Who's driving the black Ferrari? Why did he leave? Is he coming back? He should be back for college, at least. As far as I knew, the campus policy was that after three consecutive absences, the professor can boot the student out of the class. Assuming the professor even checked attendance. If Cameron had two classes and they were only once a week, that meant he could still be gone for another couple of weeks before he was forced to come back. Assuming he hadn't quit college yet. What about his business? He said he owned one. He flipped houses. Why the hell didn't I ask the name of it? He couldn't just leave that one. So either way, he had to come back some time. I drove by his house again last night. Scared that I'd see a for sale sign in his front yard. I was putting a stop to it tonight. It was getting ridiculous already. And I felt like a creepy stalker. If he was going to leave, then why did he have to confess all that to me that night? He could've just left it at that and left. It was crueler to say all those things to me, make me hope and wish for what could've been between us. I hadn't even known the guy that long. Why was I acting like I lost my husband of sixty-fucking-till-death-do-us-part years? This was the part I hated about myself. Once I let people in, I get attached and it was hard for me to let them go. But I tried. I had a lot of practice letting go of people who were a part of my life anyway. I was at the campus cafeteria with Tala, staring at the food menu board on the wall when I realized I completely missed out on my veggie lasagna. The cafeteria didn't have a fixed schedule for it, just as long as they served it once a week. So you had to check the menu everyday. And they had served it two days ago. "Motherf ucker! This is all his fault. I missed my veggie lasagna," I muttered under my breath. The girl behind the glass food display case smiled softly, sympathetically to me. I noted how beautiful she was with her dark cat eyes and dark hair up in that white chef hat and white apron culinary arts students wear. I smiled back at her and moved on. "My psychic powers tell me something is the matter with you." Tala frowned at me as I placed my tray on the table—I bought fries, a miserable piece of cucumber sandwich, and a cup of coffee—and took the seat in front of her. I shook my head and reached for my sandwich. When I noticed she'd been quiet for a while, I looked up. She was watching me with sad eyes. "I feel like I'm not your best friend anymore," she said quietly. "What?" Shocked that she'd say this, I gaped at her. "I know how strong you are, Kar. But you never share." I placed my sandwich back to the plate. "That's not fair, Tal. I do share things with you." "Yeah, but it takes you forever to tell me what's bothering you, and even then, the crisis had already passed and there's no way I could help you. You don't want me to help you. Why are we even friends when you can't even lean on me?" I let out an exhausted breath. "I can see you're tired of this. Nagbago ka na," she said in Filipino. "I have to go to class." "Tala..." But she was already striding out of the cafeteria. Feeling helpless and frustrated, I blew out a breath and massaged the back of my neck. It hurt that she'd think that way about me, but it hurt more that she felt sad and upset because of me. Why did every unfortunate thing started happening at the same time? If it wasn't one thing, it was another. I couldn't let Tala feel like this all day. I had to clear things up with her. But when I sent her a text if we could have coffee after our last class in the afternoon, she didn't reply right away like she used to. I headed to the lecture hall for my next class, feeling like a sad and depressed zombie. Tala was right, and I didn't even realize it. Shit. It felt like my life was falling apart. And I wanted to blame him for all of it. I knew that couldn't be true. I blamed him anyway. The sound of male laughter caught my attention as I passed the lockers near the lecture hall. My heart skipped a beat as I scanned the tall, athletic bodies of the basketball team. Hoping I'd see him. But just like last week, he wasn't there. My chest felt tight. His friend, the campus Romeo Caleb Lockhart, was there though. I marched up to him. "Hey," I said. "Can I talk to you?" All male eyes turned to me. Including Lockhart's. The gorgeous Canadian boy. Shiny, thick brown hair, green eyes. Tall, athletic body. Just standing there I could tell he was charismatic. But it didn't give me the same effect as Cameron's face did to me. "Sure," he said. We moved away from his team, but they were watching us. He waved them away and told them to go ahead without him. "Wow. Mind control much?" I said, gesturing towards his team when they followed his orders like the Unsullied followed Daenerys'. "I can turn invisible, too. It's just not working right now." He smiled. Yes, he was definitely gorgeous. Charming smiles that could easily lure a girl's heart. But it didn't affect mine. Mine was already given to someone who didn't want it. "I see your cart, but where's your donkey?" I asked. He blinked, confused. I wondered if he was wearing fake lashes. They were so long. "Donkey?" "Yeah, you know. The one with the black, curly hair and as tall as a Yeti and as muscular as a bull. The idiot one." His eyes twinkled. "Cam?" "Caleb! Break's over. Let's go, son!" one of his teammates called out as he passed by us. Caleb ignored him and focused on me. "I just want to know... is he okay?" I asked. His green eyes warmed. "He's okay. Don't worry, Kara."