Kara Cammilla I was about to make a huge mistake. This wouldn't be the first time it happened, nor would it be the last. I knew all the reasons why I shouldn't—knew them so well. The pain from the consequences of what I was about to do were so familiar to me, but that didn't stop me. I closed my eyes, counted to three under my breath, sniffed long and deep. And took a bite of the cheesiest veggie lasagna they served once a week in the campus cafeteria. "Ungghh..." I sighed lustily, savouring the creamy, salty, addicting flavor of cheese in my mouth. The softness of the noodles. It was my reward for being such a good citizen this week, and I deserved— "Why are you doing this to yourself?" My eyes snapped open. My best friend Tala, all four feet eleven inches of her, stood in front of me with a look of disappointment on her pretty face. She placed her books on the table, dumped her bag on the floor, pulled out a chair, and sat. I grinned at her mischievously and took another bite. "You're lactose intolerant," she pointed out uselessly, watching me chew in ecstasy. I licked the warm cheese on my lips, took another bite, and moaned. "I had a crappy morning at work today. I owe myself this cheesy perfection." "I know you're happy now," she continued. She opened her bag and fished out a pink square Tupperware with pictures of cute cats all over it. The scent of spices filled the air as she opened her lunchbox. "But remember what happened in Professor Balajadia's seminar last time?" I made a face. "I took the pills." She shook her head, pulled out a folded paper towel from her bag and unwrapped it. It was her spoon and fork –she always ate using both utensils. "You know they don't work on you." I glared at her. "You're ruining my moment here. And aren't you going to microwave that?" I pointed at her lunchbox with my fork. It was rice and Adobo today. She gave me an embarrassed look. "And get sued? No thanks." I rolled my eyes. To show how much I love her, I postponed my romantic date with my lasagna and grabbed her lunchbox, heading straight to the microwave. There were only three people in line. Bonus. Tala's mom always prepared lunches for her, and it was usually rice and meat. When heated up in the microwave, the smell was so pungent it filled up the room. I remembered the first time she used the microwave in the campus cafeteria, people complained about the smell of her food clinging to their clothes, so she never did it again. Well this was the cafeteria. Where else would she heat up her food? Under the sun? I didn't want her feeling bad. People just had to deal. I met Tala in freshman year in college. We were in the same Accounting class. One of the girls in the class said something nasty about Tala being overweight. I reacted accordingly. Two years later, we're still friends, so it must be real. She was one of the best people on planet Earth. When it was my turn, I put her food in the microwave for two minutes. Thirty seconds later, the overpowering smell of spices and meat filled the air. I could hear the grumbles behind me and I glared at them defiantly, daring them to say something. When they didn't, I turned around and stared at the microwave screen. When it hit two seconds, I jerked it open like my life depended on it. I hated that beep it made when it hit zero. Why couldn't they make it a single beep? Or even a nice catchy song? Something from BTS or Ed Sheeran. I hit Clear to reset the timer, pulled down my sleeves to cover my hands so the Tupperware wouldn't burn my skin and went back to my table. "It's not your Gaspard Ulliel," I teased. She was obsessed with him. "But enjoy." She giggled. "It's alright. You're forgiven." Gingerly she opened her lunchbox. "You know that cute archi student I told you about? We had a moment in the library this morning. He looked at me," she gushed. "I think he can have my babies." "Oh really?" I raised a brow. "Like the nursing student you want to marry in Vegas? You cheater." She laughed and threw a piece of rice at me. The cafeteria was filling up quickly now. People eyed our table, gauging how long we'd be staying to eat our food so they can take over our spot. When I made eye contact with one of them, my smile said, I feel you. "Don't you think with the ungodly amount of tuition that we pay, they could afford to build us a spaceship for a cafeteria?" I said, sneering at the wobbly table and orange plastic chairs. "Seriously. Don't forget the sexy alien servers." She ate a spoonful of her food. "Because you know, spaceships? Aliens? Except they're very sexy aliens," she added, giggling. She used to offer to share her food with me, until I told her I didn't eat meat. "How are you finding it now that you're back in college?" "It's good," I answered. Money was and continued to be a problem in our household, so I took a little over a year off from college to help my dad with expenses. It didn't help that I had a deep and lasting love affair with clothes and makeup, but I knew my priorities. I worked two part-time jobs and one full-time: a clerk at our auto repair garage where my dad and younger brother worked, a cashier at a coffeeshop during the weekend, and a full-time job at a personal care home. I had to quit the latter when I went back to school. "It's a little bit of an adjustment," I added truthfully, debating whether I should lick my plate clean. "But I'll get used to it. I'm taking one of the advanced electives they're offering for second and third year students." It felt like the semester just started and I had so much catching up to do. I didn't mind college, but it wasn't exactly my favorite. Some people knew from the start what they wanted in life. Congratulations! I don't like you. And I hands-down bow down to you to be honest. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life... yet. So just like any practical wannabe college student who couldn't decide what they wanted, I took Business. I would have a lot of options to work at any field when I graduated. "That's great, that's great." She chewed on her lip. I watched her for a few seconds. I knew what was coming. Tala was a self-proclaimed psychic. I didn't believe in that sort of thing, but I also didn't not believe it. What I believed was that I was not a very patient human being, so I asked, "What is it?" She put her spoon and fork down. Huh. Must be serious. "Have you... met anyone new today?" "Like someone not stupid?" Screw it. YOLO. I licked my plate. "Nope." "Kar!" She giggled. Satisfied, I wiped my mouth with a napkin as gracefully as possible, leaned back on my chair and patted my food baby. "Am I going to win the lottery?" I asked dryly. "Hmm," was her reply. As much as I didn't believe and didn't not believe in her psychic abilities—or if she even had any— I couldn't resist the possibility of something exciting. So far my life had been as active and exciting as my empty bank account. I never even had a boyfriend. I was part of the Single Since Birth Club. Yay. "He'll find you," she said after a moment. "You're being creepy right now. Who will find me?" She had a faraway look in her eyes, like she was watching a movie in her head. "You'll find him. Or he'll find you. I'm not sure." "The guy I owe money to?" I was being flip, but the hairs on my neck stood up. And inside my chest, my traitorous heart skipped a beat. "You'll see," was all she said before she gathered her things and left for her next class. I couldn't really put stock in what she said. Sometimes she'd predict things right, and sometimes not. It's the same thing as asking a stripper on the street if it's going to rain next week or not. Her guess was as good as mine. Deciding to forget what she said, I quickly wiped our table before snatching my backpack to leave. Sure enough, two girls quickly took it. I gave them the thumbs-up. I had another hour or so to spare before my next class started, so I decided to head over to my department's lounge area to pass the time. The hallways were walled with floor to ceiling glass windows on one side and lockers on the other, flooding the interior with rich sunlight. Students sat on the floor or stood leaning against their red lockers in the hallway, discussing the first week of school or the latest iPhone. I heard from a transfer student before that they didn't have lockers in college in their country. In Esther Falls College in Manitoba, Canada, we had lockers. I count myself very lucky. I stopped in my tracks when I remembered that I needed an ID card to get into my department's lounge. I pulled my backpack in front of me, rummaging for my ID card when I suddenly looked up. His hair was as dark as Lucifer's soul. It curled below his jaw, flirted with the collar of his shirt. My brain stopped working. And all I could think about was, are they shooting a movie on campus? Who is he? He continued walking, unaware of everything. That, or he didn't really care. His stride was confident, as if he owned the damned place. Broad shoulders, long legs. His face belonged to a dark archangel. Everything on him was black –back shirt, black jeans, black combat boots, black backpack. So much so that when I looked up in his eyes, the impact was like a punch to the stomach. His eyes were piercing blue. It was only a moment –a very swift moment when our eyes met. But I knew. The lasagna wasn't the biggest mistake of my life. He was.