Loving The Other Devil

Ana Louella

It's my first year in Don Leoncio Severino International University, the leading university in the Philippines and one of the best universities in Asia. It's been almost three months since the class had started. Thankfully, I've finally adjusted to the surroundings and I owe it to Meg Andrea and Jill Andrei who are my best friends in High School.

My parents mandated me to enroll in this university while Meg was given a scholarship to study here. Meg and I enrolled in Fashion Design and Merchandising. Fortunately, we're classmates. On the other hand, Andrei is taking up Business Administration and it's his second year in DLSIU.

"Lou, did you bring your lunch today?" Meg suddenly asked.

"Oh! I overslept, I didn't have time to make one. How about you?" I replied. Meg sighed and then she answered,

"My Mom made my lunch but I forgot to bring it."

"We can just eat at the cafeteria. I hope Andrei didn't bring his lunch too." I said then I gave her a small smile and she nodded.

For the past few weeks, we've been bringing our lunch with us and we used to eat lunch together in one of the benches provided by the university. Although the students have different vacant periods, the cafeteria gets too crowded every time so we agreed to bring packed lunch everyday.

"Where the hell is Andrei?! We've been standing here for eight minutes! When is he planning to come here?!" She wailed as she kicked the wall in front of her.

We've been standing here for almost ten minutes and Andrei is not yet here. I wonder what's taking him too long to get here.

"Wait, I'll call him." I said then I took out my phone from my jeans' back pocket and dialed his phone number.

His phone rang a couple of times then he finally answered my call.

"Hey, I'm on my way. Mr. Rivera just dismissed us now. I'm sorry for making you guys wait." He answered instantly.

"It's okay. Did you bring your lunch?" I asked.

"Sh*t! I left it at home!" He cursed and I laughed at him.

"Let's just meet at the cafeteria. We forgot our lunch too." I said then I ended the call.

I faced Meg and exclaimed,

"Let's go!"

We started to walk towards the cafeteria and after few minutes, we've finally reached our destination. I saw Andrei standing in front of the cafeteria while he is staring at his phone so I tapped his shoulder for him to notice me. He smiled the moment he saw us then he opened the door for us.

The cafeteria is crowded but we managed to reach the counter and order our food but there is one more thing to do. We need to find a vacant table and I can't see any vacant table near us.

"Where are we going to sit Lou?" Meg whispered.

I roamed my eyes around the place and there I saw a vacant table in the farthest left corner of the cafeteria beside its glass wall. There's a huge vintage round table surrounded by three king-sized wing chairs and they all look elegant. They have three different colors, there's black, navy and white.

Perfect! Three chairs for the three of us. But I wonder why they look strange since all the other chairs and tables here look the same. The tables where most of the students eat are medium-sized, square and wooden, and they are surrounded by four wooden ladderback chairs.

Whatever! This cafeteria is for every student anyway.

"Let's go!" I exclaimed then I started to walk towards the vacant table as they follow me.

I placed my tray on the table then I faced Meg and Andrei who haven't placed their trays yet.

"Hey, what are you waiting for? Let's eat!" I said then I sat down on the black chair.

The white chair beside me looks plain when you look at it from afar but when you see it closely, it's painted with beautiful white roses. It looks perfect and I wonder who painted this chair.

"Ahh Lou, why the heck are they looking at you?" Meg whispered.

"Who?" I asked then I lifted my face to see Meg.

"Them." She replied then she pointed the students.

They stopped eating and they're just staring at me while their mouths are agape.

Why the hell am I suddenly feeling anxious?

"Lou, let's- let's just, le- leave?" Andrei stammered and I gave him a stern look then I replied,

"No! We haven't eaten our lunch yet so why would we leave?"

"Lou, I- I, let's, let's just g- go." He replied.

"There's nothing to worry about Drei, we'll leave right after we finished eating. This cafeteria is for every student anyway. Come on, just sit already!" I snapped at them.

Meg sat beside me while Andrei sat across me. Then, we ate in silence but I can't eat properly because I can feel that the other students are still gazing at us. The cafeteria was filled with murmurs and it makes me feel more nervous. I badly want to shout at them saying "What the heck is your problem and why the hell are you looking at us?!" but I couldn't even utter a single word. It feels like something is stuck on my throat, I gulped so many times but it just won't go away.

Meg and Andrei are halfway done with their food while mine is barely touched. Who the hell can eat properly while they're being watched?

"Lou, why aren't you eating?" Meg asked.

"I-, I lost my appetite. Just continue eating." I replied.

The students are still murmuring but I couldn't comprehend what they're trying to say. The murmurs are getting louder and it makes me crazy.

"The devils are here." Someone said and the murmurs suddenly died.

Devils? Who the hell are these devils?!

The cafeteria is now in silence and I feel like something bad is going to happen. I am doomed and I don't even know what the hell is going to happen.

I'm trying to shrug off the nervousness I'm feeling and I'm trying my best to feel okay but I'm still agitated and I don't even understand why. There's nothing to worry about but why am I so worried about what's coming on my way?

I drank half of my orange juice and placed it back on the table. I was about to drink again when I heard someone clearing his throat, it must be Andrei.

"Just eat Drei." I said.

I can hear the students murmuring again. Someone suddenly kicked my feet and I looked at Andrei. He looks flustered and I raised my eyebrow at him. He is pouting and it seems like he's pointing something.

"Do I have something on my face?" I asked and he shook his head quickly.

"Look behind you." Meg whispered then she bowed her head.

What the hell is happening?

I quickly turned my head to see what's behind me and I was surprised to see two men standing. They're both good-looking and tall, and they're dressed with fancy clothes.

The man behind Meg looks cute. He is intently staring at me and it seems like he's reading my mind. I composed myself and tried to know what's going on his mind too but I failed. I can't tell what he is up to. He grinned at me and it seems like he wants to laugh at me. I looked away from him and turned my head to see the other man.

He is looking directly at my eyes. I blinked a couple of times but he didn't look away. I averted my gaze from him but I can still feel his stare. I can feel menace by just standing in front of this man.

I composed myself and took a deep breath. I gathered all the courage I have and asked nicely,

"Excuse me, do you need something?"

He looked away for a moment but he looked at me again and this time, it feels like he's scrutinizing me. His stare makes me want to just look down on the floor but I can't do that. I can't let him overpower me.

He nodded his head then he smirked at me. He brushed his hair for a moment and then he finally spoke.

"Get the hell out of here and make sure that I'll never see your faces again because if that happens, all the three of you will be dead."

This man is getting into my nerves. How could he threaten us?

I clenched my fists and said,

"And what right do you have to shoo us away?"

He smirked and then he replied,

"This place is mine and I have every right to throw out whoever I want to especially those who infuriate me."

"But we didn't do anything wrong." I answered.

"Then why the heck are you staying in our place?" He snarled.

"Then why the heck are you staying in our place?" He snarled.

"Don't worry, we'll leave right after we finished our meals and we'll clean this table. Just give us few minutes." I retorted.

"You know what?! Just leave before I can take your head off!" He snapped and with that, I rose from my seat and faced him.

"What the hell is your problem?! I approached you nicely and all you did was snarl at me!" I yelled at him.

"You're sitting in my chair and I hate it when someone's using what's mine!" He yelled back.

"Fine, this place is yours. So what?! I'm not planning to take this away from you! If you don't want others to use your goddamn table and chairs then might as well take them wherever you go! Life is already complicated and you're making it even more complicated! " I spoke out.

I was about to add something when he suddenly threw the orange juice I was drinking earlier on my face.

This man is really infuriating. He definitely crossed the line and I won't let him go away without giving him a taste of his own medicine.

"Knowing that the owner of this goddamn cafeteria is a freaking self-centered jerk, then I don't want to be here!" I snarled at him and he seems surprised because he's not moving, he's just sternly looking at me.

I grabbed my backpack and slung one of its strap on my shoulder. I told Meg and Andrei that we're leaving so they grabbed their stuffs too.

"Oh! Before I forget-" I took Meg's orange juice then threw it on his face.

"I know that you're already full of yourself but if you won't let others use these things then you better eat them! I hope it makes you more full of yourself! I will no longer wonder why you jerks are called devils because this place is hell! Goodbye!" I snapped at him.

I started to walk out of the cafeteria while Meg and Andrei trailed.

I can't believe I did that!

So he is one of the devils that they're talking about? Well, he's not that scary and I'm not scared at all. Just a little nervous.

I defeated a devil today and I feel so proud of myself. It feels so nice to let out your anger once in a while.