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

Sophie rubbed her wrist and quickly retreated about three feet away from Flora. Flora was wild, always quick to throw a punch at the slightest disagreement, and Sophie was genuinely intimidated by her. But she was a sophomore, a year ahead of Flora, and an officer in the student council. Being humiliated by Flora in front of so many people was a bitter pill to swallow.

She redirected all her anger towards Kaylee. "Wendy, it was Kaylee who stepped on and ruined the flowers meant for Rafael. The party is about to start, and it's too late to find replacements. In desperation, I just said a few words to Kaylee, and she had someone hit me. How can someone like that stay in the student council?"

"Enough," Wendy said, irritation clear in her voice. "First, think of a way to fix this. I remember we had some artificial starflowers left over from the last party. Go get them and make do."

"But those are fake flowers. Giving them to Rafael would be so disrespectful," Sophie protested reluctantly.

"He's a big star; he won't mind such a small thing," Wendy replied, though she knew giving artificial flowers wasn't ideal. But it was too late to buy new ones now.

Seeing that Wendy wasn't going to blame Kaylee, Sophie felt even worse. "Teacher!" she called out, spotting the event coordinator approaching.

strode over briskly. "What's the

flowers meant for Rafael were stepped on. We're figuring out how to fix it,"

in Kaylee's arms. "Who did this?

was my fault," Kaylee said, her voice

Kaylee as one of the more talented students in

it go," a male

walked in, his single earring glinting under the light.

felt like it might leap out of her chest. Instinctively, she hid the ruined flowers behind

you backstage?" the teacher asked, regaining her composure and nearly biting her tongue as she looked at Rafael's devilishly handsome face. She felt a wave of panic, fearing Rafael would think the University of Maple Grove didn't respect