Book of Fate

“This isn’t even homework. It’s from my tutor.”

Maria looked confused.

“Tutor? Since when did you get a tutor? I didn’t raise you to be brainless, Daniella.”

Look who’s talking. She can’t even solve this either. We’re the same.

“I know that look, Daniella. Are you saying I don’t know Math?!”

Daniella raised both eyebrows.

“So you can read minds now?”

Maria sighed at her daughter’s stubbornness. “Just start studying. You talk too much. Oh, by the way, who is this tutor of yours who agreed to teach you? And where are you going to get the money to pay him?”

“No, Mom. It’s a special program at school. Your daughter just got lucky and was chosen to be tutored by William.” She even flipped her hair confidently.

Maria’s brows furrowed.

“William?”

“Yes, Mom. William—the guy I’ve had a crush on since first year high school.”

“Really? Just the other day—” Maria trailed off when she noticed Daniella’s expression, clearly waiting for her to finish.

“What was that, Mom? Just the other day what?”

Maria rolled her eyes.

“I was thinking of buying pork, but it’s too expensive.”

“That’s not what you were going to say.”

Maria stood up, ready to leave.

“Just study. You already have snacks. Hopefully, that’ll help your brain grow a bit.” She exited the hut, leaving Daniella speechless.

“What does she think, that I’m stupid?” She picked up the paper, stared at it, then dropped it again—followed by banging her forehead against the table. “She’s right. I really am stupid. Whatever happens, I’ll just answer what I can on William’s quiz before he starts teaching me other subjects. But I think unless I get a high score, we’ll just keep repeating this over and over.”

Daniella spent the entire day focused on Math formulas and solutions. She did the same the next day, because on Monday, William would give her the short quiz. Their tutoring session at the park near school wasn’t until Saturday, so for now, Daniella was doing everything she could to memorize the solutions—even if her brain wasn’t functioning very well.

That night, Daniella stopped solving and sat by the window in her room, staring at the moon, which shone brightly that evening. She stared deeply, seemingly lost in thought, until she finally stood up and closed the window to prepare for sleep.

---

It was Monday. During lunch break, Daniella was already in the school garden, but William had not yet arrived. She ate first before going to the garden, thinking that William must have eaten too, which explained his delay. Daniella made sure not to look at William earlier in class, avoiding any eye contact with him.

A few minutes later, William sat in the seat across from her. He immediately noticed how Daniella was hunched over, with her hair covering her face.

“Did you review?” William asked.

“Of course! You’re talking to me!” Daniella boasted.

“Really? Let’s see then.” William slid a piece of paper toward her. Daniella took it and examined it.

Her head shot up in shock. “Wait! You said this was just a short quiz! Why are there fifty questions, and with solutions required too? Do you really think I can finish this before the bell rings?!”

Her eyebrows were nearly touching from how tightly she was frowning.

“Did you even sleep?” William asked seriously.

Daniella touched her eyes—her dark circles were evident after two sleepless nights.

“I did sleep. Why?”

“You look like you stayed up just to review what I gave you. Are you okay?”

Daniella smiled, thinking maybe he would cancel the quiz. “I’m okay.”

“Alright then. Answer it.”

With that, William opened his book and began reading. Daniella was left gaping at him.

“I thought he’d be nice to me.” She rolled her eyes at William, who wasn’t even looking at her. So, against her will, she started answering the quiz, leaving it up to fate whether she’d finish before the bell rang.

Daniella was so focused on answering that she didn’t notice William peeking at her from behind his book. He saw how determined she was to answer the quiz he gave her, and a small smile appeared on his lips before he returned to reading.

Almost thirty minutes passed, and the bell rang. Daniella had to stop answering. She had only reached question number 20.

“Are you done?” William asked.

“Of course not. The bell rang—how could I finish?” she replied in frustration.

William took the paper and checked how far she had gone. “This is fine. Let’s see if you got even one answer right.” He then placed the paper in his bag, stood up, and started walking back to the classroom. Daniella followed right after him.

---

The entire day of classes finally ended for Daniella, and it was obvious from her eyes that she was moments away from falling asleep from exhaustion.

She wasn't going home with Bree because Bree had rushed off earlier. As Daniella was about to step out of the school gate, William called out to her.

“Wait!” he shouted loud enough to make her flinch.

Daniella lazily turned to look at him and simply waited for him to approach.

“We’re going somewhere. Follow me,” he said before continuing to walk.

Daniella frowned. She wanted nothing more than to go home.

This William… he could’ve just said he wanted to be with me. Why pretend otherwise?

Despite her tired face, Daniella smiled faintly and trailed after him.

She walked five steps behind him, her head lowered as she dragged her feet. William noticed this, stepped back, and slowed down until he was beside her—something she didn’t even notice.

She followed him into a park she recognized—the same one she had visited a few days before.