Chapter 1 You Are Too Broke For Me

"So, this is how you should present a gift to any girl, to make her love for you multiply in the blink of an eye." Tom said, grabbing the box which contained a brand new necklace from Ferdinand.

Ferdinand couldn't help but shake his head as he was aware that Tom was about to share another one of his dumb ideas. What could he do? Tom had been his best friend since the first year of the university.

Among his three dorm roommates, Josh, Frank and Tom himself, Ferdinand always felt more comfortable around Tom, despite his so called creative ideas.

Ferdinand folded his arms as he watched Tom display his romantic drama.

Tom went down on one knee, he opened the box which contained the necklace and looked up to the sky, posing as if he was looking at a girl's face, then he spoke, "roses are red, violets are blue, my love accept this gift, from my heart to you... and that is how you present a gift to your girlfriend on her birthday." Tom his head held high in the sky.

However, despite the romantic drama, Ferdinand was having second thoughts; "nah,... I don't think Sarah will like that. It sounds more like an old school rhyme." He said, to the dismay of Tom.

Tom widened his eyes, "dude, are you kidding me? What type of girl won't fall for such romantic words? Any girl will fall for these words bro... no kidding." He argued.

"Sarah is not any type of girl, she is special." Ferdinand said with a proud smile, then his smile quickly changed into sadness. "Maybe too special for someone like me." Ferdinand sighed.

"Don't say that to yourself, bro." Tom had a worried look on his face.

"Honestly, Tom, I don't know how to approach Sarah anymore. I mean, when we got into the university, the first two years were good. She was so simple, and we saw each other regularly, but when she got transferred to her new dorm room this year, she made new friends and somehow she started keeping her distance away from me.

Whenever I brought the issue up, she always brushed it off, saying she had a lot going on in her life which she rather not share. I don't know what to do anymore." Ferdinand closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying hard to control his emotions.

Tom placed a hand on Ferdinand's shoulder, "I am sorry to hear this, bro. whatever is holding Sarah back in your relationship, I am sure she will get over it soon, then she will come around. More to that, when you will present the necklace to her, and say those words I told you to, her love for you will multiply... trust me.." Tom ruined the moment.

"Thanks for the advice, but no." Ferdinand said as he walked ahead. "Let's hurry back to the dorm, I don't want a gift which I just bought to get sour on the way before it gets presented to the receiver." Ferdinand added.

"Hey wait for me, lover boy." Tom's annoying voice sounded from the back.

.......

Tom and Ferdinand had finally arrived at the university dorm.

They headed straight to the girl's dorm where Ferdinand was to present the necklace he just spent all his $75 savings on, to Sarah as her birthday gift.

As they approached the building, they noticed that an unusual crowd was gathered in front of the building.

The duo tried to imagine what was going on, but couldn't come to a conclusion. When they got close enough to hear the words of the crowd, they could hear words like;

"Isn't that Damien, one of the richest guys on campus?"

"Yeah, he was transferred to this university this year, I heard he is the son of one of the top billionaires in the world."

"Who is that girl? She is so pretty, how come I have never noticed her before?"

"Seems like she is a friend of Britney and Nicole, the most popular girls in school."

"I know right? She could easily fit into the list of the top ten beauties of Berkeley University."

With all these words being said, Tom and Ferdinand couldn't fully understand what was going on till they saw it for themselves.

Tom's mouth dropped open when he saw Damien, kneeling in front of Sarah, with a box held in his hand. Inside the box, a necklace made up of diamonds could be seen glittering in the sun light.

Just looking at the necklace, one could tell that it cost millions of dollars.

Things went worse when Damien said out the words, "Sarah, would you be my girlfriend?"

Tom turned and looked at his friend to see how he was taking the scene before them, but to his surprise, Ferdinand was very calm as he watched everything.

Tom's brain was spinning as he tried to put the puzzle pieces together. How could Ferdinand stand by and watch another dude propose to his girlfriend like it was a romantic movie? Little did he know that Ferdinand was calm because he believed in Sarah.

Ferdinand had known Sarah since they were just secondary school students. They had been dating since then, and Sarah had never been the type of girl who had love for material things.

In fact, Ferdinand wasn't sure why Sarah had accepted to date him, despite the fact that he was just a poor orphan who was living in an orphanage.

He felt that maybe it was because Sarah also had a similar life like him. Back then, she lived with her mother who was a farmer.

As for her father, she had never seen him. Her mother had to struggle to pay her fees. Also, they were both very brilliant students. When they were done with high school, they had to apply for scholarships at Berkeley University, which they made it with flying colors.

But the main reason Ferdinand was so confident, was a promise which he and Sarah had made to each other before arriving at the university; to love and cherish each other and to keep themselves for each other till they finished school and got married.

Ferdinand was ready to keep that promise at any time, so he was very sure that Sarah would do the same.

Everyone was left in suspense, their phone cameras recording the silence as they waited for Sarah to give the golden reply. Sarah turned behind and looked at her new friends, Britney and Nicole.

They gave her the thumbs, urging her to say yes. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Sarah finally parted her lips and aired out her reply.

"Yes, I will be your girlfriend."

The crowd burst into cheers as Damien stood up with a big smile on his face, he took out the diamond necklace from the box and wore it around Sarah's neck, and then they finalized the proposal acceptance with a deep kiss.

Tom heard a thud on the ground beside him, and when he looked down, he saw the box which contained the $75 necklace which Ferdinand had bought for Sarah, lying there. When he looked at Ferdinand, the calm look on his face had changed to horror.

Ferdinand's eyes were completely red. The veins on his forehead and neck had bulged out like they were about to explode any moment. Ferdinand was no longer the person Tom was standing with.

Before things got out of hand, Tom decided that it was time to get his friend out of that place. "Come on, let's get out of here." Tom tried to grab Ferdinand's arm, but he pushed Tom's hand away, then he started walking furiously towards Damien and Sarah.

Ferdinand was meaning to get answers. The amount whys in his mind were about to blow his brains out.

To make matters worse, Sarah had kissed Damien so passionately, which was something Ferdinand had never done with her for the amount of years which they had dated, but Sarah had done it with Damien, less than a minute of their official dating.