21: Thesis Defended, Feelings Rejected

“You’re insane, hahaha!” Savi burst out laughing. “This dude got a strong gut for a public romantic confession. I never knew you had a romantic side to you. Nevertheless, if she rejects you, we’ll still be drinking tonight! Cheers to our graduation and cheers to brother Terryl for having a girlfriend or maybe not!”

“What a closing remark you had there, Terryl. We made it through our thesis, and it looks like you also made it through into your love life.” Anjoe commented. “Is she going to be your fifth girlfriend?”

“D*mn, you had that many girls, Playboy,” Savi mumbled.

“What the heck! Hey, I’m talking to you,” Anthasia is furious with Terryl. “You almost failed us in our major course when you switched with Savi’s, and now you told Ashmille that you like her?”

“You don’t have to be surprised to that extent.”

The six of them, including Jeron and Anjoe’s friend, remained in the room where Terryl’s group presented. On the other hand, Ashmille walked away after Terryl’s confession.

Anthasia scoffed. “What’s gotten into you? I wouldn’t mind you liking anyone, but really? You and that nerdy girl? I know she’s absolutely not your type.”

“Nobody gives me the right to have a crush on someone or not.”

“Who are you fooling around with? Hey, talk to my face,” she insisted on facing her.

“I’m not fooling with any of you. If you guys couldn’t take it, then that’s your problem.”

“Are you going to court her? Are you serious with her? I hope not because you don’t look good together, right, babe?” Savi continued mocking him.

“Anthasia’s right. But you never know when true love hits this Playboy. It can be fatal. He might retire from being a playboy and commit seriously to Ashmille if he wishes to.”

“Who told you I got four exes?” Terryl asked Anjoe.

“Didn’t you? Or it must be six?” Anjoe asked for clarification.

“Don’t lump me with the likes of yours. It was you who got four exes, and Savi’s your fifth girlfriend.”

“What? Is that true?!” Savi got angry at her lover.

“N-No, he was just fooling around. No-”

“You,” she pointed at Anjoe’s friend, who was also their groupmate. “You’re his closest friend. Is it true?”

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he answered.

“Calm down, love. It wasn’t anything se-”

“Love? That’s not our call sign, you jerk! Who are you calling love now? Your ex?!”

“Better interrogate your player boyfriend instead of me,” Terryl interjected.

And the two sweethearts started their love quarrel. The classroom is being noisy because of them.

“Guys, we need to pack up,” Jeron intervened. “It is Ashmille’s turn to use this room,” he reminded them.

Their group cleaned up their mess and organized their belongings. They noticed Ashmille in formal wear waiting outside the room. She then entered and began unpacking her things.

She was thinking if Drino could make it in time to watch her presentation. They practiced last night, but it will be better if he is present, so she has a backup.

“Hi, Ashmille,” Terryl called her. “By the way, here’s the password of the desktop if you need to use it.” He handed her a small paper. “Sir Montey forgot to tell everyone.”

She received the paper. “Thank you”

“Would you like us to watch you, too? I don’t know if you’ve got an audience or if you prefer to have it.”

“No, you don’t have to. I’m good. You can leave.”

She’s shy to be watched by them. She might lose her focus if they did.

“Uh-oh, first a sign of rejection,” Savi murmured, mocking Terryl.

“Shut it. You and Anjoe aren’t done fighting yet,” Terryl shut her off.

“I’ve done nothing wrong, babe,” Anjoe denied her allegations.

Anthasia scowled at Ashmille. The six rowdy students left Room B. Ashmille wondered why Anthasia looked at her that way. She checked herself in a selfie camera on her phone to see if there was anything weird on her face.

Ashmille’s panelists arrived, and she started her presentation.

“How would you…” An older female juror in her 50s questioned her. This question requires assistance from Drino to be answered effectively.

They are now in the question-and-answer portion. Ashmille finished her presentation. More questions followed, but their last question required Drino’s presence and answer.

“With that being said, you’re in collaboration with Alejandrino Montezales, is it correct?” a male juror clarified.

Professor Montey has briefed them on the two students who conducted individual theses, yet their studies are related. He requested them to have the same set of panelists to make their study coherent and be graded objectively.

Thirty-seven minutes into her presentation, Drino arrived from his condominium.

“I got it.” He breathes heavily from running fast. “What did I miss?” he asked himself while entering Room B.

“Yes, Sir. Alejandrino is here with us today,” Ashmille affirmed.

“Hello, everyone. I’m the one who works with Ashmille,” Drino introduced himself to the three jurors.

“We're moving lunch to 1:00 PM, so you can present an hour earlier. Since you prepared snacks for us, we're fine with eating later. We'll stay in this room instead of transferring,” the female juror with short hair informed him.

“Yes… Sure, Ma’am. Please give me a few minutes to prepare my things.”

Drino was a bit surprised by one of the jurors’ suggestions. He was relieved that he took his flash drive immediately so he could defend his thesis earlier than his scheduled time.

“Why did you call it Love Algorithm and not Romance Algorithm?” the male juror questioned.

“This study's relevance extends beyond romantic relationships, as it is also applicable to non-romantic connections, such as platonic friendships and familial love. It is a valuable resource for understanding various types of human connections.”

With tension filling the air, the two felt anxious about the grade they would receive as the panelists began jotting down their scores on the grading sheets. It took them three thoughtful minutes to finalize their marks. Drino is thrilled, while Ashmille is anxious.

Not long after, the panelists congratulated them and left the room.

“Whooo! We’re done. We made it!” Drino exclaimed.

“That was frightening, but we passed. Too bad, you didn’t get to see my presentation.”

“I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s okay. If you hadn’t retrieved your flash drive on time, then you might have missed the panelists’ change of schedule.”

“Right. But I still owe you one.”

“About your friend, did he mention anything about me to you?”

“Which friend?”

“Terryl”

“Aside from that, he commended you because I matured by working with you; that’s pretty much it. Why?”

“He confe-someone just confessed their feelings to me.”

“Who’s the guy? When did that guy confess?”

“He’s our classmate in the thesis course. Someone you know who goes out with your group. He has a letter R in his name.”

“I couldn’t think of with an R in his name… Oh, hold up. I know someone. Is it Jeron? Jeron was your initial thesis mate instead of me!”

“Yeah, he was.”

“That’s the guy, huh.”

“Anyway, I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”

Ashmille was caught off guard to open such sensitive information to Drino. She thought it was reasonable because they were close friends. And it can be the last day they will meet personally because the 10-day thesis revision can be done in their homes and submit their final thesis book on the last day of the month.

“I’m glad you did,” he added.

They began packing their stuff to leave the room as soon as possible.

“I’ve always wanted to work with you, but there was never a chance until this,” Drino’s random thought.

“Now that you mention it, we’ve never been groupmates.”

“Yeah. The reason why we rarely talk, even though we’re classmates.”

“Does it mean you would like to work as a pair with me on a thesis?”

“Yup”

“Oh, sorry for choosing to do it individually. You must be having a hard time right now.” Her conscience lingers.

“Don’t be. I admire you for being brave enough to do it alone. You inspired me to be brave enough to do this feat alone, too. It may not be a notable thing to do, but I’m sure my parents would be so proud.”

After several days and times spent with each other, they slowly realize that they’re becoming close. They feel comfortable with each other despite not knowing much about their personal lives. They weren’t expecting to match vibes when they are opposites.

“We still have five more dates left. The plan was to do ten,” he remarked.

“We hardly reached five. We had not foreseen that dating is time-consuming while doing our thesis. Wait, we should add this to our conclusion.”

“Brilliant, I like that.”

“We can add that different priorities in different timelines of individuals could also affect the couple’s relationship. I’ll put that with mine.”

“And to make their relationship work, all of those should align.”

“Indeed”

Drino slowly pushed the door to leave the room with her. “I can feel that there’s something more to it.”

“Something more to what?”

“Our date, our conversation, and the time we spent together.”

“Hm?”

“Don’t you think this is no longer a prototype relationship?” he wondered.