CHELSIE has been in an unbelievably bad place so it's understandable that she almost forgot she's turning 18 today. But, seeing her friends' effort to surprise her by coming to Eton and bringing a small cake made her realize that she still has reasons to smile. "Lads, you didn't have to do all these," she tells them, fighting the tears already forming in her eyes.

Her sappy thoughts get interrupted, when she feels a sticky finger landing on her right cheek. She flinches, realizing that Haechan just put an icing on her face. "HEY!" She exclaims, causing the guys to burst more into laughter.

"There! You're smiling again." Haechan sneers in victory.

She arches a brow at him. "Only because you're a tease!"

"Aren't you supposed to be thanking us?" Haechan counters back, licking the icing on his finger.

She takes a breath and looks at them. Haechan and Jisung are her friends since primary school. They basically grew up together so they know everything about each other. They know exactly when one is sad, angry, frustrated or just not in the mood. But she doesn't really like being sentimental infront of them because she knows they're going to tease her for it. But she figured this is the perfect time to do so. "Thank you," she starts to speak. "Not only for today, but for all those times you were there for me."

"You don't expect us to cry, do you?" Jisung says, awkwardly flashing a smile.

Before Chelsie can even speak again, Haechan already pulls them into a group hug. "I love you guys."

Jisung makes a barfing sound, as he quickly pushes them away, while Chelsie tries to hold onto the cake in her hands. "I think we need to go to the hospital and celebrate with mum and Traze," she tells them.

Not long after, they arrive at the hospital and Chelsie gets surprised, seeing the words "Happy birthday, Chelsie!" plastered on the wall of Traze's room. She doesn't speak for a moment, still trying to soak it in, before finally moving towards her sister and hugging her. "You guys, why are you making me cry today?" She says, turning to her mum and her friends again.

"It's all their idea, hun," her mum says, already spreading her arms and waiting for Chelsie's hug.

She finally walks over to her mum and hug her tight. She wouldn't want to wish for anything more than for her family to be healthy and happy always. It may sound cheesy, but that's all she wants right now.

After being overwhelmed with all the surprise, Chelsie goes home, even if she wants to stay at the hospital. She understands her mum though. She needs to go home so she can study well for their end-of-half-term exams. As someone on a scholarship, she can't afford to fail in any one of her subjects. But with everything that's going on right now, it makes it really hard for her to concentrate.

She flips on her notes and tries to remember every bit of information she can store in her head. Normally, she doesn't have to try hard enough to study. But her mind is clouded with thoughts of her mum and sister. Then, she remembered she just agreed to join the Visual Arts Society as well, in which the youngest prince is a part of.

Just like clockwork, her phone suddenly beeps, indicating a text message has arrived. She checks her phone and sees an unknown number. When she opens the message, she almost drops her phone in surprise. "Happy birthday Chelsie! I hope you have a good one."

She checks the number again. It's definitely not Haechan or Jisung. Neither is one of Traze's friends. So that leaves her with one of her classmates from Eton. But no one else knows about her birthday. She doesn't know whether she should respond back or not. But she thought she should at least say thanks so she did. She sets her phone down and proceeds to studying again, hoping she'd at least pass her subjects tomorrow. Happy birthday to me!

****

WHEN the alarm rings the next day, Chelsie groans, looking at the time on her phone. She can't believe she fell asleep while studying last night. She's doomed. She knows it. Now she's just going to have to rely on luck and prayers to pass her exams. She quickly goes to the bathroom to wash up and change to her Eton uniform.

While on the way to the uni, she takes the time to read her notes again. The bus ride going there takes about an hour so she can't waste a single minute of it. She skips Physics and proceeds to Social Studies because the only way to pass it is to actually memorize everything. "Alexander the Great became the leader of Macedonia in..." she mumbles, tapping her fingers and trying to remember it.

Giving up, she looks at her notes again. "Ah. 336 B.C. 336 B.C." She continues to say. "Hellenism publicly emerged since-"

"The 1990s." A low and raspy voice answers from behind, catching her off guard. She looks over her shoulder and sees a guy in Eton uniform smiling at her. "Sorry. I can't help it. Studying for the Social Studies exam?"

Chelsie doesn't answer at once. She knows him from one of her classes. But she didn't expect him to be riding the public transport to Eton. He looks like an Elite, just by his face alone. But she's relieved somehow that she's finally meeting someone who attends Eton who is not an Elite or Royal.

When she finally nods, the guy speaks again. "You're Chelsie, right?" Now she's even more surprised that he knows her name. She suddenly feels bad that she doesn't know his.

"Yeah. And you are? Sorry, I'm bad at names. I know you're in one of my classes," she finally says.

"Lucas. And don't be. I am too. The only reason I know yours is because Mark keeps on mentioning your name," he confesses, still smiling.

She creases her brows in confusion. Mark talks about me? "You're friends with him?"

Lucas nods. "We're on the same Debate Team as well. Maybe you want to join?" He offers.

Before she can even answer, the bus already stops infront of their gate. She taps her card, as she steps out of the bus. Lucas follows from behind her. She turns to him again. "I'll think about it," she says.

"Cool. I'll see you later," he says, waving his hand at her.

She just flashes a thin smile, as she hurries towards their room. She immediately sees Mark on his seat. When he turns to her, his lips form into a small smile. But that quickly disappears, confusing her. "Chels, are you alright? You look unwell," he says in a worried tone, which she just try to brush off.

"I'm fine," she says, going to her seat. She doesn't fail to catch the young prince looking at her as well from his seat. But she doesn't have the capacity to be thinking of anything or anyone right now, not when they are about to take their exams, which can make or break her scholarship.

****

"HOW did you do in the exams earlier?" Chelsie hears a familiar voice, startling her from behind. When she turns around, she sees Mark carrying his notes with him. The library is not really the most obvious choice for most students during a lunch break, but she's not surprised to see Mark there, knowing that he's vying for the top spot in their class.

"I'll fail. I'm sure of it," she says, bringing her palms up to her face.

Mark takes the seat across her, smiling. "That can't be true."

Well, Physics and Calculus are the least of her worries. But their upcoming exam is Social Studies and she's still struggling remembering the events, dates and people that she need to memorize.

"If it makes you feel better, I suck at memorizing as well," Mark confesses, trying to comfort her. "So that makes the two of us."

She shakes her head. "You're just saying that."

He presses his lips, thinking. Then, he raises his index finger up. "Tell you what, if you fail on your subjects, you'll treat me lunch. But if you pass, I'll treat you. What do you say?" He arches his brows, waiting for her answer.

"That doesn't sound favourable to me. If I fail any of the subjects, I'll get kicked out of Eton, Mark," she says matter-of-factly.

He nods. "Exactly why you should study now." He slides a yogurt bar on the table, passing it to her. She looks at it and turns to him again. "You need food for your brain," he explains.

She takes it and opens it quietly. "Thanks." She picks up her notes again, as she eats the bar. They both remain silent for the rest of the lunch break.

After their break, they walk back to their room. Chelsie's phone vibrates from her pocket so she checks it and sees a message from her mum saying that her sister is getting discharged later this afternoon. That makes her feel relieved. She's about to close her phone, when she remembers the birthday message she got last night. She turns to Mark next to her and shows the number to him. "Do you recognize this number? It's not yours, is it?"

Mark pauses, looking at the number. He takes a good look at it, before answering. "I'm... not sure."

She sighs, putting the phone back to her pocket.

"So... it's your birthday yesterday?" Mark asks, to which she responds with a nod. "Happy birthday! I wish I could've gotten you something."

"That's alright, Mark. You've helped me so much already and I thank you for that," she answers.

His face turns serious. "Still..." he gets cuts off, when someone suddenly approaches them.

"Chelsie, we're having a meeting today for the Visual Arts Society. You can come later in the workshop at 4." Jeno looks at her, smiling. Then, he continues, "If not, I'll understand. Anyway, goodluck with the rest of the exams. You too, Mark."

After that, Chelsie still falls silent, as she watches the youngest prince's back walking away. She doesn't know when she'll ever get used to the prince talking to her so casually like that. And she wants to slap herself for always letting him down. She won't be able to go to the meeting, not because she doesn't want to, but because her sister is going to be out of the hospital and she needs to be there. But she can't tell that to the prince. Otherwise, it'll look just like another excuse again to avoid him and his sudden confession to her. Well, maybe it is.