Chapter 02
Lizzy
It's been a week since I started studying at Rosalind School. To say that it's been great is an understatement.
"Damn. What flavor is this, Liz?" Marci asked, taking a puff from my vape.
"Lychee. It's great, right, Mercy?"
"It's Marcy."
I tilted my head. "Mercy makes more sense."
Marci pouted. I chuckled at her face which made her pout just more.
"No, it doesn't. That makes my name 'Mercella'."
I smiled. "Fine, Marci."
"Finally."
"Can't I get a 'merci'?"
Marcy giggled. "Merci." She gave me back my vape.
I quickly placed this inside my bra. I cocked my head to the door. "Now let's go. Sister Anne might see us."
"You think she'll know we're vaping in the botanical garden?"
"You wanna try again to know?"
Marci giggled as she shook her head.
My days in Rosalind School have been a bliss so far and I think it will be until the end of the school year. Everyone is just so nice, it's unbelievable. I think my pessimistic brother Freddie will soon think the same. And yet he was the most against me studying in an all-girls school.
"I can't believe Mom would even allow you to study there. She knows what happened in your previous school. It's like she doesn't learn. You're just gonna end up eating alone while everyone gossips about you," he ranted as he spread the peanut butter on the sliced wheat bread.
I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever, Kuya."
Kuya Freddie continued to blabber while he prepared my sandwich on the island counter.
Looking back at it now while I'm eating inside the cafeteria, surrounded by new friends, Marci who's eating a salad, Gia with her yoghurt, Portia eating her low carb something, and Victoria with nothing, I don't think Kuya was right in any way. Were his concerns valid? I guess. But this school is different. Sure, there are a few snotty nuns here and there and a few teachers who look at you weirdly if you wear something different like an anklet. But other than that, it's been great.
So far.
A girl with chinky eyes, a neatly made low bun tied with a ribbon, wispy bangs, and a pink Lululemon water bottle in hand. She is walking to the salad bar in the canteen. She pointed to the lettuce. Her lips moved, speaking. I furrow my brows. She looks familiar.
My eyes moved to the cashier behind the counter. She shook her head, earning a frown from...
Oh, she's definitely my classmate.
"That's Catalina, right?" I asked curiously.
"Yup," Marci said. She placed down her blue Stanley tumbler after sipping. "Just call her Cate. It's so weird to hear her full name."
I eyed her tumbler, then everyone else. They either had the tumblers with straws, some in a form of a cup, and most with the handles.
Jeez, what's with Rosalind School and tumblers?
I looked back at Catalina... Cate. Cat? Caty. She's already paying for her salad. I noticed it's not in a takeout container, kraft, of course. Rosalind School apparently advocates for the environment. She brought her own instead.
The cashier gave her change back. She muttered a thanks and walked to our table's direction where the exit is.
Our eyes met. I instantly smiled and waved my hand at her.
