[Music Recommendation: "Tiptoe Thru The Tulips" by O'Neill Brothers (instrumental only)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

And so, Kaiden and I headed towards the nearest cafeteria in my department. Since the school was too big, we had to walk a few blocks before we reached it. Finally seeing it from afar, I had to say that it was one heck of a cafeteria. It looked like a 5 star restaurant!

From the outside, you'd mistake it for a greenhouse. Almost everything was made of clear glass except for the solid roof and metal pillars. The ceiling was high and from it, long grayish blue curtains extended to the ground. Beautiful vines with flowers served as decorations on almost every corner.

Once inside, different plants could be seen here and there. All matched with sleek wooden tables, sofas and chairs that had the same color as the curtains and tables, and a floor made of white tiles with diamond patterns. Each table was properly set like those in fine dining restaurants, and everything from the cutleries to the plates and goblets were all squeaky clean you could see your reflection in it.

Amazed by the beauty of the place, I didn't notice Hora and Crystal waving their hands towards us until Kaiden tapped me on the shoulders. I smiled the moment I saw them. I couldn't believe how much I missed Hora in that short timespan of two and a half hours. My feet automatically sprinted towards them.

"Hora! Crystal!" I greeted them and sat beside Hora, hugging her arms. "I missed you."

"Aww… I missed you, too," she sweetly replied, patting my head.

"How's your first class?" I made sure to ask her first.

Hora instantly grinned from ear to ear. I wondered what that could mean.

"Hnnng… Well, you see, I was bombarded with lots of questions about—you know," her eyes peeked at Kaiden who sat in front of me, and to me who was beside her.

'I see. So she got interrogated as well about us, huh? It's really hard having popular friends. It's the same with Ken, only Kaiden had ten times more fans than he had. Or maybe even a hundred times if I include those not belonging to this school? I hope she didn't get bullied though.'

Seeing her expression, I felt relieved. It seemed she didn't suffer the same fate as I did. Curious as to what happened, I asked her about it and she replied to me in a whisper.

"So they were all asking about you two, and I told them you're friends right now but I 100% believe that you will end up together one day and—"

"Wait, what?!" I blurted out in my surprise.

"Care to share?" Crystal turned to us, waggling her eyebrows. She sat on the other side of Hora. We were on a long sofa, good for three people. "I'd love to hear that gossip."

Hora waggled her eyebrows back, as if signaling approval to Crystal. Hora then turned to Crystal and whispered it to her. Crystal grinned mischievously and the both of them looked like hooligans plotting something evil in their minds.

Seeing them like that, Kaiden just simply shrugged his shoulders and didn't bother. He probably thought it's just some useless girl talk. Well, that worked in my advantage though. I didn't want him to hear the craziness Hora was spouting.

I inched my body closer to Hora and Crystal to hear what they were talking about.

"And so, we all had different opinions about it. Some said it's impossible for Kaiden since he can't even touch anyone let alone get a girlfriend," Hora continued.

"You should have told them how he carried her on his arms when she got sprained," Crystal added.

"I did! And they couldn't believe it. I even showed some of the pictures you shared to me."

"You did what? Hora? For real?"

"It's fine, bestie," she waved her hand, dismissing my worry. "Then, when they saw it, they were like—Wow! Is this real?—and so on. We all debated a bit more but it all ended up being a bet in the end."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Nice one, Hora!" Crystal laughed out loud. "What's the bet about? I want to join, too."

'Seriously? Now, they're betting over me? Do I get a say on this? Nope. Obviously not.'

"Of course! I'll add you to the list," Hora winked. "So, since everyone is convinced that they will end up together—"

"How are you all convinced? Nothing even—"

"Shhh," Hora hushed me with her forefinger.

"As I was saying, since everyone was convinced they'll end up together, instead of betting over that, we bet how long it will take instead."

"Sounds fair. What are the options?"

"Most of them placed their bets for 1 year, some even more than a year, but I placed mine on six months," Hora sounded so smug. "For sure, in six months, they will be together and declare their relationship."

"Hmm… six months? Isn't that too short?" Crystal pondered, tilting her head. "My brother is… hmm, how do I say it? Basically, he's slow. And he doesn't have experience in courtship or anything related to women at all. He's a pure virgin, I tell you."

"Pfft!" I spilled my drink and quickly looked at Kaiden's direction. Seeing he had his earphones on, playing games on his phone, I sighed in relief. I took the table napkin in front of me and wiped the water off my face.

'I can't believe Crystal is telling us how her own brother is a virgin.'

Blood rushed to my face as soon as I imagined it. Kaiden—a hot and handsome virgin. Oh my goodness. Bad thoughts, go away!

'But then again, it's not like Kaiden and I will… will… be together.'

"Aww… really?" Hora sounded gloomy. "That's great though. All his firsts could be with Sena. Sena's also a virgin—"

"Kyaa! Hora!" I squealed to stop her from going on anymore. "D-don't just say that. What if anyone hears you?" I felt my heart leap out of my chest.

Good thing Kaiden was on his earphones or else—

Oh no! He took off his earphones!

"A-ahh… I—I didn't… mean to listen," his voice trembled as his eyes looked at us in shock. His face was beet red as well.

He heard it. Of all the times he would take off his earphones, it just had to be at "that" moment.

'Hora… I'm gonna kill you later!'