Girlfriends and Ex-?

When Yvonne entered the classroom, she immediately found her seat and dropped her bag. Her classmates were all catching up with one another, talking about their internships - where and with whom they were going with.

She turned to her left where her friends were looking at her with a smile. Feeling nostalgic that they were in front of her again, she fought back the tears that were threatening to fall and mustered a smile.

'My beautiful girlfriends,' she thought with a smile.

In the past, though they were living a distance from each other, they made a point to meet up every now and then just to catch up. And realizing that from today on, she would be seeing them almost every day excites her.

"Hey girlfriends! I've got news for you." She placed her hands on each side of their shoulders. These girls, Marge and Luce, were the ones who kept her sane and grounded, despite the distance between them in the past.

Marge: "Good or bad?"

Yvonne: "Good-" pause, "and bad I think?"

Luce: "You're not sure? Then what is it about?"

Yvonne lowered her arms and cleared her throat.

"I want to break up with Brien."

Luce narrowed her eyes, "Are you sure about it? Because if you are, then that is definitely the best news we'd receive today."

Yvonne pursed her lips and nodded repeatedly.

Both of her friends sighed a relief as if thanking the heavens that their friend finally saw the light.

"Then what's the bad news?"

"I'm nursing a broken heart?" With eyebrows raised, she shrugged her shoulders.

"What made you see the light?" Marge eyed Yvonne curiously amused.

"Well -" Yvonne got interrupted by another voice from behind.

"Yvonne, where are you taking up your internship?" Thal, the class leader walked up to her and asked.

"The Public Attorney's Office." Yvonne lightly answered with a small smile.

"Good for you! I'm sure you'll learn so much about the career you've chosen."

"Yeah, I'm actually excited about it. What about you?"

"With the National Police." Thal sounded proud of her reply.

"Wow! So you want to become a police officer? That's amazing, girl!"

Yvonne genuinely felt happy for the girl, though the other party felt smug.

"It is, isn't it? Alright, let's get settled down. Any minute and our professor will walk right in."

Thal turned around and walked back to her seat just as Yvonne met the eyes of her friends.

"You do realize that their faction eyes us differently." Luce whispered.

"I know. But I could care less. It isn't like there's a competition anyway. We do our own stuff and they do theirs."

"True that." Marge agreed immediately.

On cue, the door opened and Professor Pina walked in. Everyone immediately scampered to return to their seats.

"I see all of you are chatting about, huh. How about after the discussion let's have a short quiz?"

And that's when a unison of groans and playful whines heard in the hall.

~×~×~×~×~

After three hours of sitting, the class ended with answer sheets passed to the teacher.

When Yvonne passed her paper to Prof. Pina, she heard him ask, "Ms. Pereira, how are you holding up?"

A look of surprise flashed in her face, before answering, "I'm doing good, Sir."

"Good to know. We don't want our students to get side tracked because of... some mindless things." Prof. Pina gave Yvonne a meaningful look.

Yvonne appreciated the gesture that it warmed her heart knowing these people, her mentors, though being strict, they actually care for their students more than they show.

She cleared the lump in her throat before answering, "Thank you very much for your words, Sir. I will keep them in mind."

When she turned, she was met with curious eyes of her classmates, which she ignored and just sent them a faint smile.

Outside the room, Yvonne found her friends and joined them eagerly.

Luce, the closest to her among the two, asked her, "So, you've finally gotten rid of the sturdy helmet[1]?"

"I believe I woke up at the right side of the bed. For real, this time." Yvonne confidently told them.

"What exactly happened?" Marge curiously asked.

"Let's talk it over coffee. Come, I'm hungry." Yvonne led her friends to their favorite coffee shop and ordered snacks for the group.

Yvonne told the girls what Brien did the other day. They were furious at the guy, to say the least.

"Well," Luce sighed. "At least you managed to get away from him this time."

"Yeah." Yvonne might have agreed, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that Brien's matter was not over yet.

"That's worth celebrating!" Marge beamed at them.

"Riiiiiiight!"

"Let's go to the park after school. Tomorrow's the weekend, so let's just hang out?"

After their short break, they went back to class with a lighter atmosphere.

~×~×~×~×~

In another city.

"Honey, why don't you take a rest? You've been working much harder than before. It might take a toll on your health."

A young, petite girl walked towards Brien who was typing furiously at his computer. On his desk were piles of folders, and dozens of cigarette butts overflow the ashtray on the side. The huge mess could make one cringe at the sight, not to mention the god-awful smell of burnt tobacco yet the man wasn't fazed by it.

Hearing no response, Janine carefully treaded behind Brien and tried to massage his shoulder with her dainty hands. Her actions made him pause that after releasing a huge sigh, he closed his computer and turned around to face her.

"Let me take a shower then I'm all yours." He stood up, but not before flashing a smirk that he thought able to seduce further the girl as she blushed intensely at his remark.

He then strode towards the bathroom. Holding the door, he turned to her and said, "Unless you want to join me?" He tilted his head as emphasis on his meaning.

Janine gasped, then shook her head no.

"Let me just tidy up your things while you shower."

Brien chuckled huskily, "The invitation stands open."

"Yeah, I know. But no, thanks." The girl put up a sassy look.

"Your loss." They both chuckled as Brien closed the bathroom door.

She shook her head and began to tidy up the desk, took out the scraps and cigarette butts.

When she was about to turn away, a phone chimed indicating a message notification. She found it beside the computer and picked it up, the phone lights lit up just in time for her to see a photo of another girl as the wallpaper.

She knew the girl in the picture. How could she not know when they go to the same university. They were even in the same college department. And just this morning, Janine and her friends had a small encounter in the hallway.

But what she couldn't understand was why does Brien still have her photo. Are they still together? Was that why Yvonne looked calm before?

But Brien told her they have already broken up. Or, could it be that Yvonne was just trying to hide her broken heart?

Her daze was broken when she heard the bathroom door open. She jumped slightly at the sound then continued cleaning up, acting as if nothing happened.

"You okay, honey?" Brien, wearing only a towel below his waist, creeped up behind Janine and held her hips. "You seem jumpy just now."

Janine sighed, "I'm fine."

She tried to pull herself away from Brien's arms. But before she could, she felt him tighten his hold on her and started nibbling her neck.

"You smell amazing, girl." Brien growled then turned her to face him. "Come, let's get to bed."