Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Isabella's pov;

"You are supposed to be here at 7 am. Look at the time now. Why are you late?"

It's 7.10 am. It's just ten minutes. Why is Mr Davis shouting at me like this? If you want to send me to a detention room, just say so. Why are you shouting at me pointlessly?

He gave me a bunch of keys and said, "Give this to Ms Hilton in the sports club."

"Yes, Sir."

To sports club? The sports club is situated near the playground which is two stories away from this building. To make me walk a long distance, he could have sent me to the detention room in the first place. Today is the freshy contest, it'll be fun today since it's my first freshy contest after joining here. I hope Jose gets the first place for the contest. He didn't even said the song name he's going to perform. Why did he kept it secret from me? I wonder which song he's going play on the stage. Whatever the song is, i hope he wins.

I saw Carlos talking to a girl, who's that girl? Is she a girlfriend? I didn't know Carlos had a girlfriend. Let's go and greet them.

I punched Carlos on his shoulder and asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you'll be busy preparing for the contest."

That girl asked, "You're participating too?"

Carlos said no to that girl and whispered to me, "When did I say I'm participating?"

"Look at her. How excited she is. You should do it, dude."

That girl said, "We'll see later in the practice, Carl." And left.

I tickled Carlos and teased him, "Carl, heh?... Who's she? Your girlfriend?"

"Not yet. And, stop meddling with my things. Don't you have anything to do?"

I showed the keys and said, "Actually, I have. I'm on the way to the sports club. Mr Davis asked me to Ms Hilton."

"You're going to the sports club?"

"Yup!"

"Can I tag along with you?"

"Why do you sound like you're interested suddenly?"

"Grace is the secretary of the sports club."

"Grace, who?"

"The girl you just saw."

"You should have told me already. I would have handed over the keys to her. Now, I have to walk all over the sports club. Idiot."

He gave a flick over my forehead and said, "How am i supposed to know that?"

When I started to walk, he walked alongside and said, "We now have a chance to meet her again on the same day."

I pushed him away and said, "Keep all your cheesy stuff away from me."

"Really? Then what about this?" He touched my lips and continued, "If the one is cheezy here, why do your lips get plumpy."

I covered my lips with my hands and said, "A bug bit me."

"Bella! Do you think I'm an idiot? A bug bit you, on your lips? Anyone can say it's because of the kiss. Don't think I'm dumb." And walked before me.

When I got up in the morning, Mr Martinez said that a bug bit me. And, I believed it. Did that make me a stupid? So it wasn't a bug bite like Carlos said? Was that because of a kiss? Did he kiss me or Oh, no! Did I kiss him while I was drunk? I should stop drinking. I couldn't remember anything if I got wasted. Why did I get drunk myself?

Carlos said, "It's fine. It'll go away in some time." And patted on my shoulder.

"It's a bug bite!" And walked past him.

In the sports club,

After handing over the keys to her, Ms Hilton asked me, "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be in the crew helping out to make the stage."

"Am I? But no one told me…"

"Mr Davis put your names along with the members. I saw it when I checked out the list. Hurry and go to the auditorium."

"Yes, mam."

When did Mr Davis do that? He didn't even ask me if I'm interested or not?

When I looked at Carlos, he was talking with that secretary he mentioned earlier. I waved at him and left to the auditorium like Ms Hilton said.

In the auditorium,

I walked to the stage and looked at people working so hard. What should I do to help them? This is my first time being in a crew, unexpectedly.

Gia called out my name. Ah! Finally, someone I knew. When I ran to her, she gave me an id and asked me to wear it for the day to identify as a crew member.

"Where were you?"

"Mr Davis asked me to pass the keys to Ms Hilton in the sports club."

"Okay, fine." She pointed to some tables and said, "Can you see the tables over there? That's where the trophies and sachet will be placed so go and clean it and spread the cloth which is hung over there."

I gave a nod and walked to that table. When I placed my hand on the table, the dust flew around and made me sneeze into air filled with dust. How should I clean it? I looked around for a waste cloth to sweep the dust away from the table.

I found a cloth near people who were working on the stage decoration. I asked them for the cloth, after they gave a green signal, I took the cloth and cleaned the table. I spread the new velvet cloth on the table and made it look neat.

I walked to Gia and said that I'm done with the cloth. She asked me to help others who were doing the stage decor.

While I was helping the people who were stage decoration, Gia called me in the middle of the work and said, "This is Jeremy. He's part of the hospitality. Can you go and buy the drinks with him? It'll be a lot to carry so help him carry the drinks."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

In the cafeteria,

"Can you hold it?"

Jeremy asked while I was holding three bags of juices in my hands.

"It's not heavy. I'm fine."

"I'm sorry to bother you. Peter, who was supposed to do this, didn't show up yet. That's why I asked Gia for help."

"It's totally fine with me. I have worked as a waitress in diners and cafes so carrying these drinks isn't a thing for me."

"Which one?"

"Not now. It's been two years."

"Okay."

In the auditorium,

"Thank you again. Take this." He gave me a drink in return for the help.

While I was holding the juice, I saw Jose making his way to the stage along with others. I think they are all participants of the freshy contest.

Gia announced, "Listen up everyone, the rehearsal will be starting now so let's do these decorations later. Anyone who wants a break, can leave. Don't forget to gather around 1 pm." And walked to the participants.

Jeremy came to me and said, "I'm on my way to the cafeteria. Do you want to tag along?"

I looked at Jose and saw him being busy with others so I said to Jeremy that I was free.

In the cafeteria,

Jeremy took a seat next to me at the lunch table. I smiled warmly at him and he just stared at me and started introducing himself, "Too bad I didn't introduce myself clearly. I'm Jeremy Johnson, First year of Marketing and advertising. All the way from San Andreas."

"I'm Isabella Garcia, first year of Business administration. I'm around here. Santa Fe."

"You said you've been a waitress in diners and cafes before. I bet you like food a lot."

"Can we talk after getting something to eat?"

He broke out into laughter and said, "Yeah."

We sat with our trays filled with burgers, french fries, and grilled sandwiches. The smell of the food wafted into our noses as we all dug in.

I whispered to him, "Since it's a freshy contest, we get to eat nice food today."

He nodded and started digging in.

"The person who's participating in your faculty, what are they going to do?"

"I heard he's going to play piano."

"Wow! Classy."

"Yeah, do you like music?"

"A bit. Why?"

"There's a concert that I'm going to this weekend. Wanna join me?"

I let out a nervous laugh and said, "We just met today. You're already asking me out?"

He laughed and said, "I have extra tickets with me."

"How many? I have a bunch of friends."

"Three."

"Too bad. There's not enough tickets for my friends."

"What about you? Do you want to come?"

"Who's performing?"

"The skiller."

"Really? They're coming to Santa Fe?"

"Yes! It's a mini world tour."

"I'm not a big fan but I still love their songs. I want to go so badly."

"Then, come. What's stopping you?"

"Okay. I'll think about it."

He placed the ticket over the table and slided it over to me and said, "It's yours now."

I took the ticket and tucked it into my pocket and said, "Thank you for the ticket."

Everyone gathered backstage like Gia announced. The participants were rehearsing in the front while we're working on the arrangements for the contest backstage.

A girl gave me a bouquet of flowers and said, "Take this to the front table."

"Okay." I received it from her and walked to the front and kept it on the front table like she said.

While I was arranging the table, I saw a familiar face standing in the doorway. I didn't expect him to be here so early but he did say he'd come back today. When I notice that his eyes meet mine, I can't help but smile at my best friend. He's looking down shyly, holding the guitar in his hands.

"Bella!" I heard Jose's voice. "You're in the crew?"

I raised my ID and said, "Yup! How's your preparation going for the contest?"

"Pretty good."

"Will you get first place?"

He pointed to a guy who was playing the piano and said, "He's better than me."

"You can do it, just scream out of our lungs when you sing."

Jose left to practice again.

I looked at the guy who Jose pointed at. He was playing the piano gracefully.

I took the soft drinks and gave one to every participant and walked over to the guy who was playing the piano.

"Hi…" gave him juice.

He took the juice and returned to playing the piano.

"Um… are you from marketing and advertising?"

He gave a nod and asked, "How did you know that?"

"I met one of your friends before. The name's Jeremy."

He gave a nod and gave me the juice back saying, "Can you please take it back? I don't drink stuff like this."

I took the juice back from him and said, "Okay."

What is the sudden change of expression?

As the time passed, Everyone started to pour into the auditorium. There was a lot of noise when people started to enter, and as always, there were a bunch of people yelling about something. Along with crew members, I guided people to their seats and walked in the stairs to see if there's empty seats to make people sit.

The freshy contest began, they started announcing about the contest on the stage. The participants walked on the stage representing their facilities and introduced themselves on the stage. They began performing group dances which they prepared for the audience and for the judges. After the group performance, participants came on the stage one by one and started performing their own talent. Like a girl sang a song, a guy showed magic tricks, a guy danced, a girl showed martial arts. Everyone gave their best to show their talents. The guy who was playing the piano played a song. It was so professional. His manner is totally opposite to his talent. Jose finally came up on the stage.

I heard someone calling out Jose's name. When I looked in the direction, it was Tracy. I smiled and started shouting Jose's name along with her.

Jose started singing the song he prepared. Wow. He has a nice vocal. With this voice, I bet he's the one who's going to win the contest. I'm cheering for you Jose.

After every participant showed their unique talent, some were selected for the final round of the questionnaire. The first three questions can be answered through a written essay about each participant's life experience, what they like and dislike about the process.

A host began asking questions to the selected participants. Jose was also one of them.

They asked a question to Jose, "Does a woman sacrifice more than a man?"

"Definitely a Yes, women do more sacrifices linked to their roles within the family whereas men are likely to sacrifice only in their changes of lifestyles. This may explain why women have been seen as more passive than men, they would not be able to change for the man nor could they influence his decisions. So I cheer for all the women around me to fight more and make choices too."

He answered it in a cool way. Everyone cheered and clapped for him.

The host asked the guy who played piano, "If you could break one rule, what rule would that be?"

He answered, "Obey the rules. That's the rule I want to break if I want to break one of the rules."

The questionnaire finished.

We all waited for the winner's name. They announced the popular vote award. A girl from the Finance faculty got it. They're going to say the freshy contest winner's name. The moment we're waiting for.

"And the winner is Greg, from the first year of Marketing and advertising."

What!?

They announced the runner up's name. Jose.

After everything was over, we all cleared out backstage. While I was cleaning confetti on the stage, Jeremy came and asked me, "Have you made up your mind for the concert, Bella?"

"I'm so tired. Let's talk about it later. We still have one whole week to think about it."

"Okay. Take your time. Um, your number?"

I gave my phone to him and said, "Save your number. I got confetti to clean."

"What about the password?"

"I don't have any. Just open and save your number."

"Okay."

After some time, he gave my phone back and said, "You can leave. I'll take care of it."

"Aw! Thank you so much my new friend."

I took some confetti in my hands and stuck it in my pocket.

"You like them too?"

"Yup!"

"My sister likes it too."

"How old is she?"

"Third grader."

"I have a sister who's in fourth grade but she doesn't like stuff like this. She's more like a mature child who likes technology and stuff."

I laughed and gave some to him and left the auditorium.

While I was on the way to the entrance, Tracy and Jose jumped on me.

"You two scared the hell out of me."

They laughed together.

Tracy said, "Did you see him on the stage? Did you see how he looked cool on the stage?"

I gave a flick on Tracy's head and said, "Stop praising your boyfriend. I'm already tired working as a crew member. And, congrats to Jose for winning. Be all lovey-dovey after I leave."

I gave a hug and walked to the entrance.

I saw Mateo's car outside the gate.

"How long are you waiting here?" I asked Mateo.

"I just came a few minutes back."

I got in the car and said, "I'm so sorry, Mateo. Why didn't you call me? If you made a call, I would have rushed out of the college."

"How was your day?"

"It was good, fun and tiring."

"Tiring?"

"Mr Davis put me along with the crew members to work backstage so it was tiring but I still had fun."

"Didn't you have any classes today?"

"Nope! Since we have a contest, we're free from classes."

"Good for you."

"Don't tell this to Mr Martinez."

"Got it." And made a wink at me.

At Mr Martinez's house,

"Why did you come late?" He asked as soon as I stepped into the house. Was he a hawk?

"There was a freshy contest today…"

"I know about the contest, you didn't participate then why were you late?"

"Because I was… why should I have to tell you by the way. Like you say everything to me." And continued walking to the stairs.

"What did I hide?"

I looked at him and asked while pointing to my lips, "You said a bug bit me."

"Yes."

"But it didn't. The bug which bit me was you." And pointed at him.

He smiled at me and said, "But you were the one who came up to me."

"Even if i did that, you should have pushed me away but why did you kiss me?"

He remained silent.

I held his collar and stared at him by looking into his eyes. He stared back at me without blinking as he didn't answer.

"You know, you should learn how to be a better person before you start acting like one." I said calmly and continued, "Why are you being silent? Answer me, why didn't you push me away?"

He wrapped his hand around my waist and pulled closer to him and said, "How could I resist if you're being close like this?"

I struggled in his grip and said, "This is sexual harrasment, Mr Martinez."

"Then why aren't you pushing me away?" And came closer to me like sniffing my neck.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see anything."

I heard Big brother's voice suddenly inside the house.

We retreated back.

Big brother asked Mr Martinez, "Did I interrupt something?"

Mr Martinez gave a death stare at him which made me chuckle.

"I'm going to my room." And climbed the stairs.

Why didn't I push him away? Why are you so obvious?