Just do it. That's Nike's catch phrase, and the words I live by. What is there to life anyway if you don't do the things you want to do? I'm Lovely Rose Crisostomo. As “lovely” and “nice” my name sounds, I'm dubbed as a reckless, bad girl, actually “THE” bad girl of the town.From top to bottom, everything about me screams trouble. At least that's what they say. I don't necessarily see myself the way others do. I like to believe I'm just a free soul. I do whatever I want, as long as it does not involve harming others.

 

Today is my last first day of the school year in Mayland High. I am a “gradwaiting” student. I am more than ready to say goodbye to my high school years and welcome college life with a booming “Heyyy!” Mayland High never treated me well, my classmates to be exact. It's all thanks to gossip queen Daisy Grace Smith. Girls could be so cruel sometimes, and dumb. All credits go to Daisy for giving me the “bad girl” reputation. It isn't even because of something I've said or done to her. It is only because her long time crush, Nigel, liked me. To think that we were best friends throughout middle school up to first year high. She began to avoid me and then made up stories about me. People believed her immediately. Of course they did. She is the ace of the school. Plus, people never understood how we were friends. We were like oil and water, things that don't mix. I, myself, no longer remember how we were friends.

“Lovely Rose!”

I turned around to find my true best friend, Lily Anne.

“Good morning, Lily,” I greeted her

“How long have you been waiting for me?” she asked as she clung to my arm

“Long enough that I started drifting into space,”

“It did look like you were deep in thought,”

“Because you took so long,”

“Ah, never mind. I know already. Let's try our best to enjoy the last year of high school for us.”

Before I could agree with Lily, I was lightly pushed by someone. Only Daisy would dare, I thought. To my surprise, it wasn't.

“I'm sorry,” the stranger apologized, his eyes fixed on the ground.

I followed where his eyes were on which happened to be on rounded glasses. I crouched down to pick it up.

“This yours,” I assumed

“Yes,” he answered

“Be careful new kid,” a student passing by warned him

“You really should be, um what's your name?”

“Wonwoo,”

“Wonwoo, be careful, okay? Buying a new pair of glasses is expensive. And these look nice. It reminds me of mine,”

“They look exactly the same now that you've mentioned it,” said Lily

“What an unfortunate guy,” another student said while passing by

“Unfortunate? More like lucky. Looks like he's on her good side,”

“Thank you. I'll be on my way now.”

I watched the new boy walk away with no fear of me at all. He wasn't shaken by me. Instead he seemed shy.

“He's cute,” Lily nudged me

“Lily,” I rolled my eyes

“Isn't he?”

“He is,”

“Then why do you say my name in that tone?”

“Because you do this every time a new guy shows up,” I sighed, “Let's go to class,”

“You don't want to be late, I know. What kind of bad girl goes to class early?”

She was teasing. Lily found it ridiculous that people could see me as a bad girl. I may not be a genius like Daisy but I tried my best in studying. It is for my future, but I do question the teachers' strategies too much.

“We have calculus first period,” groaned Lily

“It's better to get it done with first thing in the morning than end the day with it.”

Lily was going to reply when something or someone caught her eye.

“Marcos is back,” she whispered, “And cute new guy is here too.”

This school year is starting off interestingly.

 

 

 

It is finally my last year in Mayland High meaning it will also be the last time I see Lovely Rose. It will be the last time I set eyes on her. Her name still leaves a bitter taste on my tongue. She has no remorse or guilt for stealing Nigel from me. She didn't even date him. She rejected him in front of me. It was like a slap to my face. It wasn't fair and it still isn't that Lovely Rose easily gets what I want without even trying. What's more hateful is she doesn't appreciate it.

“Excuse me miss, but you'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that. Wouldn't want such a pretty girl like you-”

“Who are you?” I rolled my eyes

“Hi! I'm Jackson,” he still offers to shake my hand

“You must be new. I'm Daisy Grace and I hate guys like you.”

Instead of responding angrily or giving me a deadly glare like most boys, Jackson remained calm.

“I'm sorry, Daisy Grace, but I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't hitting on you. I was just being real.”

And with that, he left.

“What a strange guy,”

“Daisy!”

“That has to be Mei,”

“What did I tell you about yelling?”

“That it's bad for my singing voice,”

“So why are you yelling?”

“Marcos is back,” she answered, “And that guy you were just talking to is his step brother,”

“What?”

“His dad married a Chinese lady over the summer,”

“How do you know about this?”

“I saw them move in this morning. Plus my mother knows her.”

I kept quiet. I wonder how Marcos felt. It probably didn't bother him that his new mom isn't Filipino but to have a sibling possibly might.

“That's not all,” continued Mei, “Marcos and Lovely have the same class.”

I feel a headache coming on. After Nigel, I unexpectedly developed feelings for Marcos... Yet again, Lovely Rose was the owner of his affections. Emphasize on WAS.

“So?” I pretended to not be bothered, “They broke up a long time ago. They didn't even last one year,”

“I was just letting you know,”

“Let's go to class. You know Mr. Crawford doesn't like students late to his class.”

This is the last year you'll have to deal with her, I kept repeating to myself. After this, I'll be going abroad for college, in Europe! She can't possibly follow me there. I doubt she would since I know for a fact her parents plan on sending her back to the Philippines so they won't have debt. I would be free of her. As I let out a relieved sigh, I caught a glimpse of Marcos in his class. He had his trademark black snapback that said “Bite Me” in white, covering his eyes. You have a chance, Daisy Grace, I told myself.

“Oh, it's you again,” Jackson pointed at me

“I'm sorry about earlier,” I bowed

“It's okay.”

And again just like that, our conversation was over. I don't know if I should feel insulted considering I did insult him earlier. I can still turn things around. I could help him out since he is in new territory. I could get closer to Marcos through him. This is your chance, Daisy Grace.