Page 1 of Chasing Mr. Prefect
CHAPTER 1
“Siya nauna, I swear!”
I sounded more like a first-grader shifting blame rather than a nineteen-year-old with a valid argument on why I should not be suspended but the adrenaline and the blood pounding in my ears made it hard for me to think straight. I was at the head disciplinary prefect’s office, my hair disheveled and clothes rumpled, waiting for my verdict.
“You know that brawling is a serious offense, right?” my professor asked me as she leaned against the edge of the table beside my chair with her arms crossed.
I flinched under her stare. “Yes, Miss Co,” I replied. “I’m sorry. But I swear I only fought back to defend myself. Can you imagine what could have happened had I let her on? I’d be left with no hair!”
“I know, Vinnie,” Miss Co said, gliding off the table with such ease and grace. “But I can’t let you off so easily.”
Miss Co was my professor in Business Administration 170, also known as BA 170 or Marketing Management. She was only seven years older than I was but I respected her more than all my professors put together. I admired her, too. She was a genius in the field, immediately recruited by a multinational consumergoods company as a management trainee after graduating magna cum laude. She stayed there for a couple of years before deciding to return to school for further studies, where she accepted the offer to teach undergrad subjects to lessen her tuition fees.
I wanted to pursue a similar path so I considered Miss Co a mentor. Disappointing her was the last thing I wanted.
“Fill this out while we wait for Cholo,” she said, handing me an official-looking bunch of papers with formidable red letters on the heading. It basically spelled out that I was in serious trouble but my mind was stuck on her last word.
“Cholo?” I sputtered, fingers shaking as I put the form down on the table. I could feel my soul wanting to leave my body at that moment. “As in… Cholo Valiente?”
“Who else? You’re in the head prefect’s office, remember?” my professor said with a short laugh.
I closed my eyes tight and swore under my breath, bringing out a pen from that trusty pocket in my bag and willing the ground to eat me alive. First, Miss Co, and nowhim?
Too late for that, girl.Cholo saw everything, anyway.
Sighing, I concentrated on the form instead.
Name:
Exconde, Lavinia Magdalene L.
Program:
BS, Business Administration
I was nearly finished when the door opened. A tall, bespectacled figure with a red Jansport backpack slung over hisbroad shoulders entered the room. I held my breath and noticed how he had our Managerial Accounting textbook tucked under his left arm. The muscles were taut from carrying the book’s weight.
TheCholo Valiente.
I took a deep breath.Lavinia, NO. Focus.
“Sorry, I got caught up at the dean’s office, too.” Cholo flashed Miss Co a smile before his eyes settled on me.
I became around ten thousand times more conscious of my bodily functions and hoped to the heavens that I did not look as ridiculous as I felt.
Ay, asa.My fresh-from-sabunot hair must still have looked like a bird’s nest, judging by the look on his face.
“Does she need checking?” Cholo asked Miss Co like I could not hear him. He placed his things on top of the table and then sat on the office chair, giving me another look as he pushed his glasses up his nose. “She might have bruises.”
I wondered if I had any on my face and arms but realized that Cholo was just pulling my leg when I heard Miss Co shush him.
Sipain ko ‘to eh.
“Stop that, Cholo,” said Miss Co, giving him her best attempt at a glare. “In case you haven’t formally met, this is Lavinia Exconde.”
Oh, we knew each other very well,I was tempted to say. I knew him from childhood but given our complicated history, I pretended not to.
“So I’ve heard,” Cholo said, eyes with a twinkle of mischief as he gripped my hand. He sure was finding this entertaining—me having to acknowledge him when I had been doing such a good job of not doing so the past three years. His expression showed deep amusement, if not a little of schadenfreude.