C L A I R E

Sam couldn't help but gasp at what I told her about the deal that I made with Ethan. There was a hint of disbelief in her eyes as I sat there, eating my lunch.

I guess she was expecting that I'd only give an easy punishment to the guy.

But to consider that I almost got hit by his car and most of my incidents were on purpose, it was best that he'll take his own medicine for that.

There was a silent pause at first but then she shook her head at me and decided to take a bite of her food.

After she chewed on it and swallowed, she suddenly pointed her spoon at me. "Don't you think that's too much? I mean, I still can't believe you'd put him as a laundry boy."

"What did you expect?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow before taking out my phone and looking at it. I guess he's still in class. He hasn't really given me the time when we'll meet.

Samantha gave me a shrug. There was a slight pause before she even answered. I guess she wasn't sure what to say. "Probably just a treat at a mall, he'd pay for your meal or something?"

"A meal, in exchange for, almost hitting me with his car?" My answer made her widen her eyes and even put her finger under her chin as if she was thinking.

"Okay, maybe continuous free meals? I guess I didn't think that through," she squinted her eyes before giving me an awkward smile.

There were a lot of people leaving the cafeteria by now, considering that their classes were about to start.

Rolling my eyes, I then decided to continue. "Doing the laundry isn't that bad, right?"

"I'm not that sure, Claire. It depends if he actually knows how to wash clothes." The fork I had in my hands fell down the table. There was a slight silence between us as I stared at her with one eyebrow raised.

"You're kidding," I told her as she gave me an expression that almost told me I was making the big mistake of my life.

Before I could even reply to her, my ringtone went off — making all of the people in the cafeteria turn their heads to look at me.

Embarrassed, I immediately went to grab it and answered, "Hello?"

I could hear some shuffling from the other line before I heard a familiar voice speaking. "I'll meet you tomorrow at 10."

"Alright then." After that, we both hang up and I could see Sam's reaction, patiently waiting for the news.

"What did he say?"

"He said he'll meet me tomorrow."

"Don't be too harsh on him, alright?"

Nodding at her, I decided to raise my right hand. "It's just laundry, I promise."

"Oh, the bell rang. We better get going." As soon as we got our trays back, we walked straight out of the cafeteria and toward our classes. I couldn't help but yawn as soon as we went inside our classroom and sat on our seats beside each other.

"Three more classes and we're going home. I'm excited."

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Yesterday went by like a normal day but I didn't quite expect that I'd wake up to be more grumpy than usual.

My eyes shot wide open as soon as I heard someone calling from my phone.

This was a new thing to me. Groggily looking at my nightstand, I took my phone and decided to end the call without looking at the caller's id. That should do the trick.

Sighing, I closed my eyes to go back to sleep. But, it looked like the caller got other plans for me.

My eyes squinted as soon as I opened them back and decided to end the call once more before looking at my phone clearly.

"Who the hell is here at—" I couldn't help but glare once I saw the time. "—7:10 in the morning?"

Suddenly, I heard my name being called out from outside. Throwing my hair in a ponytail, I decided to go out of my balcony and look at the fuss.

The guard on the gate kept on calling my name and a guy with a black cap on his head was waiting right outside.

I couldn't see his face clearly since it was hidden when he was looking down.

And since I'm on the balcony, it was too far to see who the visitor was. Giving a loud sigh, I can't help but go down to see who decided to visit this early.

"I didn't even have the time to clean myself up. Whoever that is, they'll be sorry," I mumbled before reaching for a piece of bread that was on the table. Taking a small bite, I pouted.

There wasn't supposed to be anyone visiting me at this hour. My sleep's already ruined.

Placing the bread down for later, I went outside and faced the guard — who was patiently waiting for my order.

"Miss Claire, you have a visitor."

"I know, I know. That person already rang the doorbell almost 20 times." The guard gave a chuckle as I groaned.

This wasn't my favorite time to be awake. I haven't even drank my coffee yet.

This couldn't be Ethan. I'm sure the guy would be here at 10. But, who could it be? I wasn't expecting a visitor this early.

"Who is it? Did they tell you their name?"

"He said he's here as the laundry guy?"

"Oh, well then, let him in."

I didn't expect that it would be him. I just wore my blue shirt, gray sweatpants, and a flip-flop. Shorts are not going to be my attire for today.

Fortunately, my aunt is still at her friend's house so I'm sure I won't get in trouble. I'll let Samantha know everything.

As soon as he got inside, he took off his cap and I gave him a forced smile. "Well, hey there. Ready for the laundry mission?"

"I'm just here to pay for all the mistakes I made. No need to address it like that," he told me before giving me a look. "You look like you got beaten up before I got here."

Not minding his statement, I decided to tease him as I held my laugh. "You better get ready. I can't wait to videotape how a famous basketball player from La Salle does his laundry."

"Tell me you're joking."

"No, it's for safekeeping. It's not gonna be posted, I swear."

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't."

His lips formed into a frown and his eyebrows quickly furrowed when he heard that.

The laugh that I was holding back quickly escaped from my lips as I saw his expression change.

"Your reaction is priceless!" I blurted out as he then shook his head.  I guess he wasn't expecting me to say that. He was famous and I'm pretty sure he'll retaliate if ever I do something bad.

"Whatever, where is it? I want to start this as soon as possible and leave." A hint of irritation was evident in his voice as I pursed my lips and grinned.

"It's in the back. And no worries, most of the laundry is just a bunch of T-shirts and dresses," I told him before crossing my arms and giving him a look — the grin vanishing from my face. "I don't want you snooping on something else."

"I wasn't even planning to," he replied in a monotonous voice, and a bored look was plastered on his face.

As he was about to go to my house to get the laundry, a loud bark suddenly made him stop in his tracks. His eyes widened as the continuous small bark kept on echoing inside.

"Don't fvcking tell me there's a chihuahua in there." Judging by the look on his face, he didn't want to even go inside if there was a dog.

I couldn't help but pat him on the back. "There's a dog but it's not a chihuahua. You're close though."

"Judging by the small bark, she might be small but she's feisty," he told me before looking at me and then back at the house.

"Never knew you had a blood relative in there," he mumbled under his breath but I gave him a glare once I heard it. What the hell did he just say?

"Excuse me?"

He couldn't help but chuckle and even tried to lie about it. "I said, I never knew I would end up in here,"

"No, I literally heard what you said."

"Well then, now you know."

"Ethan," I warned him as I then see him stretching his arms and giving me a smirk once he turned back to look at me.

"Now, where's that laundry?"