Close To You

Chapter 2

DENISE

It was lunch time and I have been waiting for Sheng in the Cafeteria. She told me she's going but it's twelve noon and she's still nowhere in sight.

I have already eaten half of the pasta in my plate, I felt guilty I know, but I have no choice, I am already famished. Skipping two meals is no joke.

Cafeteria will always be one of my favorite corners in the Uni, it is always rowdy but welcoming. The chatters from tables, the long queue lines, the mixed smells of aroma coming from variety of foods and cuisines, the rattle doors from the kitchen and clinking of utensils, all these makes me felt like I am indeed ordinary, like I do belong.

Although students in the Uni are obsessed in social status, the power structure here is nothing compared to where I've been.

With the need to go incognito however, my social standing here is not up to par. Well, what do you expect from a regular BSBA student with a nondescript face and unsightly body?! Nothing. Without my wealth, I am nothing but an ugly duckling, worst part is, I wont be turning into a beautiful swan.

But I am not complaining.

I escaped my top-of-the-food-chain-status to relish the simplicity and comforts of living in a makeshift life in the University. Eclipsing my reality for a short-while is something I would remember for the rest of my life.

Getting a glimpse of freedom is a glimpse of life.

This University is my oasis, and I still have two years here, so I'd rather enjoy it while it lasts.

I looked around the influx of students coming in the Cafeteria and there is still no sign of Sheng. I scanned the tables of every corner but she can't be found.

My attention was caught by the sudden burst of laughter from the long table in the left corner of the Cafeteria. I glanced at the table only to discover that some of the members of Lavigne Falcons are occupying it-along with their entourage of admiring fans.

I narrowed my gaze towards the guy in the center-Ezequiel Menares, the team Captain. He only wears a classic white shirt and ripped jeans, yet his presence outshines them all.

Menares was a graduating Engineering student. Aside from being the Team Captain and the fantasy of Uni's female population, I know nothing about him. All I remember from what I've heard from Sheng was that he's the nephew of  newly elected City Mayor and his mother owns a couple of diners. Not a bad standing I guess, but with CGC behind my back, he stands no chance.

Although with charisma like Menares, I definitely won't mind. Yet, I should, because for starters, I don't own my life.

As to his love interest?! Well its an open book, they said during his sophomore year, he fell in-love with someone named Jeanny, a senior year from Broadcasting Department, however, they broke-up at the end of the year. Some says the reason of their break-up was that the girl cheated on him, while other says Menares' parents wont approve of her. No matter what the case is, all I know is that he became single ever since.

Now he is into the usual platitudes that average boys do, flings, casual hook-ups, flavor-of-the-month kind of thing, nothing serious.

He is laughing his head off with whatever the guy who's seated beside him, is saying. The way the guy gestured animatedly, I assumed it was a narration of the just concluded game.

Menares was so enthralled with their conversation that he hardly seemed to notice that almost all the girls in the Cafeteria were eye-raping him. But who's to blame?!

The Team Captain is indeed a force to be reckoned with. He can even land an Esquire cover stint without a sweat. I am not exaggerating here, but the guy is handsome no doubt.