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√THREE.

CHAPTER THREE.

The first thing I did once I got back to my hostel was to open my laptop, and just like I thought, I was everywhere. The name —snorter, was everywhere. The clip of me sneezing on Amanda had gotten over ten million views across most social media platforms. I was popular but for all the wrong and cringe-worthy reasons.

Beneath the bed sheet, my phone stirred, prompting a resigned groan from me. I shut my laptop and retrieved it, my irritation intensifying upon recognizing the caller.

"Girl, you're everywhere! You're miss popular, snorter!" The voice exclaimed, causing me to promptly distance the phone from my ear to safeguard it. "You put that bitch in her place, as you should!"

"I'm popular for being a snorter, nothing great about that," I dryly remarked, rubbing my temple as I rose to open the window. "What I have right now is nothing but bad publicity."

"Shut up, Eline. Brendan Behan, an Irish poet, once said there is no such thing as bad publicity except your obituary."

"Well, he's wrong," I contended, sitting on the window sill. My eyes scanned over the city of New York, and if there were two words to describe the streets it would be busy and lifeless. While the surface exuded vibrancy, the people navigating their agendas bored a palpable lifelessness in their gaze—something I couldn't help but empathize with. While New York held the title of a city of dreams, it also held the title of a city where dreams could easily be crushed.

There was a prolonged silence from the other side of the phone. For a moment, I suspected Yuri had disconnected until I heard her converse in Japanese with someone. "Are you still there, Eline?" she inquired afterwards.

I nodded, then realizing she couldn't see me, responded with a simple hum.

"The party tonight, don't tell me you're backing out of it," she pressed.

The party had not occupied my thoughts post my conversation with Karina in the morning. "Can't I simply stay home and indulge in some reading?"

"You are always home to read," Yuri replied. Honestly, she didn't lie, but I preferred staying home to read or write in my diary than going out. Home was like my bubble. "Draken Gallagher is going to be there."

"Oh, please. I couldn't care less," I retorted.

"Really? Isn't he like your crush?"

"Er, no. Where did you get that notion? I detest him. I loathe him. He's not my crush," I feigned a gag, prompting laughter from Yuri.

Unlike Karina who knew I despised Draken, Yuri thought otherwise. She believed my hate for him was just a way to mask my actual feelings. She believed I was too scared to acknowledge my ‘feelings’ towards him, an assertion I found utterly preposterous.

"Please, don't say that again, Yuri. I have no feelings towards Draken," I emphasized as though I was trying to convince myself. I thought back at my and Draken's conversation back in the lecture room, and it still surprised me that we had spoken. I couldn't get over the fact that he had spoken to me — an occurrence that inexplicably constituted the highlight of my day.

Why did Draken Gallagher speak to me today in class?

He even smiled at me. Why?

I was probably overthinking it.

"Open your door, Eline," Yuri's voice interrupted my wool-gathering.

"Open my door?"

"Yeah, I'm outside your room with the girls."

I stood up immediately, with the phone placed firmly to my ear as I went to open the door. Yuri had to be joking with me about being at the front door was what I thought until I smelled their scent. I opened the door. Yuri, Tennessee, and my roommate, Karina, were all by the front door, and they weren't alone. In their hands were hoards of shopping bags.

"Move away," Karina squealed, shoving me away as she and the girls made their way in. They threw their shopping bags on the beds before making themselves comfortable on the rug. "Now spill."

I hung up the phone, shoving it into my pocket as I closed the door before folding my hands across my chest. "Spill what?" I deadpanned.

"What happened between you and Amanda?" Yuri enquired. "Inner circle spill."

With a resigned smile I went to join the girls. Inner circle spill, as Yuri had called it, was a ranting moment between us four where we spilt even the tiniest details about our lives to strengthen our bonds. As I recounted the event of what went down between Amanda and me, at the back of my head I could not stop thinking about how a socially dead person like me was friends with Karina and Yuri, who both happened to be social butterflies. I got to know Karina since she was assigned as my roommate, and she was already close friends with Yuri and Tennessee before I was introduced to them. I never envisioned we would ever be so close, but even with how close we were I still kept a secret from them. A secret that had to do with my real being.

Yuri and Karina had a smile on their face as I spoke about everything that happened, while Tennessee looked indifferent on the outside; but I knew her well enough to know that she cared. I divulged Draken Gallagher's interaction with me in the lecture room, a memory that continued to puzzle me.

"Oh, my, I even need to show y'all something," Yuri said once I stopped talking. She pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket and accessed an online platform before turning the screen toward us.

Karina squealed, Tennessee hummed, and I paused, scrutinizing the content repeatedly.

"He commented about you!" Yuri yelled.

"‘Hm, miss snorter; love the name,’" Karina read the comment. "Are you certain it was him? There's even a heart emoji at the end."

Yuri affirmed, navigating to a verified TikTok page. "Only one post, but this is undoubtedly his account. Observe the blue verification and the followers count. This is Draken Gallagher's authentic TikTok account."

"Isn't Amanda his girlfriend?" Tennessee interjected since the inception of the conversation. "Isn't he meant to be on her side?"

"Who cares? He loves Eline's nickname, and that's all that matters," Karina said, a blush tinting her cheeks.

"Okay?" I replied.

"He adores your nickname," she reiterated, gripping my shoulders tightly. "Draken Gallagher adores your nickname. Didn't he also speak to you in class today? I think he's taken an interest in you."

I brushed off her hands, standing up from the floor. "As you mentioned, he adores my nickname, not my real name. Besides, it's nothing extraordinary—we exchanged a few words in class, and I doubt we'll converse again, so nothing special," I dismissed Karina's assertions, then noticing the scrutinizing gazes of the girls, I added, "At least, not to me. Moreover, can we conclude this conversation? Isn't there like a party tonight?"

"Great, thanks for the reminder. We got you a dress for tonight," Yuri stood up, rifling through the shopping bags on the bed. Tossing me a dress, I caught it effortlessly. "What do you think?"

I unfolded the dress to get a better view of it, and when I did my mouth fell off. The fabric, a stretchy sequin custard yellow dress adorned with intricate cuts, left me almost speechless. "You might as well suggest I go out unclothed," I remarked, tossing it back to her. I stood defiantly. "I cannot wear that."

Yuri threw it back to me again, boring holes into me with her onyx eyes. "Yes, you will. I believe amongst all of us I have the best taste in fashion, so you'd be wearing that dress. I don't think you've been to any parties since I've known you in uni, Eline. I can't imagine living your boring life. Don't be an alien, so try socializing—"

I interrupted my friend's ramble with a sigh. "No, thank you. I love my boring life," I threw it back once more.

"You need to have fun," she threw it back.

"No, I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"No."

"Yes," she replied, infusing her tone with an air of finality.

I caught the dress again, sighing out loud. I knew Yuri well enough to know she wouldn't give up until I decided to wear the dress. "You win, but just for today."

"Yippee, arigato," she squealed. Arigato means thank you in Japanese. Yuri was an exchange student from Japan, and she knew how to have the most fun out of all of us. "Now, we need to start preparing for the party."

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