Third one pov:

"Stella, I'm hungry," Riana frowned and impatiently tapped on the bathroom door, urging Stella to hurry up.

"Riana, I'll be there in just a minute. Go ahead and order the food, and I'll join you," Stella replied loudly from inside the bathroom to Riana.

Sure, that sounds good! What should I order for you?" Riana asked before making her way to the dining hall where the food was being served.

"Ummmm... anything," Stella replied while still in the bathroom.

"Yeah, don't mind! I know what to order," Riana said and then left for dinner.

After a warm bath, every ounce of tiredness melted away from Stella's body, leaving her feeling relaxed and refreshed. She quickly got dressed in her usual outfit, thinking of Riana waiting for her downstairs.

As Stella stepped out of the room, she paused for a moment to recall the location of the dining area.

Stella scratched her head as she tried to recollect the precise location of the dining area, which was somewhere on the ground floor. However, her memory seemed to fail her at that moment.

With no immediate solution to her memory lapse, Stella decided that once she reached the ground floor, she would seek assistance to locate the dining area. She made her way to the elevator since they were staying on the 9th floor.

Inside the elevator, there was another guy who politely shifted to make space for Stella. She returned the gesture with a smile and, noticing they were alone, decided to ask him for directions to the dining area.

"Hi, I'm Stella," she began, "If you don't mind, could you please tell me where the dining area is?" Stella asked politely, hoping to get directions from the guy.

"Yeah, it's straight down the hallway, to the right, towards the main lagoon," he replied with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, now I remember. Thank you so much," she politely thanked him and smiled admiringly. As the lift nearly reached the ground floor and the doors began to open, Stella found herself face to face with Mike, who was glaring at both of them in disbelief.

She ignored Mike and asked the boy about his name. In response, he said, "Joseph."

"Yeah, I am Stella. Nice to meet you, Joseph," Stella smiled at him and bid him goodbye. She then got out of the lift and headed to the right, ignoring Mike.

Mike frowned and grabbed her hand from behind. Stella spun around in shock and found Mike looking at her furiously, his grip on her wrist tight.

"What are you doing, Mike? Let go of my hand," she hissed.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

"What do you mean?" she replied, her confusion evident.

"You know exactly what I'm asking," he retorted.

"No, I'm not, Mike. Leave my hand and let me go. Riana must be waiting there," she insisted, trying to free herself from his grasp.

"I'm your partner, remember? Who's he?" Mike questioned, still holding her wrist firmly.

Stella retorted, "You heard, right? You were there when he said his name." She tried to free her hand from Mike's grip once again.

"But why did you need to ask his name?" Mike inquired.

"What do you mean? I was confused about the direction to the dining area. So I thought to ask him, as he sounded genuine," she shouted.

Suddenly, his anger subsided, and he released her hand, saying, "You need to be careful about who you're talking to. Not everyone is as genuine as you think they are."

"Yeah, I know. Look who's talking," she said mischievously and headed towards the food court after freeing herself from Mike's grip.

"Where have you been?" Riana shouted at Stella.

She breathed heavily and glanced at Robin, then back at Riana as if she had seen something strange.

"What's he doing?" Robin's presence did not please Stella at all.

"They were here before I arrived, and I didn't get one as the whole dining area was full as you can see now. Only two seats were vacant here, so I thought to reserve them, or we wouldn't get any," Riana explained as if she had no other choice.

Stella glanced at Robin, who was still engrossed in studying the menu, and then at the entire dining area, filled with our fellow students and other hotel guests.

"Yeah, I can see," she replied, her disappointment evident as she scanned the entire dining area.

You're here, but where's Mike?" Riana asked, noticing his absence.

How would I know where he is? Probably with Jennifer. But why does it matter to you?

Robin then grabbed our attention by clearing his throat knowingly and said, looking directly at Stella, "Miss, he went to search for you because you took some time to arrive here."

"Why is he? I mean, I'm not a child. I told Riana I would be a little late," Stella responded.

Stella felt a bit confused, but her heart was beating faster upon hearing that Mike had come looking for her, even though she had left him behind.

"Yeah, I do have the same question. Why would he need to go looking for a girl like you?" Robin said in his gruff voice.

"Shut up, Robin. Just shut your mouth, or I'll put this apple in your mouth!" Riana shouted at Robin, leaving Stella feeling uneasy.

Meanwhile, Mike took a seat, avoiding eye contact with Stella, who didn't feel comfortable in the situation.

"Hey, man, where have you been?" Robin asked Mike.

Mike raised his eyebrows and said, "I was with Jennifer," making sure every word was audible to Stella.

Stella wondered why he was lying. He was with her. She was struggling with her thoughts, imagining both Jennifer and Mike together.

Stella didn't say anything but behaved as if it didn't matter to her. However, Mike's eyes were filled with a mix of fire and hope as he watched Stella's face, expecting to see some change in her expression.

"Are you with Jennifer? We thought you're with Stel..."

"Yeah, we did even kiss..." Mike interrupted Robin, still looking at Stella with his contagious voice.

After a long time... and that's...

"Riana, I don't think I can eat anymore. I'm feeling nauseous right now," Stella said as she cut Mike off and got ready to leave the place.

Mike smiled inside, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

"Why? What happened?" Riana asked angrily in one breath.

"No need to worry. I think it's just because I haven't travelled a long distance in a while. So you guys, please carry on. I'll order if I feel like it," she said with a smile and left the place without looking back or expecting a response from Riana.

A single tear unknowingly fell from her eye, and her heart felt heavy as she left them behind.

She knew that everything he said was a lie, but her mind didn't want to accept it.

She wanted to breathe in some fresh air and desperately needed someone's shoulder to rest her head and cry as loudly as she wanted.

She was not even aware of this unwelcome feeling, which was very new to her. How could these things affect her life so profoundly?

With her thoughts swirling, she entered the hall opposite the dining area. The music was deafening, and people were dancing wildly like there was no tomorrow. Many of them were casually sipping on their drinks.

Although she usually doesn't like this place, right now, she wanted to let herself go and be as carefree as those people.

She went to the bar counter and sat there wondering what she was going to order.

One guy next to her staring at her continuously which she can figure out by looking at him directly.

He said, "Hi."

She responded, "Hey, hi."

"Are you new here?" the guy asked again.

"Sorry, it's not audible," she tried to make him speak louder.

He came closer to her, which made Stella feel a bit uncomfortable, but she tried to act like it didn't matter.

"So are you new here?" the guy tried to speak louder near her ear.

"Oh yeah, totally new for me," she responded.

"Are you alone here?"

"No, I'm with my friend here."

"Oh, okay. So do you want to drink anything?"

She looked confused as she wasn't familiar with alcoholic beverages.

"Yeah, but..." she tried to make it sound casual.

"Don't worry, I'm ordering for you," he reassured her.

She smiled and said, "No thanks. I'll order."

Suddenly, her phone vibrated. She checked the caller ID, and it was Riana. She answered the call, but due to the loud music, they couldn't hear each other, so the call was disconnected.

In the meantime, the guy had already ordered a shot of alcohol and was offering it to her with a mischievous smile.

She smiled at him but felt a bit unsure about whether to have it or not. She had never tried alcohol in her entire life.

# Hope you guys like this chapter.