“Outside, people!”

It was cloudy at noon with no forecast of rain. Another Monday was nearly half finished though not to everyone’s liking: a suspected long power outage was about to wreck havoc to normal educational activities.

Liza looked out the grounds to find a spot where she could be alone to write the rough draft of her report. She noticed a girl standing up from a nearby bench, leaving another with earphones on her ears.

Erika saw her coming. Though she never intended to have a chat with someone, she needed a sounding board about her dilemma whether to tell Leyla or not that his brother was in love with her. A stranger could give her an unbiased advice.

“Can I sit here?”

Erika nodded, sizing her up, trying to decide whether to tell her what’s on her mind.

“Can I ask you something?”

They laughed at the coincidence of them asking the same question at the same time.

“Go ahead,” Erika said, confident now she found a confidant of sorts.

“I like this guy, who keeps…