THE CAFETERIA SERVER at La Trinidad handed me my breakfast tray, and I spotted a beautifully cooked omelet and a bowl of burning hot corn soup that made my mouth water by looking at them. I smiled at the server before moving toward the end of the counter, and I found the heavenly coffee maker.

Finally, the smell of coffee beans delighted my nostrils and cleared my foggy mind. One sip and everything would be back to normal.

"Here comes the commoner, everyone."

Or maybe not.

Damn it, were they following from the dormitory? No matter how much I wanted to run away from them, I couldn't, as the student council has eyes and ears all over the campus. One wrong move and my life would be over, and that's for sure.

"Michelle," Dawn, the student council president, called my name with her sweetest yet venomous voice.

"What do you want?" I asked while trying to calm my nerves.

"You know too well what I want," she smiled and averted her gaze toward my tray. "But I know too well that people like you won't back down without a fight."

"Should I be glad then?"

"You—"

"Dawn," the vice president, Traci, interrupted with a hint of a warning. "It's too early for a catfight, and we are in a public place."

Dawn rolled her eyes in annoyance and looked at me with pure hatred. I, Michelle Dayanan, a commoner of La Trinidad that everyone hated for who knows what reason, remained silent for my sake. The student council gave me that nickname, to be honest, and I am sick and tired of hearing it for a week now.

"Fine!"

Traci looked at me with cold-blooded eyes, "See us in the student council office after your last class this afternoon. We have some planning to do for the upcoming acquaintance party next week."

"I will kill you if you are a minute late later, commoner." Stesha said in the most threatening way.

"Wait," my forehead creased in confusion. "Why am I included?"

No one answered. The four members of the student council turned their backs on me, walking out of the cafeteria like they owned the damn place. They all left me in a daze, almost questioning my existence at the very moment. A dream, perhaps? I slapped my left cheek without thinking and regretted my action right away.

That hurts like hell.

I tried to compose myself and decided to make a coffee. A minute later, I walked straight to the only vacant table at this very hour, not to mention the table was near the comfort room. Disgusting? Yes. Nonetheless, every commoner in La Trinidad had to stay silent in order to survive. This school is like a food chain; the predators were able to keep their prey fear for their lives every day.

This place is like hell, but why am I still dancing with the evil?

"Good morning, Mich!"

I looked up and smiled at Rayne, the other scholar of La Trinidad. "You are twenty minutes late today, you know."

"My apologies, your highness. I had trouble sleeping because of what Denna shared last night."

"Putting the blame on me?" Denna asked, the last student who got the scholarship, as soon as she reached our table with her tray filled with food and beverages. "You are just one heck of a scaredy cat, Rayne."

"I am not," Rayne playfully rolled her eyes at Denna before settling right across my seat.

"Tell me," my eyes went from Denna to Rayne and vice versa. "What is this all about, guys?"

Denna and Rayne looked at me in unison, which gave me goosebumps. I bit my lower lip and braced myself for what they were about to share.

"Have you heard about the urban legend of this school?"

I shook my head in response to Denna. "I don't believe in such a thing, anyway. But I am all ears."

"You should," Denna said. "One wish and our lives—"

"Spare me with the fake news, Denna." Rayne said, not letting Denna finish whatever she was about to say.

Denna rolled her eyes and swatted Rayne's hand lightly. "Did you know the headmistress forbids students to wander around the forest behind the campus? Someone said that deep inside the forest is an old well that grants a wish every 23:11 on the 29th of February, and this year is a leap year."

"And you're telling us to find this old well and make a wish?" I said in a confused tone.

"Of course not," Denna started eating her breakfast nonchalantly. "Just like what Rayne said earlier, it's fake news. No one has yet proven that the urban legend is true, but if you are taking your chances. . . on the day of the acquaintance party is your only chance."

Rayne swatted back Denna's hand. "You're giving Mich a not-so-good idea for revenge, Den. Where did you hear this urban legend from, by the way?"

"Our homeroom teacher," Denna smiled and looked at Rayne in the eyes. "Miss Samantha Amori."

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