The Black Queen Card

chapter three - khrav

Krashmere

"Why didn't you tell me about them?" Khrav asked Krash while handing her a steaming cup of Butterspice Latte Macchiato with extra toffee nuts and caramel drizzle. Khrav brewed it himself although it's a secret drink the customers couldn't usually order.

Krash took a sip and stuck out her tongue.

"You didn't have to make it that hot!" She complained. She narrowed her angular set of eyes at him and ran her seared tongue on her slightly crooked teeth with retainers.

Khrav always tousles her hair and calls her adorable whenever she does that.

"It still hasn't cooled off?"

Krashmere Gindralan-Mengwei, a second generation Filipino-Chinese, and was good for nothing except for her games. Her father is a chain restaurant magnate in Shanghai and the Philippine Islands. Her family and Khrav's family had business deals. As a gamer girl, she liked to cosplay anime and mythological goddesses. She's an international champion on neo-digital games. She competed last year in the Virtual Sea Games and won bronze.

Krash may be a little on the chubby side but that only made her cuter. She was Khrav's high school best friend and still his best colleague in Axseania.

Khrav worked part-time as a barista at a Moonshine coffee bar so he could donate all his earnings on working at the shop to St. Therese's orphanage and off and on-campus dog shelters. He didn't have to, but he did it anyway.

They were walking between the Dewamin Hall and On-Campus Animal Shelter situated north-east of the school and west of the University Mall.

Krash was playing Deus Suprem—where all mythological gods of different races, ethnicities, and color combat each other—on her phone while sipping her drink. Khrav nudged her. She paused her game.

"What?" She asked.

"Why didn't you tell me about those girls?"

"So, you've met them."

Khrav almost choked on his Moonspice Mint Latte. "Not technically. Well, you can say I had an encounter with them."

The truth was Krash didn't tell Khrav about The Queens because she knew about Khrav's ultimate crush on Chassiah and no one could compete with her on any guy's admiration ever. She swore nobody deserved to.

She had been harboring unhealthy and unrequited feelings for her best friend for years now. No matter how she flirted with Khrav, he'd always only think of her as a younger sister, damn the universe. If he only knew. She couldn't tell him because she's not ready to put their friendship at stake. Some people deserve to be loved even if they can't return the love back. Even if it hurts. It's better to be content to be part of their lives, unloved than to be loved but not to be in them. Because truly, they deserved it anyway.

Besides, everybody who wanted to live peacefully, not prejudice their reputation and still wanted to stay in this university better steer clear out of The Queens' ways. It's better that way. They had hundreds of students in the past to prove that they're not to be dealt with.

Krash pushed the thoughts out of her head.

"Yeah, well, I didn't think you'd be interested. You're proving me wrong now." She returned to sipping her macchiato and playing her game.

Tala, Tagalog goddess of the stars, was now losing to Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. What the hell! Kick his white ass, this little flirt! Krash suddenly slipped the latte out of her hand.

"Shit," Krash whispered under her breath when she lifted her face to meet the eyes of the person, she has poured her butterspice on. She knew it the moment she saw the boots.