The bell rings and the class went out of the classroom one by one. I stop Chocho from getting up from her seat and gestures her to remain sitting on her chair.

"What's wrong?" she asks twitching her brows.

"I have to tell you something or probably ask your help about something very important," and she becomes suspicious by narrowing her eyes at me.

"What's that? What did you do?" she says pointing at me.

"I'll tell you once everyone leaves the room," I whisper and she nods as if to say she understands what I am saying.

We wait until the class is left empty and just the two of us remain sitting at our desks. She turns to me like she is telling me to start talking already.

"Tomorrow..." I start and sigh deeply. She waits for me to continue.

"Don't freak out, okay?" I tell her and her eyes stretch in suspicion. She nods constantly like a child without uttering a sound.

"Tomorrow the jerk and I will be having our first tutorial session for the pre-final examination..." I pause and she keeps her eyes on me.

"And then?" she utters impatiently.

"We will be doing it at his place," I say like I am calculating her mood and thinking what will be her reaction after hearing it.

"Okay, at his place... wait, WHAT?!" she freaks out. I am expecting that reaction honestly.

"I told you not to freak out," I say clenching my chest.

"Hello, Sarada? Who would not freak out hearing that you are going to Kawaki's place? Oh god, seriously?" she panics. She is being a concerned best friend to me now.

"But I have no choice, the jerk enjoys watching me struggle with his crap," I defend and sound so helpless.

"By that, he was the one who sets this up, right?" her guess is right. He did. I nod to confirm it and she is left in awe.

"He's a heartless jerk for doing this to me," I'm uncharacteristically depressed.

"You know, I feel strange about this," she remarks and I feel a little frightened.

"You think so?" I ask in fear.

"Or maybe I was just paranoid?" she shrugs and bites her lower lip.

"I don't know what to do," my lips shake and Chocho faintly taps my shoulders.

"So what do you want to ask from me?" she asks and I turn to face her.

"Will you come with me tomorrow?" I say and she moves her fingers like she is fiddling them while thinking of an answer.

"I don't think Kawaki will approve if I'll come with you. Did you ask him if it's okay though?" she asks and I shake my head. I did not ask him about it.

"I'll ask him then," I say and she nods. Hopefully, he will approve it.

"Mom would not worry if I'm with you," I say and she smiles.

"But you will be with a guy the whole day and not with me," she shrugs and chuckles.

"That's why I want you to come with me," I say and she responds with, "If he approves." Yeah, if he will.

Why is this so troublesome?

Drama Club Council Room

"Sorry, I'm late," I say upon entering the room. I look for the jerk around the campus yet I haven't met him and I lost track of time for our practice.

The whole council including Sumire were already there probably waiting for me to arrive.

"It's okay Sarada. Get inside," the council adviser tells me and I get in and immediately sit on a vacant chair.

I look at Sumire and she smiles at me, I smile back and switch my gaze at the adviser when she speaks, "As for Ms. Sumire's progress as an apprentice, she did well from the past few days." She is smiling while declaring that in front of us. The group rejoices for Sumire's achievement. I am happy for her too.

"Too bad for you Sarada, you haven't seen her played your role a while ago. She perfectly memorized your lines but I think Ms. Sumire needs more practice in acting," she comments on her performance. I smile and respond with, "I'm happy to know that Sumire is doing well with her apprenticeship and I am betting that she will be a part of this club in no time." There's no faking it. I am genuinely happy about the progress she made.

"I am looking forward to it," the council adviser says and smiles.

"Thank you for your comments and trust in me. I will always do my best and I promise that I will not let you down," she humbly says and everyone seems to like her a bit more.

"Okay, let's get to the stage and practice. The School Anniversary is less than three weeks from now," the club's President claps her hands to signal everyone to move and get up from their seats and we proceed to practice.

The orange sky is the sign that the sunset is approaching. We just finished practicing and the students are leaving the campus already.

I need to talk to him about taking Chocho with me tomorrow. Where is he?

I know there's no one in the hallway or our classroom by now but I need to try looking for him there. So, I head back to our classroom.

A beep from my pocket stops me from walking. I grab my phone from my pocket and see who has texted me just now and it turns out to be Chocho. I open her message and it says, "Where are you? I am waiting for you at the school gates," I type my reply and send it to her. Just hang in there for a moment Chocho. I need to talk to him.

I rush to our classroom and luckily, the person I am looking for is currently packing his things he is the one left.

"Hey," I call out to him. He stops doing his thing and turns to face me.

"What do you want, dork?" he responds then gets back in packing his things again.

"I want to ask you something," I say and he did not answer. I wait for a while and finally, he talks.

"Ask me what?" his nonchalant response.

"About tomorrow's activity," I say. He finishes packing his things and grabs his bag from the desk and faces me walking his way in my direction.

"What about it?" he coldly speaks and keeps his pace.

"Can I bring Chocho with me tomorrow?" I say and he pauses.

"What for?" he asks while looking directly into my eyes.

"For security purposes. You might do something stupid to me I must be cautious," I respond and he chuckles.

"You can't. I don't want another nuisance in my house. And in fact, I am not interested in dorks especially in you. So, you don't have to worry," he says and makes continuous steps out of the classroom. He walks past me while he leaves me frowning at him.

"You arrogant jerk. I am not interested in a monkey face like you either," I hit back at him but he seems not to care about what I am saying to him and he completely leaves me alone inside. I growl at his grumpy behavior. Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!

I found Chocho waiting for me at the campus gates and she waves upon seeing me. When I appear closer to her, she immediately asks about the jerk's reply to my query.

"He did not approve," I say while shaking my head.

"That's sad. So you will go without me," she says smiling bitterly. I nod helplessly.

"He is a jerk. A monkey face jerk!" I growl and Chocho chuckles.

"Don't worry, you will be fine. You're a strong girl. Just call me whenever a bad thing happens and if you think you can't handle it yourself," she assures me with a smile. Well, that's all I needed right now, my best friend's support.

"Cover me up if mom will ask you about us working together, okay?" I say and she agrees by lifting her right thumb in front of me. I smile faintly at her and she wraps her arms around me to comfort her troubled friend. Chocho consoles me every time. I am grateful to have her.

Saturday 7:15 a.m.

I scroll through my phone and look for the jerk's address. My phone's GPS device cannot detect his location.

"Is he making fun of me?" I utter in annoyance. This jerk is getting into my nerves. I am carrying a backpack behind me because I have some books borrowed from the library for more sources. I just don't want to rely on our textbooks alone. I have brought all things needed for this session.

I try to search for his address again and finally, I have located it. So, he is from the heart of the city, huh? I need to take on the bus for thirty minutes and walk for thirty meters before I can get to his place.

I get on the bus that stops in front of me. This is the first time I am going to his place. Chocho and I usually stray in the city during our leisure time. So, I am familiar with some places there but not with his home address.

I have to think that this is a leisure journey and I'm doing a very important job so I will get inspired instead of getting pestered by a jerk. I occupy myself by listening to music and watch the scenery outside.

The bus stops and it comes to my consciousness that I have finally arrived just in time. I step out of the bus and look around. I look at my phone and the GPS tells me that I am almost at my destination. I walk in the direction where the GPS is instructing me to go. It's just the street name and the house and block number he gave me.

I keep watching on my phone and I am slowly getting there. The red light blinks on my phone when I reached a certain point in the street. When I turn right, a huge house appears right in front of my eyes with a red gate blocking the entrance. On the right corner of the gate just above the doorbell, the block and house number match with what the jerk gave me.

So, he lives in a huge house like this? Damn, this jerk is kind of rich, oh man!

I fix myself before hitting the doorbell. Once I am finished, I push the button. Nobody is getting outside. I push the button three times this time and a few seconds later, the door creaks and it opens.

The jerk comes out of the door. He wears a plain T-shirt and a pair of black pants. He looks cool in such a simple outfit. I shake my head when I realized I am thinking nonsense. Stop it, Sarada! Me scolding myself in my head. I gulp when the gate slowly opens.

"Uh, um. Good morning," I greet but he did not respond. How rude. "Get inside," he says coldly instead and walks back inside the house. I pout while following him.

He stops at the doorway and speaks, "Just mind your own business, okay?" He then proceeds inside his house. I follow him inside. I remove my shoes and bare feet while stepping on their crystal clear floor. I am amazed at the scenery I am seeing. It is my first time entering a huge house like this. I noticed one thing, nobody's around except for him. So, he is living alone here?

"Wait for me at the veranda," he says while pointing at the right side of the house. I nod and walk towards the area. I don't know where he is up to I just follow his instruction. When I look at the wall to my right, a picture of a young beautiful woman is hanged on the wall. She must be the jerk's late mom. I am clueless as to what kind of person this jerk is.

There are photos of a kid jerk together with the woman on the wall. My guess was right.

On the table next to the shelf, there is a photo of the same woman, a paper and box wrapped with a red ribbon. And what's written on the paper is 'Happy Birthday, mom'

"No way..." I mumble. So, it's his mom's birthday today. Maybe this is the reason why he doesn't want to go anywhere today. I cup my face in embarrassment. I look at my back but there's no sign of him.

I move to the next table and what's on there makes me shocked. My irises enlarge and my lips hang up. I can't believe my eyes and I can't stop myself from wondering too.

"This is..." I mumble in disbelief.

"Why is Mr. Martin's photo here?"

To be continued...