Secret Rendezvous

[Summer’s POV] IT WAS FIVE in the morning when I reached home. I was already dozing off from working all night. If only today is not the last day of my college freshmen enrollment, I would rather stay home and sleep. I took a quick shower and got ready to meet with my best friends at the university campus. I don’t take time preparing myself simply because I am more boyish than girly regarding clothing preference. I put nothing on my face as well—no face powder or lip gloss. I carry on with only a simple me. So, I hurried and put on my navy blue fitted Abercrombie tees, low blue rise fitted flare jeans, and my Chuck Taylor Converse shoes with a matching navy-blue Converse baseball hat. This is my OOTD (outfit of the day). The usual Summer. Fashion less. Since intermediate, no one messes with us ‘the Tres Marias’, Luningning Stellar Villaluna, Nadine Chardonnay Martinez, and Skylene Summer Sy-Almeda. We only have one rule—all for one, one for all. If I play a prank, Nadine and Stella will be my accomplices, so I am to them. If we share a secret, we swear to keep it safe in our graves. We keep our bond like how the girls are in “The Pretty Little Liars.” We support each other for good and evil. No one should mess with us three. That's if they don’t want to end up in a gigantic mess.  Don’t you find it weird? Crazily chaotic as our brains. Nadine and Stella are very humorous friends. They are habitual jokers, but sometimes they can be very annoying. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how I became friends with these fellas. We've known each other since we were kids. In my fifth grade, to be exact. They can be the craziest person on Earth, but it does not matter. All I know we get along, we clicked, and we are best friends! As I entered the campus grounds, I saw Nadine on the cashier counter line. She was all pretty dressed up. She was wearing a blue jean mini skirt paired with her off-shoulder pink ruffle blouse. As always, she's knowledgeable of the fashion trend. Two hours earlier, Stella and Nadine phoned me to plan for what we should do for the day. Near to the cashier counter, I have seen Stella waiting for me by the pillar. “Summer, what took you so long? We've been here forever. We're supposed to meet at 9:00 AM. What time is it? Oh, my god! Look, it’s almost sunset. Summer, you never changed!” Stella shook her head as she screamed at me in annoyance. Then, she crossed her arms on her chest and frowned at me.” You’re always late!” “Whatever!” “Did you just? R-roll-your-eyes-on-me?” Stella asked me as if I have never done it before.   Instead of saying a word, I looked at Stella from head to toe. Seeing these two so dressed up, I felt ashamed of myself because I look like a tomboy. Stella can’t be annoyed or mad at me, not even for a few minutes. She can’t hide her excitement when she sees me. I can see it in her eyes. In a second, she hugged me tightly. It looked like we have never seen each other for several years, but it has only been a couple of months since we last saw each other. “I’m sorry, Miss Early Bird. Can’t you see? I’m so sleepy.” I stared at her with puppy eyes.          “It’s still not an excuse to be late, Summer,” Stella replied. “Look at my eye bags.” I pouted. “You know I need to shower and change my clothes before coming over here. Yikes! I can’t be in line on that queue smelling sweat, and my clothes and hair smell like I smoked a cigarette. I don’t want anyone to accuse me of being a chain smoker. It’s a bad image, you know.” “Whatever, Bestie! I don’t get why you have to work as a bartender. You already have regular gigs with 'The Halo band,' why work an extra job? I don’t understand. Why are you doing a summer job?” Stella asked bitterly. It sounded like a statement rather than a question.  Stella creased her forehead with a slight twist of her mouth. It paints annoyance and curiosity all over her face. “Change the topic. I already made up my mind. Don’t start it. I haven't slept yet, Luningning. I don’t need you nagging right now. Mm-hmmm. How about I’ll treat you guys lunch after this!”  I said, changing our conversation—Stellar, which I often call Luningning rather than Stella, is crazier than Nadine but indeed will defend me to anyone till the end. “Mm-hmmm, okay. Sounds good!” “Okay, I’ll let you choose. Where do you wanna go?” “Like good old days?” “Cool! Sure, I do miss our bonding.” They were here earlier than I am. Nadine is already in front of the line. She waved at me, and I immediately scampered towards her. She already has our assessment papers since we already planned all these earlier. Only one of us would be in line. Then we would hand over our monies for our tuition fees to Nadine if our prank didn’t work. “Yes! I cut in line!” I said intentionally to catch attention. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”   This oh-so good-looking lad asked me in the most dangerous voice. His deep voice seems to vibrate along my nerves. However, it didn’t scare me the least at the back of my mind. Voila! Our pranking worked!