Lorelei looked daggers at Amari, "Why don't you do it yourself?"
"No thank you. You two seem close so you do it," replied Amari as she crossed her arms.
"Why don't I do it?" asked Sam cluelessly. Amari elbowed him. "Shut it, Sam Hwang," said Amari in a whisper while gritting her teeth together.
Sam jumped in his place when he finally realized what Amari was trying to do, "Oh! Ah yes, you do it, Lei! Besides, Amari and I have something to do later." He grinned at Lorelei. Sam then turned to Amari, and raised his brows, "Right?"
Amari smiled back at him, "Yep! We sure do!"
"And what could you guys be doing later without me, huh?" this time Lorelei raised her brows at her two friends.
Amari snaked her arms around Sam's, "We're gonna buy some art materials."
Sam was surprised by Amari's sudden action and just stared at her arm clinging onto his.
"And besides, the store is far from your place! You'll have a hard time going home if you come with us," added Amari.
"Ugh. Okay fine!" Lorelei crossed her arms and pouted, "You guys better not leave me out next time."
"Oh stop sulking, Lei. It doesn't suit your face," Sam laughed at Lorelei's face.
Lorelei swatted his arm with her bag, "Excuse me, Sammy but I ought to inform you that you look worse when sulking. Hmp!"
"Alright, stop it now. We gotta go now. Bye, Lei!" Amari dragged Sam away and waved her hand at her friend while saying her goodbye. Sam did the same.
Lorelei just stood there with no other choice left but to wave back at her friends. "Damn it, I have to go see that dimwit's face again," she murmured to herself.
After her classes, Lorelei decided to go straight home from school. She was too exhausted from sitting for two hours straight in her major subject. As she arrived in her studio apartment, she took a quick shower and changed into comfortable clothes. She couldn't decide what to eat for dinner so she just grabbed whatever ingredients were available in her fridge. She thawed some frozen shrimp and then cooked the pasta and sauce.
While eating, Lorelei browsed her phone to look up Jace's social media accounts.
"Jace Lee," she murmured while typing his name in the search box. There were a lot of accounts with 'Jace Lee' as their names but she couldn't find Jace's account. She tried again, hoping she could find it so that she won't have a reason to see him again in person, but the result was still the same.
"Oh god, I give up," she leaned her head on the back of her couch. "Gosh, why is it so hard to find his account?! Too private, huh? Does he think he's a celebrity or something?!" Lorelei complained.
A minute or so has passed. Lorelei sprung out of her seat when she remembered that Jace was actually working at the convenience store nearby. "Should I just go and ask him now?" she asked herself.
"Ey. What if he'll mistake me again as his stalker?" Lorelei narrowed her eyes at the thought, "Ugh, never mind I should just stay here."
Lorelei continued with her self-debate until she realized she was already standing in front of the convenience store. "I can't believe I actually came," she whispered to herself.
Lorelei entered the store expecting Jace's greeting but instead, a female employee welcomed her. "Welcome, ma'am," the female employee smiled. Lorelei just nodded and smiled back at her.
'Shoot, why is he not here? I thought he'll be working here at this hour,' thought Lorelei. She figured it would be rude to just enter the store and ask about him without buying anything so she grabbed some cup noodles and a couple of packs of sanitary pads.
Lorelei proceeded to the counter to pay for her purchases. "Uh, excuse me. If you don't mind, can I ask you a question?" she asked the female employee.
The employee was kind of hesitant to entertain her question because Lorelei looked intimidating. Still, she had no choice but to answer, "S-sure, ma'am. How can I help you?"
"Do you know the guy part-timer who also works here? By any chance, does he have a shift here today?" asked Lorelei.
The female employee froze at her question. She contemplated whether she should answer Lorelei's question or not because she was told by Jace not to say anything about him if ever a stranger asks. She fiddled her fingers, "Ah, I don't really know, ma'am. I'm still new here so I do not know much about the other part-timers." The employee gave her a small smile, "It's eight dollars in total, ma'am."
Lorelei asked no further questions and just handed her card to the employee. "Thank you, ma'am. Please come again," said the employee as she handed Lorelei the plastic bag.
"Thank you," Lorelei smiled at her and left the convenience store with her purchases.
"What the heck do I do now? Should I go to their department tomorrow then?" she asked herself and continued with her self-debate on her way home.
The next day, Lorelei found herself walking towards the College of Information and Computer Science, which is Jace's college department. "Screw you, Amy. I can't believe you made me walk this far just to ask that meanie's contact," she whined quietly while walking.
As Lorelei entered the building, she immediately looked around to see if Jace was around. The hallways were quite packed with students who were probably just dismissed from their classes. She continued walking, checking Jace's presence. Lorelei went to the second then the third floor and continued searching but she got no luck.
"Goodness, where the heck is he?!" she protested.
Lorelei was already tired from all the walking and roaming around the building. She decided to go and check the fourth floor, but if Jace is still not around, then she had her mind fixed to just leave.
Lorelei made her way to the fourth floor of the building and continued to look for Jace. Finally, she saw a familiar figure. Jace was surrounded by his bloc mates, and Lorelei couldn't believe her eyes. The guy was actually smiling from ear to ear. She found the view peculiar yet breathtaking.
'Sheesh. He should plaster that smile on his face all the time. He looks friendlier that way,' Lorelei thought. She didn't notice that she cracked a small smile but when she did, she immediately composed herself back to her poker face earlier.
Lorelei walked towards Jace and called him, "Hey, Jacey!"
Jace's smile faded as he turned to her. Everyone else surrounding him also turned in Lorelei's direction, quite shocked from her approach to the one and only Jace Lee of their department.
Jace was popular among the girls but none of them dared to approach him because he was cold towards them. And even if they do approach him despite his frigid treatment, they still gave up after a day or so.
Lorelei was now standing in front of him, "Can I get your number?"
Jace's brow shot up with her request. The guys surrounding him gasped at Lorelei's words, probably from amazement.
"Or if you don't want to give me your number then your social media account will do," Lorelei added.
The guys were now covering their mouths, quite enjoying the sight happening in front of them. They couldn't stand still as they wait for Jace's answer to Lorelei's request.
One of the boys nudged Jace and whispered, "Dude, she just asked for your number!"
'I can hear you, you know,' Lorelei thought.
Jace gestured his palm in front of her, waiting for Lorelei to hand him her phone, "Do you want it or not?"
Hurriedly, Lorelei rummaged through her bag and looked for her phone. She handed it to him and waited for Jace to finish typing.
"I put my contact details in your notes," Jace said while typing, "would that be alright?"
"Sure thing," replied Lorelei.
There was an awkward silence as Jace was typing, Lorelei tapped her shoes just to make some sound.
"Here," Jace handed her phone back to her.
"Thanks," Lorelei grabbed it, "I'll contact you later." She smiled and flipped her hair as she turned around to go back to their department.
"WOOOOO! JACE OUR BOY!" exclaimed one of Jace's bloc mates.
Some were punching him lightly and shaking him because of amazement. "What the heck was that dude? You're finally warming up to girls!" another laughed.
"So that's your type, huh?" another guy moved his brows up and down, teasing Jace.
"Oh, shut it, dude. That girl is way too annoying to be my type," replied Jace and walked away from them.