Campus Royalties (Kingdom University, #1) | Published under Psicom Publishing

Chapter 18

The rumors about us breaking up spread like wildfire and the next few days was just too chaotic.

"Tawang-tawa talaga ako sa anecdotes na nabasa ko about that," Jess said while nibbling on M&M's.

"Right? Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala na ginawa mo 'yon, Steff," dagdag ni Alice.

Meanwhile, Yna was busy with her phone. "The top ten trending articles on the portal are all about that."

We were chilling at Jess' house this weekend since they wanted to talk about a lot of things. Isa na roon ang nangyari ngayong week.

According to the witnesses, I broke up with him because he was still hung up to his ex, Tricia. And I was just informed that the Tricia they were talking about was Patricia Dominguez, the first campus princess and the overall first rank in our batch.

"Pero totoo ba na ex niya si Patricia Dominguez?" tanong ni Alice. "Or assumption lang ng mga tao?"

I shrugged in response. "No idea. Pero ayun nga, nag-uusap sila during that time, so I guess mayroon talaga silang history."

"They went to the same high school," Yna suddenly said, much to our surprise. How did she know that? Flustered, she pointed at her phone. "I-I read it in one article!"

Jess nodded. "Oh, baka nga ex niya. O baka crush niya before. Akalain n'yo 'yun, nagkaka-crush pala siya. I thought he was a narcissist na ang interest lang ay sarili niya."

"'Di ba? Kaya nga na-involve sa kanya si Steff, eh. Medyo nakita ko na siya in a new light. Pero speaking of crushes, may mga crush na ba kayo sa university?"

Yna shook her head. "How about you? You're still crushing on Kevin?"

Bigla namang tumili si Alice at napakuwento sa nangyari. It turned out she saw Kevin one time and even smiled at her. Akala ko naman ay nagkaroon na sila ng legitimate and more personal interaction. Well, that was how Alice behave when she's crushing on someone. Madalas ay gusto niya lang na nakikita sa malayo ang crush niya at hindi nakikipag-interact dahil alam niya sa sarili niya na short-term lang iyon.

"Kayo, Steff at Jess?"

Jess' eyebrows knitted. "Hmm, wala pa naman sa ngayon. Hay, gusto ko rin magkaroon ng inspiration."

"Steff?"

Napaisip naman ako sa tanong. I would usually say none since they knew I wasn't interested in guys before, but the looks on their faces were telling me they were expecting something else.

"None," I mumbled.

"Sigurado ka ba?"

"Bakit 'di ka makatingin sa amin?"

"Omo."

Suddenly, I found myself in the hot seat with all the questions they were asking. Na bakit daw parang hesitant ang pagkakasagot ko samantalang dati ay agad-agad kong sinasabi na wala kahit hindi pa tapos ang tanong. They said I also looked too conscious as if I were hiding something.

You know, you are a terrible liar. His voice echoed in my head, and I remembered that genuine smile on his face. My cheeks felt hot, and I had to push that image at the back of my mind to calm myself.

"Omg, Steff, don't tell me may crush ka na talaga ngayon?"

"Who?! Wait, h'wag mong sabihing si Darryl?"

A surprised gasp escaped my lips. "W-what?! No way!"

"Bakit ang strong ng denial?!" retorted Alice.

"Because it's not true!"