People's perception of truth is a shifting, ephemeral thing. The eye can only see so much, and what people see, people tell. Words fly from mouth to mouth, spreading like a disease, attacking the system. And the words never stay the same.

Rumours are thin like water. They change and evolve, bend and adjust to suit their purpose. Sometimes, people don't want to admit their mistakes, too ashamed to even confess their guilt. That's when someone else takes the blame.

Miguel knew that effect all too well. He reminded himself of it every time he stared into Jenny's hateful eyes. She was an alcoholic who took a liking to drama. It wouldn't be a surprise to know she created every single gossip he had ever heard. He was fine being known as a manwhore. It wasn't entirely a lie. Being accused of things he never did was different.

"Are you listening to me?"

Miguel snapped out of his thoughts, his eyes leaving Jenny's white-coated back and focusing on his classmate instead.

"I was not."

The guy, a redhead kid with lab goggles on his forehead, rolled his eyes. He was already used to Miguel zoning out. In fact, he was used to all his patterns. It was almost ridiculous, since Miguel could never recall his name.

"I'm asking you for the potassium chloride. For a while, actually."

Miguel handed him the bottle and watched him disappear to his own workbench.

In these classes, their teacher usually let them at their own mercy, sitting on her desk and playing Candy Crush without a care in the world. The lab could explode, which was likely considering the number of smokers with no regard for the safety rules inside the room, and she wouldn't notice.

Miguel went back to work, adjusting his goblet under the burette and opening the faucet just enough for a drop to come out. He hated these experiments, yet he sat on his stool, counting the drops silently until the liquid in the goblet changed colour. At the change, he closed the faucet and wrote in his notebook the precise number of drops he had used. His classmates were having fun trying to find out what was the darkest shade they could get instead of following the instructions laid out on the whiteboard.

He was bored out of his mind, tapping his pencil against the counter. Jenny was right in front of him with her friend, doing the experiment together. At least Jenny was doing it. He could never recall her friend's name, which was ironic since it was her fault he had to deal with Jenny's wrath.

"Gimme that vial, Juliana."

Right, Juliana. It was Ana for most of her friends, but Jenny gave nicknames to those who didn't have them and refused to use them to the ones who had them. Ana hated it, but she adored Jenny. They were housemates since they came to university, almost like Carolina and Nicole, and Jenny had made her job to protect delicate Ana from everything and everyone. The poor girl was too naïve, and the world was too cruel.

He could remember how annoyed he had been when they met, or rather, when she forced them to meet. She had thrown herself in front of him when leaving class, all her books falling to the ground in an instant. Before that, he knew her as the girl who spent half the class staring at him. Nicole called her Peeping Anna, and it stuck. From that moment on, she was always glued to him, saying she was making up for being so clumsy all the time. She was a terrible actress, though.

"I hate my life," he muttered to himself, pouring his mixture into a bigger goblet with another substance already inside carefully. He didn't want the acid to fall on him.

When he looked up again, Jenny was by his side, stealing one of his test tubes without asking. He grabbed her by the wrist, staring at her with a scowl. Hating him was one thing, stealing his material was another.

"Where are you going with that?"

"I need it," she muttered through gritted teeth, a string of thorns growing from her collarbones, barely covered by her lab coat.

"So do I."

She pushed her arm back, but he didn't budge. He was much stronger than her, even if she wanted to deny it. In her head, he wouldn't hesitate to lift his hand against her. He lived to get too drunk and fight whoever came across him. However, in reality, he and the boys from the car shop had a little boxing activity during breaks since the boss's son was a retired professional boxer. There was a punching bag hanging from the back of the workshop from the time the son came from school and spent the afternoon practicing.

"There are a thousand tubes inside the fucking cabinets. Go get one instead of stealing from me."

"Yours is fucking closer. You go get one from the cabinets. I bet you don't really need this one."

It was true. He didn't need it. Yet he would lend nothing to the arrogant girl. She had come to him seeking a fight when she could have just avoided him, as they always did.

"Get your hands off-"

A loud scream of pain cut her off. Juliana had spilt the acid on the table and she tried to clean it with paper towels. Her hands had touched it directly, and she was now staring at her burning palms.

In one quick leap from his seat, Miguel was by her side, shoving the girl's arms under running water from a lab sink. He was careful not to touch her hands, hoping the water could wash away most of the acid from her.

"It burns," she cried, burying the side of her face in his chest. "It hurts so much."

"Of course it burns, you idiot," he complained, showing no sympathy for the girl.

Jenny had run to their side after putting the tube back in place. She looked at them from the side, wanting to help her friend but frozen in place. Not that she was needed, Miguel had stepped up to help. But why? She couldn't understand why would he, of all people, help someone.

"I'm taking you to the nurse," he said.

"We have a nurse?" Ana questioned.

He rolled his eyes, drying her hands with a clean paper towel. Jenny stepped up then, an arm snaking around Ana's back in a protective but territorial way.

"I'll take it from here. You should clean the mess she did."

He didn't even bother replying. They just left through the door right next to the teacher and went to the infirmary. Their teacher was still playing Candy Crush, feet on the table and her chair only balanced on the two back feet.

I hope she falls.

As the class ended, he threw his gloves into the trash and changed from his lab coat to his usual leather jacket. He waved his classmates goodbye and his stomach growled in hunger. Jenny and Ana hadn't returned, but he didn't care. All that mattered to him was lunch.

He expected to see Nicole sitting on grass outside when he passed her building, near to where he had his own classes, but she was nowhere to be seen. Having such a large campus with all different areas close was something he liked a lot. It allowed him to know people from everywhere, not only the students from his own course.

"Miguel!" a voice called to him.

He turned around to Lúcia, smiling and waving at him. She wore a pretty sundress despite the harsh wind of November. Just looking at her made him flinch, a ghostly cold running up his spine.

"Hey!" he smiled. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, holding his arm and letting herself be guided away from the campus. Her smile disappeared when she noticed his unease, a frown taking place on her face.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

Lúcia didn't believe the quick dismissal. She didn't know that much about Miguel, only his flirty smiles and sweet talking, but she had caught a few things about him from other people. Nicole didn't mention him much, only talked about going to parties with him or spending nights watching movies at his place when Carolina and Lucas had no consideration for her. Jenny always had something to say when she saw him pass by The Bookmark through the windows. He was a liar, and he fooled around with girls before leaving them and never talking to them again. Yet, Jenny never justified her badmouthing.

"Did something happen in class?"

He shook his head once again and opened his car's door for her to get in. It wasn't his car, actually. His boss had lent him the car for the date, but he expected it back by nightfall.

Lúcia crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to get in the car until he told her what was bothering him. He stared at her, still holding the door.

"Look at you, all serious and cute," he smiled.

Her lips twisted, fighting the urge to smile. Red tinted her cheeks, and she just wanted to look down a hide her face from him. Regardless of how much she adored hearing those compliments, she tried to keep her face stiff, unmovable from the original expression.

"Are you going to tell me why are you tense or not?" she asked. "I want you to talk to me, to tell me what's upsetting. And I want to make you smile again."

Miguel didn't want to ruin lunch by bringing Jenny up. He wanted to forget she existed at all, but maybe Lúcia was right. Maybe if he let it all out, he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

"Look, I'm just annoyed because Jenny was being a bitch to me in class. As usual."

She frowned. "Why would she do that?"

He rolled his eyes. Such a ridiculous question. Not even he knew the answer. Because she hated him and was convinced he was vile. Maybe she wasn't that wrong. He didn't want to doubt himself, but when Nicole told him to stay away from Lúcia, she sounded serious. Everyone in the world could hate him, but he didn't want Nicole to hate him, too. She was his only real friend, and vice versa.

"How am I supposed to know?" he complained.

She stared at him, deadpan. "You won't tell me what happened between you too, will you?"

"I just did."

She shook her head and grabbed his hands. "I mean the reason you hate each other."

That was a tough question. He hated her for badmouthing him, but he wasn't sure why she hated him. Before, they were just lab mates, talked little, laughed a lot. Then she started hating him, glaring all the time and starting arguments every change she got.

There had been a party, and he had got way too drunk. He remembered little since he ended up passing out to wake up on Nicole's sofa. Yet, he knew he had been talking to Ana, pouring her drinks and playing beer pong with Jenny. But that was it. The next day, Jenny hated him and Ana was avoiding him with tears in her eyes.

"You should ask her that. She was the one to start it." Before she could tell him it was a kid's answer to throw the blame to someone else, he changed subject. "Can we go now? I have this date timed so you can go back to work on time, so I hope we don't waste more of it."

She couldn't help but smile, thinking he, the awful monster Jenny portrayed him as, had planned their date. But Lúcia wasn't one to be impressed that easily. He would have to try harder for her to even consider agreeing on a second date. As far as she was concerned, if all he really wanted was to sleep with her, she was going to make it the hardest thing he ever got.

🖤🤍🖤

It wasn't everyday they had the house all to themselves and Alice took that opportunity every chance she got. Isabel was on a date with her boyfriend, so she invited Carolina over to watch movies and complain about life.

Carolina was the best gossiper. That's why they kept her around, according to Nicole. It was just a joke, but it was also appropriate. She had spent the first half an hour telling her all about everything she found out about Giovanni, and they only watched a movie when she finally shut up.

It was a romantic comedy, one about love at first sight and lots of miscommunication before they finally got together at the very end. Alice hated how they refused to talk to each other to solve the problems they faced, but that was not what annoyed her the most.

"How come when she says I love you after the first date, it's fine, but when I do it, it's too soon and I know nothing about him?"

Carolina starred at her, unimpressed, and asked, "Didn't you just say you were coming to terms with the breakup?"

"I am, I'm fine!" she said. "It only stings a little that he slept with Nicole."

Carolina snorted. "Yeah, you're just jealous you didn't get to."

Alice rolled her eyes at the girl stuffing her face with popcorn, and did the same. She knew her friend was just joking, but that didn't make it easier.

"It's just not fair, you know? How come she gets not one but three guys interested in her when all she does is sleep around and I, who wants a serious relationship and to find true love, get nothing?"

Maybe it was her inexperience or the need to rely on someone, to live that crazy love she saw in Carolina and Lucas, but she really thought she had found true love within Andrew. That he was sweet to her and quite handsome wasn't the only thing. It was the fact that he was nothing like the boys she hang out with. It wasn't hard since her picture of men didn't diver much from the image of Miguel flirting with girls at a club.

"Three?" Carolina frowned. "What do you mean, three? It's just Gabriel, right?"

Alice shook her head and hugged her knees tight against her chest. "What about Andrew? Why do you think he slept with her? He obviously likes her, too."

Her friend exhaled, knowing she didn't know Andrew well enough to speculate. They talked only once, when she requested the party. Even with all her digging, finding who he was turned out to be more complicated than she thought. Nobody on campus had heard of him and when she looked him up on social media, a thousand different Andrew Whittmore's had popped up. Yet she hadn't given up.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but some people sleep with others with no feelings attached," she explained. "You should know this already, Nicole does it all the time."

"But why?" she complained. "Why does she do it? She wasn't like this before. Why did he do it?"

Carolina shook her head. "I gave up trying to figure out Nicole before, and so should you. If she wanted us to understand, she would have already spoken about it. And about Andrew, I think he was just drunk and you know how persuasive Nicole can be."

No, she didn't. She was mad because she never realised Nicole's behaviour change until it affected her, and she was mad because Nicole never told her about it.

"What about Gio?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Are you sure you're not exaggerating about him? Maybe you just like him too and you're afraid he'll do the same as Andrew?"

It was Alice's turn to frown. At that point, she didn't really trust her own judgement for men.

"I don't like Gio. Actually, I don't really want a relationship right now. If I force things like I did before, it will not be good for me, so I'm just trying to live my life. When I meet someone special, it will be different."

"Right," said Carolina, not sure about it.

The apartment's door opened and a laughing couple walked in. Alice thought Isabel and Luis were going to be out for hours, yet there they were, holding hands and kissing as they walked in.

"Excuse me," Alice protested. "Get a room!"

Isabel turned to her, frowning. She forgot her sister had stayed home with her friend.

"It's my house. I can do whatever I want."

Nothing could make Alice as mad as she was every time Isabel referred to their apartment as hers. Maybe she had a job, more like a paid internship, and Alice didn't, but neither of them was paying for the house. Their mother was working night and day to support them and herself. Isabel didn't help, she only spent the money on clothes. Even their father sent them money to help with the bills, even if they hadn't seen him in years. Isabel was just as dependent as Alice.

"It's our house!"

Isabel exhaled deeply, biting her cheek. Her baby sister was supposed to obey to her, not question everything she said.

"Alice, go to your room. Luis and I want to watch a movie, and you and Carol are done already."

The movie they were watching was playing the credits already, having ended with the typical kiss in the rain Alice dreamed of. She questioned herself often why was real life love nothing like in the TV. All she wanted was to meet her Romeo, but it was harder than she thought.

"Why don't you two go to your room?" she questioned.

"Because I don't have a TV in my room." Isabel rolled her eyes. "Go."

Feeling the storm brewing, Carolina pulled Alice by the arm and told her to just leave them. She hated to go to their home when they were both there because there was always the chance that they would start arguing out of nowhere.

Being an only child, Carolina didn't understand why they argued all the time. Mostly possessions. Nobody fought like they did about their things.

"Did you see how her boyfriend didn't even move?" Alice complained as soon as they reached her bedroom.

She sat against the headboard, a pillow against her chest, between her arms. She watched as her friend sat in front of her with crossed legs.

She envied Carolina too. Her friend was beautiful, always aware of the newest trends and fashion styles. It wasn't hard for her to get any guy she wanted. At least that was what Alice thought.

"I wish I didn't have to live with her."

"Move out." Carolina shrugged. "That's what Nicole did when she caught Diana with her boyfriend."

They weren't even friends when it happened, but when Nicole left her housemate, Carolina was also looking for someone to share a house with. It was pure luck, but she loved living with the blonde. Because she was so irresponsible about adult things, Nicole always organised everything for her, from water bills to their meals.

"I can't afford to move out," Alice grumbled. "I wish I could, but I can't. My mum can't pay for two flats."

"Ali!" her sister opened the door. "Do you guys want pizza for dinner?"

Alice nodded quickly, trying to get rid of her.

"I'm not eating here," Carolina said. "I got a date with Lucas."

Isabel left the room to go order the pizza for the three of them and the girls were alone again. She was likely ordering pineapple on the pizza, but Alice didn't bother telling her not to. It wasn't worth the fight and she would ignore her, anyway.

"Speaking of Lucas," Alice started. "Do you know if they have gone out together much? The three of them?"

Carolina shrugged, leaning back and supporting her palms against the duvet.

"I don't think so. You know Miguel and Lucas aren't exactly the closest friends. And Andrew is always at the cafe, so I assume he doesn't get out either."

"Maybe he should," Alice exhaled. "He should meet new people instead of surrounding himself with the pretty waitresses only."

"You don't know if that's why he goes there."

"Why else?" Alice protested. "If he really just wanted to study in peace, he would stay at his house. It's not like the doesn't have enough space."

Carolina didn't bother expressing her thoughts, mostly because she wasn't sure of anything, but also because disagreeing with Alice didn't lead her anywhere.

Hey!

There won't be any update next week cuz I'm busy with school and next chapter needs special attention :)

Thoughts on Andrew so far?

Are we still hating on Ali or...? It's okay if you are I don't like her either.

Thanks for reading ;)