★JANIE★

"Wow! Who sent the letter to you? Your boyfriend?" Sandra persisted, but I remained frozen.

Shock gripped me from the crown of my head down to the sole of my feet. I could not believe this was part of the birthday gift Luciano gave me that day and I spoke to him rudely afterward.

My heart tightened with guilt and my mind raced with regret. I shouldn't have spoken to Luciano in that manner. Nonetheless, I'd have to find a way somehow to apologize and return this gift.

I don't want the apartment.

"Spill Janie. Is this some kind of undercover relationship?" Sandra prodded.

"No, it's not," I replied in a hushed whisper, picking up the box from the ground and then going ahead to plop on my bed.

Still, Sandra followed me.

"Are you going to take the apartment?" She queried again and I shook my head.

"I can't."

"Why? So you are going to turn down such a huge gift?" Parting her lips open in disbelief, her eyes narrowed at me in awe.

"Sandra, this relationship isn't hidden or anything. It's pretty much complicated, which is why I can't take the apartment." I laid it down properly for her to understand.

She took in a deep breath and let it out in a loud gush. Thereafter, she sat beside me. Her hazel eyes held mine in concern. "I don't mean to pry, Janie. I know we are still pretty much like strangers, but if we are going to be roommates and friends, there's no need to hide anything from each other." She paused to catch her breath before continuing. "Hi, my name is Sandra. The only child of my parents set to divorce. I have been torn since their incessant arguments, and heated exchange of abusive words, so when my admission letter came in, I was very excited to get the hell out of the house. I didn't want to be part of the process of their messy divorce."

Her revelation made my stomach clench. I couldn't even bring myself to think of what she might be going through inside. Although, my parents didn't go through a messy divorce. But the fact that they were no more, still ate at me until now.

"I'm so sorry, Sandra."

Sandra took her hands in mine. "No, don't be. I'm not telling you this for pity. I just wanted to get it out there. You know on my way here, I prayed to have a charming roommate, someone with whom I could share things. Someone who could be like the sister I never had. You seem like that person, Janie. And this isn't about spewing your relationship problems to me. It's fine if you don't want to. But I just wanted to put myself out there to you, hoping you'd see me as someone you can also trust."

Seeing the glint of hurt in Sandra's eyes made me want to throw my hands around her and hug her. But then, I decided against it. The best thing I could offer her was to treat her like a friend and sister like she needed.

Clearing my throat, I started to explain. "What do you do if you're with a man that acts so despicable at your first meeting, but then he starts acting nice and caring towards you? It's not like he's a nice person or anything. His job is worse. But then, he comes to you asking that you become his girlfriend?"

Sandra brought a finger to her lips as she was trying to comprehend what I just said. "Then I'd date him. Is he hot?"

"This isn't about—" I began to say but she cut me off.

"Is he hot?"

"Very. That's why sometimes I don't know how to feel when his hands touch me. My mind would keep warning me to desist from having any intimate moment with him. But then, my body always betrays me. Countless times, we've kissed, and done some foreplay but we've never made love. Thereafter, I'd go back to regretting why I allowed him to touch me and try to play the defensive mode by being rude to him."

Sandra smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Do you want to hear the truth?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"If I were in your shoes, I'd date him. There's no problem at all because according to your words, he was malicious on your first encounter. Later on, he changed into a sweet person. From his change of attitude towards you, I can tell that he likes you. Now, I don't need to ask about the things you guys have been through together, however, he has taken several miles to prove that he wants you."

A wave of shock swept through me. Luciano has never said he liked me before. He only pushed ahead, making claims about me, but he has never mentioned that he felt something for me.

"And from the look on your face right now, I can tell that you like him too." Sandra's voice chimed through my thoughts.

"Of course not," I interjected. "We fought a couple of days ago. Though I feel bad for the things I said to him, I don't have feelings for him."

Sandra pressed her lips together as if to suppress her laughter.

"What?" I pressed, tossing her a cursory look.

"You're in the denial phase, Janie. Most ladies tend to be in a state of denial and when they realize their feelings, it might be too late. So my advice— visit him if he stays around. Apologize for the things you said to him and then politely reject the apartment he got for you, more so, I'm glad to have you as my roommate. But then, facing him again will help you discover what you feel deep down." She advised.

Somehow, I understood every point Sandra passed to me. Facing Luciano again might not be the best option if I was trying to let him go. Perhaps, I could just deliver the gifts through a dispatch rider and then send him an apology message.

Expelling a sharp air, I managed a small smile at Sandra. "Thank you for your advice. I'd act on it."

Sandra returned the smile. "Alright then, let's put your things in order, so we can prepare for tomorrow's class."

Together, we arranged my things, discussing a couple of situations. Thereafter, Sandra brought out two cups of instant noodles for us to prepare when hunger struck. Then, we had our late-night shower before retiring to bed.

"Night night, Janie!" She called, switching off her bedside lamp.

I turned off mine too. "Good night."

******THE NEXT MORNING*********

Sandra and I hurried out of our hostel, careful not to bump into other girls going about their activities too.

We rushed down to the school premises. "My department is that way," she pointed towards another route. "See you later, Janie."

"Later, hun. Pay attention in class, okay?"

I heard her laugh as she hastened her pace. "Okay, Mom." And I smiled at her response.

The moment I realized that I didn't know the way to my department, my smile immediately faltered.

Looking around frantically, I tried to read some of the building inscriptions. Geology, Engineering, and so on. But none of them said nursing.

Worry laced my brows as I took towards the opposite direction, still searching for my department.

"You seem lost." A deep voice emanated behind me and I turned around to see a handsome guy around my age in glasses.

"Yes, I am." My chest rose and fell in anxiety. "Please do you know the route to the nursing department?"

"Oh! That's where I'm headed." He said and I breathed out in relief.

He flashed a warm grin at me and held out his hand. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Felix."

"Janie."

Felix and I began to walk in the direction said to be the nursing department.

"I came to school three days ago, just so I could get familiar with my surroundings." He began to say.

"I guess I'm a fool for not thinking of that then."

"No no." Felix chipped. "The whole point of that narrative is to inform you that I went to the department yesterday, and found some freshmen there too, so we created a nursing freshman group. Would you like to join?"

"Yes, I will."

"Alright give me your phone." I handed out my phone to him and he took it, then he typed something. "Here, that's my number. Call me later today, and I'll add you to the group."

I took the phone from him and then smiled. "Thank you."

We got into the building with the inscription 'Nursing' and I was surprised by the number of students trooping in.

"By the way, I think we are having pharmacology as the first course this morning." He said as we entered into the freshman department and took our seats beside each other.

Everyone took their seats and the rowdy hall instantly became settled.

Minutes later, a man with a nice physique breezed into the hall and then scribbled down on the whiteboard.

Professor Lucien. Pharmacology.

When he turned to face the crowd, my jaw dropped to the floor.

Luciano?

Our eyes met and I froze to bits on my chair. His eyes were devoid of emotions as they bore into mine. Second later, he looked away and addressed the class.

"Welcome. I'm Professor Lucien, and I'll be taking you pharmacology."