Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

Maple Grove University had a reputation for being downright brutal. Most colleges only had final exams, but Maple Grove threw in midterms too, just for kicks.

With less than ten days until midterms, students were practically living in the library, wishing they could grow an extra brain to cram all the material. Eilies and Cynthia were no exceptions, hitting the books from the moment they woke up, even chewing over their notes during meals.

"Flora, you devil!"

Every night, they'd whine to Flora, practically in tears. Flora had this uncanny ability to memorize everything at a glance. They'd slog through their textbooks for hours and still couldn't match her efficiency. It was downright demoralizing.

But Flora just shrugged off their complaints, spending her days studying and her nights chatting on the phone with Connor.

"Hey Flora, wanna grab lunch together?"

At ten in the morning, Kaylee shot Flora a text.

"Sure."

On the other end, Kaylee, sitting in the study room, smiled at Flora's casual response.

"Hey, let's all go grab some lunch later, yeah?"

A few girls sitting next to her leaned in, trying to sound friendly.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Kaylee knew why-they were sucking up because she'd recently joined the Rose Design Team.

She shook her head lightly. "Sorry, I've already made plans with a friend."

A friend?

Now that Kaylee was with the Rose Design Team, her friends must be pretty special.

"Why not eat together? We all gotta eat, right?"

Kaylee was usually pretty easy-going, so they were used to pushing their luck.

"My friend doesn't like eating with strangers, sorry."

After being pestered repeatedly, Kaylee's patience was wearing thin, and her tone cooled.

The girls' faces fell. They'd been trying to cozy up to Kaylee for days, but she'd always been lukewarm. Before, they could boss her around.

Unable to accept the change, their frustration bubbled into anger. One of the girls said mockingly, "Is it your friend who doesn't like us, or is it you? Now that you're with the Rose Design Team, I guess it's normal you wouldn't want to hang with us."

"Yeah, she's too good for us now."

Kaylee frowned at their words. She'd heard too many of these snarky comments lately. Deciding not to argue, she stood up and walked away.

Seeing her indifferent demeanor made the girls even angrier. Remembering Kaylee's friendship with Flora, they sneered, "Heard Flora from the med department got kicked out of the lab. How sad!" Kaylee stopped in her tracks.

"Just goes to show, don't get too cocky. The higher you climb, the harder you fall."

"She's just a freshman and got into the med lab. Who knows what dirty tricks she used. Thinking about it makes me sick."

Knowing Kaylee cared about Flora, they kept hurling nastier comments, venting their frustrations.

Kaylee's grip on her books tightened, her knuckles turning white. She turned around, walked back to them, and said firmly, "Don't you dare talk about Flora like that!"