Love Operation: Don't Become The Villainess

CHAPTER 27: ...

THIRD PERSON'S POV

Luciano Altair Siciliano, "Luca" for short, is the fourth and final official male lead of Beloved Jade and the long-time enemy of Catherine.

Hindi magkasundo ang dalawa mostly because of how they see each other as a competition, vying for the #1 position in their whole grade na kadalasan ay pinagpapalit-palitan lang nila dahil sa sobrang active nilang pag-agawan ang posisyon na 'yon. Noong una ay hanggang academic lang ang alitan nila hanggang sa umabot na sa extracurriculars tulad sa mga sports event, where instead of competing against other schools, they would end up competing against each other even though they're in the same school.

It wasn't long until the whole school noticed their rivalry that fanclubs for each of them were formed and which are mostly active whenever there are events that the two compete in.

Catherine sighed in her mind, staring back at the boy whose lips were smirking.

Another fact about him that only a very few people know is that he's the grandson of an Italian Mafia Boss.

"It's been a while," he said.

Isang beses niya itong tinanguan, "It certainly has been."

"Oh?" the former raised his brows in surprise, seeing that something changed in her, so he decided to tease her with it, "It seems the air has changed in school today."

She turned her back at him, but she remained glancing at him over her shoulder. With a small grin, she replied, "Then be careful not to suffocate, Siciliano. Now, if you'll excuse me," she diverted her attention forward, "I have more important matters to tend to."

Just like with Josie and the others, she doesn't have any plans on associating herself with him any further.

Now, he seems like your typical mean and competitive young boy but in the future, he turns out to be one of the most ruthless and wicked man fighting for Jade back in Westwood, and one of the masterminds behind Catherine's downfall.

Might as well nip it in the bud and cut him off while it's still early. What they were in the past up until now, they can just brand it as a young, foolish, and humorous rivalry.

As she and her group walked away (that were surprised with how she responded to Luca), Luca himself was left with his mouth gaping. He was confused and in disbelief that he even blinked multiple times to make sure that the girl he talked to just now was actually Catherine. Confirming those familiar long brown locks cascading down her back that's facing him as she left, he was then sure that it was the same girl, but at the same time, may not be?

"What?" maski ang mga kasamahan niya'y hindi rin makapaniwala, "Was that really Catherine?"

"Luca, are you alright?"

After a few seconds of silence, he let out a scoff before turning to the opposite way, ignoring the sentiments of the people with him whose names he doesn't even know.

In his mind, only the seemingly calm and matured face and aura of Catherine earlier lingered. He somehow refused to accept that.

What happened to the girl who would fight and argue with him head on without a second thought? The sensitive and immature girl who would always boast about her achievements, belittle and tease him, and be a power tripper?

He always enjoyed watching her make a fool of herself.

The old Catherine wouldn't have acted like that.

It's impossible that she lost interest in him. She could never.

Was she just acting? Pretending? A humorous facade?

With a focused mind as he walked through the hallways, he is determined to find out what happened to her or what she's planning on doing.

Oh, he won't let her get away that easily.

~ * ~

CATHERINE'S POV

I wasn't in the mood to attend the afternoon classes, so I didn't. Besides, it's only the first day kaya puros introductions and course orientations lang muna. Malas ko lang kung may biglaang pa-quiz o recitation pero wala talaga akong gana pumasok ngayon.

Matapos ng lunch ay sinabihan ko sila Josie na huwag munang sumama sa akin pero hindi ko na sinabi sa mga ito ang rason na gusto ko lang munang mapag-isa. Wala na rin naman silang nagawa.

From the old Catherine's memories, I was able to find a spot where I could hide and rest for the rest of the afternoon without any worries of being disturbed.

Golden Oak High School is 350,000 sq ft wide. In the northern part of the school, there is a small forest area restricted and is blocked off with welded wire fences and locked gates. But if you follow the direction of the fences to the left further and around, you will see that the fence goes through between two oak trees--isang puno sa loob ng fence at isa sa labas na magkakonektado ang mga sanga.

I stood below the tree outside of the fence, observing its branches being connected to the branches of the tree inside like two hands reaching and entangled with each other over the welded fence.

Hindi ko alam kung paano nangyari 'yon. But this served as an entrance to the inside of the mini forest where deep further, there's a small and safe spot where I can rest according to Cath's memories.

I was pretty surprised she knew a place like this, that she herself only knows. I can recall she found out about this when she was checking the whole school map and got curious so she checked this place out herself then found out about this.

So even someone as mean and arrogant as her still needs some time for herself. Though from what I can remember, she seldom comes here, but still enough for me to realize that she's just a girl and a human after all who was misled and must've been so... lonely.

Though it's not a good and enough reason to justify her misdeeds.

I huffed out loud, then began to climb the oak tree. Naging madali lang din ang pag-akyat ko kahit may kataasan ito. It's fortunate that I'm athletic and not scared of heights so it was a piece of cake for me.

When I was able to make it to the top of the tree, I held onto the branches for support. In front of me was the connected branch that served as a bridge to the other side. I suppose it should be thick enough to be safe and support my weight.

I was about to cross it but stopped when I just noticed the pair of green eyes watching me hidden among the tree leaves and branches from the connected oak tree on the other side.

I felt my heart dropped from my chest.

It were eyes that belonged to a girl I can deduce is much more younger than me, but wore the same uniform. She had a short brown hair tied to a ponytail and those eyes...

We stared at each other, our movements frozen.

And I asked myself, "Sino 'to?"