MARA'S POV
It was never really part of Mara Cortez's plan to be the one who would charge in.
Honestly, she would have much preferred to be in the canteen that day, eating siomai rice while listening to Lara's endless complaints about their terror professor. She also would have preferred to go home early to finish the activity she had already been putting off for two weeks. She wanted to stay quiet, just involve herself in other people's problems by listening, and then say, "You can handle it," even though they really could not.
But there was one big problem.
Her best friend was Aira Lopez, the student council president, and in moments when her voice trembled while she tried to hide how nervous she was, Mara knew she no longer had a choice.
"They backed out."
That was the first thing she heard when she arrived at the student council office. The long table in the middle was covered with tarpaulin drafts, event plans, sponsor letters, and half empty cups of coffee. Josh, Mark, Nina, and Paolo were sitting there as if misfortune itself had sentenced them. Aira, meanwhile, stood by the whiteboard, clutching a folder like she wanted to throw it straight out the window.
"Who backed out?" Mara asked while sipping the drink she had bought outside.
Aira looked at her. "Our biggest sponsor."
The drink caught in Mara's throat. She coughed and nearly spilled what was left in the cup. "What?"
"The representative called earlier," Josh answered, clearly having read the same email in front of him several times already. "They said there were internal adjustments, so they could no longer continue the full sponsorship."
Mara blinked. "Internal adjustments? What is that supposed to mean? Did they suddenly get amnesia and forget they signed an agreement?"
"Mara," Aira warned softly, though it was obvious from her face that she wanted to say the same thing.
"But it's true." Mara set her cup down on the table and grabbed a copy of the proposal. "You all worked on this for weeks. You ran around fixing everything. And now that it's close, they suddenly back out? Just like that?"
The whole room fell silent.
That was what annoyed her in moments like this. When the problem was too heavy, people suddenly went quiet as if the mess would disappear if they stared at it long enough. Meanwhile, Mara only got more irritated when no one was doing anything.
"What did the adviser say?" she asked.
"That we should look for another sponsor," Nina answered. "As if it's that easy."
"What did the school admin say?"
"That they would review it."
"And what did all of you say?"
They all looked at one another.
Exactly.
Nothing.
Mara clicked her tongue. "So you're not going to do anything?"
"Mara, of course we are," Aira said, clearly exhausted. "We're just thinking of the next step."
"And while you're thinking, time is running out."
She should not have spoken that way. She knew that. She could see the exhaustion, the stress, and the almost inhuman pressure on Aira's face from being student council president. But because she knew her friend so well, she also knew that if she let Aira overthink too much, she would only lose even more motivation. Someone had to slam into the wall first to shake everyone's brains back into place.
So before she could stop herself, she heard herself speak.
"Where's their office?"
Everyone froze.
"Mara," Aira warned.
"What? I'm just asking."
"With that tone, you're not just asking."
"Can't I just be a concerned citizen?"
"Mara."
"Fine," she said, pulling the scrunchie off her wrist and tying her hair up. "A concerned, slightly annoyed, very pretty citizen."
Aira did not laugh. Josh certainly did not laugh either, looking like he was already used to the idea that Mara was the human form of a coming disaster.
"Mara, don't go there," Aira said. "This isn't just a simple complaint. It's a company. They have protocols, legal processes, and all those office terms I don't even understand. You can't just charge in like that."
Mara cleared her throat and pointed at herself. "Do I look like someone scared of protocols?"
Yes.
That was what all their stares were saying.
She ignored it.
"I'm just going to listen," she added. "I'll see what really happened. Maybe the representative is the only problem. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. Maybe there's still something that can be fixed."
"Or maybe you'll just embarrass yourself," Mark cut in.
Mara lifted an eyebrow. "That's not new."
"Exactly."
She crossed her arms and took a deep breath. For a few seconds, she tried to convince herself that Aira was right. That she should just stay quiet. That she should let the people who actually had responsibility handle this problem.
But in her mind, one thing kept repeating itself over and over.
The event could not be lost.
It was the one thing a lot of students were still looking forward to. It was also the only time she had seen Aira genuinely happy about something these past few months. She could not just watch everything get ruined because some company suddenly pulled out without a proper explanation.
"I'll handle it," she said at last.
"Mara," Aira and Josh said at the same time.
She smiled as though she had a brilliant plan, even though the truth was she had none. "Trust me."
Josh's expression only darkened. "That is the most dangerous pair of words I've heard this week."
"You're so harsh on me."
"You tripped three times last week."
"It's not my fault the hallway was slippery."
"When it was dry?"
"The floor had a moist aura."
No one laughed. Mara sighed.
"Okay, fine. You don't have to support me. But I'm going. I'll just talk to them. Promise. I won't cause trouble."
A long silence wrapped around the room, then slowly, Aira lowered the folder onto the table. Mara could see the conflict on her face. She knew Aira wanted to stop her. She also knew there was a small part of her friend hoping that maybe, just maybe, because Mara had such shameless nerve, something might actually happen.
"What's the company's name?" Mara asked.
Aira answered softly. "Alcázar Holdings."
She froze for a second.
Alcázar Holdings.
Even as a student, she had heard that name before. Who had not? It was one of those companies that always showed up in the news, on social media, and sometimes even in the business students' project papers. Big, wealthy, and widely known. The kind of company that seemed untouchable to an ordinary person unless you were an employee, an investor, or an unbelievably lucky delivery rider who made it past the entrance.
And she was Mara Cortez.
A student who did not even have proper savings yet and had already almost run out of allowance twice in just one week because of her impulsive milk tea purchases.
A normal person would have backed out right there.
The problem was, the world had never known her as normal.
"Fine," she said. "I'm going."
And before anyone could stop her, she had already snatched the paper with the address and walked out of the student council office as though she actually had a backup plan in life.
She did not.
The truth was, while she was on the jeepney heading there, the madness of what she had done only slowly began sinking into her mind.
What was she even going to say?
Hello, good afternoon, could you please stop ruining our college lives?
Or maybe, Good day. I am here as the self appointed representative of the students wronged by your sudden withdrawal.
Or maybe something more direct.
Why are you like this?
She shut her eyes and pressed her forehead against the jeepney window. You're amazing, Mara. Absolutely amazing. You have no plan. No appointment. No authority. And yet you're heading to a huge company to talk to whoever is in charge as if you have any kind of access.
But every time she thought about turning back, she remembered Aira's face.
That forced smile. That deep sigh. That exhaustion makeup could not hide and long explanations could not cover.
So when she finally arrived in front of the Alcázar Holdings building, all she did was take a deep breath and say, "Whatever happens, happens."
The moment she stepped into the lobby, she immediately felt small.
The ceiling was impossibly high. The marble floor was spotless. The whole place smelled expensive, as if even the air there was something she could not afford. Huge chandeliers hung overhead, people stood neatly lined up at reception, and employees moved quickly as though every second in that place had a price tag.
She suddenly became painfully aware of her slightly wrinkled blouse, her tote bag with a quote printed on it that had already faded, and the food she had bought outside, still in her hand because she had nowhere to leave it.
She looked lost.
She looked like a student who had wandered into the wrong universe.
But because she refused to admit she was nervous, she lifted her chin higher and walked in like she came to buildings like this every day.
No one stopped her immediately, which only fed her dangerously growing confidence.
Honestly, her plan had been to go to reception first and ask who she could talk to about the sponsorship issue. To be civil. To be formal. To be presentable.
Presentable.
She had barely finished that word in her head when she suddenly remembered that she had not had lunch yet.
So instead of heading straight to reception, she went back outside for a moment and bought a sandwich, fries, and iced coffee from a nearby stall because apparently she was too hungry to fight rich people on an empty stomach.
When she came back inside, both her hands were full. A paper bag in her left hand, another in her right, and an iced coffee wedged between her fingers. But because chaos was second nature to her, it only occurred to her then that getting into an elevator like that would actually be difficult.
There were several elevators in the lobby, and every one of them had people waiting in front. Employees stood there holding tablets, folders, and laptops. Everyone looked like they had somewhere much more important to be than she did. She glanced at the digital displays above the elevators and sighed. "Why is this taking so long?"
The moment she said that, one of the elevators at the far end suddenly opened.
It did not have as many people waiting in front of it compared to the others, but she noticed there were a few standing nearby like they were just waiting. She did not pay attention to that. What she noticed was that the doors were already closing.
"Wait!"
She ran.