Love Contract

Chapter I: First Day: Blessing or Disaster?

"I'm late!" Joey exclaimed as she moved out of the cab grabbing her jacket. "Hey! You forgot to pay!" shouted the taxi driver. Alarmed with embarrassment, she quickly searched for her wallet and pulled out her cash. "Here! Keep the change. Bye!" handling the money to the bald man then headed quickly to the school entrance. Pissed, the driver called back. "You ain't got any change! This isn't enough! Come back here you..." "Sir, you better leave. You've parked too long, thus, blocking the way" a guard interrupted. Then horns of other cars blew impatiently demanding the cab to move.

Running through the hallway, Joey is anxious with how she looks: her hair messy and her face oily. She needed to go to the powder room to fix herself. Suddenly, she bumped into someone. She fell to the floor hurting her butt and her arm with the sudden collision. "Watch, where you're going, bitch!" the guy said sarcastically dusting his sleeve. Quickly, she got up to her feet. Feeling insulted, she did not utter any word and tried to leave but the guy blocked her way. "Won't you ask for an apology?" he smirked. She stared at him almost losing her senses. The scene caught most of the students' attention. "Are you deaf or are you just stupid?" he continued, his eyes fierce. Another guy shouted, "I thought you are famous, but she seems not to know you, pal. Just let it pass. She'll learn her lesson." Regaining his composure, the guy said "Yeah right, I think she is out of her mind. Hey you ugly bitch! Next time refrain from being so stupid, you even forgot to zip your pants!" She felt a chill thru her spine. Hearing the crowd's sarcastic laughs, she felt her blood run cold and made her face pale. Then, she hurriedly went to the powder room.

Embarrassed ---- she couldn't go out of the powder room. The commotion made her very uneasy. Alas, she pulled herself with confidence and proceeded to her class.

She knew she is late. Another embarrassing moment ---- she imagined herself being scolded by the professor. She swallowed and twisted the knob. To her surprise, the professor is not around bringing liberty to her rambunctious classmates. She sat on an empty seat near the window. After few minutes, everyone behaved.

A tall, fair and good - looking lady entered the room. She wore black slacks and coat and her hair fixed neatly in a braided bun. She looks as if she is in her late 20's or early 30's, strict, intelligent and intimidating. "Kindly hand over your class cards" she began putting her stuff on the table. She asked a girl seated in front to arrange the class cards chronologically. When she was done, she gave it to their professor. Browsing the cards, she announced "I'll be assigning your respective seats so please vacate the first row."

Finally it was Joey's turn. She was glad to be assigned to where she sat earlier. She loves the spot. The professor continued calling out a male's name: "Roberts, Billy, beside Ms. Julia." Joey turned around to meet her new seatmate. Astonished, she felt a sudden blood rush in her veins straight to her head as if she'll explode. She stared at Billy quietly. The guy sat as if he did not even recognize her or there encounter never happened.