Helping the Girl Get the Guy

Thirteen + Unexpected Circumstances

I kept searching and searching, only to find out that one of them was luckily, also searching for me.

I bumped into Luke at one of the lobbies of the school. Luke was the one who saw me first. The moment our eyes met, he ran up to me and damn, he pulled me for an embrace (it was as if I was missing for a day or got kidnapped). It was tight enough that I could not even breathe. "Where the hell did you go?" he asked, still not letting go.

"Uhm, maybe I was in the restroom, enjoying myself before you guys disappeared. Such a nice thing to do to someone whom you promised to take care of," I uttered in full sarcasm.

"I'm sorry, won't happen again," he said, oddly, he held a hand at the back of my head, stroking my hair. Luke had been acting weird lately, and I bet it was because of my mother, asking him to take good care of me. If mom had not told her that, would he even act this way?

I cleared my throat because from a distance, Nathan Yale had surely seen Luke and I hugging.

When Luke let go, I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head, hoping he understood the message that Nathan was around.

"Hey guys, I've been looking for you, the meeting's about to start," Nathan suddenly said as he was walking toward us, and it caused Luke to jump in surprise.

"You scared me." Luke playfully hit Nathan's chest. "Where's the exact location of the meeting?"

"Two floors above, no one wants to be late for the second time today, eh?" Nathan said. Indeed, or else, Mrs. Latorena might send Luke and I back to Australia without having to fulfill our exchange student program.

Luke and I nodded in unison. We both followed Nathan and as we walked, I could not stop looking at Nathan's sexy back.

I bit my bottom lip, holding back a smile. All of a sudden, Luke hit my arm causing me to let out a soft groan. "What the hell is your problem now?" I glared at him as if I was just disturbed from a deep slumber.

"You know what, maybe I should walk ahead of you, because my back is definitely a better view." He had done what he just said.

I rolled my eyes and as we all walked, I did check on Luke's back. The muscles on his shoulder were broader than Nathan's, and he was indeed taller. Oh my goodness, what did I just do? It was unhealthy of me to compare them.

We reached the boardroom where the meeting was held right on time. Mrs. Latorena told me to seat beside her, which was odd, while Luke and Nathan sat beside each other on the chairs facing ours.

We waited for a couple of minutes and when the principal of St. Mary's High School arrived, we all stood to greet him. I honestly thought of bowing down when I suddenly realized we were not in Japan.

"Welcome to St. Mary's," the principal said. He was tall, probably a bit taller than Luke and his hair was already turning grey. He must have been old, or maybe, it was only because handling a school was really stressful. He greeted us by smiling so wide, showing his teeth but not anymore his eyes. It made me wish I was partly Chinese. I loved their eyes. It was as if they were wearing winged eyeliners.

When Mrs. Latorena shook his hand, the rest of us lined up to follow what she did. When it was my turn, I felt like my hand was about to get crushed. Still, I kept a smile on my face and headed back to my chair hastily.

"I'm Mr. Xian Chou, and I have heard a lot about you, students," he spoke slowly. It was weird. I haven't heard a lot about him. "Mr. Luke Hemmings, I admire your passion for leading your fellow students. Ms. Jessica Quinn, I admire your perseverance in studying, and Mr. Nathan Yale, I admire your determination when it comes to Sports activities."

Okay. Mr. Arthur, our principal, must have sent our bio data to him. I wondered if he also sent my grades. Would he judge me if Math was my lowest grade? Asians were known for being Math Wizards, I suddenly felt embarrassed.

"Thank you sir," surprisingly, Nathan, Luke, and I said that in unison. Mrs. Latorena and Mr. Chou chuckled.

"Back to business," Mr. Chou said, clearing his throat. "I want you to feel at home in our school. Treat it as your own. Your exchange student program classes would start tomorrow afternoon so that in the morning, you'll still have a chance to tour. I bet you haven't tried Hong Kong's famous eggettes? You can find them anywhere in here."

"I had searched the internet about Hong Kong's famous street foods and one of them was the eggettes, I think I saw that there's a food stall selling those in Mongkok." I said in an instant. I badly wanted to indulge into delicacies from other places.

"You're right about that, maybe you can bring your friends or what should I call them, boyfriends?"

Ha-ha-ha, that was so funny. My cheeks warmed as the two boys laughed and shook their heads. "We're all you know, inclined in our field of interests which is why being in a relationship is not our priority," Nathan said. And that turned my cheeks even redder. Wait! So that means... he was not interested. In falling in love. Or whatsoever.

I felt like choking in my own saliva. I was about to respond, "that's true," when Luke said, "Not me. I'm actually thinking that I'll find the perfect girl for me in here."

"Our school is home to a good number of beautiful girls," Mr. Chou told everyone. Oh great, more possible rivals. "As a matter of fact, I want you to meet one of our pretty and smart students," he continued, and just when he was about to say another word, someone entered, and that someone was someone I unfortunately bumped into earlier.

It was the girl. The girl that must have cursed me in Chinese. She was beaming when she saw Luke and Nathan, and her lips turned to a look of disgust when she saw me.

"Ladies and gentlemen, meet your tourguide slash classmate, Jenny Chan."

"Hello guys, welcome to St. Mary's High School, what a pleasure to meet you, all." Jenny said, and fascinatingly, she can speak in English well.

"Jenny's also good in sports like Nathan, maybe you two can get along since the tournament is fast-approaching." Mr. Chou said and how I wished he did not. My eyes traveled across the room to meet Nathan's eyes. But I was too late.

I could already see him nodding with a sheepish grin on his face, saying, "I would love to. Nice to meet you Jenny."

"Nice to meet you too, Nathan," Jenny replied in her sweetest voice, walking toward him, offering her hand, and Nathan immediately shook it. They were smiling at each other as if they were the only ones in the room.

Screw this. Screw this exchange student program. I wanted to scream, "Abort Mission" and head back to Australia. Nathan and I were supposed to be the one to get along. I shifted my gaze from Nathan to Luke this time, searching for what-should-I-do-now answers, but all I got was a wink, and it was not the reply I was expecting.