out.

A circle of boys teased each other who their friends would be asking out to be their date. And the girls, with their own friends, giggled about their fantasies on that romantic night.

"Ah, it would be really nice if I could participate in that opening dance." Lee sighed.

"Oh, what happened? Deflated already? You were pumped up about your rank just a moment ago." Risa said with a playful grin.

"Well, I'm sure someone will ask you out. You're the "angel of Class 12-A" after all." Risa nudged Lee teasingly. "Ah, wouldn't it be nice if your crush was the one who asks you out?" Risa sighed dreamily as she gazed with heart-heart eyes on Lucas Montefalco.

You can't really say that Lucas is the campus crush since that would be too unrealistic but it's for a fact that he's the handsome, rich guy who most girls would fall for.

Lee saw Risa's reaction and immediately saw her chance to tease Risa back. "Ayiee~ Risa and Lucas sitting on a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" she laughed as she saw Risa getting red in the face.

"Quiet down, will you? I'll be in trouble if he hears us. Besides, I'm not the only one who has goo-goo eyes for him." Risa said and pointed out some of the girls prettying themselves up while casting glances at Lucas and his group of friends. One girl was even seriously putting on her lip tint but was immediately distracted when Lucas and his friends burst out laughing about something. The distraction came too suddenly that she didn't notice she had drawn on her cheek with the tip of her lip tint. She only noticed when she looked back on her hand mirror.

Lee and Risa looked at each other and burst out laughing. The bond these two friends have is really something.

The next subject teacher then came and they discussed their lessons. It was an hour later that they found themselves walking the hall towards the cafeteria for recess.

Risa was telling Lee a story about the time that she accidentally sat on a pinecone when she and her family went on a hiking trip last weekend when they heard a masculine voice speak up from behind them.

"Hey! Going to the cafeteria? Can I join you two?" It was Lucas. Even for a 17 year old teenager, his voice was noticably deep. One could only imagine how deep his voice would be once he reached adulthood.

"Huh? Oh, of course you can. But what about your friends?" Lee said looking for Lucas' friends expecting them to be right behind the boy they were talking to.

"Oh, don't worry about them. They're looking for their partners for the prom." Lucas said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Oh, they still haven't got a partner? That's a surprise. Well, it's fine then I guess. Let's go?" Lee invited Lucas.

"By the way, Lucas, how come you're not with your friends? Have you already found a partner?" Risa asked nonchalantly, although deep down she felt nervous. What if he already has a partner?

"Oh, that? No, I don't have a partner yet." came Lucas' reply which gave Risa a little hope.

"Which is why I'm here right now: to find my partner." Lucas added which made Risa's heart beat even faster.

"Oh? Well, good luck to you then. Wow, whoever your partner will be is sure lucky to have you." Lee laughed and playfully nudged Risa on her side.

Lucas laughed along. "Then I guess someone's in luck. I was gonna ask if you'd like to be my partner; that is if you're still available?"

Risa stopped short and turned to face Lucas who was walking a little behind them. Lee, who was surprised that Risa stopped, stopped as well so she was now facing Lucas, and Risa's back.

'Oh, will Risa finally have her wish come true?' she giggled at the thought.

"Will you be my partner, —"

"Su...!" Risa was about to answer but stopped short when she heard the name Lucas mentioned.

"—Lee?" Lucas was looking past Risa's shoulder to Lee who was as surprised as Risa was.

"Huh?" the two girls said in unison.

"Well? Will you be my partner, Lee?" Lucas asked again as he flashed a charming smile.

"Bu—But... " Lee stammered, her eyes moving from Lucas to Risa then back again. She knew that Risa liked Lucas and wanted to be his partner for the prom. How could she even think of betraying Risa? On the other hand, won't it be really rude to reject his offer?

"Risa..." Lee called out to her friend. She looked back at Lucas with his confused face, probably wondering why she wouldn't just say "Yes!" already.

Risa turned her head halfway to face Lee and smiled at her. "Come on, what are you waiting for? Charming Lucas is asking you to be his partner! Quit gawking at me and say 'Yes!'. Don't worry about me, if that's what you're worried about."

Lee was torn. She didn't want to hurt Risa but she seemed fine. She's even pushing her to accept his offer. It should be fine, right? "Well, thank you for the offer. I'll gladly accept it. I'll submit our names after last period before lunch then."

"Don't worry. Leave it to me. You were going to the cafeteria, right? I'll get going now so you can have your recess." Lucas said and waved goodbye to the two dumbfounded girls as he headed to the direction of the Faculty Office.

"Wow! Did you see that?! Lucas Montefalco asked my bestfriend to be his partner! How great is that?! Congrats, Lee!" Risa jumped on Lee and squealed with glee.

Lee chuckled awkwardly. "Well, I'm still not sure what happened. Are you sure about that? I could've asked him to invite you instead of me."

Risa slapped her on the back. "What are you talking about? Don't waste such a great opportunity. This is the dream of every girl here in our campus and you are living that dream!"

Lee smiled at her friend who smiled back at her. "Risa, you're such a great friend."

Risa stepped back in surprise. "Whoa... Who knew hunger's effects could be so scary? Come on, Lee. Let's go. You're so hungry you saying weird things." she said then dragged the chuckling Lee over to the cafeteria.

The day carried on without any more surprises happening; well, except for a couple of surprise quizzes. Soon it was time to go home.

Usually, Risa and Lee would often walk home together since they lived in neighboring villages but, this afternoon, Lee couldn't seem to find Risa anywhere.

She looked at the library, at the classroom of Risa's younger sister, at the faculty office, but she still couldn't find her bestfriend anywhere.

'Maybe she already went home. She did say she had something important to do anyway.' Lee decided and started to walk to the front gate. 'She could've at least told me she was going ahead without me,' she thought sadly.

She was walking back through her classroom when she saw a classmate who was in-charge of cleaning that afternoon. She was having a hard time so Lee offered to help her.

"Thanks very much for the help, Lee. Geez, Fred was supposed to be the one to take out the garbage but he left and went home instead!" the girl grumbled. And she was still grumbling when Lee took the trash bag and went out to the back of the school where the incinerator was located.

She just finished putting the bag inside the fiery furnace when she heard a voice yell. And it was only around the corner but she knew that eavesdropping was bad so she hurried back inside before whoever was arguing discovered her.

Before she went too far, she was able to hear the girl scream, "Still! How could you ask her instead of me?! Haven't we been going out for two weeks now?"

She didn't hear anything after that. She shook her head at how much problem a romantic relationship could cause. She dropped by her classroom first to tell the girl she'd thrown the trash out then she went on her way home.

She was halfway home when she saw a familiar back ahead. She called out. "Hey! Risa!"

Risa jolted the moment she heard her name called. She looked around to find the person who called out to her and was even more surprised to see that it was Lee. She looked away.

"H-hey. I thought you already went home."

Lee sighed deeply when she finally got to Risa's side. "Ri~sa! How could you? I looked for you all over the campus! I was worried where you were and here you are: already walking home!" Lee said in a hurt tone but in a dramatic way.

"Hahaha... Sorry. I had a few things on my mind." Risa replied with a chuckle then matched her pace with Lee and they walked home together.

They walked down their usual route and that included the scary-looking, abandoned house. They often joked about a ghost who was haunting the said building. And they were talking like always when they were passing this house.

"You know, this day has been full of surprises. I got to be the top 1 and I even got a partner for the Prom! I'm so happy. I guess you could say that it's my Lucky Day." Lee laughed. She was surprised when she noticed Risa stop walking.

"Yeah, you've been lucky today. And I've been unlucky. You even got invited by Lucas to be his partner for the prom," Risa suddenly burst out. "Honestly! That guy is such a jerk! I thought we were going out these past two weeks but did you know what he told me? He said that it was only a fling! He told me that he never wanted to date me! He said he only went along with me because he just wanted to play around with me!" Risa screamed. She was clenching her fists so hard that her knuckles turned white.

Lee was dumbstruck. This was the first time she saw her best friend like this. And certainly the first to hear her scream. And oddly familiar at that. It reminded her of the voice she heard back when she was disposing of the trash.

Lee called out her name, hoping to calm her best friend down, but she only received a sharp glare from Risa's bloodshot eyes. She was crying. Heavily.

Lee tried to get nearer to comfort her best friend but Risa just lashed out at her.

"Get away from me! You bitch!" Risa spat. Hearing her best friend call Lee such a name broke her heart. "Everything was perfect until you showed up! YOU! YOU RUINED MY LIFE!" she was red with rage.

"R-Risa... Please calm down. We can talk about this. I can talk to our P.E. instructor to change my name to yours, right? So can you please—"

She hadn't finished her sentence when a resounding slap echoed in the deserted area. Risa had slapped her. And it stung as hell! When Risa's palm left her face, it felt as though thousands of needles were pricking her cheek.

"SHUT! UP! SHUT UP! YOU STUPID WHORE! YOU ATTENTION SEEKER!" Risa screamed at Lee's face.

"Risa..." Lee whimpered. She couldn't believe what was happening now.

"First you took my place as the Top 1! And now, you even took away my partner!" her tears streamed on her face like a huge avalanche. Then, as suddenly as she had started, she stopped. Tears were still falling but she didn't cry. She didn't sob. She just stood there with her face down. Silent. Then she spoke in a terrifyingly, errie voice.

"Yeah, you have been lucky—— so far.