Ino exclaimed,
— No, no, no, no, no, no, no! What do you mean, you're in love with him?
She continued, shocked,
— At first, it was funny when we joked about you dating him. But now that we know he's going to become your brother, this is weird!
Émilie added,
— For once, I agree with Ino...
Lusia chimed in,
— Élisa, listen to me carefully! Erase this guy from your mind immediately, forget about him, don't think about him anymore. Pretend he's just a new acquaintance.
Élisa, troubled, lowered her eyes and murmured,
— I don't know… I don't understand anything myself. I suddenly feel so overwhelmed...
Ino, worried, insisted,
— It's obvious! You're falling in love with him, aren't you?
Élisa blushed and replied hesitantly,
— No… I mean, I don't know...
Émilie gave her a piercing look and declared,
— We always talk about love, but this time, it looks like you figured it out all on your own, huh?
Élisa sighed and lowered her head even more,
— What made me think that? Well… it's just that being with him makes me feel something strange… Since that day, I haven't stopped thinking about him. And today, I think it's even worse...
Her friends looked at her in silence, unsure of what to say.
— No way, no way, no way! Ino shouted, waving her arms around.
She let out a deep sigh before declaring,
— Alright, we'll find a way, we'll help you get through this. You're our friend, after all!
The two other girls standing behind her nodded enthusiastically,
— Of course, we'll help you!
Élisa, touched, gave them a timid smile,
— Thank you, girls...
Lusia took a serious tone and added,
— First, to help you forget him, we'll avoid running into him. We'll do everything to make sure you don't see him anymore, okay?
Élisa nodded,
— Okay… But wait, didn't you guys have something planned today?
Lusia clapped her fist into her palm as if she had just remembered something,
— Oh right! We have a small quiz today!
Émilie, annoyed, added,
— If you want, we can go study with the literature guys… You know, the ones learning to write books and all that...
She rolled her eyes and sighed,
— Honestly, they're boring...
Ino shrugged,
— Don't worry, they're good people.
Élisa raised an eyebrow, hesitant,
— Well… let's do as you want...
The third friend in the group, impatient, said,
— Come on, let's go! We have a lot of homework, no time to waste!
They then headed to the café where they were supposed to meet at 5 p.m.
When they arrived at the café, they spotted three literature students sitting at a table, along with two girls from the same program.
Suddenly, Ino shouted across the café,
— Hey, guys!
One of the boys looked up and replied teasingly,
— Don't come over here!
But Ino, far from being discouraged, rushed straight to their table with enthusiasm.
Lusia sighed as she watched her,
— We all know why she's so happy...
The girls responded in unison,
— Because there are boys!
Lusia nodded with a mischievous smile,
— Exactly.
Ino sat down with a broad smile and cheerfully said,
— Hello, boys! How's it going?
One of them, Jean, replied with an amused smile,
— We're good, thanks. And you?
Ino, still cheerful, replied,
— We're good too! Even better now that I see you!
Jean burst into laughter, a charming smile on his lips. The literature girls sitting next to him threw annoyed looks at Ino.
Élisa, exasperated by her friend's behavior, whispered,
— Come on, calm down, desert snake. You're not going to seduce someone again today!
Ino stared at her for a moment before sticking out her tongue and laughing.
Élisa apologized with a smile,
— Sorry about her, she's always like this...
Jean shrugged with an amused smile,
— It's fine, no problem. Now, about the quiz...
Lusia asked,
— You mean the physics quiz?
— Yeah, Jean replied. This quiz is only for our two fields, so if we want to succeed, we need to cooperate.
Lusia frowned,
— What time is it?
Matis, another literature student, answered,
— It'll be tonight, via video conference, at 8 p.m.
Élisa's eyes widened in panic,
— Video conference?!
Lana, one of the literature girls, explained,
— Yes, it's just to prevent cheating. Our parents will supervise us during the exam.
— But this is going to be tough… Élisa sighed. Alright, how do we organize our study session?
Suddenly, Jean looked up and spotted someone in the distance,
— Ah, wait, we're missing Luz… Here he comes.
— Yeah, he's new. He's been in our class for two weeks.
But as soon as Lusia laid eyes on him, her face fell apart. Terrified, she stammered in a trembling voice,
— Nasser...?
Jean confirmed, surprised,
— Yeah, Nasser Luz. How do you know that? Do you know him?
Ino and the other girls turned pale in an instant and exclaimed in unison,
— We're doomed… we're really doomed...
Élisa, overwhelmed by panic, immediately pulled her hood over her head, blushing more and more. She kept repeating in her head,
Why… why is he here?!
Nasser approached the group and said,
— Hey guys, have you started already?
Jean shook his head,
— No, not really, we were waiting for you.
— Oh yeah, sorry for being late, I had something to do.
Then, he noticed Ino and smiled,
— Hey, you're one of my future sister's friends.
His gaze swept over the rest of the group, and he added,
— You all are, right?
Ino replied with a nervous smile,
— Uh… yeah, yeah, that's us.
Nasser nodded and looked around.
— If you three are here, then she must be close by...
That's when he spotted Élisa, still hiding under her hood. He slightly narrowed his eyes and asked,
— Is that her?
He called out softly,
— Élisa, is that you?
But she remained still, pulling her hood even tighter around her face, unable to speak a single word.
Amused, Nasser continued with a smirk,
— Little mouse?
Élisa timidly raised her hand as a response, still not daring to look at him.
Lusia thought to herself, This doesn't help at all...
Jean, intrigued, asked,
— You know her?
Nasser shrugged,
— Yeah, she's my future sister. My mother is going to marry her father.
Matis exclaimed, surprised,
— Wow, that's amazing! Invite me to the wedding!
Sensing the situation was getting awkward, Ino quickly intervened,
— Alright, let's study! Girls on one side, boys on the other!
— Works for us, the boys replied.
They split into two groups and studied until 6 p.m.
One by one, everyone went home. Émilie's parents picked her up, and since Lusia lived nearby, she left with them. The literature girls also left with Matis.
Only Jean, Ino, Élisa, and Nasser remained.
Ino turned to Élisa and declared,
— Don't worry, bestie, I'll stay with you until the end.
Jean then spoke up,
— Hey, Ino, how about dinner? Just you and me?
Ino's eyes widened in surprise, then, within seconds, she ran to him and grabbed his arm,
— Of course, my dear Jean!
She threw an apologetic look at Élisa and said,
— Uh… Élisa, I can't refuse, you know… that would be mean...
Élisa sighed and replied,
— It's fine, go ahead...
— Thanks a lot! Ino said excitedly before leaving with Jean.
Élisa was now alone. She murmured to herself,
— Now… who am I going home with?
— Me, answered a voice behind her.
She turned her head and saw Nasser looking at her with a smile.
— Shall we go? he asked. It's on my way.